History & local legend
The William Penn statue outside Pennsylvania Hospital’s Pine Building was a gift from his grandson John Penn in 1804. The broad-brimmed figure stands above a pedestal on the lawn, enclosed by a low chain. A neighborhood legend gives him a nightly escape from that fixed position.
In the story described by Society Hill Reporter writer Jane Biberman in 2007, Penn steps down and walks through the hospital grounds after dark. A later ghost-tour version specifies midnight as his departure and sunrise as his deadline to return.
Sources
- Society Hill Reporter, Jane Biberman’s Visit Historic Pennsylvania Hospital, November–December 2007, pp. 29, 31
- Philly Ghosts, the midnight version of the hospital garden legend
- Historical Marker Database, inscription and photographs of the hospital’s William Penn
- OpenStreetMap, the William Penn statue outside the hospital
