A Timeless Urban Oasis
A Square Unlike Any Other
Unlike Philadelphia’s other historic squares, the early Southwest Square was never used as a burial ground. Instead, it served more practical—if less glamorous—purposes, offering pasturage for local livestock and functioning as a convenient dumping site for “night soil.”
History
By the late 1700s, the square was surrounded by brickyards, as the area’s clay-rich soil proved better suited for kilns than for farming. In 1825, the square was renamed in honor of David Rittenhouse, a distinguished Philadelphian known for his brilliance as an astronomer, instrument maker, and Revolutionary War leader.
A building boom began in the 1850s, and by the latter half of the 19th century, the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood had become the city’s most fashionable residential district—the domain of Philadelphia’s “Victorian aristocracy.” While a few grand mansions from this period still grace the streets surrounding the square, most were replaced by elegant apartment buildings after 1913.
In 1816, local residents pooled funds to help the city enclose Rittenhouse Square with an iron fence. By the decade preceding the Civil War, the square had blossomed into a refined public space adorned with walkways, trees, and fountains donated by generous benefactors. However, these fountains proved premature—their splashing water created so much mud that City Council ultimately ordered their removal.
The square’s present layout dates to 1913, when the newly formed Rittenhouse Square Improvement Association funded a redesign by Paul Philippe Cret, a French-born architect known for his work on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Rodin Museum. Though subtle modifications have been made over the years, the square still retains the elegance of Cret’s original vision.
Layout & Design
The park’s main walkways form diagonal paths from each corner, converging at a central oval plaza. This plaza, home to a large planter bed and a reflecting pool, is enclosed by a balustrade and encircled by a graceful walkway. Classical urns, many adorned with relief figures of ancient Greeks, rest on pedestals at key entrances and throughout the square, lending an air of timeless sophistication.
Elegant ornamental lampposts evoke old-world charm, while a low fence and balustraded corner entrances frame the space. Towering oaks, maples, locusts, and plane trees provide ample shade, their canopy interspersed with vibrant flowerbeds and blossoming shrubs that bring seasonal bursts of color.
Rittenhouse Square is more than a picturesque landmark—it is a thriving neighborhood park. Office workers gather here for lunch, parents bring their children to play, and visitors stroll leisurely, admiring the plant life, sculptures, and the ever-present, mischievous squirrels.
Public Art: A Gallery in the Open Air
Like Logan Square, Rittenhouse Square is home to some of Philadelphia’s most cherished outdoor sculptures.
At the heart of the central plaza stands Lion Crushing a Serpent, a striking bronze by French Romantic sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye. Originally created in 1832, the piece serves as an allegory of the French Revolution of 1830, with the lion symbolizing good triumphing over the evil serpent. The bronze cast in the square dates to around 1890.
At the opposite end of the plaza, within the reflecting pool, is Duck Girl (1911) by Paul Manship, a delicate bronze sculpture of a young girl carrying a duck under her arm. Manship, later renowned for his Aero Memorial in Logan Square, crafted this piece early in his career.
Another beloved figure is Billy, a two-foot-high bronze billy goat by Albert Laessle, nestled in a small plaza along the southwest walkway. Over the years, countless children have patted Billy’s head, horns, and spine to a golden sheen.
In a similar plaza along the northeast walkway stands the Evelyn Taylor Price Memorial Sundial, featuring two cheerful, nude children holding a sundial shaped like a sunflower. Created by Philadelphia sculptor Beatrice Fenton, the piece honors Evelyn Taylor Price, a former president of both the Rittenhouse Square Improvement Association and the Rittenhouse Square Flower Association. Nearby, in the flower bed between the sundial and the central plaza, rests Giant Frog, a sleek granite amphibian sculpted by Cornelia Van A. Chapin.
Continuing the square’s animal theme, two small stone dogs—added in 1988—perch on the balustrades at the southwest corner entrance, standing as silent sentinels over the park.
By Day and By Night
Once a destination primarily for daytime visitors, Rittenhouse Square has evolved into a lively nighttime hub as well. Along its eastern edge, on 18th Street, a string of popular restaurants—including Rouge, Devon, Parc, and Barclay Prime—offer al fresco dining with prime views of the park.
By day, visitors can bask in the serenity of the landscape from a shaded bench; by night, they can sip cocktails under the glow of candlelit outdoor tables. Beyond the square, a host of additional restaurants, bars, and lounges—such as Tria, Continental Midtown, Alfa, Walnut Room, and Twenty Manning—dot the surrounding blocks, further enhancing Rittenhouse Square’s reputation as one of Philadelphia’s most vibrant social scenes.
