Penn Treaty Park

According to legend, Pennsylvania founder William Penn signed his treaty of peace with the local Lenape tribe under an elm tree just off the Delaware River in 1683 in what is now known as Penn Treaty Park.

Though the tree fell in a storm in 1810, the city officially opened Penn Treaty Park in Fishtown on the surrounding land in 1894.

Today, a statue of William Penn greets picnickers and dog walkers, and throughout the year, people come to the waterfront park from all over the city and beyond for special events, including an Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration of Native American, Andean and other cultures.