Here’s How Relocating Liberty Bell In 2003 Led To Discovery Of Philadelphia’s President’s House

February 23, 2026

The remaining slavery exhibits at the President’s House Site at 6th and Market streets in Old City do not have to be restored for now after an appeals court ruling Friday. With so much attention lately on the site, CBS News Philadelphia went deep into our archives to see how the exhibit came to be.

It all started in 2000 when the City of Philadelphia prepared to relocate the Liberty Bell. When starting construction on that project, archeologists uncovered the foundation of a house.

Fast forward a decade and our cameras were rolling in 2010 when then-Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter cut the ribbon marking the grand opening of the President’s House, an exhibit commemorating the home where Presidents George Washington and John Adams lived when Philadelphia was the nation’s capital. However, it’s the displays around the site that tell a more complete story, one never told before, about enslaved people in Philadelphia.