PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Every Saturday evening in October, the Betsy Ross House in Old City is hosting what’s called a Bloodletting & Burials Tour where you learn macabre facts about life in the 18th century.
It starts in the courtyard, aka Betsy’s final resting place.
As you hear tales about suspect medical treatments in Colonial Philadelphia, you can get a drink at the Triple Bottom Brewing Pop Up beer garden.
Then, it’s a few blocks walk to Christ Church Burial Ground where the talk turns to small pox, a disease that tore through the American colonies and ravaged the Continental Army.
At Arch Street Meetinghouse, you learn about the Yellow Fever epidemic that plagued Philadelphia in 1793. The disease killed about 10% of the population, leading the mayor to declare universal terror.
Then, it’s back to the Betsy Ross House for a self-guided Spooky twilight tour, where you can interact with America’s most famous seamstress. But instead of sewing a flag, she’s working on a coffin lining.
The entire tour is designed to be both gross and spooky but also fun and informative. And everything that you will hear, they promise, is 100% true.
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239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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