THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. 

As part of its 2025 Fall Training Program, 19th Century Growing Pains or We The People… Now What?, the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides (APT) is offering a Bankers’ Row Walking Tour on Thursday, November 13 from 2-4 pm, starting at Welcome Park (129 Sansom Walk) and ending at The Corn Exchange (2nd and Chestnut Streets).

Philadelphia was an important center of finance until the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, when the center shifted to New York City. The industrialization, expansion to the west, and changes in transportation from turnpikes to canals to railroads in the 1820s started the change, helped by coal, and later oil. This tour covers the financial beginnings in the U.S.: state banking to First Bank, Second Bank, and 1st National Bank; the 1790s to the Civil War; A.J. Drexel, and the Customs House. Bea Segal, APT member and certified tour guide with Preservation Alliance, will be our guide.

NOTE: Following the training, enjoy some relaxed social time after a busy day!
The Greater Philadelphia Books Launch, 5:30-7 pm (doors open at 5, program begins at 5:40), free, registration requested. 
Join Independence Historical Trust and the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corporation at the Independence Visitor Center to celebrate the launch of Greater Philadelphia: A New History for the Twenty-First Century , a landmark three-volume book project from the University of Pennsylvania Press. Editors who have been with the project from its inception, including APT’s own Charlene Mires, will share what goes into creating a work of this scale, the surprising stories behind Philadelphia’s unique history, and the lengths they went to tell it all.

Check out the complete training program description to figure out the best combination of events and pricing for you. The full package of a possible 9 events PLUS a full day bus tour to Fairmount Park is ($100/$150/$270), or you may prefer to choose individual tour or lecture events ($15 member/$25 non-member) with or without the full bus day ($50/$70).

Other tours offered in this time slot are: Old City in the 19th Century Walking Tour and Historic District Tour with Guiding Basics.

This is a unique topic – be sure to join us!