Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial

During my trip to Philadelphia, I visited the smallest unit in the National Park System: Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial. Named after a Polish patriot who aided America in the Revolutionary War, the entire park consists of only a few rooms in a three-and-a-half story red brick Georgian style house where Kosciuszko stayed during a brief stint in Philadelphia. Although is not well-known outside of his home country, which attempted to become its own independent nation during his lifetime, he made contributions to revolutions in the United States and Europe.

With a full name of Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko, the future revolutionary was raised in a Catholic family of landed gentry. The family had serfs or unfree peasants, which was common for nobility within the Russian empire at the time. (If you want to learn more about this practice, I have talked a lot about feudalism and serfdom across my blog, especially during my essay series on The Lord of the Rings.) While patriarch Ludwik Kościuszko was known for kindness towards his serfs, Thaddeus realized all people should have equal rights. He was denied marriage to his girlfriend, Ludwika Sosnowska, in 1776 because he was of a lesser social status, and he soon left Poland for the United States to aid the Revolution.

Thaddeus made many friends during his time serving as an officer in the American Revolutionary War, including Benjamin Franklin, General Horatio Lloyd Gates, and General Nathanael Greene. His best friend was probably Agrippa Hull, who by multiple accounts was a super smart, funny, and all-around talented African American from the Stockbridge, MA area who was hired as servant rather than an officer due to his race. (Earlier this year on the blog, Hull received a mention in a Parked at Home talk on Valley Forge National Historical Park, while the story of African Americans and Native Americans in Stockbridge is covered by The Trustee’s Mission House, which I visited in 2023.) On a later trip to the United States, Kosciuszko befriended Michikinikwa or Chief Little Turtle from Miami Nation of Indians and legendarily gave him a pair of glasses upon realizing his new friend was visually impaired. I always enjoy a good glasses story.

Unfortunately, Kosciuszko’s life would go downhill after the American Revolution. He returned to Poland where he gradually created an army for the Polish Revolution to break free from Russian rule. Unlike the American Revolution, the Polish Revolution went badly. Kosciuszko was taken as a prisoner of war by Russia in 1794 and lived in exile for the rest of his life. His friends across the United States and Europe did their best to help him, but plans to give him money and land never materialized. Kosciuszko died in Soleure, Switzerland at age 71 having wandered across the Atlantic for several decades. Strangely enough, Czar Alexander I of Russia ordered that his body minus its internal organs was buried in Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, perhaps to quell the anger of his Polish subjects.

The biggest question I had for this site was why it exists as a separate unit from Independence National Historical Park even though these units have the same administration. This could possibly be due to rules on adding units to an existing park rather than a separate entity. Independence became a historical park in 1948. The Thaddeus Kosciuszko House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in December of 1970 and joined the National Park System on October 21, 1972. Additionally, Polish-Americans were a substantial swing vote during that time, so there was likely political motivation leading up to the November 1972 election. While Congress had a Democratic majority, Republican president Richard Nixon had signed a major bill on revenue-sharing at nearby Independence Hall on October 20, 1972.

As for visiting, the building is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m during April through October. The park is fee free thanks to American tax dollars. No parking is available in the area. Like most historic houses, the building is not accessible to those using a wheelchair or with limited mobility. If you are already in Philadelphia and want to see as many parks as possible, or are a Polish-American interested in learning more about your heritage, feel free to stop in. Otherwise, there is not much to see here.

Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 6/10

Accessibility: 5/10