Elfreth's Alley
National Historic Landmark · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A cobbled lane of thirty-two brick houses in Old City, built between the 1720s and the 1830s for tradespeople — blacksmiths, pewterers, dressmakers — and lived in continuously ever since, which makes it the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in the United States. It is six feet of pavement, a strip of cobbles and two facing rows of small houses with their original doors and shutters, and the crucial thing to understand before you arrive is that PEOPLE LIVE HERE. Two houses are a museum; the other thirty are homes.
126 Elfreth's Alley, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19106, United States
A public residential street, free and open at all hours. The Museum House at 126 keeps very limited seasonal hours with a small admission — verify before travelling. Private houses open only during Fete Days in early June and Deck the Alley in December, both ticketed. RESIDENTS LIVE HERE; visit accordingly.