Historic Germantown — a partnership of 20 historic houses, destinations, and museums in Northwest Philadelphia — is celebrating America’s 250th anniversary with a series of 26 guided walking tours.

The 26 Tours in 2026 program will invite visitors to journey into the nation’s past through a look at the history, architecture, and untold stories of Germantown. According to Tuomi Forrest, executive director of Historic Germantown, the initiative is part of the organization’s larger vision for semiquincentennial programming and offers guests more opportunities to explore their community.

“It’s a great way to really expand what folks can see in Northwest Philadelphia,” Forrest said. “All the way from Fairhill to Chestnut Hill is the footprint we’re looking at.”

Of the 26 tours offered this year, the first three will be during the winter season and are free to all attendees.

‘Mills, Creeks & Foundations’

The first tour will be Saturday, Feb. 28, from 1-3 p.m. Titled “Mills, Creeks & Foundations: Exploring the Landscapes of the Lower Wingohocking Creek,” this tour will be led by executives from three member organizations: Stenton, La Salle University, and Grumblethorpe.

Attendees will learn about the history and stories of the former Belfield and Wakefield estates along the Wingohocking Creek.

“I think it will help folks understand the importance of waterways, hidden waterways, and the history and development of the entire Northwest Philadelphia,” Forrest explained. “We’ll be looking at the Wakefield ruin and some of the stories behind that site, as well as Belfield, which was the home of Charles Willson Peale, the great Philadelphia artist. So it covers environmental history, architectural history, history of the landscape, and some of the people engaged.”

This tour is currently sold out.

‘The Souvenir of Germantown’

The second tour, “The Souvenir of Germantown,” will take place on Saturday, March 7, from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Members of the Black Writers Museum will lead the tour, which explores the early 20th-century Black business and civic community of Philadelphia’s 22nd Ward.

The tour takes its inspiration from a 1913 document called the Souvenir of Germantown. Printed on the 50th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, this booklet has dozens of photographs of Black-owned homes, businesses, churches, and social institutions. Put together by Baugh Press, a Black-owned business, this document is a time capsule of the community on the eve of the Great Migration.

The contractors, clergy, small business owners, medical professionals, and other leaders who formed the backbone of Germantown’s civic life in 1913 will be spotlighted during the tour.

“It’s an under-discussed era in the region,” Forrest said. “We’ll be doing some orientation at the [Black Writers Museum] and then going through central Germantown, looking at churches, businesses, schools. Some places you would never know — there’s no marker or indication that this was a house where a well-known Black doctor lived or where a real estate agency was. So it’s just another way to recognize places that are hidden in plain sight and almost no one knows their history or heritage.”

‘Black Family Lives in Children’s Books’

The final tour of the winter season, “Black Family Lives in Children’s Books,” will take place on Saturday, March 28, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. The tour takes inspiration from a popular exhibit held at the Germantown Historical Society in 2023 called “Inspiring ‘Bright April’: Race and Class in 1940s Germantown.” The exhibition focused on Marguerite de Angeli’s children’s book “Bright April,” which takes place in that era.

Barbara Dowdall and Susan Bockius, creators of the 2023 exhibit, will lead the tour, which will explore important sites and examine the shift from early portrayals of Black family life by white authors to the emergence of Black writers telling their own stories.

“[The tour] talks about the complexities of a white author writing a book about a Black family in the ‘40s,” Forrest said. “It was banned in many places and the publisher did not want to publish it initially, even though de Angeli was a very well-known writer.”

Additional programming

According to Forrest, the 23 remaining tours will have a wide range of topics throughout the spring, summer, and fall. From architectural and social history to garden landscapes and political stories, there is something for everyone.

Each tour is free, but requires advanced registration through historicgermantownpa.org. And, Historic Germantown is presenting additional programming throughout the year.

“We have a number of major community festivals, two different stamp rally programs this year, a lot of lectures, exhibits opening, and a lot of nature-based programming,” Forrest said. “The tours are one of those backbone things that run through most of the year, but there’s a lot going on this year.”

Learn more at historicgermantownpa.org.

Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.