Head House Square

This guide to Head House Square in Philadelphia opens with a puzzle: Philadelphia once ran seventy volunteer fire companies at once, and having two show up to the same blaze often made things worse, not better. It follows this 1804 firehouse and market hall, built with a loan from merchant Joseph Wetherill, through decades when its engine bays sheltered companies that behaved more like rival gangs than firefighters, complete with riots and arson in these same streets. The market itself goes back further still, laid out in 1745 by mayor Edward Shippen and merchant Joseph Wharton. Walk the open brick arcade on a Sunday, when vendors fill the space where the engines once stood.