Poor Richard's Hospital

The first hospital in the United States was built in the City of Brotherly Love, before the American Revolution. A young doctor named Thomas Bond believed that Philadelphia needed a hospital for the poor. The dream did not become a reality until Benjamin Franklin created the first matching grant by convincing the Pennsylvania Assembly that if it would contribute 2,000 pounds, he would raise the same amount privately. The cornerstone of the Pennsylvania Hospital was laid on this date in 1755. Franklin was quoted as saying, "I do not remember any of my political manoeuvers the success of which gave me at the time more pleasure." The building still stands today at Eighth and Spruce Streets.