Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Philadelphia County, dedicated 2023.

3800 Mount Pleasant Drive Philadelphia, PA 19121

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Called “the most elegant Seat in Pennsylvania” by John Adams, the mansion represents high-style Georgian architecture. It was built in 1762-1765 for John Macpherson, who amassed a fortune privateering in the Caribbean. Records show he also participated in the sale and purchase of enslaved people of African descent from the Caribbean to the northern colonies. Nell, Bernard, Castillis and Cato were known to be enslaved here.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Leiden University Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1752 · A map of Philadelphia and parts adjacent with a perspective view of the State-house… (Leiden University Libraries)
1755 · North America from the French of Mr. D'Anville, improved with the back settlements of… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1777 · A plan of the city and environs of Philadelphia COLLBN 011-04-044 (Leiden University Libraries)
1807 · Armees Americaine et Britannique en 1776 et 1777 dans le Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1826 · Philadelphia And Adjacent Country (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

North America from the French of Mr. D'Anville, improved with the back settlements of…, 1755, covering the location of Mount Pleasant, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — North America from the French of Mr. D'Anville, improved with the back settlements of…, 1755, covering this location. Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

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On the National Register nearby

Mount Pleasant210 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.