Philadelphia's Lazaretto

Saturday, October 8, 2011, 3:00 pm EDT

Join us at the oldest surviving quarantine station in the Western Hemisphere as we celebrate another season free of yellow fever, cholera, typhus, and smallpox. On both Saturday October 8 and Sunday October 9, there will be tours, historical exhibits, living history reenactors, refreshments, and (we hope) sunny riverfront vistas. Highlights include:



  • Saturday, 2:00-4:00 p.m.: Professor Larry Tise of East Carolina University, an authority both on Philadelphia's history and the early history of aviation, will join tours of the site and talk about the Lazaretto's second incarnation as one of the first seaplane bases in North America and a military and civilian flight school.

  • Saturday, 7:00 p.m.: Folklorist and historian Dr. Joseph Edgette will give a presentation about the legends of the Lazaretto and Delaware County.

  • Sunday, 1:30 p.m.: Historian David Barnes will give a presentation and slide show about the history of the Lazaretto, and how quarantine worked in the nineteenth century.

  • Sunday, 3:00 p.m.: Reenactment of the annual ceremonial lowering of the yellow quarantine flag, marking the official end of quarantine season.


Full Schedule:

Saturday

10 am Flag Raising

11 am Grounds Tour

2 pm Dr. Tise Talk

3 pm Grounds Tour

7 pm Dr. Edgette Legends talk (St John’s) *

8:15 pm Candlelight Cemetery/Park Tour**


Sunday

10 am Public welcome

11 am Grounds Tour

1 pm Grounds Tour

2 pm Dr Barnes Talk (Fire Station Community Room)

3 pm Flag Lowering Ceremony


* 80 seats available - tickets must be picked up at 6 at the Welcome table. Suggested donation $5.00

** Weather permitting