Philadelphia’s Franklin street lamps, recognised by their curved, almost letter-shaped brackets, are more than a decorative feature of the city’s historic districts. The lanterns are modern replicas of an 18th-century lighting design associated with Benjamin Franklin and can be seen throughout Society Hill and Old City.
The distinctive fittings are sometimes nicknamed “P for Philly” by locals. Their four-sided lanterns, suspended from dark cast-iron posts, were designed to address a practical problem that once made street lighting smoky, fragile and expensive to maintain.
How Benjamin Franklin improved Philadelphia’s street lighting
Philadelphia’s first known outdoor public street light appeared in 1751, when John Clifton placed an oil lamp outside his home on Second Street, near Clifton’s Alley, an area now associated with Drinker’s Court in Society Hill.
The experiment demonstrated how lighting could make dark streets easier to navigate and potentially discourage crime. But the imported lamps then in use were made with enclosed, rounded glass globes that quickly became coated in soot.
With little airflow, smoke from the oil and wick lingered inside the globe. The lamps needed frequent cleaning and could be destroyed entirely if struck by a stone, carriage wheel or other object.
Franklin proposed replacing the globe with four flat panes of glass held in a metal frame. Openings at the bottom allowed air to enter, while a funnel-like chimney at the top helped draw smoke away from the flame.
The design kept the lantern brighter for longer and made repairs simpler. If a pane was broken, it could be replaced individually rather than forcing workers to discard an entire glass globe.
Franklin later helped promote measures covering paving, sweeping and lighting through the Pennsylvania Assembly. Philadelphia subsequently became known for developing one of the earliest coordinated public street-lighting systems in the United States.
The lanterns seen today are not surviving colonial fixtures. During the redevelopment of Society Hill in the mid-20th century, the city installed electric replicas of 18th-century street lights as part of efforts to preserve the neighbourhood’s historic character.
The reproductions also echo details of the original infrastructure, including horizontal braces that historically helped lamplighters reach the oil-burning fixtures. Similar Franklin-style lights remain a familiar feature of the city’s cobbled streets and brick-lined historic quarters.
What began as a practical answer to smoke-filled and easily shattered lamps has therefore endured as one of Philadelphia’s most recognisable streetscape traditions — a visible reminder of Franklin’s contribution to the city’s early public lighting.
