Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial

What it is

This building at 301 Pine Street in Philadelphia preserves the home where Tadeusz Kościuszko lived in 1797–98. He chose this small, cheap boarding house after returning to the United States following his wounding, imprisonment, and banishment from partitioned Poland. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and authorized as a national memorial in 1972; it is America's smallest unit of the National Park System.

Why it matters

While recovering here, Kościuszko was visited by major figures of the day, including Vice President Thomas Jefferson, architect Benjamin Latrobe, Supreme Court Justice William Paterson, Chief Little Turtle of the Miami, and Chief Joseph Brant of the Mohawk. These visits show the respect Kościuszko commanded as a hero of the American Revolution and his connections across different communities, even while he lived modestly and rarely left the house.

Look closer

• Why might Kościuszko have asked for the smallest, cheapest, most remote lodging available?
• What does the variety of visitors tell you about Kościuszko's reputation and relationships?
• How does preserving a small boarding house room, rather than a grand building, change how we remember a historical figure?