Founding Phantoms is a 90-minute evening ghost walk through Old City and Society Hill, run by Ghost City Tours Philadelphia, the local arm of Ghost City Tours, a company that operates ghost tours in cities across the country. It books from $34.99 per person on Viator, where the listing carried a 4.6 rating from 124 reviews at our July 30, 2026 check, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. The route names three stops: Pennsylvania Hospital, the Powel House and the First Bank of the United States.
Despite the name, this is not a 21-and-over walk. The operator's age band starts at 16, so "adults only" describes the tone rather than a drinking-age rule. It suits adults and older teenagers who want founding-era history with the grim parts left in and a short route rather than a long night.
| Detail | What the listing shows |
|---|---|
| From price | $34.99 per person (checked July 30, 2026) |
| Duration | 1 hour 30 minutes |
| When it runs | Evening |
| Minimum age | 16 |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours before |
| Accessibility | Listed wheelchair accessible and stroller accessible |
| Stops | Pennsylvania Hospital, Powel House, First Bank of the United States |
| Rating | 4.6 from 124 Viator reviews |
| Operator | Ghost City Tours Philadelphia, part of the national Ghost City Tours brand |
What you will see
The walk opens at the country's first hospital, chartered by the Pennsylvania Assembly on May 11, 1751 on a petition organized by Dr. Thomas Bond, with Benjamin Franklin lobbying and devising the matching grant that paid for it (Mütter Museum). Franklin did not found it alone. The detail most guides reach for is the four pence, and the record carries it: on May 10, 1762 the managers ordered a hatch door inscribed to direct that people who came "out of curiosity" pay "a Groat at least" for admittance, renewed on April 27, 1767 as the four-pence gratuity formerly agreed upon. A groat was a four-pence coin, so both minutes describe one charge. In context it deterred crowds already gathering at the below-grade cell windows rather than selling tickets to a show, and retellings that make it an advertised attraction overstate the minutes. The surgical amphitheatre upstairs ran from 1804 to 1868 with no electric light, so operations were scheduled on clear days between roughly 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. under the round skylight (ushistory.org).
Stop two is the Powel House on South Third Street, the Georgian townhouse Samuel Powel bought on August 2, 1769 for 3,150 pounds, five days before he married Elizabeth Willing (ushistory.org). Powel was the last mayor of Philadelphia under the Crown and the first under the new charter, and he died of yellow fever on September 29, 1793 at 55, in the epidemic that killed roughly 5,000 Philadelphians that autumn (Landmarks). The operator lists it as Philadelphia's most haunted building, and the ghost attached to it is Peggy Shippen Arnold in a lavender and beige gown. Told honestly, that is folklore: it traces to a 1950s anecdote credited to a historian's wife, no sighting appears in any newspaper, diary or institutional record, and the Landmarks society's own history of the house never mentions ghosts.
The route ends at the First Bank of the United States. Congress passed Alexander Hamilton's bank bill in February 1791 over Thomas Jefferson's constitutional objection, Washington signed it, and the 20-year charter began that December (NPS). The building came later, finished in 1797 to a design by Samuel Blodgett Jr., a merchant and promoter rather than the famous architect tours often credit, with a marble front 90 feet 11 inches across and a mahogany eagle in the pediment by Claudius F. LeGrand and Sons (landmark nomination). Per the listing, Hamilton's spirit is rumored to linger. Straight answer: no apparition, incident or witness account is documented here in any archive, park record or newspaper we could locate. The quieter fact is the better one. It sat empty from 1929 until the Park Service bought it in 1955, and it reopened to the public only on July 1, 2026.
Who it suits
Ninety minutes, on foot, after dark, across three stops in Old City and Society Hill. That is a contained night by ghost-walk standards. The listing marks the tour wheelchair accessible and stroller accessible, though Old City sidewalks are historic and uneven, so weigh that against your own needs.
- Good for adults and teenagers 16 and up who want founding-era history with the unpleasant parts kept in.
- Good for a short evening, and for plans that may change: free cancellation runs to 24 hours before.
- Skip it if anyone in your group is under 16. The age band is the operator's, not a suggestion.
- Skip it if you want a longer or true-crime-heavy night. Two-hour and two-and-a-half-hour walks exist here.
- Skip it if you expect interiors. Treat all three as exterior stops.
How it compares
The closest sibling comes from the same operator and product family: The Ghosts of Philadelphia Tour, also 90 minutes, from $25, rated 4.7 across 217 reviews, and family-friendly by its own listing. The split is audience and stops rather than depth. Bringing children, take the family walk; going out as adults for the darker telling of the founders, take this one.
The bigger, harder-edged nights belong to Grim Philly Twilight Tours. The Dark Philly Adult Night Tour runs two hours across fourteen stops from $38 at 4.9 from 4,469 reviews, and the True Crime Philadelphia and History Tour runs two and a half hours from $44 at 4.9 across 427 reviews. Both are longer and far more reviewed. Founding Phantoms sits at 4.6 from 124 reviews, below the 4.7 median of the nine Philadelphia tours we compared, so choose it for the tight three-stop route and the founders angle rather than for the biggest reputation. Full numbers sit on our Philadelphia ghost tour comparison, and the buildings are covered in haunted places in Philadelphia.
Questions people ask
What is the minimum age?
Sixteen. The operator's age band starts at 16, and although the name says adults only, that describes the tone of the material rather than a 21-and-over rule.
How long is it, and what time does it start?
One hour and 30 minutes, in the evening. No clock time is verified in our checks, so take the departure time from the booking calendar when you pick your date.
Can I cancel?
Yes. The listing showed free cancellation up to 24 hours before at both of our July 2026 checks.
Is it wheelchair accessible?
The listing marks it wheelchair accessible and stroller accessible. It is still a 90-minute walk on Old City sidewalks that are historic and uneven, so judge the surfaces against your own needs.
Do you go inside the buildings?
Treat all three as exterior stops. The First Bank did reopen to the public on July 1, 2026, Thursdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with no ticket, but that is daytime access and separate from an evening walk.
Is Alexander Hamilton's ghost documented at the First Bank?
No. The operator lists his spirit as rumored to linger, and no apparition, incident or witness account appears in any archive, park record or newspaper located for the building. His real tie to it is the bank bill Congress passed in February 1791.
