It was in 1681 that the great Quaker completed the negotiations for the grant of Pennsylvania, and in the next year the first work of the building of the Proprietary House was begun. The plat chosen for its site was the one bounded by Front, Chestnut, Letitia, and High streets, the last now being named Market. In the place of the little cottage and its surrounding yard there is, to-day, one of the most thickly-built portions of Philadelphia. But the true centre of the city, at one time radiating from this point, has now, owing to the growth of two hundred years, moved a mile to the westward. According to one tradition, the Penn or Letitia House was the first brick building erected in Philadelphia; to another, it was the first house to have a cellar. The name, “Letitia,” was given to it by Penn himself, as the house was intended eventually to be the portion of his daughter, Letitia. It is from this source, too, that Letitia Street gets its name. One of the most interesting stories of this little structure is that the bricks and most of the finer building materials used in its construction were brought over from England. More recently doubt has been thrown upon this statement by the discovery that even at that time quite as excellent a quality of brick was being made in Philadelphia. Despite its diminutive size, the cottage required what, to-day, would be an unusual time in its building, and it was well into the year 1683 before it was ready for the house-warming. Quaint, angular, and comfortable in appearance, it faithfully reflects the spirit of Philadelphia’s early people. True to the founder’s ideal in the laying-out of the city, the house, too, is characterized by economy of space and absence of mere ornament. Doors, windows, sills, and sashes--everything, in fact, except the gabled roof, is plain and rectangular. From the front door, we enter its largest room, serving, perhaps, at one time as dining hall, sitting-room, kitchen, and library. On its plain, bare walls we now see collections of old wood cuts, illustrating events which occurred in the time of the founder, including reproductions of Benjamin West’s painting of that famous treaty with the Indians which “was not signed and never broken.” Above the door hangs an old print of the wampum belt which was presented to Penn by the Indians upon that occasion. Near by are facsimiles of the charter of the Province of Pennsylvania, granted by Charles II, and also the first charter of the city of Philadelphia, granted in 1691. In the further corner to the left is an ample fireplace before whose glow we can readily recall to our imagination the serene features of the great founder surrounded by his family.