New Philadelphia National Historic Site
Illinois
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.5 h fully dark
Open today
Open
Entrance
Free entry
Avoid Ticks on Site!
Ticks are very active at New Philadelphia. Use insect repellant and stay on trails. Avoid brushing against logs, shrubs, and grasses. Check your body for ticks after your visit. Learn more about keeping safe from ticks on the Safety page.
Official NPS alert →To a casual observer, New Philadelphia looked like a typical Illinois pioneer town. But a closer look revealed a unique and racially diverse community. New Philadelphia was the first US town platted and registered by an African American. A formerly enslaved man, Free Frank McWorter, founded New Philadelphia in 1836 and purchased freedom for himself and 15 family members.
Activities
Topics
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
The site is open to the public with no scheduled operating hours.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 217-492-4241
✉ NEPH_Information@nps.govConditions
Weather now: ☀️ Clear, 77°F
🌧️ 77°/70°
🌧️ 86°/69°
☁️ 95°/69°
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Things to do
Find Flowers and Butterflies in Lucy's Garden
Go Birding at New Philadelphia
Take a Self-Guided Augmented Reality Tour!
Visit the New Philadelphia Information Kiosk · 4 mi
Accessibility
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on New Philadelphia National Historic Site — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
Places to see
New Philadelphia National Historic Site
Audio & media
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Learn more
Twenty-seven years before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, the formerly enslaved pioneer “Free” Frank McWorter established the first town founded by an African American man in the United States. Major excavation of New Philadelphia began in 2002, and has allowed archeologists the unique opportunity of examining a site settled by free African Americans.
Learn about "Free Frank" McWorter and how archeology can help tell the story of the interracial town he founded in the years before the Civil War.
Find things to do, trip ideas, and more in Illinois.
How New Philadelphia National Historic Site connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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