All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

NOT ALL BONES CONSIDERED NOT BIOGRAPHICAL BYTES FROM BALA I did not have time to complete the Biographical Bytes from Bala podcast about Billionaire's Row. I will release the segment on Ralph & Suzanne Roberts in a day or two. This is what I have been working on. The first draft of an "Ultimate Baseball Tour" I am giving 6 times during MLB All-Star Week. Then I had to spruce up a talk for Fort Mifflin that I had not given in a couple of years.  Much of my time has gone into preparing Laurel Hill's first columbarium tour. I've selected nearly 40 people for inclusion and have only started to scratch the surface. Come out and join me Sunday, April 19, at 1pm. We gather at the funeral home and walk up the steps for what will be a primarily indoor tour of 20th and 21st century Laurel Hill occupants. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #085, part 5   Samuel Perkins was the driving force behind getting the job done at City Hall. He established a close relationship with architect John McArthur, Jr., and sculptor Alexander Milne Calder, who honored him with a series of playful cats tucked away in the south entrance vestibule. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #085-4   John Christian Bullitt was a native Kentuckian who was pro-slavery, but who made his career as a Philadelphia lawyer. His constitutional knowledge and skills led to him rewriting the City's Charter, which immediately became known as The Bullitt Bill. He also helped clear Fitz John Porter of his court martial charges 15 years after the fact. His statue has stood at the northwest corner of City Hall for more than a century. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #085, Part 3 for April 4   Like sculptor Alexander Milne Calder, Architect John McArthur, Jr., was a Scottish immigrant. He specialized in huge buildings that were meant to last a long time, which explains his selection as architect for Philadelphia's city hall, which when finished was the largest building in the Western Hemisphere. Calder honored him by having him model for the visage of "science" in the eastern portico. He is naked. 

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #085, part 2 for April 3, 2026 Matthias Baldwin was always good with his hands. He started as a jeweler, but progressed to bookbinding before he built one of the first steam engines in the nation. When the Age of Steam emerged, Baldwin became the foremost manufacturer of reliable locomotives that were also works of art.