This week in Philly history: The U.S. Marine Corps is founded in Philadelphia, and a city tavern transforms into its symbol
On Nov. 10, 1775, the United States Marine Corps was founded in Philadelphia, as tradition says, inside a tavern.
The eagle, globe, and anchor emblem is solid and respectful, and it looks great pinned to a dress-blue uniform.
But a Philadelphia tavern may be the Devil Dogs' most iconic symbol.
It’s featured on T-shirts and Danbury Mint plaques, and it’s even an add-on option for boot camp graduation rings. And it’s where, as tradition says, the United States Marine Corps was founded on Nov. 10, 1775.
The Tun Tavern, built in 1685 as one of the colonies’ first breweries, was a multistory, wood-and-stone watering hole that once stood at Water Street and Tun Alley, which is now Penn’s Landing.
And, per corps legend, it’s where Maj. Samuel Nicholas recruited the first Continental Marines, the forerunner of today’s corps.
The Second Continental Congress commissioned Nicholas, of Philadelphia, to raise two battalions.
Critics say the Marine Corps does not have records that would necessarily place recruiting in that building per se, but the tavern was no stranger to such uses. Benjamin Franklin organized the Pennsylvania Militia from a tavern seat in 1756, and it also had been used as a meeting place for various civic groups, including the St. John’s No. 1 Lodge of the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Temple.
The tavern did not survive the Revolution, and was razed in 1781. It wasn’t until the 1926 Sesquicentennial, the city’s celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, when the corps adopted the tavern as a core symbol.
Its likeness was used in advertisements, and it was featured on the city‘s first historical marker, which commemorated the Marine Corps’ founding. And a full-size replica was built as an event exhibit.
In the present day, a blue Pennsylvania historical marker is set on Front Street near Sansom Walk, several blocks from the Tun’s original site, which is beneath the southbound lanes of I-95 between Chestnut and Walnut Streets.
And a group of influential Philadelphians is planning to build a full-size and fully functional tavern replica, complete with restaurant and museum, in Old City on Second Street between Market and Chestnut Streets — several blocks from the original site. Its opening is planned to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps’ founding next year. And, at the very least, it should be ready for the U.S. Semiquincentennial celebration in 2026.