Early preview. We are building this in the open. The list is still growing, so some groups are missing and some details may be out of date.
historic sites, walking tours, family history, old buildings
75 groups so far
Narrow these down by cost, days and more
Nonprofit · Upper Northwest
A nonprofit that helps people trace African American family history. It holds free public meetings with a speaker most months, and members can also join members-only workshops and interest group meetings.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · South
A museum in South Philadelphia that shares Scandinavian history and culture through exhibits, events, classes, and volunteer work.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Central
A regional chapter of a professional group for people who restore and care for historic buildings. It covers Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and northern Delaware, and holds about one event a month.
Last seen active: May 2026
Nonprofit · Central
A membership group for people who guide visitors around Philadelphia, both paid and volunteer guides. It runs a certification program for city guides and keeps members connected through training and events.
Last active date not known yet
Nonprofit · Central
A member supported library, archive and talk space focused on Philadelphia's books, buildings and history. Members can borrow books, and visitors can join small discussion groups and attend talks.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Upper Northwest
A museum in the Historic Vernon House in Vernon Park that shows classic and modern Black writers and their books. It holds a free family festival in Germantown and has volunteer and donation pages.
Last active date not known yet
Nonprofit · Central
A Civil War history group in Philadelphia, chartered in 1888. Its old museum building closed in 2008, and its website now shows board members at outside history events and asks for support and board service.
Last seen active: December 2023
Student group
The Penn Museum's undergraduate interest group for students who love museums. Members train as museum docents, help run museum programs, take behind-the-scenes collection tours, and visit other museums together.
Last active date not known yet
Nonprofit · Online
A memoir museum where each exhibit is built around an object that a woman shares to tell part of her own story. Visitors can see the exhibits and book guided tours.
Last active date not known yet
Nonprofit · Upper Northwest
Looks after the Upper Burying Ground, a cemetery started in 1693 in Germantown, and the Concord School House, a schoolroom built in 1775 on the cemetery's corner. Visitors can see both during public hours and at summer evening events.
Last seen active: August 2026
Nonprofit
A public forum that pushes for better design and fairer outcomes in Philadelphia's planning, architecture, preservation and building projects. It holds monthly public events and publishes advocacy articles.
Last seen active: September 2026
Nonprofit · Central
A cultural center at Cherry Street Pier with a large archive of rare books and archival materials. It also helps people research family history and add their own stories to the archive.
Last active date not known yet
Nonprofit · University Southwest
A history and genealogy society for people whose African ancestry DNA results link them to the Djola family. It shares Djola history, oral histories, and research on DNA, places, and language.
Last seen active: August 2021
Nonprofit · Lower Northwest
A society that records and shares the history of the East Falls neighborhood in Philadelphia through lectures, walking tours, oral histories, and an online archive. Its talks and tours are announced on the site.
Last seen active: October 2026
Neighborhood or civic group · River Wards
East Kensington neighbors who meet once a month to share concerns and run committees for cleanups, greening, youth programs, historic preservation, and zoning. A member can join a committee or simply come to the monthly meeting.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Upper Northwest
A Victorian house museum in Germantown that shows nineteenth century home life through its rooms, gardens and collections. It also runs guided tours, live Victorian theatre, lectures and family events.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Central
Keeps Elfreth's Alley and its history in view. The association runs a small museum in two of the Alley's houses, leads guided tours, and holds events such as a fall makers market and a December holiday event.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · River Wards
A nonprofit listed at 2125 East York Street in the river wards. Its website only showed a loading screen to our check, so its programs are not confirmed.
Last active date not known yet
Nonprofit · Lower Southwest
A historic fort on the Delaware River in southwest Philadelphia, run by a nonprofit. It hosts school and scout visits, guided tours, cannon and living history demonstrations, and candlelit ghost tours.
Last active date not known yet
Friends group · Central
Supporters who help keep up the Sedgeley Club Boathouse and the Turtle Rock lighthouse on Boathouse Row. They invite volunteers and gifts, and they welcome visitors to the boathouse.
Last seen active: August 2025
Friends group
A volunteer effort of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia that restores Jewish cemeteries, including Har Nebo in Oxford Circle. Volunteers clear brush and trash, help with headstone work alongside professionals, and help digitize burial records.
Last active date not known yet
Friends group · North
A nonprofit that helps look after two historic cemeteries, Laurel Hill in Philadelphia and West Laurel Hill in Bala Cynwyd. Volunteers help restore monuments and grounds, and the group runs tours and events.
Last seen active: October 2026
Friends group · Lower Southwest
Volunteers who clean up and restore Mount Moriah Cemetery in southwest Philadelphia. They hold clean-up days through the year, and you can come to just one.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Holmesburg
A volunteer-run Civil War museum and research library in Holmesburg. Visitors can tour the exhibits, and members and donors can request research help with Civil War veterans and Grand Army of the Republic posts. It does not do family genealogy.
Last seen active: October 2025
Nonprofit · North Delaware
Glen Foerd is a historic riverfront estate at 5001 Grant Avenue, cared for by a nonprofit conservation corporation with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. Neighbors can walk the free grounds, visit the mansion free on weekend afternoons, and join storytimes, workshops, yoga, tours and free open boating days.
Last seen active: October 2026
Program · Upper Northwest
A youth volunteer group for teens that cares for the gardens and house at Grumblethorpe, a historic house in Germantown run by PhilaLandmarks. Members farm, bake, keep bees, and help at events, with adult mentors.
Last active date not known yet
Nonprofit
An online publication about Philadelphia's buildings, design, history and development. It also runs walking tours and sells memberships to support its work.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Lower North
A North Philadelphia community organization that cares for the Fair Hill burial ground, a historic Quaker site that holds the graves of abolitionists and early women's rights leaders. It also runs reading, garden, and tree-planting programs and community events.
Last seen active: October 2026
Network or meetup
A partnership of about 20 historic houses, museums and gardens in northwest Philadelphia. Its sites offer tours, free events and a volunteer garden program at Wyck.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Central
Looks after Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church as a historic site. It hosts history talks and concerts, runs guided tours, and offers hands-on activities that help care for the church, its graveyard, and its grounds.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Upper Northwest
A historic village in the Wissahickon area with a 1707 homestead, several historic houses, an arboretum, and a small museum. Visitors take tours, and volunteers and members help keep the site going.
Last seen active: October 2026
Garden · Strawberry Mansion
The orchard and kitchen garden at Historic Strawberry Mansion in East Fairmount Park, planted with the Philadelphia Orchard Project. Community members are welcome to pick fruit from the orchard trees, and the mansion hosts workshops on using the fruit.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Lower Northeast
A volunteer-run history group, founded in 1905, that keeps and shares the history of Frankford. It holds monthly lectures, runs a museum open by appointment, and offers library research help.
Last seen active: October 2026
Club · Central
A Philadelphia-area chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a national women's society. The chapter promotes historic preservation, education, and patriotism, and it offers help finding a Revolutionary War ancestor.
Last seen active: January 2024
Nonprofit
Philanthropic partner to Independence National Historical Park. It raises money for restoration and public projects, runs public talks, movie nights and tours, and uses volunteers for tours and events.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Central
A museum at 211 S. Columbus Blvd with historic ships and boats. Its docent program trains volunteers to lead tours of the museum and its ships, but it is not taking new applications right now.
Last active date not known yet
Nonprofit · West
Shares the history of North America's original peoples, with a focus on the Southeast, through videos, online courses and books. It also runs Pathways to Peace and Purpose, a West Philadelphia program with workshops, clean-ups, bike rides and fire circles.
Last seen active: March 2026
Nonprofit
A preservation group that looks for older Philadelphia buildings not yet on the city's historic register, researches them, and nominates them for listing. It also speaks up for the reuse and protection of older buildings.
Last active date not known yet
Student group
A Penn student society that trains students to give campus tours to visitors. Students apply, interview, and complete training before they become members.
Last active date not known yet
Nonprofit · Upper Northwest
A museum on Germantown Avenue about slavery and its legacy, with artifacts and a traveling exhibit for schools and venues. Visits are by appointment.
Last seen active: September 2016
Faith community · Central
A historic AME church on South 6th Street that marked its 232nd anniversary in 2026. Neighbors can join Sunday worship in person, and some Sunday classes and a fellowship hour run on Zoom. The church also runs a museum, takes part in holiday giving, and held a Juneteenth community breakfast and celebration in June 2026.
Last seen active: October 2026
Network or meetup · Central
A membership network for people who work in and support Philadelphia museums. Members get a job bank, mentoring, small grants and events, and they can join committees or the board.
Last seen active: August 2026
Nonprofit · University Southwest
An archive and cultural center in West Philadelphia that shares the history of African American Muslims through exhibits, lectures and youth camps.
Last active date not known yet
Faith community · Central
A United Church of Christ congregation near 4th and Race streets that worships on Sunday in person and on Zoom, hosts Sunday suppers, and runs historical tours.
Last active date not known yet
Network or meetup · Central
A network that supports people who record life stories as oral historians across the Mid-Atlantic region. It runs workshops and local meetups, holds an annual conference, and gives awards.
Last seen active: October 2026
Program
A public art and oral history project for the South 9th Street Curb Market. It records stories from vendors, workers and neighbors, and offers public art and market tours.
Last seen active: September 2026
Neighborhood or civic group · West Park
Neighbors in Overbrook Farms who run a civic club founded in 1892. They care for local history and historic preservation, follow nearby building and zoning plans, and host a block party and fall events.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · University Southwest
A museum in University City. Its Cartifacts volunteers set up carts of five to ten artifacts in the galleries and talk with visitors about each object's history and use.
Last active date not known yet
Student group
The council for Penn graduate students who want to work with the Penn Museum. It speaks for grad students in that work, and it plans workshops, social events, and a weekly writing group.
Last seen active: September 2026
Network or meetup · University Southwest
A group that shares Philadelphia's archaeology with the public and speaks up to protect historic sites. It hosts public talks, runs a historical burial grounds map and database, and invites people to join advocacy actions.
Last seen active: October 2026
Network or meetup · West
Five Philadelphia jazz groups working together to collect, save, and share the city's jazz history. It also records life-story interviews with musicians and neighbors.
Last seen active: September 2026
Nonprofit
Gives commissioned portraits and leadership awards to Philadelphians who serve their communities. It also runs networking dinners and historic tours, and donations help young people and emerging leaders attend at low or no cost.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit
A nonprofit that works to protect Philadelphia's old buildings and neighborhoods. Its volunteer guides lead walking tours on weekends from May into November, each one covering a different part of the city.
Last seen active: October 2026
Club · Central
A nonprofit history group with local chapters across the country. Members learn local history, help keep historic places going, and raise money for restoration projects.
Last active date not known yet
Club · Central
A nonprofit membership group that began in 1944 as a group for studying antiques and now works on history, historic places and preservation. Local chapters meet to study history, raise money for preservation and share local stories.
Last active date not known yet
Neighborhood or civic group · Online
A volunteer-run, non-partisan community group for the Roxborough and Manayunk area since 1995. It reviews zoning requests, plants street trees, organizes neighborhood cleanups, and supports historic preservation.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Central
A museum and library at 2008 to 2010 Delancey Place that keeps rare books and manuscripts, open for study and for visits to its galleries and programs.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Lower Northwest
A local history group that keeps an archive of Roxborough, Manayunk, and Wissahickon records, writes neighborhood history, and helps other local groups share their own history.
Last seen active: September 2026
Garden · University Southwest
The farm at Bartram's Garden, a 50-acre public park in Southwest Philadelphia. Sankofa Community Farm grows food with an African Diaspora focus and invites volunteers to help with seasonal planting and outdoor work.
Last seen active: October 2026
Neighborhood or civic group · Online
Volunteers working to keep the public museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences open on the Parkway. The museum's public doors closed on September 27, 2026, and the campaign is pressing officials to change that decision.
Last seen active: October 2026
Club · Central
A women's social club in the Turtle Rock lighthouse building on Kelly Drive. Members and guests gather for lunches, teas and dinners, and the clubhouse is rented out for meetings and parties.
Last active date not known yet
Student group · University City
Penn's student chapter of a volunteer group that recreates crafts, music, dance and combat from before the 1600s. Members practice these skills and show them at events and demonstrations.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Lower North
A Philadelphia nonprofit that collects and shares the stories of the city's Puerto Rican community through films and recorded conversations. Anyone can watch, listen, or add a story of their own.
Last active date not known yet
Nonprofit · Central
A nonprofit listed in Cultural Fund records with an office at 1650 Arch Street. Its website blocked our check, so what it does and how to take part are not confirmed here.
Last active date not known yet
Neighborhood or civic group · University Southwest
Neighbors who run the May Fair, historic preservation, zoning and other committees for Spruce Hill. They also hold public board meetings and act as a registered community organization that reviews nearby building plans.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · North
The Stenton historic house museum in North Philadelphia, run by the Colonial Dames of America in Pennsylvania. It offers timed house tours, history talks and seasonal family events, such as a fall harvest festival.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · Lower North
A Strawberry Mansion neighborhood nonprofit that works on housing repair, historic preservation, and resident programs. It hosts free family events, such as a spring movie night at The Yard.
Last seen active: May 2026
Neighborhood or civic group · North Delaware
A neighborhood group that residents founded in 2001 to preserve Tacony's housing. It now works to revitalize Torresdale Avenue, the main shopping street, and runs events such as Tacony Third Thursdays and a yearly Halloween celebration.
Last seen active: October 2026
Program · Upper Northwest
A free art installation in Vernon Park in Germantown. Visitors can use a disconnected rotary phone to leave a message about grief, healing, or someone they have lost, and recordings may be kept in a project archive.
Last seen active: January 2026
Nonprofit · Lower North
A free natural history museum and science education institution in North Philadelphia, founded in 1855, with a Victorian-era specimen hall of more than 100,000 items and regular talks and courses.
Last seen active: October 2026
Neighborhood or civic group · Upper Northwest
West Central Germantown Neighbors is a neighborhood group that holds community meetings and potlucks, helps with the Tulpehocken Station Garden, and follows zoning and development in the area.
Last seen active: October 2026
Neighborhood or civic group · Upper Northwest
West Chelten Neighbors Association is a nonprofit, membership-based neighborhood group in West Germantown. It works on safety, zoning, cleanliness and beautification, and an annual block party, and it is a City registered community organization.
Last seen active: October 2026
Neighborhood or civic group · Upper Northwest
West Mount Airy Neighbors is the City registered community organization for West Mount Airy. It follows zoning and building proposals and runs committees on the environment, historic preservation, traffic calming, and neighborhood diversity.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit · University Southwest
A historic cemetery and garden at 4000 Woodland Avenue. It runs public tours, a public events calendar, and volunteer work days where people clean paths, plant and care for trees, and help welcome visitors.
Last seen active: October 2026
Nonprofit
Wyck is a National Historic Landmark house, garden and farm in Germantown, run by the Wyck Association. Visitors can walk the grounds for free during posted hours, take a house tour, or join the Home Farm Club to help grow food.
Last seen active: October 2026
Includes: historic sites and house museums, walking tours and city history, genealogy and family history, oral history and local archives, historic preservation and architecture, friends of historic cemeteries, museum and gallery volunteering.