Built in 1765, the Powel House was home to the political power couple, Samuel and Elizabeth Willing Powel. Samuel served as the last mayor under British rule and Philadelphia's first mayor in the new republic. It was his wife Elizabeth who turned their Georgian home into a social gathering space, entertaining the political elite during the nation's founding. A close friend and confidant of Washington, Elizabeth was instrumental in persuading Washington to run for a second term. Surviving 30 years as a warehouse and factory in the early 20th century, the house is now the only historic house in the neighborhood open to the public in Philadelphia of the rich and notable from the troublesome times in the 1760s and 70s.