Editing Five Public Squares (section)

== Logan Square ==

[[Logan Square]], originally Northwest Square, was renamed in 1825 for James Logan, William Penn's secretary and one of colonial Pennsylvania's most important figures. The square's character was dramatically transformed in the early 20th century when it became part of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the grand boulevard connecting City Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The redesign, influenced by the City Beautiful movement and the plan of Paris's Champs-Élysées, converted the square from a traditional park into a traffic circle centered on the Swann Memorial Fountain (also known as the Fountain of the Three Rivers), completed in 1924. The fountain, designed by Alexander Stirling Calder, features bronze figures representing the Delaware, Schuylkill, and Wissahickon waterways.<ref name="brownlee">{{cite book |last=Brownlee |first=David B. |title=Building the City Beautiful: The Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Philadelphia Museum of Art |year=1989 |publisher=Philadelphia Museum of Art}}</ref>

Logan Square today functions as a monumental civic space rather than the pastoral green that Penn envisioned. Traffic circles around the fountain, and the surrounding area includes some of the city's most important cultural institutions, including the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Franklin Institute, and the Academy of Natural Sciences. The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, the largest Catholic church in Pennsylvania, stands on the square's edge. Though the square's character has changed dramatically from Penn's original conception, it remains public space accessible to all, and the Swann Fountain has become one of Philadelphia's most recognizable landmarks.<ref name="gallery"/>