While the streets of Philadelphia were once home to abolitionists and hideouts on the Underground Railroad, slave traders also lived and worked here.
In colonial days, Captain William Spafford traded slaves along with all sorts of goods like candles and West Indian rum, out of the store on the ground-floor of his home, located at the intersection of Front and Market Streets.
Spafford was a sea captain, ship owner and merchant. He later ventured into the rope making business. Despite his dealings in the slave trade, he was listed as a manager for a lottery to raise money to build a steeple at the Second Presbyterian Church on Arch Street in 1753.
By 1762, Spafford had constructed and was living in an town home on the northwest corner of Front and Shippen (now Bainbridge) Sts., in the present day Queen Village neighborhood.
Spafford House