Benjamin Rush State Park

Founding Father Benjamin Rush signed the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress. He is the Father of American Psychiatry and published the first text book on it in the U.S. He advocated improved conditions for mental patients and careful clinical observation and study. Dr. Rush pioneered addiction therapies including treating alcoholism as a disease. Benjamin Rush was in his 16th year as the treasurer of the U.S. Mint when he died after a short illness. This undeveloped state park is a mixture of open fields and woodlots in the northeast corner of Philadelphia. Benjamin Rush has one of the world's largest community gardens.