Housed in a building the once was home to a business that made "eroticakes", the Franklin Fountain takes you back in time to the early 1900's when the local soda fountain was a popular gathering place for the family. As in the tradition of many turn-of-the-century businesses, proprietors and brothers Eric and Ryan Berley named their business after a famous person - in this case Philadelphia's own Benjamin Franklin, who had operated his first business nearby.
Making use of their mother's background in antiques and Ryan's work as an antiques trader, the family gathered many items from their parent's home and went in search of additional items from the past to create their vision. Meanwhile, Eric traveled to New York State to study the forgotten art of ice-cream making. Other trips took them to a number of the remaining ice cream parlors east of the Mississippi.
Slowly, but surely, their dream began to materialize as the Fountain took shape. Despite setbacks and delays along the way in construction and a lot of red tape, the Franklin Fountain opened for business in September 2004, almost two years after the family first met to discuss what to do with the first floor of their recently purchased property in Old City.
