Caretaker finds body behind Fairmount Park’s Woodford Mansion

A caretaker of the historic Woodford Mansion in Fairmount Park discovered a body behind the building Thursday afternoon, according to police.

The body — authorities weren’t immediately able to determine the person’s race or gender — was found at 3:17 p.m. on the 3400 block of Woodford Drive, at the rear of the mansion, police said. An apparent cause of death was not immediately available.

Woodford Mansion, a National Historic Landmark, was built by Philadelphia merchant William Coleman between 1756 and 1758. Coleman, a close friend of Benjamin Franklin, was a Pennsylvania Supreme Court associate justice and a founder of the American Philosophical Society.

Now a museum, the mansion is owned by the city and operated by the Naomi Wood Trust. The mansion was closed this spring amid COVID-19 stay-at-home orders but reopened for tours on July 8, according to its website.