Founded in 1787 by 24 Philadelphia physicians "to advance the Science of Medicine, and thereby lessen human misery, by investigating the diseases and remedies which are peculiar to our country" and to promote "order and uniformity in the practice of Physick," it has made important contributions to medical education and research.

[3][2] The College remains a private membership organization of physicians, whose members or "fellows" attend regular meetings on professional education and development.

Anatomical specimens include the conjoined liver of Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker; and a section of the brain of Charles J. Guiteau, who assassinated President Garfield.

[citation needed] In addition to its rare books and nineteenth- and twentieth-century collections, the College Library is notable for its manuscripts and archives.

By 1783 Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, proposed a society similar to Royal College of Physicians in London.

In 1793, a yellow fever epidemic broke out in Philadelphia and the College proposed eleven public health measures to the mayor.

[10] The earliest meetings of the College were held at Fourth and Arch Streets but the growth of the library soon made that space inadequate.

[11] Architect James H. Windrim designed a utilitarian two-story building that opened on March 4, 1863, at Locust and Thirteenth Streets and cost $40,858.28.

[12] The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Building is a two-story rectangular red brick structure with limestone trim that was completed in 1909.

The Norris Room contains an unusual carved stone Gothic fireplace designed by Theophilus Parsons Chandler Jr.

The fireplace was donated in 1885 by George William Childs, publisher of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, and originally built in the College's old Locust Street building.