The North Philadelphia neighborhood, which straddles Germantown Avenue just west of Broad Street and Erie Avenue, has seen its population rise 4 percent (above the city's 1 percent increase), its housing prices rose 11 percent again above the citywide average. The highest numbered street to run any considerable distance contiguously is 58th Street, which runs from the northern frontier of West Philadelphia at City Avenue south to the Schuylkill River. This gradual elevation makes the skyline of Center City visible from many points in West Philadelphia. 1 Baths Ba; 320 S. 10th Street. In contrast, people younger than 25 and those older than 65 earn less, at $35,844 and $33,684, respectively. Many public sector unions became majority African American, or at least enjoyed large minorities of Black members, giving their neighborhoods larger political and economic anchors. After Hamiltons death, much of the land was sold for residential and commercial development. Satterlee Hospital, one of the largest Union Army hospitals of the Civil War, operated from 1862 to 1865; part of its grounds are now the northern section of Clark Park. Follow Backgrounders on Twitter One of the aggravating factors in this change has been the recent reconstruction of the EL which, due to detours of the "number streets" or numbered northsouth thoroughfares and closure of large portions of Market Street, have led to many remaining businesses failing. 77th and 86th Streets run just a few blocks before they leave the city for surrounding jurisdictions. Another major transit link in West Philadelphia are the five Subway Surface Lines, often called the Green Lines for their representation on SEPTA route maps. Unlike standardly available Census demographics, NeighborhoodScout uses dozens of custom models to transform 8.5 million raw demographic data elements from government sources into proprietary indices and insights. The then-scion of the family, William Hamilton (1745-1813), established the estates Georgian mansion and laid out. On the morning of August 8, 1978, Mayor Frank Rizzo ordered police to enter the property by force. Police bombarded the home with water cannons and teargas, and the sides exchanged gunfire. Blocks away from "West" were the West Philadelphia Catholic High Schools for Girls at 46th Street and Boys at 48th Street, now consolidated into West Catholic Preparatory High School in the building at 46th Street. The university was not the only force at work; its efforts were aided by a nationwide decline in crime and marginal increase in the desire for urban living among a segment of the professional classes. View All Data Tools and Apps Mummies have captured the imagination and sparked the curiosity of Philadelphians since the Colonial Era. The world view has basic facts, trade, and projections by country. These include mosques such as Masjid Al-Jamia, a Sunni Muslim institution at 4228 Walnut Street. 1 Beds Bds; . The renowned Penn Relays draw high school and college track and field athletes from around the country. Nestled in the center of Fairmount Park, it is near Memorial Hall, the current home of the Please Touch Museum, Kelly Pool, The Carousel House, and the new Microsoft partner high school, the "School of the Future". As African Americans began living in more neighborhoods, the white population began fleeing to the expanding suburbs. University of Pennsylvania Library and College Hall. Finally, the Route 36 trolley is the longest trolley Green Line service. For a complete list of the variables and breakdowns of data available, consult the professional version of Social Explorer available from the University of Pennsylvania Libraries and other institutional subscribers. The two 77th Streets (as well as all numbered streets after 58th) are miles apart. But over the course of the twentieth century, as the area became majority African American, it was hobbled by racist lending and employment practices. West Philadelphia High School was one of the biggest and most diverse schools in state when it was opened in 1911. From 2000 to 2016, the number of foreign-born residents rose by roughly 95,000 while the number of U.S.-born Philadelphians fell by 44,500. After several high-profile murders of Penn graduate students living in the mixed- race neighborhoods beyond the campus borders, which had lost much of their white population during the 1990s, the university began to again be active in the community. The Paoli/Thorndale Line serves Overbrook and Wynnefield, and continues to the Main Line communities and Paoli. U.S. District Court for the Eastern Dist. Multiple business corridors sprouted on Fifty-Second Street and Baltimore, Lancaster, Woodland, and Girard Avenues. The Black population swelled again during World War II, breaking West Philadelphia's racial boundaries by moving south of Market Street and west of Fifty-Ninth Street. West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Grades Offered Grades 9-12 Total Students 372 students Gender % Total Classroom Teachers 32 teachers Students by Grade School Rankings Professional basketball has a long history in the Philadelphia region, from the first professional league, formedin 1898,to the NBA. In the latter decades of the twentieth century West Philadelphia kept changing as the white population continued to drain out of the city. Only two MOVE members, Ramona Africa and a child, Birdie Africa, survived the blaze. Later Tudor and Spanish Revival houses, and the Art Deco influenced apartment houses also filled in available lot spaces between developments and made it possible for more middle-class Philadelphians to move to the area. Running above and, for a portion, under Market Street, this transportation link is one of Philadelphia's two major transit lines that transport hundreds of thousands of students and workers daily into and around the city. The majority race in Philadelphia overall is white at 62.2% of residents. Professional, scientific, and technical services, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders. CLOSE. This set the living pattern apart from its counterparts in North and South Philadelphia, where row houses were interspersed with factories and warehouses. 1944), who was born and raised in West Philadelphia, Penn promised to not repeat the aggressive steps taken in the 1950s and 1960s. Like The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Facebook, Follow The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Instagram, Like The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Facebook, Philadelphia, the Place that Loves You Back, (Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries), International Peace Mission Movement and Father Divine, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum), Community leaders to unveil plans for a new West Philadelphia bicycle track (WHYY, May 5, 2012), Taking refuge in West Philadelphia's Clark Park (WHYY, July 26, 2012), Store front church a safe haven for kids in West Philly neighborhood (WHYY, August 3, 2013), Why parts of West Philly not getting the boost from attracting artists (WHYY, August 29, 2014), Philly Love Note: The 'Love Letters' of West Philly's El riders (WHYY, September 4, 2014), HUD chief tours West Philly 'Promise Zone' (WHYY, September 5, 2014), University City Science Center plans expansion that will double its size (WHYY, June 2, 2015), Area near Drexel in West Philly wins big school grant (WHYY, December 22, 2016), Historical marker coming to site of MOVE debacle (WHYY, March 31, 2017), New mural to honor Philly native Ed Bradley of '60 Minutes' (WHYY, May 3, 2017), West Philadelphia Community History Center (University of Pennsylvania Archives and Records Center), West Philadelphia Italianate (PhillyHistory Blog), West Philadelphia: A Suburb in a City (PhillyHistory Blog), An Iron Baron's West Philadelphia Castle (PhillyHistory Blog), Decidedly Different West Philadelphia Twins (Hidden City Philadelphia), New Apartments, Old Glory in West Philadelphia (Hidden City Philadelphia), A Place for Enlightenment in Southwest Philadelphia (Hidden City Philadelphia), West Philly Home Still Sings the Praises of Paul Robeson (Hidden City Philadelphia), PhilaPlace: 4228 Walnut Street: Masjid al-Jamia (Historical Society of Philadelphia), I'm From Philly. As African Americans began living in more neighborhoods, the white population began fleeing to the expanding suburbs. In 1924, the president of Drovers and Merchants National Bank argued that West Philadelphia should have its own seat on the local Federal Reserve Board. By the 1930s one of the more notable developments in West Philadelphia was the growing number of Black residents and the discriminatory pressures that boxed them into an intensely segregated area stretching south to Market Street, west to Fifty-Ninth Street, and bounded to the north and east by the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the river beyond it. The most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region. Learn how and when to remove this template message, West Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic District, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, National Register of Historic Places listings in West Philadelphia, "Studio 34's Eponymous Trolley, or, A Short History of Route 34", Mastery Charter Schools' big test in Philadelphia, "Commodore Theatre in Philadelphia, PA - Cinema Treasures", West Philadelphia Community History Center, Graduate Hospital / Southwest Center City. Trains influenced suburban development and provide a green alternative to crowded highways systems. Data.census.gov, Census Data API, and Census Search will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Finally the decision was made by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Gregore Sambor to drop an incendiary device on the bunkerlike structure to weaken MOVEs position. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Philadelphia city, Pennsylvania QuickFacts Table (a) Includes persons reporting only one race (c) Economic Census - Puerto Rico data are not comparable to U.S. Economic Census data (b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories Marsh, Margaret. West Philadelphia is also served by five of SEPTA's thirteen Regional Rail Lines, which transport thousands of commuters daily to and from Center City and University City, and provide a quick and inexpensive link to the Philadelphia International Airport. But during the early decades of majority-Black West Philadelphia, these challenges were attenuated by the growth of African American political power and the slowly declining, but still available, unionized industrial jobs. mile) Land Area (in sq. Hampton Demographics. The land that makes up West Philadelphia was not always part of the city. The student body continued to grow into the twentieth century and by 1900 the campus had expanded to thirty buildings including dormitories, laboratories, and the Frank Furness-designed library shown at left in this postcard. This photograph shows two clusters of houses on an otherwise vacant street, awaiting the relocation of residents before demolition. [8], The area gained some fame through the DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince song "Yo Home to Bel-Air", which became the theme song to the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which Wynnefield native Will Smith raps, "In West Philadelphia, born and raised.". 7,043,501 and 7,680,859. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and the SEPTA Media/Wawa Line to the south. They were also discouraged, by legal means or by violence, from immediately following the white population into the growing suburbs. Then on the far bank of the Schuylkill, port and mercantile infrastructure began to build up at this westward point of entry to the city. Warner was the first known European west of the Schuylkill. Starting at $1,140 USD /mo. For the 1844-54 legal entity, see, Neighborhood of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [28] [3] One of the major retail strips in West Philadelphia, it is lined with shops and restaurants through to 64th Street in the Wynnefield neighborhood. The cemetery is open daily to visitors and still allows up to one hundred burials per year; the mansion is open seasonally for tours. The neighborhood of Eastwick in Southwest Philadelphia, near Philadelphia International Airport, showed the greatest poverty-rate increase of any community, rocketing from 12 percent during 2006-10 to 26 percent in the newest survey. The street was unified by front yards, and enclosed by decorative iron fences. By the 1840s developers in Philadelphia, which was the second-largest city in the United States at the time, were already looking beyond the Schuylkill for fresh land. People who identify as black are most likely to be living in the central places. Northsouth streets are numbered, rising consecutively from 30th Street at the Schuylkill River to 77th Street on the far western edge near Cobbs Creek and to the block-long 90th Street in Southwest Philadelphia near the airport. Airy, West Oak Lane, East Oak Lane, Rhawnhurst, Germantown, Mayfair, Tacony, Wynnefield and Olney. A major wagon route, Lancaster Pike, ran through the area, and in 1805 the first permanent bridge was built over the Schuylkill at Market Street. The introduction of electric streetcars in the 1890s further altered the area, as those with more resources moved farther out, leaving behind a more broadly based middle class. The educational institutions and city planners wanted to establish a research park like Stanford Universitys Industrial Park to revitalize the community. We apologize for the inconvenience. Follow The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Instagram Modeled after the Crystal Palace Great Exhibition in London, the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 exhibited national pride and belief in the importance of education and progress through industrial innovation. An official website of the United States government. QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. Other major thoroughfares include Chestnut and Walnut Streets, which together form Pennsylvania Route 3. 30 Years Later, I'm Still Trying To Make Sense Of The MOVE Bombing (National Public Radio), PhilaPlace: Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (AICP) An Interview with Linda Hauber (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). Despite the industry clustered along the areas shores, development in this period remained largely residential in the rest of West Philadelphia. Black Bottom was a traditionally black, working-class neighborhood along the Market Street corridor, between the Powelton Village and Mantua neighborhoods and the campuses of Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania. The map below highlights areas of . The El once powered the economic engine of West Philadelphia. After that, the population exploded from eleven thousand in 1850 to twenty-three thousand in 1860. Completed in 1907, this elevated subway line linked West Philadelphia, Millbourne and Upper Darby to Center City and then later to Frankford. Today several bridges span the river, connecting West Philadelphia neighborhoods to the citys commercial heart. The Black neighborhoods closest to the river, and therefore closest to Penn, tended to be those with the lowest income and the least political power. Community opposition fell on deaf ears and the city demolished vacant houses, declared Black Bottom a blighted neighborhood, and purchased it through eminent domain. At the time, the majority of residents were working classabout half immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and Englandand settlements of any density tapered off at what would become the boundaries of Fortieth Street, with the wealthy clustered along Walnut and Chestnut near this westward extremis. This situation was counterpoised by the rise of University City, which was quickly becoming a rival for Center City in term of jobs and investment. For the next half century at least, West Philadelphia largely became a suburb in the cityabetted by a series of advances in transportation technology, starting with the horsecars of the 1850s. Photo: Lexey Swall/GRAIN for The Pew Charitable Trusts The houses melded the suburban principles of front porches and greenspace with the urban rowhouse form, producing profitable, yet desirable, middle-class suburban housing. School Dropout Rate for Population 16 to 19 Years : Civilian Population 16 to 19 Years Old: 17,540 : Not High School Graduate, Not Enrolled (dropout) 1,023: 5.8%: High School Graduate, or Enrolled (in school) 16,517: 94.2% : Employment/Unemployment for Civilian Population in Labor Force Age 16 Years and Over : Civilian Population in Labor Force . In 1850, it was destroyed by fire. West Poplar; Philadelphia Population Statistics. The Route 34 trolley runs along Baltimore Avenue from Cobbs Creek at 61st Street to the transit tunnel at 40th Street in University City.