Greater Philadelphia

Courthouses (County)

The prominent locations of courthouses in the architectural landscape of Philadelphia and the surrounding region mirrored their positions as cornerstones of civic life. Thomas U. Walter designed the Chester County Courthouse in the 1840s.

Colonial Revival

The Colonial Revival expressed nostalgia for the Colonial and Revolutionary eras through architecture, landscape design, and material culture, including the reconstruction of William Penn's Pennsbury Manor.

Dinosaurs and Paleontology

The Philadelphia area has played a major part in paleontology, yielding discoveries that have helped to illuminate millions of years of existence. Fossils found at the former Inversand Quarry in Sewell, N.J., date to the Cretaceous Period.

Ceramics

Innovative ceramic makers and entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia region produced a spectrum of utilitarian pottery and refined luxury goods. The American China Manufactory began operations near the Delaware River waterfront in 1770.

Lawnside, New Jersey

Lawnside, New Jersey, has been one of only a handful of jurisdictions in the United States that has maintained a primarily African American population throughout its existence.

Wilmington, Delaware

Delaware’s largest city and the New Castle County seat originated as a colonial trading area and ferry crossing and later became one of the country’s most vital industrial and chemical-producing centers.

Glassmakers and Glass Manufacturing

An industry active throughout the region, in the nineteenth century, glassmaking continued in Millville, New Jersey, into the twenty-first century.

Bakeries and Bakers

Baking, one of the earliest businesses in Philadelphia, ranged from small neighborhood bakeries to large companies like the Tasty Baking Company, headquartered by the twenty-first century at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Saws and Saw Making

Philadelphia ranked as one of the nation’s foremost saw manufacturing centers for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By the mid-nineteenth century a number of major saw manufacturers operated in the city, including the world’s largest, Henry Disston’s Keystone Saw Works.

Community Colleges

Two-year, public colleges—commonly known as community colleges—became a fixture in the Philadelphia area in the second half of the twentieth century. The Community College of Philadelphia opened in 1965.

Philadelphia Folk Festival

The Philadelphia Folk Festival, founded by Kenneth S. Goldstein and Gene Shay, welcomes thousands of guests and campers each year. Since 1965, it has taken place at Old Poole Farm in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania.

Silver Linings Playbook

The Oscar-winning 2012 movie 'Silver Linings Playbook' was filmed in and around Philadelphia, including the Llanerch Diner in Upper Darby, Delaware County.

Silk and Silk Makers

Philadelphia became one of the nation's major manufacturers of silk in the early nineteenth century. The city's most well-known silk goods maker, Horstmann & Sons, was located at Fifth and Cherry Streets.

Delaware Bay

The Delaware Bay, one of America's premier 'maritime gateways,' contributed significantly to the Philadelphia region's economic development. The Bayshore Center in Port Norris traces much of the Bay's history.

Soccer

Soccer has been played in the Philadelphia area since the late nineteenth century. Hundreds of leagues, clubs, and professional associations remain active. The Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer plays home matches at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester.

Bridgeton, New Jersey

Between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries, Bridgeton was an economic stronghold for industries including glass, iron, clothing, machinery, and food processing. The Cumberland County seat and courthouse are located in Bridgeton.

Plays and Playwrights

The home of Edwin Forrest, an influential Philadelphia-born actor, later became the Freedom Theatre, the oldest African American theater in Pennsylvania.

Mennonites

German Mennonites were among the first settlers in Philadelphia in the early 1680s. The 1770 Germantown Meetinghouse remains open as a museum and historic site.

Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul

The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, established in 1846, is the largest Catholic Church in Pennsylvania and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Environmental Movement

Industrial sites like the Philadelphia Coke Co. plant in Bridesburg brought Philadelphians to the forefront of the environmental movement after World War II. Local residents continue to be active in environmental justice concerns.

Irish (The) and Ireland

Located here is a memorial to the Irish people and their suffering during the Great Famine between 1845-1850, the famine was one of many motivating factors for the Irish to immigrate to the United States.

Mexican-American War

Despite taking place in the American Southwest and Central America, the Mexican-American War (1845-48) had significant ties to the Philadelphia area. A monument to soldiers killed in the war stands in Philadelphia National Cemetery.

Independence Seaport Museum

The Independence Seaport Museum is home to an extensive collection of the Greater Delaware Valley's maritime history and two iconic vessels, the Becuna submarine and the USS Olympia.

Machining and Machinists

Philadelphia has a long history of machining and machinists. The Tacony Iron Works, at this location from 1881 to 1910, produced structural iron work for the tower and William Penn statue on Philadelphia's City Hall.

Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

The Greater Philadelphia area's position near the Atlantic Ocean has always made it vulnerable to hurricanes and tropical storms. When storms make landfall, the coast is particularly vulnerable due to seawalls and storm surge.

Historic Districts

Concentrations of buildings, landscapes, and natural features that collectively reflect the region’s cultural and historical development have been recognized as historic districts. Cooper Street in Camden is one of many historic districts in the region.

Prisons and Jails

Philadelphia was at the center of the early prison reform movement, first introducing individual cells at Walnut Street Prison and later solitary confinement. The city's prisons later became notorious for conducting experiments on prisoners and a high rate of incarceration.

Zoning (Philadelphia)

From its inception, zoning became a fraught subject. By empowering neighborhood groups and local politicians with power over land use in their communities, zoning brought such groups in Philadelphia and elsewhere into contest with developers, industrial concerns, and sometimes with other people who wanted to move into their neighborhoods. In 1962, Mayor James Tate signed a major overhaul to the zoning code at City Hall, the first revision to the code since 1933.

Hospitals (Economic Development)

Hospitals and academic medical centers have played a central role in the economies of many major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia. The site of Philadelphia General Hospital became the multi-institution Philadelphia Center for Health Care Sciences.

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Located a mile north of the Routes 611-202 convergence, thirty-five miles north of Center City Philadelphia, Doylestown has served as the government center of Bucks County for over two centuries.

Mount Holly Township, New Jersey

Mount Holly, New Jersey, established by Quakers in 1677 and known variously in its early history as Northampton and Bridgetown, became the county seat for Burlington County through an act of legislation in 1793.

Jewelers Row

Jewelers Row in Center City Philadelphia emerged in the 1880s and over time became home to more than two hundred jewelry retailers, wholesalers, and craftsmen. The 700 block of Sansom Street has evolved throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and still houses many jewelry shops.

South Asians

South Asians arrived in Philadelphia after changes in immigration policy, lured by university and skilled employment. Here they established businesses, cultural organizations, and religious centers, including several suburban Hindu Temples.

Dogs

Dogs have lived in the Philadelphia area for hundreds of years and have transformed from working and hunting dogs to cherished pets and even advertising mascots like RCA-Victor's 'Nipper.'

Gas Stations

From designs evoking Greek temples built at the dawn of the automobile age to the ubiquitous utilitarian structures of the twenty-first century, gas stations have become a fixture of the Philadelphia area's landscape.

Cold War

During the period of international political and military tension known as the Cold War (1947-91), Greater Philadelphia served as a first line of defense, and the era is recalled by the Korean War Memorial at Penn's Landing.

Dispensaries

Free clinics known as dispensaries served the “working poor” from the eighteenth through the early twentieth centuries. The Philadelphia Dispensary for the Medical Relief of the Poor, considered the nation’s first, opened in 1786 and erected a new building on Fifth Street in 1801.

Brickmaking and Brickmakers

The city of Philadelphia was built with bricks, giving it an appearance many neighborhoods retained into the twenty-first century. The best quality brick clay was found in the 'Neck' between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers.

Nuclear Power

The late twentieth century proliferation of nuclear power plants and a partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating station led to widespread protests. The PECO building in Philadelphia was a frequent target.

Pacific World (Connections and Impact)

Philadelphia's connections to the Pacific World are as old as the city itself, including early participation in the China Trade and the first Japanese gardens in the United States at the Centennial Exhibition.

Armories

Armories served as military training sites, arms depots, headquarters, and social clubs for citizen-soldiers, and dozens rose across the area. Some, like the Twenty-Third Street Armory, remain in use today.

Scots Irish (Scotch Irish)

Presbyterian minister William Tennent founded this school in 1726 to train evangelically minded clergy. Critics mocked Tennent for attempting to educate poor country boys, derisively referring to his academy as the “Log College.”

Dutch (The) and The Netherlands

The Old Dutch House in New Castle, Delaware, dates to the seventeenth century and is believed to be one of the oldest houses in Delaware. Henry Hudson, who was employed by the Dutch East India Company, anchored in Delaware Bay in 1609, and claimed the country for the Dutch.

Women’s Suffrage

Mill-Rae was the home of Philadelphia suffragist Rachel Foster Avery and a meeting place for activists in the early twentieth century. Serving as Cranalieth Spiritual Center since 1996, the home also is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Women’s Clubs

Although initially focused on self-improvement, women’s clubs in the Philadelphia region, like the New Century Club, quickly extended their goals to include community activism.

Freedom Train

Carrying artifacts and documents of American History, the Freedom Train left from Broad Street Station on a journey to unify the American people against the encroaching threat of communism.

Opera and Opera Houses

Philadelphia was once home to a number of opera houses that served as venues for its many opera companies. Three of these venues remain standing, including North Broad Street's Metropolitan Opera House.

Thrift

Sara Louisa Oberholtzer (1841-1930), a native of Uwchlan, Chester County, gained national stature through promoting and directing the School Savings Bank Movement.

Boarding and Lodging Houses

Philadelphia's boarding and lodging houses provided affordable, if less than desirable, living quarters and meals to their inhabitants. They were also a means for recent immigrants and women to support themselves and their families.

Bicycles

Philadelphia's love affair with the bicycle began with its public debut at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, held in Fairmount Park. A plethora of recreational bike trails and a bike sharing program provide cyclists with new options in the twenty first century.

Bartram’s Garden

Established in 1729 by John Bartram, Bartram's Garden is the oldest botanical garden in the United States.

Police Athletic League

Established in 1947, the Philadelphia Police Athletic League has sought to foster relationships between police officers and the communities they serve.

Nursing

Philadelphia was at the forefront of the early nursing profession and its prestigious nursing schools set new standards for professionalism in the field. Some, like the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing, continue to educate men and women in the field.

Newspapers (Suburban)

Following World War II, suburbanization caused a major restructuring of the American newspaper industry. The Bucks County Courier Times came from a merger of the Bristol Courier and Levittown Times in 1954.

Red Arrow Lines

Red Arrow buses, trolleys, and trains served Philadelphia and the surrounding area from the 1950s to the late '70s. The Norristown Transportation Center, the terminus for the Market-Street Elevated, was once serviced by Red Arrow trains.

West Chester, Pennsylvania

Strategically located, West Chester prospered as a county seat, lost population and businesses, then regained stature. The courthouse, built 1784-86, is the center of the historic district of West Chester.

Genealogy

The study of genealogy transformed from a pursuit of the elite in the nineteenth century into the most democratic field of historical research. The National Archives at Philadelphia holds historical records spanning from 1789 to the 1970s.

Mexicans and Mexico

Mexicans became the region’s second-largest immigrant group in the early twenty-first century, impacting the region's culture and economy. The Mexican Cultural Center of Philadelphia is in the Bourse Building, near Independence Hall.

Woodbury, New Jersey

Initially a small farming community, Woodbury became the seat of Gloucester County and emerged as a key center for transportation, manufacturing, and the legal and medical professions. The old Gloucester County Courthouse has loomed large since opening in 1854.

Eugenics

Elwyn, Pennsylvania, and Vineland, New Jersey, housed two key institutional centers and many individuals responsible for studying eugenics, the supposed biological basis for social deviancy and dependency. Elwyn Historical Archives and Museum is in Media, Pennsylvania.

Edge Cities

Edge cities like Cherry Hill, New Jersey, emerged after World War II and drained the older cities and suburbs of jobs and residents while promoting 'car culture' with their office parks, highways, and retail and entertainment venues.

ENIAC

Unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electrical Engineering in 1946, the world's first nontechnical computer, the ENIAC, consisted of 40 nine-foot-high cabinets containing 18,000 vacuum tubes, 10,000 capacitors, 6,000 switches, and 1,500 relays.

Catholic Parishes

Philadelphia has been home to Catholic parishes since the colonial era. Despite declines in recent decades, the church maintains a strong presence. Old St. Joseph's on Willings Alley opened in 1733.

Inner Suburbs

The suburbs within about eight miles of the Philadelphia city limits developed their own character and cycles of prosperity and struggle. The Borough of Narberth thrives on its family atmosphere and easy commute time--less than 30 minutes by rail.

Hotels and Motels

Philadelphia became an early leader in hotel development, introducing innovations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel was widely considered to be the most extravagant hotel in the country.

Smoking and Smoking Regulations

Tobacco has been smoked in the Philadelphia area for social, medicinal, and religious uses since the precolonial era. N.W. Ayer & Son on Washington Square created ads for both R.J. Reynolds’ and Phillip Morris Companies.

Convents

Convents—communities of women devoted to religious life—in the Greater Philadelphia area have played a big role in the education of youth and in social services for communities since the nineteenth century. The Convent of Divine Love is on Green Street.

Deleware River Basin Commission

The four-state compact that established the Delaware River Basin Commission was a breakthrough in addressing the land and water impacts of natural resources spanning political jurisdictions. Washington Crossing is a historic vantage point for river recreation.

Crowds (Colonial and Revolution Eras)

Ordinary people helped shape the political culture by engaging in public celebrations, civil disorder, and, occasionally, collective violence. Crowds in the State House yard, for instance, heard and cheered the Declaration of Independence.

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

The WPA provided jobs for thousands of Philadelphians, but not enough to help everyone. WPA workers added a rail line to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, the line that today carries PATCO trains between Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey.

Television Shows (About Philadelphia)

The Philadelphia region has provided a backdrop for many television programs, including an early season of MTV's the Real World, whose cast lived in an old bank building at Third and Arch Streets.

Militia

Volunteer militias protected the Philadelphia region during wars and riots from the Colonial era to the Civil War. Cliveden, the home of Benjamin Chew, had a role in the Battle of Germantown in October 1777.

Lotteries

Lotteries in Philadelphia date to the colonial era, though they ran afoul of the Quakers. The prize for the city's first lottery drawing, in 1720, was a house at Third and Arch Streets.

Philadelphia Ten

The Philadelphia Ten was all-women’s group of painters and sculptors that exhibited together for nearly thirty years starting in 1917. Works of the Ten can be found at Woodmere Museum of Art on Germantown Avenue.

Horses

Horses played a key role in the development of Greater Philadelphia, first as work animals and later for sport and recreation. The Devon Horse Show was founded in 1869 and continues today.

Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans

Relations between Philadelphia and Puerto Rico reach back to colonial times. Today, North Fifth Street's “El Bloque de Oro,” or “Golden Block,” remains a vibrant neighborhood of Latino culture and commerce.

Spanish-American War

The Spanish-American War had a significant influence on Philadelphia, and the USS Olympia, the flagship of the U.S. Asiatic Squadron, is permanently moored as Penn's Landing.

Automobile Racing

In 1926, the National Motor Racing Association constructed one of the nation’s first purpose-built dirt speedways in Langhorne.

Cycling (Sport)

The Philadelphia International Cycling Classic made famous the “Manayunk wall,” where thousands of spectators lined Lyceum Avenue to watch cyclists ascend the 285-foot climb with a 17 percent grade at its steepest segment.

Historical Societies

Since the early nineteenth century, a number of historical societies have called Philadelphia home, from small religious and local history groups to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Iron Production

Southeaster Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey were prominent iron producers. Hopewell Furnace, opened in the late eighteenth century, was one of the early iron plantations.

Norristown

A prime riverfront location and convenient transportation made Norristown Montgomery County's center for both industry and leisure, but its fortunes changed in the later half of the twentieth century.

Public Media

WHYY moved into television programming in 1957, broadcasting from studios at 1622 Chestnut Street—a renowned Art Deco building formerly home to WCAU.

Cricket

Seeking to emulate the British gentry, Philadelphians took up the sport of cricket with gusto. In the late nineteenth century, the city produced some of the best American cricketers ever. Many played at the Philadelphia Cricket Club on Willow Grove Avenue.

Mansions

Since the colonial days, the Philadelphia elite have been building monumental homes on the city's fringes, following popular architectural styles of their respective time periods. Many of these still stand today.

New Year’s Traditions

From a quiet holiday for visiting friends, to Mummers and fireworks, Philadelphians have always loved to celebrate New Year's. With new immigrants came new holiday traditions. The Mummers Museum is on 'Two Street.'

Tomato Pie

Southern Italian immigrants brought recipes from their homeland to Philadelphia including tomato pie, a pizza-like creation with a thick crust, tomato gravy, and a dusting of cheese. Sarcone's on Ninth Street is one of the purveyors.

United States Colored Troops

Over 10,000 African Americans from the Philadelphia area enlisted in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War and trained at Camp William Penn. Some earned the highest military accolades for their service.

National Guard

The roots of the National Guard trace to Philadelphia and congressional action during the city’s decade as U.S. capital. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware all have Guard units, including the 177th Fighter Wing at Atlantic City Airport.

Deindustrialization

High labor costs, evolving technology, and changing tastes led industry to flee Philadelphia, leaving in its wake unemployment and scarred neighborhoods. At Broad and Lehigh, the Botany 500 building once was a Ford plant where soldiers' helmets were produced for WWI.

Civil Defense

From colonial militias to Cold War fallout shelters and nuclear bomb drills, Philadelphia's citizens have prepared for disaster throughout the city's history. Civil Defense remnants still show up, including fallout shelter signs at City Hall.

Shoemakers and Shoemaking

Shoemaking was a large and influential occupation in early Philadelphia. In 1827, cordwainer William Heighton founded the Mechanics' Free Press and helped found the Mechanics’ Union of Trade Associations at Chestnut and Bank Streets.

Helicopters

Philadelphia was the cradle of the nation's rotary-wing aviation in the twentieth century. The Piasecki Aircraft Corporation, formed in 1955 and located in Essington, produced the world’s first shaft-driven compound helicopter in 1962.

High School Sports

High school sports programs began in the nineteenth century in Greater Philadelphia. The renowned Penn Relays draw high school and college track and field athletes from around the country.

Hinterlands (Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries)

The bounty of the hinterlands helped fuel Philadelphia's progress. Hopewell Furnace, like other iron forges in the region during the colonial and early republic periods, supplied iron necessary for industry.

Big 5

The Big 5, an association of local college basketball programs, played at the University of Pennsylvania's Palestra arena from the time of its formation until 1986.

Nigerians and Nigeria

Nigerians became the second-largest African population in the Delaware Valley early in the twenty-first century, leading development of the new Pan-Africanism. The African Cultural Center is on Springfield Avenue.

Tobacco

Tobacco has a long history in the Greater Philadelphia area. Though its role as a cash crop diminished in the twentieth century, tobacco's presence endures. In Yorklyn, Delaware, the Garrett Snuff Mill has a historic designation.

City Beautiful Movement

The City Beautiful Movement had significant influence on Philadelphia, including Rittenhouse Square, redesigned in 1913 with diagonal walkways, fountains, tree plantings, and sculptures. 'Billy' is a public favorite at the southwest corner.

Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War era, demonstrations were common at JFK Plaza near City Hall as well as symbolic sites such as the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

Disease and Epidemics

Philadelphia suffered many epidemics in its early years, and Pennsylvania Hospital on Spruce Street was in the forefront of battling them. Most were overcome by the early twentieth century, but some, like polio and HIV, posed new challenges.

Boxing and Boxers

In 1961, the legendary Blue Horizon opened its doors to professional boxing shows on North Broad Street in North Philadelphia. For most Philadelphia boxing fans who packed the hall, the former Moose Hall was Mecca.

Mummers

The Mummers Parade got its start in 1901 and became one of Philadelphia most iconic traditions. The Mummers Museum at Second and Washington celebrates their history and traditions.

Mighty Macs

Immaculata University is the home of the historic Mighty Macs women's basketball team

Korean War

The early 1950s conflict between North Korea and South Korea had a big impact on Greater Philadelphia, leading to a surge in shipbuilding employment and the deaths of hundreds of local servicemen.

Community Development Corporations (CDCs)

The Garden Center, funded by the New Kensington Community Development Corporation, was among CDCs that helped to rebuild some of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods.

Chemical Industry

Greater Philadelphia was a chemical center from the eighteenth century. In 1864, Harrison Brothers opened a massive facility on Gray's Ferry Avenue. In 1917, DuPont purchased the entire Harrison Brothers enterprise.

Meteorology (Study of the Atmosphere)

Philadelphians have pursued significant scholarly and popular interests in meteorology since the eighteenth century. The National Weather Service provides local forecasts from its base in Mount Holly, N.J.

Ornithology

Many pioneers in the field of ornithology called Philadelphia home, including Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon, who was based near a town that changed its name to Audubon.

Radio DJs

DJs have shaped musical tastes since the 1950s, broadcasting from stations such as WFIL, originally located at 4548 Market Street (the Enterprise Center in 2016).

Presidents of the United States (Connections to Region)

U.S. presidents have long visited Philadelphia to invoke the historic values of the country's founding documents. Independence Hall has been the backdrop for many such visits, beginning in 1833 with Andrew Jackson.

Landfills

Landfills have been a point of contention between Philadelphia and its suburban neighbors, especially in New Jersey. Kinsley landfill, one of the most prominent, found new use as a solar energy farm.

Veterans and Veterans’ Organizations

Military veterans began organizing during the waning days of the Revolutionary War and continued to form organizations such as the Philadelphia Veterans Advisory Commission, established in 1957 and located in City Hall.

Manufacturing Suburbs

Although early industrialization took root mainly in urban centers, a substantial share of the Philadelphia region’s manufacturing sprang up in small towns outside the city. The main building of the Lee Tire and Rubber Company was built in 1909 in Conshohocken.

Coffeehouses

Coffeehouses have been an integral part of the region's social fabric since the eighteenth century. The Old London near the Delaware River waterfront was Philadelphia’s leading coffeehouse in the 1760s, owned by printer William Bradford.

Loyalists

During the American Revolution, Loyalists (“Tories”) included prominent Pennsylvania political and religious leaders as well as many less affluent individuals. A historical marker stands at the site of a Loyalist raid in Bucks County.

Public Markets

Public markets in Philadelphia belong to an ancient tradition of urban food provisioning. The Reading Terminal, which opened in 1892, opened a new era for urban food marketing and distribution.

New Sweden

Though it existed for less than twenty years, the colony of New Sweden had lasting effects on the Greater Philadelphia area. Historical sites from the colony remain standing to this day.

Barbershops and Barbers

The history of barbering in Philadelphia reflects trends in the region and nation, with barbering dominated by marginalized groups. Joseph Cassey, a free African American, found success in early nineteenth-century Philadelphia with his white-only barbershop.

Coal

Philadelphians played a pivotal role in the emergence of coal as an energy source. From the Northeast region of Pennsylvania, railroads brought coal to the massive Port Richmond Terminal for shipping up and down the East Coast.

Arts of Wharton Esherick

In his Paoli Studio, Wharton Esherick crafted iconic pieces of twentieth century American Art.

Diners

The Salem Oak diner, first opened in 1955, was part of a long legacy of diners in the Greater Philadelphia region.

Surveying (Colonial)

Land, the most valuable commodity during the colonial era, had to be surveyed before it could be granted or transferred. Pennsylvania's first surveyor-general, Thomas Holme, is commemorated with a marker on Holme Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania (Founding)

In 1681 the king of England granted William Penn a charter to found Pennsylvania, but the colony did not evolve exactly as Penn had foreseen it. Among the First Purchasers were Germans who called their section Germantown.

Radio (Commercial)

Philadelphia had many roles in the growth of commercial radio, including the manufacture of radios. For a few years, Atwater Kent, with a plant on Wissahickon Avenue, was the country's top radio maker.

Country Clubs

Country clubs originated in the 1890s as elite, family-oriented havens usually emphasizing golf. Among the earliest clubs was the Philadelphia Country Club, now located in Gladwyne.

Blue Route

After decades of political and construction delays, the twenty-one mile Blue Route--Interstate 476 between Interstate 95 to the south and the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the north--opened to traffic in late 1991.

Camden, New Jersey

Camden thrived during the industrial revolution of the late nineteenth century, but as industry left in the late twentieth century, the city struggled in many ways.

Garbage Barge (Khian Sea)

The waste ash that was loaded onto the Khian Sea and spent years being moved around the world originated in Roxborough at the Northwest Incinerator, which is no longer in use.

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

King of Prussia prospered early because of its location one day's horse ride from Philadelphia. In the twentieth century it grew because of its location near busy crossroads, first as as a business park, then as a shopping mecca.

Entomology (Study of Insects)

Naturalists and illustrators helped make Philadelphia a center for the study of insects—entomology—as early as the eighteenth century. The butterfly collection of Titian Peale today resides in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

Bank of the United States (First)

Originally located in Carpenters' Hall, the First Bank of the United States relocated to 116 S. Third Street in 1797.

Tourism

Visitors have been drawn to Philadelphia since its earliest days. Over time, tourism promoters sought to capitalize on history while also celebrating the city as modern and exciting. The Independence Visitor Center promotes sites throughout the region.

Typhoid Fever and Filtered Water

Typhoid fever and other disease outbreaks associated with contaminated water compelled Philadelphia to build filtering plants in the early 1900s, including one in the Roxborough section.

Trails (Indian)

Prior to European settlement, a complex system of overland paths crisscrossed the region from the Atlantic coast and west into the Wyoming Valley. The Minquas Path ran south of Moylan, Delaware County.

Smith's and Windmill Islands

Until the 1890s, Windmill Island sat in the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Camden, first as one island and then two after a canal was cut. The canal would have been across from what in the twenty-first century is the Philadelphia terminus of the RiverLink ferry.

Puerto Rican Migration

Puerto Ricans migrated to the Philadelphia region in search of economic opportunity. The clustering of Puerto Rican-owned businesses around Fifth Street and Lehigh Avenue developed into the “Golden Block” (El Bloque de Oro) retail area.

Model Cities

The Model Cities program called for federal services to redevelop the nation’s poorest communities. In 1967, North Philadelphia was designated for renewal, but efforts faltered and goals changed, with a textile company moved from North Broad Street to Spring Garden and Seventh Street.

Prehistoric Native Americans and Archaeology

Since the late nineteenth century, archaeologists have been digging for remnants of Native American life in the Philadelphia area, including a rural site in Pilesgrove Township, Salem County, N.J.

First Purchasers of Pennsylvania

The First Purchasers were several hundred people and groups who initially bought land from William Penn's, including a group of German investors, led by Daniel Pastorius, who received 15,000 acres that became Germantown.

Buses

Beginning in the 1920s, the Philadelphia region’s independent transit companies added motorized buses. The south east corner of 13th and Filbert Streets marks the location of the old Union Bus Terminal. Today, The Greyhound station on Filbert Street is just a few blocks away from the old Union Bus Terminal, which was a Thirteenth and Filbert.

Bank War

Operating from its Parthenon-style building on Chestnut Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets in Philadelphia, the Second Bank of the United States served as a reliable depository for federal money and provided a sound national currency.

Lower Delaware Counties

The Lower Counties, once a part of Pennsylvania that eventually became the state of Delaware, included Fort Christina, built by the New Sweden Company in 1638. The site is now part of the First State National Historical Park.

Abscam

The Barclay Hotel was the site where three Philadelphia City Council members accepted a total of $65,000 in bribes during separate meetings in 1980 as part of the Abscam investigation.

Admiral Wilson Boulevard

Planned as an aesthetically pleasing gateway between Philadelphia and Camden, Admiral Wilson Boulevard became a route tarnished by crime and sex work before it was cleaned up in anticipation of the Republican convention of 2000.

Co-Working Spaces

Dozens of co-working spaces opened (and some failed) in the early decades of the twenty-first century in Greater Philadelphia, including the pioneering Indy Hall on North Third, offering shared work space designed to foster a collaborative atmosphere

Atlantic City

Founded in the 1850s, Atlantic City was the first great middle-class resort in the nation. The Steel Pier became one of the most famous entertainment piers in the United States.

Educational Reform

The Friends Select School has helped make education accessible to every student, continuing a legacy that started with the first Quaker 'select school' in 1689.

Railroad Stations

Since the dawn of rail transportation, Philadelphia has been home to a number of grand railroad stations.

Brownfields

The polluted land known as “brownfields” resulted from Greater Philadelphia's industrial heritage, but remediation has turned many tracts into productive sites, including PPL Park, a soccer stadium and concert venue that opened in 2010 in Chester.

Vigilance Committees

Vigilance Committees (sometimes called Vigilant Committees) formed to protect fugitives and potential kidnap victims. Robert Purvis was one of Philadelphia's most prominent abolitionists. His home at Ninth and Lombard Streets had a secret area for hiding slaves.

Automobiles

Cars became a prominent force in Philadelphia's development, and by the end of World War I, Philadelphia's "automobile row" stretched from Spring Garden along North Broad Street roughly to Girard Avenue.

Automobile Manufacturing

Car manufacturing once provided thousands of jobs in Philadelphia, including many at the Ford assembly plant opened in 1914 at North Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue. During the war, the military made helmets there.

The Garies and Their Friends

The central event in the novel, 'The Garies and Their Friends,' is a graphically-rendered race riot, evoking the historical riots of 1834, 1838, 1842, and 1849. One of these riots, the Lombard Street Riot, has a historical marker located at Sixth and Lombard Streets.

Native American-Pennsylvania Relations 1681-1753

The 1737 Walking Purchase in Bucks County is just one example of interaction between colonists and the Lenapes, or Delawares, who had been dealing with Dutch and Swedish colonists for decades.

Schuylkill Navigation Company

The Schuylkill canal, built by the Schuylkill Navigation Company, connected Philadelphia with the rich natural resources of inland Pennsylvania. Part of the canal survives along the Manayunk Canal Towpath.

I-95

The construction of I-95 caused both economic growth for Philadelphia's suburbs and community opposition in the city.

Street Vendors

The former location of the Dock Street Market, established in 1850, was home to numerous street vendors until its demolition in the 1950s.

Art Colonies

Outside the urban core of Philadelphia, the picturesque rural landscape proved a significant draw to many artists in search of the purportedly simple, wholesome, and moral quality of countryside living. Prominent among the art colonies was Rose Valley, near Moylan, Pennsylvania.

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission

The regional planning commission serves the interests of Phila and surrounding counties, proving studies for long-range planning. DVRPC's main office is located on Independence Mall West.

Philadelphia (Warship)

Philadelphians raised money in one week during June 1798 to build the USS Philadelphia to help increase American naval power to protect commerce. The frigate was built at Humphrey’s & Wharton Shipyard on the Delaware River.

Films (Feature)

Philadelphia has been used as the setting of many recent films, but the industry's history in the city dates back to its very birth in the 1890s. In the early 1900s, Lubin Studios in North Philadelphia was a pioneer in silent film production.

Monopoly

Philadelphian Charles Darrow was long credited with creating the game Monopoly. It wasn't until the 1980s that the game's true origin was clarified in a federal court ruling. The birthplace of Henry George, the economist whose theories led to Monopoly, is on S. Tenth Street.

Point Breeze, Joseph Bonaparte’s Country Estate

Joseph Bonaparte, older brother to Napoleon and former king of Spain, lived in an opulent New Jersey estate in the years after his brother's fall from power.

Levittowns of Pennsylvania and New Jersey

The iconic Levittown communities—the first in Long Island, New York, and the subsequent two in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Burlington County, New Jersey—endure as symbols of the unique character of post-World War II U.S. suburban development.

Ferries

Before bridges spanned Philadelphia's rivers, ferries provided the city with vital transportations links to New Jersey and beyond. Until cars and bridges arrived, the Delaware riverfront bustled with ferries.

Pipelines

The discovery of oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, and the drilling of the first successful well in 1859 led to an oil revolution. Soon pipelines emerged as a key to oil transport, and pipeline growth continues today. Some lines reach refineries at Marcus Hook, near the state line between Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Radio (High School and College)

From radio’s earliest days, Philadelphia-area college and high school students have tested its boundaries. On Chestnut Street, Drexel University’s WKDU regularly welcomed local talent into its studio for live events, as did WPEN, which lent its studio to college broadcasters.

Streetcar Suburbs

Streetcar suburbs blossomed throughout the Philadelphia area in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as streetcar lines radiating from the city's heart allowed people to move further into its fringes.

Roosevelt Boulevard

Built between between 1903 and 1914, Roosevelt Boulevard began in an era of political corruption but became a vital factor for later development of Northeast Philadelphia.

Vine Street Expressway

The Vine Street Expressway runs between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. Plans for its construction were delayed for decades due to the impact it would have on neighborhoods like Chinatown.

Printmaking

Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Philadelphia became a leading center of printmaking in the U.S., a legacy that lives on at sites such as the Brandywine Workshop on Broad Street.

Bootlegging

During Prohibition, Philadelphia earned a reputation rivaling Chicago, Detroit, and New York City as a liquor-saturated municipality. Near Thirteenth and Locust Streets was The 21 Club, one of Max “Boo Boo” Hoff’s speakeasies.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances have been held annually in Philadelphia since the 1970s. A focal point is Girard College, where King held a rally in 1965, as well as a ceremony at the Liberty Bell.

Media, Pennsylvania

Media was built on farmland in the 1850s as the new seat of Delaware County. Twelve miles from Philadelphia, Media is an early example of a “planned community,” both a commercial center and a place to conduct government business. The Media Theatre served as a movie palace for almost 75 years.

Plantations

Small farms and larger properties called plantations drove the Mid-Atlantic's colonial economy. The Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation is a living history site focusing on 1760-90 farm life in southeast Pennsylvania.

Prohibition

During Prohibition, Philadelphia earned a reputation rivaling Chicago, Detroit, and New York City as a liquor-saturated municipality. Near 13th and Locust Streets was The 21 Club, one of Max “Boo Boo” Hoff’s speakeasies.

Pennsylvania Hall

Tension over abolition led to a number of riots, one of the most notable being the 1838 destruction of Pennsylvania Hall, a meeting place for antislavery groups on Sixth Street about two blocks north of Independence Hall.

Fries Rebellion

In 1798, a new federal tax and the Alien and Sedition Acts sparked resistance in several counties near Philadelphia. Ringleader John Fries was convicted of treason but pardoned. One clash between federal agents and resisters was at a tavern in Quakertown.

Maps and Mapmaking

In the nineteenth century, Philadelphia became the center of the American map publishing industry. Franklin Maps in King of Prussia carries on that tradition today.

National Parks

The National Park Service uses parks and sites to preserve historical, cultural, and natural resources for future access and education. The Independence National Historical Park contains over thirty sites covering centuries of Philadelphia’s history.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

The American Philosophical Society, located here in Philosophical Hall, received specimens from Lewis and Clark's expedition to the West.

Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester was once a booming industrial city and housed one-third of the population of Delaware County. The city supported iron works, locomotive works, paper mills, oil refineries and a ship yard in the years after the Civil War, but industrial jobs vanished in the twentieth century.

Pennsylvania Impressionism

Pennsylvania Impressionist painting flourished in eastern Pennsylvania in the first half of the twentieth century. Often referred to as the “New Hope School” because artists in Bucks County produced the best-known works, the style was also practiced vigorously in Montgomery, Chester, Delaware, and Lehigh Counties, and key artists of the movement taught at the Pennsylvania […]

Native and Colonial Go-Betweens

In the colonial era, as conflict between the Europeans and displaced Native American tribes rose, go-betweens helped soothe tensions. Native Americans and Europeans met near Second and Market Streets in 1728 in response to tension on the western frontier.

Private (Independent) Schools

Private schools satisfied a need felt by wealthy, white families to educate their children in selective cultural and intellectual environments. William Penn Charter and other private schools became more alike through changes in the twentieth century.

Football (Professional)

Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that has dominated the city's sports affections since the 1960s.

Canals

Canals transformed the economic and geographic scope of Greater Philadelphia in the first half of the nineteenth century. This towpath that once served the textile mills of Manayunk today is a trail for bikers, hikers and other recreational users.

Native American-Pennsylvania Relations, 1754-89

From 1754-89, relations between Pennsylvania and native tribes eroded badly. By 1789, only one enclave remained, as others were pushed westward or killed in fights with settlers. Near Conestoga, Pa., was the site of a massacre by the Paxton Boys.

'Appeal of Forty Thousand Citizens'

Musical Fund Hall is where a convention altered the Pa. Constitution to disallow voting by black residents, a move that inspired the essay 'Appeal of Forty Thousand Citizens, Threatened with Disfranchisement, to the People of Philadelphia,' which argued against ratification.

Airports

Commercial aviation in the Philadelphia area grew dramatically in the twentieth century. Philadelphia's municipal airport expanded into an international hub for commercial airlines and businesses.

Railroads

The history of the railroad industry in the United States and the growth of the Greater Philadelphia region are inextricably linked. The Reading Terminal, now part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, remains home to the Reading Terminal Market.

Duffy’s Cut

At Duffy’s Cut, a railroad construction site in Chester County, Pennsylvania, fifty-seven Irish immigrant railroad workers died amid a cholera epidemic in the summer of 1832 and were buried in a mass grave.

Forts and Fortifications

Forts and other defenses on the Delaware River and, later, along the Atlantic coast guarded Philadelphia and other commercial centers during times of military jeopardy. Fort Mifflin and other surviving forts serve as reminders of the key role forts played in the region's economic, political, and social history.

Casinos

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, casino gambling became an accepted public policy in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and other states desperate to generate tax revenue and create jobs. But the gains often came with significant social and economic costs in Atlantic City, Philadelphia, and other communities in the region.

Tastykake

"Nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a Tastykake" has been a brand tag line known by virtually every Philadelphian for a century. Indeed, few things are as iconically associated with the city and region as Tastykakes.

Schuylkill Expressway

Often branded the 'Surekill Distressway,' the Schuylkill Expressway, connecting the Heart of Philadelphia to the northwestern suburbs, has been on of Pennsylvania's popular and congested highways.

Walking Purchase

The Walking Purchase, in which three 'walkers' started at this point and traveled for a day and a half northeast, defrauded the Delaware Indians out of a vast amount of land.

Murder of Octavius Catto

On October 10, 1871, during a tumultuous and racially polarized Election Day in Philadelphia, Ocatvius V. Catto was shot around here on south street, a block away from his home. Catto spent his life fighting against segregation and discrimination.

Seven Years’ War

By supplying provisions to British military troops or providing safety in the form of row houses on Pine Street for 450 Acadians fleeing Nova Scotia, Philadelphia played a significant role in the Seven Years' War.

Colonization Movement (Africa)

The African colonization movement was a nineteenth century attempt to resettle free Black people from North America to countries like Liberia. The Pennsylvania Colonization Society had offices here, and raised funds for the costs of traveling to Liberia.

Trenton and Princeton Campaign

One of the most significant events in the Revolutionary War was the Continental Army’s crossing of the Delaware River, which preceded three crucial American victories that reignited the virtually extinguished Patriot cause.

PATCO

The Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) Speedline combined two sets of underutilized transit infrastructure to create a groundbreaking model for regional passenger transportation when it opened in 1969.

SEPTA

Headquartered here, SEPTA operates the Philadelphia's public transit system of buses, trolleys, subways, and commuter rail lines. SEPTA has struggled with with poor management, strikes, aging equipment, and inadequate funding since the 1960s.

Television

Philadelphia's role in the development of television began in the 1930s when solitary inventors and corporations began investigating the possibility of transmitting moving images over the air to a home receiver. Today, the Comcast building is the tallest in the city.

Mason-Dixon Line

The Mason-Dixon Line, which settled a border dispute dating back to the founding of Philadelphia, is the southern boundary of Pennsylvania. The line separates Pennsylvania from Maryland and West Virginia along the 39º43ˊ N. parallel and bounds Delaware along an arc.

Scrapple

Scrapple, a popular regional breakfast dish made of pig parts and cornmeal, was first mass produced at Habersett Pork Products (located in Middletown Township) in 1863.

Hog Island

Hog Island was once an agricultural island in the Delaware River until the Twentieth Century, when sands and soils from river dredging connected it to the shore. The new, featureless, land was suitable for industry and development.

Crime

Philadelphia, since its founding, has always been a source of illegal goods and services. The city's crime rates have changed dramatically to reflect the city's economic and social conditions.

U.S. Congress (1790-1800)

The U. S. Congress met in Philadelphia for ten years, testing the endurance of the Constitution and set the groundwork for future political practice.

Columbus Day

Although Christopher Columbus never sailed to Philadelphia, memorials and annual celebrations since the nineteenth century have reminded generations about his historic voyage.

Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation

The PIDC is a nonprofit organization that is focused on supporting existing businesses in the City of Philadelphia, while attracting new industrial and commercial development through land development programs.

Immigration and Migration (Colonial Era)

Diverse peoples immigrating or migrating from Europe, Africa, and other American colonies before the Revolutionary War turned Philadelphia into colonial America's largest city.

Lynching

Lynching, the extralegal killing of a victim by individuals or a mob, notably by hanging or burning, was commonplace in the U.S. at the turn of the twentieth century. The Philadelphia area had two significant events in Coatesville, Pa., and Wilmington, Del.

Cemeteries

Philadelphia's cemeteries have matured over time from small, private grave sites and potters fields scattered throughout the city to expansive rural cemeteries and memorial parks that honor the lives of the past.

Baseball: Professional

Philadelphia baseball teams like the Phillies and the Athletics have played in numerous fields across the city, while entertaining and connecting generations of Philadelphia residents together.

World War I

Although the United States’ involvement in World War I lasted just over a year, the conflict in Europe had a lasting impact on the Philadelphia region. The war created new opportunities for the region's industrial base, including the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden.

Pontiac’s War and the Paxton Boys

As a result of Pontiac'c War and the shifting opinions of Native Americans by rural Pennsylvania residents, the vigilante group known as the Paxton Boys were stopped by a militia in Germantown during their attempt to enter Philadelphia.

Valley Forge

Preserved for its eighteenth-century significance as an encampment of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, Valley Forge has a more extensive past and continues to play an integral role in the region’s history and environment.

Immigration (1870-1930)

During the national explosion of immigration that took place between 1870 and the 1920s, the Philadelphia region became more diverse as it was energized by German, Italian, Jewish, and Spanish immigrants who changed the character of the places they settled.

Higher Education: Private (Religious)

The religious diversity of Philadelphia led to the creation of specialized institutions of higher learning reflecting each religion's values. Catholic-affiliated schools continue to embrace their religious banner, less so those schools with different affiliations.

Baseball: Negro Leagues

For eight remarkable decades, local Philadelphia fans consistently supported a series of Black baseball clubs whose successes generated racial pride and represented a triumph of African American institution-building.

Education and Opportunity

The educational opportunities in Philadelphia have expanded greatly for students throughout the twentieth century, but the result has been a greater inequality between public and private schools.

March of the Mill Children

A three-week trek from Philadelphia to New York by striking child and adult textile workers launched on July 7, 1903, by Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, trained public attention on the scourge of child labor and energized efforts to end it by law.

Trees

Industrial development and deforestation reduced the diverse selection of trees that once filled the Philadelphia area. Since the nineteenth century, many organizations have collaborated to increase the tree canopy cover in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Public Education: Suburbs

In the second half of the twentieth century, many parents moved their families out of Philadelphia, Camden, or Wilmington so that their children could enroll in suburban public schools because they perceived them to be better than their urban counterparts

African American Migration

People of African descent have migrated to Philadelphia since the seventeenth century. Although African Americans faced discrimination, disfranchisement, and periodic race riots in the 1800s, the community attracted tens of thousands of people during World War I's Great Migration.

Insurance

The development of insurance products in Philadelphia changed the way the city developed and connected Philadelphia to larger financial markets around the world.

Recording Industry

In Camden, New Jersey, the Victor Company in the early 1900s was nation’s largest manufacturer of musical recordings.

Byberry (Philadelphia State Hospital)

From the arrival of its first patients in 1911 to 1990, when the Commonwealth formally closed it down, the Philadelphia State Hospital, popularly known as Byberry, was the home for thousands of mental patients.

Immigration (1790-1860)

The revival of immigration to Philadelphia and its surrounding region in the early nineteenth century provided one of the most powerful elements in reshaping the city's society. The German Society of Pennsylvania assisted German newcomers in finding jobs and housing.

Streetcars

For more than 150 years streetcars have served the Philadelphia area and helped Center City Philadelphia retain its commercial, retail, and entertainment supremacy in an ever-expanding region.

Great Depression

The region experienced severe economic hardship and fundamental change during the Great Depression. The Erie National Bank of Philadelphia, shown here, suffered a bank run in 1931.

Immigration (1930-Present)

For most of the decades since the United States’ immigration restriction acts of the 1920s, Philadelphia was not a major destination for immigrants, but at the end of the twentieth century the region re-emerged as a significant gateway.

Paints and Varnishes

In the U.S., Philadelphians initiated the transition from imports and small-scale preparation to large-scale manufacturing of paint materials. Samuel Wetherill Jr. erected a factory in 1809 to produce lead pigments.

Printing and Publishing (to 1950)

As Philadelphia evolved into America’s largest port city, the number of printer-publishers operating within it grew. Philadelphia’s colonial printers generally located their shops close to highly trafficked areas.

Public Transportation

Public transportation – consisting of vehicles that operate on fixed routes used by the public – began in the region in 1688 with a ferry between Philadelphia and what is now Camden, New Jersey.

Roman Catholic Education (Elementary and Secondary)

For more than three centuries Parochial schools in the Philadelphia region have responded to the changing characteristics of the region’s Catholic population.

Shopping Centers

In the decade immediately following World War I, commercial real estate developers and department store owners devised new strategies to make retail shopping accessible to the area’s growing suburban communities.

Fox Hunting

Fox hunting became a popular leisure activity in the Philadelphia region during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In October 1766, twenty-seven Philadelphia professionals founded the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club, the first of its type in America.

Delaware Avenue (Columbus Boulevard)

Delaware Avenue played a significant role in the development of the city's maritime activity.

Public Education: High Schools

Greater Philadelphia has been notable in the development of secondary education in the United States. Central High School, est. 1838, provided education to middle-class boys.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

The American Civil Liberties Union, a national legal organization, organized in Philadelphia in 1951.

Consolidation Act of 1854

The Consolidation Act of 1854 extended Philadelphia's territory to nearly 130 square miles, making Northeast Philadelphia and other sections outside Center City part of the city of Philadelphia.

Delaware River Port Authority

The Delaware River Port Authority was created nearly 100 years ago as a bi-state commission for the purpose of building a single toll bridge. A 1992 amendment gave the DRPA two new mandates–port unification and economic development-- both of which proved to be difficult to implement.

Shipbuilding and Shipyards

Philadelphia and surrounding southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey riverfront ports developed one of the greatest shipbuilding regions in the United States.

Flaxseed and Linen

In the colonial era linen and flaxseed were fundamental to the mercantile life of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. Philadelphia's linen and flaxseed market extended from the farthest point of settlement, Fort Pitt, to the fields of England and Ireland.

Industrial Workers of the World

In the early 1900s thousands in greater Philadelphia belonged to the IWW. Local 8, which organized the city’s longshoremen, was the most powerful and racially inclusive branch in the Mid-Atlantic.

Banking

Greater Philadelphia’s banking roots go deeper than those of any region in the country. Philadelphia was the home of the first commercial bank, national bank, savings bank, and savings and loan association.

Commuter Trains

Commuter trains have helped to shape and define Philadelphia and its region since their introduction in 1832. Trains influenced suburban development and provide a “green alternative” to crowded highways systems.

Philadelphia and Its People in Maps: The 1790s

Philadelphia was the premier urban city in North America during the Early National era. Using GIS technology, maps visualize the city between 1790 and 1800, when it was the capital of the United States.

Omnibuses

One of the earliest forms of public transportation in Philadelphia was the horse-drawn omnibus, which created the first urban commuters and became a model for future public transportation.

Public Housing

As the dominant response to the housing needs of low-income residents since the 1930s, public housing in the Philadelphia region provided shelter for thousands. The Carl Mackley Houses opened in 1935 in the Juniata Park neighborhood.

AIDS and AIDS Activism

Doctors in Philadelphia diagnosed the first local case of what would later become known as AIDS 1981.The Mazzoni Center formed the Philadelphia AIDS Task Force to provide social services to those affected.

World War II

World War II, which created change for industries, populations, and politics in many urban areas in the United States, had a transforming effect on the Philadelphia region.

Yellow Fever

Yellow Fever hit Philadelphia with a vengeance in 1793. Beginning from a cluster of infections near the Delaware waterfront, the fever spread rapidly through the summer and autumn, fueling panic throughout the city.

Influenza (“Spanish Flu” Pandemic, 1918-19)

The influenza virus that killed millions of people worldwide began its deadly ascent in Philadelphia after sailors, carrying the virus from Boston, arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in early September 1918.

Department Stores

Led by John Wanamaker, Philadelphia's Market Street department stores became the national model. Known as the "Big Six," these businesses were close to the city's rail terminals and subway stations.

Cholera

Cholera epidemics that struck Philadelphia in 1832, 1849, and 1866 provided a catalyst for transforming the health and hygiene standards of the city. Death rates were highest in the Black and Irish neighborhoods south of South Street.

Lazaretto

Situated roughly ten miles south of Philadelphia, in Essington, on the west bank of the Delaware River, the Lazaretto is considered to be the oldest and last surviving quarantine station in the United States.

Trails (Recreational)

An expanding network of trails has allowed hikers, runners, and cyclists to explore their surrounding environments while meeting their recreational needs. Trails like the Schuylkill River Trail cover more than 160 miles.

West New Jersey

Between 1674 and 1702, New Jersey was divided in half, with the West New Jersey colony facing the Delaware River. Settlements like Burlington retained a distinct political and social identity, even after falling into Philadelphia's economic orbit.

Brandywine Valley

A region synonymous with gracious living and cultural tourism, the Brandywine Valley has drawn visitors from around the world to enjoy its many public gardens, house museums, and historical attractions.

Percent for Art Programs

Philadelphia was the first American city to establish “percent for art” programs, which have funded works including "MVP,” a statue of a Black female athlete in Smith Park in South Philadelphia.

Civil Rights (Women)

Philadelphia has been at the forefront of women's civil rights activism from its inception to the 21st century. Paulsdale is the preserved childhood home of women's civil rights activist Alice Paul and location of the Alice Paul Institute.

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