Poplar is a neighborhood in Lower North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located north of Callowhill,[citation needed] between Spring Garden/Fairmount and Northern Liberties,[1] bounded roughly by Girard Avenue to the north, North Broad Street to the west, Spring Garden Street to the south, and 5th Street to the east.[citation needed] The neighborhood is predominantly residential, with commercial frontage on Broad Street and Girard Avenue and some industrial facilities to the west of the railroad tracks along Percy St. and 9th St.
In the early 1800s, there were a number of theaters and performance halls in the district. Spring Garden Street, now a major arterial road and the southern boundary of the Poplar neighborhood, initially only ran from Sixth to Tenth Streets. The Washington Circus was raised at the eastern end of Spring Garden Street in 1828 and later converted into an amphitheater that could seat up to 1,200 people. Next to the amphitheater was a covered market in the median of the wide street. By 1850 the amphitheater had been demolished, and Spring Garden Street was extended one block to the east and west to the Schuylkill River.[2]
1844 lithograph of LeBrun's design for the Church of the Nativity
Some of the earliest inhabitants of what is today known as the Poplar neighborhood were affluent Quakers, who built Georgian style townhouses in the vicinity of Spring Garden Street using money they had made in Philadelphia's mid-century industrial boom. Some of these large townhomes are still standing on the block between N 8th and North Franklin Streets.[2]
Quaker philanthropy has played a role in the development of the neighborhood, with the Friends Mission Number One being established in 1879 "to provide a moral and spiritual uplift to poor immigrants" in the broader Spring Garden district.[2] The organization changed its name to the Friends Neighborhood Guild in 1899.[5]
In the later 1800s a large power generating substation was built by the Union Traction Company, a streetcar operator. In 1897 a large fire damaged the building and killed two employees.[6] The German Society of Pennsylvania constructed its headquarters at 611 Spring Garden Street in 1888.[2] The Strawbridge & Clothier warehouse was built on 9th and Poplar Streets in 1918.[7]
The old and new Rodeph Shalom synagogues
The German Society headquarters
The Strawbridge & Clothier warehouse in 1918
The expansion of Spring Garden Street in the early 20th century caused many of the area's original wealthy inhabitants to move to more remote neighborhoods as Jewish, Irish and later Puerto Rican immigrants moved in. Old townhomes, once extravagant, became overcrowded tenements.[2]
In 1927, Congregation Rodeph Shalom built its second and current synagogue at Broad and Mount Vernon Street.[4]
The Great Depression left many homes and buildings in disrepair, leading the city to raze them in the late 1930s. The Philadelphia Transportation Company, formed from the consolidation of several failing streetcar and rail firms, went bankrupt in 1939 and its possessions, including the power substation at 13th and Mount Vernon, were inherited by SEPTA. The eastern portion of the building was converted to a mechanic shop in the 1950s, while the western section remains in use by SEPTA to power the Broad–Ridge Spur.[6]
Beginning in the 1940s, the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia designated the area between Spring Garden, Poplar, 5th and 8th Streets as the East Poplar Urban Renewal Area. The city built a number of housing projects in the area including Penn Towne, designed by the architect Louis Khan and completed in 1953,[2] and the Richard Allen Homes, a massive public housing project that replaced blighted areas, as well as providing housing for new workers attracted to the city for wartime production. The Richard Allen Homes were completed in 1941, and remained one of Poplar's defining physical characteristics for the next several decades.[citation needed]
The Friends Neighborhood Guild became involved in urban renewal efforts in the Poplar area, establishing the Friends Housing Cooperative (FHC) residential housing complex between Fairmount Avenue, Franklin Street, Brown Street and North 8th Street which was rehabilitated for low-income families.[2] FHC consists of semi-detached homes built circa 1850 and reconfigured into a market-rate, gated apartment community in the early 1950s. After years of neglect and deterioration, this community has experienced a notable renaissance.[citation needed]
During Richardson Dilworth's mayoral term, city officials aggressively enforced the city's housing codes to demolish deteriorated buildings, hoping this would prevent the further exacerbation of poor living conditions in the neighborhood. In 1959, the city enacted a land acquisition program by which the Department of Licenses & Inspections could acquire vacant or deteriorated properties and turn them over to community groups through the sheriff sale. The Melon Neighborhood Commons was one such initiative built at 12th and Fairmount Streets with the help of the West Poplar Civic League, the Friends Neighborhood Guild and the University of Pennsylvania architect Karl Linn.
During a 10-week work period in the summer of 1961, local high school and college students built a public park out of salvaged materials from nearby dilapidated homes. The park included an amphitheater made from salvaged marble steps and a sand pit for young children. In 1962 and 1963, outdoor movie showings were held in the park and games and activities for children were hosted by the Friends Neighborhood Guild. However, community dynamics began to shift after the Columbia Avenue Riot, with the city government becoming less cooperative with grassroots organizations. The growing black power movement also became more antagonistic towards Quaker neighborhood organizations. Lack of supervision in the park led to the theft and vandalism of the park's material elements.[8]
By the early 1960s, the Richard Allen Homes were overcrowded and run down. Budget cuts by the city effected an egregious degree of deterioration in the homes, and poorly planned open spaces encouraged crime, generating notoriety for the neighborhood as a center for crime and drug trafficking. The 12th & Oxford gang and the 12th & Poplar gang feuded over territory in the neighborhood, as was depicted in the 1967 film The Jungle.[8]
The Allen Homes complemented Cambridge Plaza, a modernist public housing project comprising two 248-unit, high-rise towers and 124 low-rise townhouses. Cambridge Plaza was constructed in 1957 and demolished in 2001, when the Philadelphia Housing Authority began to erect suburban-style duplexes and single-family homes.[9][10]
In the 1990s, the Melon Neighborhood Commons were demolished to build city-run senior housing on the site. The Richard Allen Homes were cleared out and replaced with suburban-style single-family homes and duplexes.[8] Some of the neighborhood's original row houses remain, mostly south of Fairmount Avenue and west of the regional rail tracks.
In the 2010s, demand for housing in the neighborhood increased, leading to a number of new developments as well as demolitions and reuses of old buildings. In 2013, the Church of the Nativity at 11th and Mount Vernon was demolished[11] and by 2015, it had been replaced with a row of townhomes and a gated parking lot called Spring Arts Square.[12] In 2015, the eastern portion of the former Philadelphia Transit Company substation was adapted into a 40-unit apartment building.[13] A major development was proposed and later built on a largely vacant parcel of land between Broad Street, Ridge Avenue, 13th Street and Fairmount Avenue. The building now contains an Aldi, Chesterbrook Academy and a number of apartments for rent.[14][15] The Strawbridge and Clothier warehouse was converted into a residential apartment building,[16] but in 2024 a kitchen fire displaced between 200 and 300 of its residents.[17] A number of residential and commercial developments have been recently completed or are underway along Broad Street, Ridge Avenue, Spring Garden Street and in other infill lots in the neighborhood.[18][19][20][21][22][23]
Transportation
The 23 bus runs north through the neighborhood on 11th Street and south on 12th Street. The 61 bus runs north and south on Ridge Avenue. The 47 bus runs north on Seventh Street and south on Eighth Street. Several regional rail routes run through Poplar but do not stop in the neighborhood.[24]
Landmarks
Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
While most of Poplar's original housing has been demolished, a handful of defining structures identify the neighborhood and can be seen from various points both in the neighborhood and around the city. The ornate, Victorian Divine Lorraine Hotel fronts on North Broad Street at its intersection with Fairmount Street; the massive, former Strawbridge & Clothier warehouse[citation needed][7] is located at 9th and Poplar Streets adjacent to the SEPTA elevated line (with the expanded building occupying almost the entire space between Poplar and Girard), and two 1920s-1930s public school buildings (Spring Garden School No. 1 and Spring Garden School, the latter formerly Spring Garden School No. 2) constructed in a Moderne/Art Deco style, designed by noted Philadelphia school architect Irwin Catharine,[25] are located on 12th St.[26][27] With the exception of the southernmost of the two schools, which remains in use, the rest of the older landmarks remain vacant. The Divine Lorraine Hotel and the two schools are listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with the Thaddeus Stevens School of Observation, Rodeph Shalom Synagogue, and Mary Channing Wister School.[28]
Merion Station, also known as Merion, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia to its west and is one of the communities that make up the Philadelphia Main Line. Merion Station is part of Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County. The community is known for its grand mansions and for the wealth of its residents.
Roxborough is a neighborhood in Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is bordered to the southwest, along the Schuylkill River, by the neighborhood of Manayunk, along the northeast by the Wissahickon Creek section of Fairmount Park, and to the southeast by the neighborhood of East Falls. Beyond Roxborough to the northwest is Montgomery County. Roxborough's ZIP Code is 19128. Most of Roxborough is in Philadelphia's 21st Ward.
The Broad Street Line (BSL), currently rebranding as the B, is a rapid transit line in the SEPTA Metro network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The line runs primarily north-south from the Fern Rock Transportation Center in North Philadelphia through Center City Philadelphia to NRG station at Pattison Avenue in South Philadelphia; the latter station provides access to the stadiums and arenas for the city's major professional sports teams at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, about a quarter mile away. It is named for Broad Street, under which the line runs for almost its entire length.
Fairmount is a neighborhood within Lower North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Its boundaries are north of Fairmount Avenue, west of Corinthian Avenue, south of Girard Avenue and east of The Schuylkill River. While this may be the most accurate demarcation, the area's boundaries fluctuate depending how the neighborhood is defined. Several other neighborhoods near Fairmount are sometimes also collectively called Fairmount, including: Spring Garden, Franklintown and Francisville. Fairmount and neighboring Spring Garden are commonly referred to as the "Art Museum Area," for their proximity to and association with the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Fairmount is also the location of the Eastern State Penitentiary.
Northern Liberties is a neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is north of Center City along the Delaware River. Prior to its incorporation into Philadelphia in 1854, it was among the top 10 largest cities in the U.S. in every census from 1790 to 1840, and 11th in 1850. It was a major manufacturing area that attracted many European immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the early 21st century, it has attracted many young professionals and new commercial and residential development.
Lawncrest is a neighborhood in the "Near" (lower) Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The name is an amalgam of Lawndale and Crescentville, the two primary communities that make up the neighborhood. The Philadelphia Inquirer does not consider Lawncrest to be a neighborhood.
Strawberry Mansion is a neighborhood in the U.S. city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, located east of Fairmount Park in North Philadelphia. The neighborhood is bounded by 33rd Street to the west, 29th Street to the east, Lehigh Avenue to the north, and Oxford Street to the south. As of the 2000 census, the neighborhood had a population of 22,562. It is often associated with the historic house of the same name, Historic Strawberry Mansion, located adjacent to the neighborhood and generally thought to be the source of the community's name.
North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as everything north of either Vine Street or Spring Garden Street, between Northwest Philadelphia and Northeast Philadelphia. It is bordered to the north by Olney Ave along Broad Street, Spring Garden Street to the south, 35th Street to the west and Adams Avenue to the east. The Philadelphia Police Department patrols five districts located within North Philadelphia: the 22nd, 25th, 26th, 35th and 39th districts. There are thirteen ZIP codes for North Philadelphia: 19120, 19121, 19122, 19123, 19125, 19126, 19130, 19132, 19133, 19134, 19137, 19140 and 19141.
Broad Street is a major arterial street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The street runs for approximately 13 miles (21 km), beginning at the intersection of Cheltenham Avenue on the border of Cheltenham Township and the West/East Oak Lane neighborhoods of North Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Navy Yard in South Philadelphia. It is Pennsylvania Route 611 along its entire length with the exception of its northernmost part between Old York Road and Pennsylvania Route 309 and the southernmost part south of Interstate 95.
Chinatown station is an underground SEPTA subway station in Philadelphia. It is located on the Broad Street Line's Broad-Ridge Spur, and is located at the eastern edge of Philadelphia's Chinatown at 8th and Race Streets. Corresponding to the signage in the Chinatown neighborhood, the station name signs are written in Chinese in addition to English.
Francisville is a neighborhood in North Philadelphia, a section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Its boundaries are Fairmount Avenue to the south, Girard Avenue to the north, Broad Street to the east, and Corinthian Avenue to the west. In 2000, it had a population of about 4,500. It is sometimes considered to be a part of the Fairmount neighborhood, but Fairmount more specifically lies to Francisville's west. To its south is the Spring Garden neighborhood.
Spring Garden station is a SEPTA rapid transit station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, on the Market–Frankford Line. It is located on Spring Garden Street between 2nd and Front streets in the Northern Liberties neighborhood. It is the westernmost station of the Frankford Elevated section of the line and the last westbound station before trains enter Center City Philadelphia.
Spring Garden is a neighborhood in central Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, bordering Center City on the north. Spring Garden is a neighborhood that combines diverse residential neighborhoods and significant cultural attractions.
Route 38 is a bus and former subway–surface streetcar route operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Spring Garden station is a subway station on SEPTA's Broad Street subway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is an express station with four tracks and two island platforms. Spring Garden is the northernmost station in Center City, serving Community College of Philadelphia, the School District of Philadelphia Building, the Inquirer Building, Ben Franklin High School and miscellaneous office buildings, restaurants, and clubs. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is ten blocks west of the station, while the Northern Liberties neighborhood lies approximately eight blocks east. Near this station is Masterman Laboratory & Demonstration School. There are numerous restaurants and shops nearby which makes this a very busy station.
Congregation Rodeph Shalom, is an historic Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 615 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Established in 1795, it is the oldest Ashkenazic synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. It is noted historically for its leadership of the Reform movement among American Hebrew congregations, for its spiritual influence upon international Jewry, and for its unique 1927 Byzantine and Moorish Revival synagogue building, with Art Deco finishes, on North Broad Street, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007.
Belmont Village is a middle class neighborhood located in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The zip code is 19131.
Spring Garden School is a public K-8 school in the Poplar neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a part of the School District of Philadelphia.
Girard Avenue is a major commercial and residential street in Philadelphia. For most of its length it runs east–west, but at Frankford Avenue it makes a 135-degree turn north. Parts of the road are signed as U.S. Route 13 and U.S. Route 30.
↑ Kromer, John. Neighborhood Recovery: Reinvestment Policy for the New Hometown. New Brunswick: Rutgers, 2000.
↑ Bauman, John F. Gillette, Howard Jr. and William W. Cutler, eds. "Public Housing in the Depression: Slum Reform in Philadelphia." The Divided Metropolis: Social and Spatial Dimensions of Philadelphia, 1800-1975 Neighborhoods in the 1930s. Westport: Greenwood, 1980. pp. 227-248.
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