Plymouth Meeting
History The township was originally settled by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, who worshipped in the Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse. They sailed from Devonshire, England, on the ship Desire, arriving in Philadelphia on June 23, 1686. The township takes its name from the settlers’ hometown of Plymouth in Devon. What is now Germantown Pike was ordered laid […]
Lafayette Hill
History Lafayette Hill is a small unincorporated community in Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Lafayette Hill draws its name from the French General Marquis de Lafayette, who stayed there during the American Revolution. Prior to general decampment from Valley Forge in the spring of 1778, George Washington dispatched an estimated 2200 troops under the command of Marquis de Lafayette to act […]
Bala Cynwyd
History Bala Cynwyd is a community in Lower Merion Township which is located on the Main Line in southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at US Route 1. It was originally two separate towns, Bala and Cynwyd, but is commonly treated as a single community. Bala Cynwyd lies in the Welsh Tract of Pennsylvania and was settled in the […]
Northern Liberties
History In 1682, William Penn referred to the area north of Philadelphia as the “Liberties” because it consisted “Liberty Land or Free Lots”– additional land that was given away for free with a land purchase. The subsequent Northern Liberties township, which once contained the areas of Northern Liberties, Spring Garden, Kensington, Bridesburg, Penn, Richmond, and […]
Fairmount
History The name “Fairmount” itself derives from the prominent hill on which the Philadelphia Museum of Art now sits, and where William Penn originally intended to build his own manor house. Later, the name was applied to the street originally called Hickory Lane that runs from the foot of Fairmount hill through the heart of the neighborhood. […]
Fishtown
History Fishtown is a neighborhood in Philadelphia located immediately northeast of Center City. The name “Fishtown” is derived from the area’s former role as the center of the shad fishing industry on the Delaware River. The name comes from the fact that a number of 18th and early 19th centuries German and German-American families bought up the […]
Brewerytown
History Brewerytown is a neighborhood in North Philadelphia. An unofficial region, Brewerytown got its name because of the numerous breweries that were located along the Schuylkill during the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is now primarily a residential neighborhood, with an active commercial sector along Girard Avenue. Despite struggling with poverty in recent decades, Brewerytown has […]
University City
History University City is a name for the easternmost region of West Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania has long been the dominant institution in the area and was instrumental in coining the name University City as part of a 1950s urban-renewal effort. Today, Drexel University and The University of The Sciences in Philadelphia also call University City home. The eastern […]
Passyunk
History Passyunk Square traces its roots to Colonial times, when Gen. George Washington housed many of his soldiers on the 800 and 900 blocks of Federal. Passyunk Avenue from Tasker to Broad got its start as an upscale shopping mecca. Restaurants, specialty food stores, pharmacies, furniture shops, clothing and shoe and jewelry stores dotted the […]
Graduate Hospital
History Prior to Act of Consolidation, 1854, this neighborhood was part of Moyamensing Township. Moyamensing was originally chartered by the Dutch governor Alexander d’Hinoyossa, and in 1684, William Penn confirmed the title. The neighborhood began taking shape after the Civil War. In 1870, it was predominantly an Irish American community; however, the neighborhood was in a transitional period, and by […]
