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Dynamic West Philly Church Receives National Preservation Award
Houses of worship in Philadelphia are often sold to real estate developers and demolished for new construction when congregations decrease and the cost of maintaining the buildings is insurmountable. Calvary United Methodist Church at 48th Street and Baltimore Avenue is one rare exception. Rather than close its doors, the congregation opened them wider. In the process, they saved a 100-year-old Gothic gem and helped revitalize the community. In November, the National Trust for Historic Preservation selected Calvary United as one of nine national recipients to receive its coveted Trustees Emeritus Award for Historic Site Stewardship. The award is in recognition of the congregation’s preservation work, which has had a significant economic impact on nearby businesses due to the greatly increased numbers of visitors to the restored church.
Ghosts Signs of Philadelphia: The Manayunk Review
Just as ghost signs are often lost to building updates and new construction, sometimes they are uncovered for the first time in decades. These old signs are frequently preserved underneath modern signs, protected from destructive elements like sun and rain. As a new business moves in, or the building is renovated, these remaining signs can be exposed. More often than not, this is only a temporary phenomenon during new construction or demolition. However, every once in a while, ghost signs that were once hidden are preserved in a more permanent fashion, providing a window into the city’s past.
Old City Church Takes Innovative Steps to Reduce Homelessness
One of Philadelphia’s wealthiest zip codes will soon be home to new residents from the opposite end of the income spectrum. Next spring, ground will be broken in the churchyard of Old First Reformed United Church of Christ at 4th and Race Streets to begin construction of 36 permanent housing units for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Civil War Site and Catholic School Added to the Local Register
The Philadelphia Historical Commission held its final meeting of 2022 on December 9. The former St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Parochial School and its adjoining parking lot that covers a long-demolished Civil War hospital were added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. The handsome, three-story brick school building at...
Social Clubs and Secret Societies in Early Philadelphia
Across from City Hall stands the Masonic Temple, an enormous, medieval-style building. The Free Masons have gathered there since 1873. If the popular imagination were a tavern, like the ones where Philadelphians first gathered, Free Masonry would be downing Fish House Punch with the Illuminati and the Knights Templar–ancient orders with esoteric rituals and terrifying powers. In reality, while the Free Masons descend from medieval guilds, the first modern lodge was founded in 18th century England as a fraternal order–or, in other words, a social club. While the Free Masons adopted medieval-sounding ceremonies and titles, they have always served a modern purpose: fellowship and mutual benefits.
Toll Brothers Abandons Jewelers’ Row Project with Sale to Pearl Properties
A large hole in the fabric of Jewelers’ Row may finally be redeveloped. The suburban-based developer Toll Brothers, which has owned the parcel along the 700 block of Sansom Street since 2016, has abandoned its condominium tower project and sold the empty lot to Pearl Properties. Established in the...
Courthouse Time Machine Connects Philly with 1995
Scheduled for Philadelphia jury duty soon? Anticipating it about as enthusiastically as you would a root canal? Take heart. Your upcoming visit to the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice on Filbert Street comes with an unexpected perk. Beyond that six dollar check and the Reading Terminal Market lunch discount, there is an opportunity for time travel. Walk through the metal detector and pause to consider the magnificent panorama of Philadelphia extending before you. Hand-drawn in charcoal, the black and white mural stretches from Belmont Plateau to Hog Island, covering 96-feet along the corridor wall and arching over two courtroom doorways.
North Broad Street Church Revived with Community Impact Reuse Plan
There are an estimated 800 buildings in Philadelphia that were erected as houses of worship. The number of churches currently in use is far fewer, and each year a few succumb to the wrecking ball. Others get repurposed into homes, an attractive reuse of the striking stone, stained glass, and other architectural features that many contain.
Ghosts Signs of Philadelphia: Extinct Advertisements of 2022
The autumn reminds me of the cycle of the seasons. It is a time of immense beauty, where the changing colors capture everyone’s attention, but the reminder of the cold winter months lingers. This, too, is the life of a sign. They catch the eye of those passing by until it fades and are eventually lost forever.
Arming America and the Firepower of Henry Foxall
As Philadelphia approached its final years as the nation’s capital, so began the first term of President John Adams. During this time, the still-burgeoning Union continued to contend with the pirates of the Barbery States of the Ottoman Empire, which no longer received payments to ignore ships coming from what was once British North America. Other issues were political disputes with the French related to the Treaty of Alliance of 1778 that resulted in the XYZ Affair and the Quasi-War wth France.
Finding Freedom in the Footsteps of William Still
The usual image of the Underground Railroad is one of secrecy and invisibility. In Philadelphia, however, it operated in the open, so traces of one of its prime operators can be seen all over the city. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has placed several historic markers around Philadelphia that track some of the “Father of the Underground Railroad” William Still’s activities. However, there are even more unheralded sites that were part of his very active life, although the original buildings may no longer be around.
Tiny Historic District and Big Church Sites Added to the Philadelphia Register
During October’s meeting of the Philadelphia Historical Commission a Catholic high school was added to the local register of historic places after heavy debate, along with four other ecclesiastical sites. A small historic district in Roxborough and a former saloon and brewery in Fairmount were also given legal protections.
The Truth About the Ruins in East Fairmount Park
Before the Dell Music Center, Fairmount Park offered musical entertainment with its own orchestra at three venues located at Strawberry Mansion, Belmont, and Lemon Hill. The Strawberry Mansion Music Pavilion was the last of these early venues to be created. It delighted attendees from 1905 until 1930 when the pavilion was replaced by Robin Hood Dell, the former summer home of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Gilded Age Estate in Villanova to be Demolished by School District
Every Friday afternoon since February, Deb Robbins and other concerned neighbors stand in front of Lower Merion School District’s administration building holding signs that read “Honk if you want to save the trees!” Drivers respond enthusiastically. Who doesn’t want to save trees? The answer in Lower Merion is surprising.
Kelly Writers House Celebrates 25th Anniversary
The University of Pennsylvania is expanding at a ferocious rate. Shiny new buildings bearing the names of benefactors are popping up on the edges of its campus at a steady clip. In the midst of all this growth, a small, but powerful program that is tucked away in a Victorian cottage is marking a milestone anniversary. This weekend The Kelly Writers House (KWH) will celebrate 25 years during Penn’s homecoming weekend.
Peirce College: On the Move Since 1865
Peirce College recently announced that after 107 years it is moving the school’s main campus from 1420 Pine Street to the 19th floor of the Horace Trumbauer-designed Sun Oil Building at 1608 Walnut Street. Prompted by several factors, including a shift toward online learning accelerated by the pandemic, the move will be the fifth in the institution’s history. Peirce College has a storied past in Philadelphia, where its first classes were held just after the Civil War came to an end.
Symposium Shines a Light on the Philadelphia Rowhouse
“Rowhouses are hidden in plain sight,” said Frank G. Matero, director of The Center for Architectural Conservation and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “They are so ubiquitous here, we take them for granted.”. According to the Healthy Rowhouse Project (HRP), 70 percent of all residential units...
On the Road to Reconstruction with the Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Relief Association
On November 7, 1861, Union Flag Officer Samuel F. Du Pont’s flotilla moved to engage Confederate General Drayton’s fort in Port Royal, South Carolina. As part of President Abraham Lincoln’s Operation Anaconda, the Union Navy’s orders were to block and dismantle Confederate efforts to transport supplies and effectively cut Charleston off from other southern ports.
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Hidden City Philadelphia of CultureTrust is dedicated to exploring Philadelphia’s urban landscape in all its complexity through journalism and public history.
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