East Falls, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Neighbourhood
A neighbourhood or neighborhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members. "Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition...
in the Northwest
Northwest Philadelphia
Northwest Philadelphia is a section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The official boundary is Stenton Avenue to the north, the Schuylkill river to the south, Spring Ln to the west, and Wister Street to the east. The area is divided by Wissahickon Creek into two subsections...
section of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. East Falls is located adjacent to Roxborough
Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Roxborough is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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...
, Manayunk
Manayunk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Manayunk is a neighborhood in the northwestern section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. Located on the banks of the Schuylkill River, it contains the first canal begun in the United States . The area's name comes from the language of the Lenape Indians...
, and Germantown
Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Germantown is a neighborhood in the northwest section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, about 7–8 miles northwest from the center of the city...
, and Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is the municipal park system of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of 63 parks, with , all overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, successor to the Fairmount Park Commission in 2010.-Fairmount Park proper:...
. The neighborhood runs along a stretch of Ridge Avenue that is only a few miles long, along the banks of the Schuylkill River
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
then extends northeast to Wissahickon Avenue. East Falls overlooks the multi-use recreational path of Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is the municipal park system of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of 63 parks, with , all overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, successor to the Fairmount Park Commission in 2010.-Fairmount Park proper:...
along Kelly Drive, and is desirable for its central location, an easy commute to Center City
Center City, Philadelphia
Center City, or Downtown Philadelphia includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2005, its population of over 88,000 made it the third most populous downtown in the United States, after New York City's and Chicago's...
, with easy access to several major roadways and public transportation. East Falls continues to develop, with new housing, retail space and recreation centers in production. It features three streets in proximity with the word "Queen" in them (Queen Lane, New Queen Street, and Indian Queen Lane), two train stations, a number of bars and restaurants, a small Korean grocer, illustrious mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
s as well as some recently renovated housing that continues to increase in value.
Recently, East Falls has been undergoing redevelopment to elevate its status to Manayunk and other shopping districts in the Philadelphia area. Several local restaurants and coffee shops have been built, and are beginning to see financial success. Another substantial addition, The Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...
Youth Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and Education Center, was recently completed. It offers instruction to Philadelphia youth in its new 9.2 acres (37,231.1 m²), sixteen court facility and operates in cooperation with the City of Philadelphia, School District of Philadelphia
School District of Philadelphia
The School District of Philadelphia is a school district based in the School District of Philadelphia Education Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that includes all public schools in the city of Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the eighth largest school district in the nation.The School...
, and others. It was built in partnership with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
along with private funding.
East Falls is best known as the childhood home of Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
, actress and Princess of Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, who grew up in a house at 3901 Henry Avenue. In addition, former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
, Jewish studies scholar Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok was an American Jewish author and rabbi. Potok is most famous for his first book The Chosen, a 1967 novel which was listed on The New York Times’ best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,400,000 copies.-Biography :Herman Harold Potok was born in The Bronx, New York City, to...
, Pennsylvania Governor and former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell
Ed Rendell
Edward Gene "Ed" Rendell is an American politician who served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania. Rendell, a member of the Democratic Party, was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 2002, and his term of office began January 21, 2003...
, and world renowned magician David Farnin have homes in East Falls. Ravenhill Academy, a Catholic girls school run by the Mothers of the Assumption from the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, was attended by Grace Kelly and the former President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino
Corazon Aquino
Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office in Philippine history. She is best remembered for leading the 1986 People Power Revolution, which toppled Ferdinand Marcos and restored democracy in the Philippines...
. It was closed in 1977 and now is part of the Philadelphia University
Philadelphia University
Philadelphia University, founded in 1884, is a private university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Philadelphia University's student body consists of about 3,500 individuals from all 50 states and over 50 countries...
campus. It is a common misconception that Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
exchanged nuptials with his second wife, Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, in another campus building, a house on the corner of School House Lane and Henry Avenue.
East Falls is also home to historic Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the second major garden or rural cemetery in the United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998, one of only a few cemeteries to receive the distinction....
, burial place of numerous prominent Philadelphians and other notables.
Early history
Before the arrival of European settlers, the Lenni Lenape IndiansLenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
considered the lower Schuylkill River their home. The Wissahickon Creek
Wissahickon Creek
Wissahickon Creek is a stream in southeastern Pennsylvania. Rising in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, it runs about 23 miles passing through and dividing Northwest Philadelphia before emptying into the Schuylkill River at Philadelphia...
runs into the Schuylkill here and today is included as a part of Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is the municipal park system of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of 63 parks, with , all overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, successor to the Fairmount Park Commission in 2010.-Fairmount Park proper:...
, providing walking and bike paths along its banks. Wissahickon is a merging of two Lenape words: "Wisaucksickan" meaning "yellow-colored creek", and "Wisamickan" meaning "catfish creek". In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries "catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
and waffles" was a favorite food at the many inns and taverns that ran through the valley, and a catfish still serves as the weathervane atop the Free Library of Philadelphia
Free Library of Philadelphia
The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-History:History of the Free Library of Philadelphia: Initiated by the efforts of Dr...
Falls of Schuylkill Branch. East Falls was named in the nineteenth century for the river rapids that were present before the completion of the Fairmount Dam. It had earlier been known as Falls of the Schuylkill or Falls Village. In the 19th century, the Dobson Mills textile factory thrived there.
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- Note: A detailed early history of East Falls is contained in "Early History of the Falls of Schuylkill, Manayunk, Schuylkill and Lehigh Navigation Companies, Fairmount Waterworks, Etc.", by Charles V. Hagner, in 1869. It was reprinted by the University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in 2010 as part of its Historical Reprint Series.
- Note: A detailed early history of East Falls is contained in "Early History of the Falls of Schuylkill, Manayunk, Schuylkill and Lehigh Navigation Companies, Fairmount Waterworks, Etc.", by Charles V. Hagner, in 1869. It was reprinted by the University of Michigan
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, the racial makeup of East Falls is 72.06% White, 19.98% African American, 4.79% Asian, and 0.86% from other races. 2.58% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
In 2005, the median home sale price in the 19129 zip code, which contains East Falls, was $184,000. This was an increase of 8% over the median sale price for 2004.
Government
- 4th Council District (includes Roxborough, Manayunk, Andorra and part of West Philadelphia)
- 38th ward (becomes 21st Ward west at School House Lane)
- U.S. Representative District 2 (most of Philadelphia west of Broad Street)
- State Senator District 7 (similar to 4th Council District)
- State Representative Districts 194, 197, and 198
Education
- The William Penn Charter SchoolWilliam Penn Charter SchoolWilliam Penn Charter School is an independent school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1689 by William Penn...
, a private day school founded by William PennWilliam PennWilliam Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
in 1689 has called its forty four acre East Falls campus home since 1925.
- Philadelphia UniversityPhiladelphia UniversityPhiladelphia University, founded in 1884, is a private university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Philadelphia University's student body consists of about 3,500 individuals from all 50 states and over 50 countries...
is a private university with a 100 acre (0.404686 km²) campus in East Falls, predominantly along School House Lane and Henry Avenue. Founded in 1884, it was previously known as The Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science (1961–1999). Currently with 3,100 part and full-time students, the university offers more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
- East Falls became the main campus of Drexel University College of MedicineDrexel University College of MedicineDrexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University. The medical school has the nation's largest enrollment for a private medical school, and represents the consolidation of two medical schools: the nation's first medical school for women and the first U.S. college of...
since it took over MCP-Hahnemann University School of Medicine in 2003. It is the consolidation of two medical schools, each with over one hundred and fifty years of history, Hahnemann Medical CollegeHahnemann University HospitalHahnemann University Hospital, established in 1885 and named after Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, is a hospital in Center City, Philadelphia. It is affiliated with Drexel University College of Medicine and serves as its Center City Hahnemann campus.-History:In 1993 Hahnemann...
, founded in 1848, and Woman's Medical College, founded in 1850 and later the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
- The Mifflin School, a K-8 grade school run by the School District of Philadelphia, is currently undergoing an $8 million dollar refurbishment project, and is also part of the Bright Futures project.
- St. Bridget’s Catholic Elementary School, run by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, has been in East Falls since 1853. It was founded by Saint John NeumannJohn NeumannSaint John Nepomucene Neumann, C.Ss.R., was a Redemptorist missionary to the United States who became the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia and the first American bishop to be canonized...
, who was then Bishop of the Diocese of Philadelphia.
Places of worship
- BaptistBaptistBaptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
: Falls of Schuylkill Baptist Church - CatholicCatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
: St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church - Episcopal: Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd
- Lutheran: Redeemer Lutheran Church
- Presbyterian: East Falls First Presbyterian Church
See also
- Medical Campus of PhiladelphiaMedical Campus of PhiladelphiaThe Medical Campus of Philadelphia occupies the site on which the world’s first medical school for women, the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania , relocated from Center City to East Falls in 1930...
- Philadelphia UniversityPhiladelphia UniversityPhiladelphia University, founded in 1884, is a private university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Philadelphia University's student body consists of about 3,500 individuals from all 50 states and over 50 countries...
- Wissahickon (house)Wissahickon (house)Wissahickon is a historic apartment building in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Wissahickon, which takes its name from nearby Wissahickon Creek, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It was listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places on...