Feltonville is a neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia

Northeast Philadelphia

Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 Census, the Northeast has a sizable percentage of the city's 1.547 million people — a population of between 300,000 and 450,000,...

  It is located east of Logan, Philadelphia, south of Olney

Olney, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Olney is a neighborhood in the North Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is roughly bounded by the Roosevelt Boulevard to the south, Tacony Creek to the east, Godfrey Avenue to the north, and the railroad right-of-way west of Sixth Street to the west.Although...

, northeast of Hunting Park

Hunting Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Hunting Park is a neighborhood in the North Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Like many North Philadelphia neighborhoods, it grew mainly in the 1920s and 1940s. The neighborhood's namesake is large park which is a regular location for recreation for many...

, west of Frankford

Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Frankford is a large and important neighborhood in the lower Northeast section of Philadelphia situated about six miles northeast of Center City. Although its borders are vaguely defined, the neighborhood is bounded roughly by the original course of Frankford Creek, now roughly Adams to Aramingo...

, and northwest of Juniata

Juniata, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Juniata is a neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia, which is a section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; however, it is sometimes said to be in North Philadelphia because it lies west of Frankford Creek. Juniata is located south of the Juniata Golf Club in Tacony Creek Park...

. Feltonville is an extremely diverse neighborhood, with large populations of Korean American

Korean American

Korean Americans are Americans of Korean descent, mostly from South Korea, with a small minority from North Korea...

s, Cambodian American

Cambodian American

A Cambodian American is an American who is born, raised, or from Cambodia usually of Khmer descent but also including Chinese Cambodians, Vietnamese Cambodians, Cham people and other ethnicities of Cambodia...

s, Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

ans, Colombian American

Colombian American

Colombian Americans are citizens of the United States who trace their nationality or heritage from the South American nation of Colombia. They are the largest South American ethnic group in the United States.-Causes of migration:...

s, Dominican American

Dominican American

A Dominican American is any American who has origins in the Dominican Republic.Immigration records of Dominicans in the United States date from the late 19th century, and New York City has had a Dominican community since the 1930s...

s, Mexican American

Mexican American

Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...

s, Puerto Ricans and other immigrants. It is estimated that there are 27 languages spoken in the neighborhood.http://www.ecs1870.org/pdf/winter02.pdf

Feltonville was known around 1890 as "Wyoming Villa" or "Wyoming Valley." In 1927, the City of Philadelphia set aside a corner of the recreation field at "B" St. and Wyoming Ave. for the building of the Wyoming Branch of 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...

. Completed in 1930, this branch has the distinction of being the last Carnegie library

Carnegie library

A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...

 built with funds provided by the noted philanthropist Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

.

Early residents noted Feltonville for its high ground, beautiful rolling farms, and many gracious homes. Before 1900, as a suburb of Philadelphia, public transportation was limited to the Reading Railroad's train from 3rd and Berks Streets to Newtown, Pennsylvania

Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Newtown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,248 at the 2010 census. It is located just west of the Trenton, New Jersey metropolitan area, and is part of the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area. It is entirely surrounded by Newtown Township, from which...

. The station was located at 2nd Street and Wyoming Avenue, on the northwest boundary of a 23 acres (93,077.8 m²) farm. A local historian, Edna Walmsley Hookway, described what the scene would have looked like in 1891:

Across from the station, on Wyoming Avenue, stood the Rau mansion built in 1888. Mr. David Titlow, the undertaker, lived in a stately home with a lake in front of it at Wyoming Avenue and "C" Street. Across Wyoming Avenue on the north side stood the large residences of Mr. Edwin P. Frick and Mr. Thomas Harvey, side by side.

On old Second Street Pike, now named Rising Sun Avenue, and Fisher's Lane stood the Feltonville School, having twelve grades, all taught by one teacher. Some of the classes had only five or six pupils. Several branches of the Felton family, for whom the community was named, resided on Fisher's Lane, the present "D" Street, which extended all through the community. It ran north and south, turned westward at what is now the Roosevelt Boulevard

Roosevelt Boulevard (Philadelphia)

Roosevelt Boulevard , often referred to simply as "the Boulevard," is a major traffic artery through North and Northeast Philadelphia...

, bounding the twenty-eight-acre farm of Mr. John Hoffner. Mr. Hoffner was a relative of the Felton family. Mr. Christopher Simon was also a Felton.

A visitor arriving on the Reading train was greeted by the bright, bold sign "Wyoming" hanging on the station. On old Second Street Pike was a picturcsque property occupied by Mr. James Eckersley. On the lawn, "Wyoming Villa" was written in brilliant red plants.

A newly formed real estate company named "Wyoming Land and Improvement Association," and headed by Mr. Eckersley, employed Mr. John Walmsley to divide the fields into building lots. Mr. Walmsley brought his wife and five children to reside on Second Street Pike in the first new house built by the Wyoming Land Company.

External links

• ECS Beacon Center, Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania
• Historic Photographs of Feltonville, PhillyHistory.org