Mill Creek, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Mill Creek is a neighborhood in the West Philadelphia
section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. It is located north of Market Street, south of Girard Avenue, between 44th and 52nd Streets. It is named for the eponymous creek which was covered by a cistern
in the 1880s, although the water underneath the neighborhood continues to affect its residents as subsidence
remains an issue. In 1961, the sewer collapsed, taking homes with it.
Mill Creek Apartments, a public housing
project designed by Louis Kahn
, was demolished in 2002 and replaced with Lucien Blackwell Homes (named after the congressman
). The three 17-story highrise project towers were replaced by suburb
an-style low-rise homes.
Mill Creek was the site of a 2000 incident, dubbed the "Lex Street Massacre
," in which four men killed seven others and wounded three in retaliation for damage to a car, the worst killing spree in modern Philadelphia history.
Mill Creek School is a private school on the grounds of the Kirkbride Center, which was formerly the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital.
West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though there is no official definition of its boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Line Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and...
section of Philadelphia, 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...
. It is located north of Market Street, south of Girard Avenue, between 44th and 52nd Streets. It is named for the eponymous creek which was covered by a cistern
Cistern
A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...
in the 1880s, although the water underneath the neighborhood continues to affect its residents as subsidence
Subsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
remains an issue. In 1961, the sewer collapsed, taking homes with it.
Mill Creek Apartments, a public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
project designed by Louis Kahn
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935...
, was demolished in 2002 and replaced with Lucien Blackwell Homes (named after the congressman
Lucien E. Blackwell
Lucien Edward Blackwell was a United States Congressman who represented West Philadelphia and parts of Delaware County, Pennsylvania from 1991 to 1995. He was a Democrat.-Early life:...
). The three 17-story highrise project towers were replaced by suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an-style low-rise homes.
Mill Creek was the site of a 2000 incident, dubbed the "Lex Street Massacre
Lex Street Massacre
The Lex Street Massacre is the name, given by a Philadelphia Daily News reporter, to a mass murder that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 28, 2000.Ten people were shot in a crack house in West Philadelphia. Seven of them died....
," in which four men killed seven others and wounded three in retaliation for damage to a car, the worst killing spree in modern Philadelphia history.
Mill Creek School is a private school on the grounds of the Kirkbride Center, which was formerly the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital.
External links
- PHA's Lucien Blackwell Homes
- Restoring Mill Creek: Landscape Literacy, Environmental Justice, City Planning and Design, Anne Whiston Spirn
- Tearing Down Louis Kahn, New York Times