Shackamaxon or Shakamaxon was a historic village along the Delaware River inhabited by Delaware (Lenape)

Lenape

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...

 Indians in North America. It was located within what are now the borders of the city 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...

, United States.

In 1682, William Penn

William Penn

William 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...

 reportedly signed a treaty with the leaders of the Delaware village under an ancient elm tree. The treaty has not been authenticated, but the signing was immortalized in several works of art (in particular, Benjamin West

Benjamin West

Benjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...

's paintings) and was mentioned by the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 author Voltaire

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

. The legendary elm tree marking the spot blew down in a storm in 1810. Its location was memorialized as a park, known as Penn Treaty Park

Penn Treaty Park

Penn Treaty Park is a small park on the western bank of the Delaware river, in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located at the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Beach Street, just off Delaware Avenue.- Overview :...

.

Six Swedish families were recorded as living in this area before Penn's arrival. The Swedes sold out to the new English settlers. In the 19th century, the territory of Shackamaxon was developed as part of the Port Richmond

Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Port Richmond, also referred to as simply Richmond, is a neighborhood in the Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is notable for its extremely large Polish immigrant and Polish American community. The neighborhood is also home to sizable Irish, German and Italian communities as...

, Fishtown

Fishtown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Fishtown is a neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Located immediately northeast of Center City, its borders are somewhat disputed today due to many factors, but are roughly defined by the triangle created by the Delaware River, Frankford Avenue, and York Street...

, and Kensington

Kensington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Kensington is a neighborhood in the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is between the Lower Northeast section of Philadelphia and North Philadelphia. Not to be confused with the former Kensington District, now commonly referred to as Fishtown, the area modernly referred to as...

 sections of Philadelphia. Today there is a Shackamaxon Street in Philadelphia which runs through those neighborhoods.

The Shackamaxon treaty is mentioned on several official websites as part of the history of Pennsylvania, such as that of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage...

.

See also

• Native American history

External links

• Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission: Shackamaxon Treaty history website.
• Penn Treaty Museum

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