Society Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
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...
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...
. The neighborhood, loosely defined as bounded by Walnut, Lombard, Front and 7th Streets, contains the largest concentration of original 18th- and early 19th-century architecture of any place in the United States. Society Hill is noted as a charming district with cobblestone streets bordered by brick rowhouses in Federal
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
and Georgian style
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
.
History
The district is named after the 18th century Free Society of Traders, which had its offices at Front Street on the hill above Dock Creek. Located close to both the Delaware RiverDelaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
and Philadelphia's civic buildings, including the Independence Hall, the neighborhood soon became one of the city's most populous areas.
Several market halls, taverns and churches were built alongside brick houses of Philadelphia's affluent citizens.
In the 19th century, the city expanded westward and the area lost its appeal. Houses deteriorated until the 1950s, when the city, state and federal governments started one of the first urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
programs aimed at the preservation of historic buildings. While most commercial 19th-century buildings were demolished, historically-significant houses were restored by occupants or taken over by the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority
Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority
The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, with the legal name of "Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia", was created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Urban Redevelopment Law of 1945...
and sold to individuals who agreed to restore the exteriors. Replicas of 18th-century street lights and brick sidewalks were added to enhance the colonial atmosphere. Empty lots and demolished buildings were replaced with parks, walkways, and modern townhouses.
From 1957-1959, the agencies Greater Philadelphia Movement, Redevelopment Authority and the Old Philadelphia Development Corporation bought 31 acres (125,452.7 m²) around Dock Street. They demolished and relocated the Dock Street market, setting aside 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) of land that would become the Society Hill Towers
Society Hill Towers
Society Hill Towers is a three-building condominium development located in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The complex contains three 31-story skyscraper buildings on a site. The towers, originally apartment buildings, were designed by I.M...
.
In 1957, Edmund Bacon, the executive director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, awarded developer-architect firm Webb and Knapp
Webb and Knapp
Webb and Knapp was a real estate development firm, founded in 1922 by Robert C. Knapp and W. Seward Webb, along with Eliot Cross, a noted architect, who along with his brother John Walter Cross, formed the architectural partnership of Cross and Cross. William Zeckendorf joined the Firm in 1938 ...
the competition for the redevelopment of Society Hill. Architect I. M. Pei
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei , commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese American architect, often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton, China and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou...
and his team designed a plan for three 31-story Society Hill Towers and low-rise buildings. The Towers and townhouses project was completed in 1964, while the entire plan was completed in 1977. Architect Louis Sauer
Louis Sauer
Louis Sauer , FAIA, is an American architect and design theorist. In the 1960s and 1970s Sauer untypically worked with housing developers, producing low-rise high-density housing projects....
designed dozens of rowhouse projects for the area around Society Hill, including Waverly Court and Penn's Landing Square.
Historic buildings in Society Hill include the Society Hill Synagogue, built in 1829 as a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists 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...
church by Philadelphia architect Thomas U. Walter
Thomas U. Walter
Thomas Ustick Walter of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was an American architect, the dean of American architecture between the 1820 death of Benjamin Latrobe and the emergence of H.H. Richardson in the 1870s...
, one of the architects of the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
in Washington, DC. The synagogue was entered into the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1971. Another notable building is St. Peter's Church
St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia
St. Peter's Church is a historic church located on the corner of Third and Pine Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It opened for worship on September 4, 1761 and served as a place of worship for many of the United States Founding Fathers during the period of the Continental Congresses. The...
, constructed between 1758 and 1761 by Robert Smith
Robert Smith (architect)
Robert Smith was a Scottish-born American architect who was based in Philadelphia. Smith's work includes buildings such as Carpenters' Hall, St. Peter's Church, and the steeple on Christ Church—constituted the greater part of the city's early skyline.-Early life:Smith was born in Dalkeith Parish,...
.
The Society Hill Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1971.
Education
Society Hill residents are assigned to schools in the School District of PhiladelphiaSchool 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...
. Residents are zoned to the General George A. McCall School, located in Society Hill, for grades Kindergarten through 8 and Furness High School
Furness High School
Horace Howard Furness High School is a secondary school in the South Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the School District of Philadelphia....
for high school
Also located in Society Hill is the Saint Peter's School, considered to be the most exclusive private elementary school in Philadelphia. It was formed in 1834 and was originally part of St. Peter's Church
St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia
St. Peter's Church is a historic church located on the corner of Third and Pine Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It opened for worship on September 4, 1761 and served as a place of worship for many of the United States Founding Fathers during the period of the Continental Congresses. The...
, erected in 1761. Saint Peter's offers classes from Pre-School through eighth grade.
Public libraries
The Free Library of PhiladelphiaFree 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...
operates the Independence Branch at 18 South 7th Street.
See also
- Independence National Historical ParkIndependence National Historical ParkIndependence National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Philadelphia that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National Park Service, the park comprises much of the downtown historic...
- The Cassey HouseThe Cassey HouseThe Cassey House, at 243 Delancey Street , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was owned by the Cassey family for 84 years...