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S. 4th Street
S. 9th Street
I-95
Originally Front Street
Wallace Street
Originally Paschall’s Alley
1858 changed to Lynd Street
1897 changed to Wallace Street
Legend
Go to the Educators section for lesson plans on mapping.
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Greater Northern Liberties/Lower North Philadelphia
PhilaPlace takes you “beyond the Bell,” by presenting two neighborhood tours that focus on areas where change can be traced from the distant past to the present day. Over the course of three centuries, William Penn’s Northern Liberties and Southwark have seen it all. From wilderness to industrial workshop, from post-industrial blight to revitalization, these neighborhoods can almost be viewed as a microcosm of the last 150 years of the American urban experience.
The sites on this tour span several miles and three centuries, revealing the layers of history and cultures embedded in Philadelphia’s landscape. The route is not linear or chronological, but like the neighborhoods themselves is an interconnected patchwork reflecting change over time and the adaptive re-use of public and private spaces. Some of the featured sites do not actually exist anymore, their original inhabitants long gone to the suburbs or other parts of the city, their original functions long-forgotten or vestigial. But their imprints are indelible. As the future comes to Philadelphia ever more quickly, this tour seeks to preserve and interpret its rich and diverse past, and to illuminate its ongoing complexity and vitality.
The places on this tour were selected with the help of neighborhood residents, and the stories that these sites tell incorporate community voices. We hope these virtual tours will encourage you to visit the neighborhoods and discover places you never knew existed, or re-discover old haunts. You can get directions for up to 25 of your favorite sites with Google maps at MyPhilaPlace.
Enjoy the journey and feel free to share your own story of a PhilaPlace with us!
Mt. Tabor African Methodist Church
South Philadelphia
PhilaPlace takes you “beyond the Bell,” by presenting two neighborhood tours that focus on areas where change can be traced from the distant past to the present day. Over the course of three centuries, William Penn’s Northern Liberties and Southwark have seen it all. From wilderness to industrial workshop, from post-industrial blight to revitalization, these neighborhoods can almost be viewed as a microcosm of the last 150 years of the American urban experience.
The sites on this tour span several miles and three centuries, revealing the layers of history and cultures embedded in Philadelphia’s landscape. The route is not linear or chronological, but like the neighborhoods themselves is an interconnected patchwork reflecting change over time and the adaptive re-use of public and private spaces. Some of the featured sites do not actually exist anymore, their original inhabitants long gone to the suburbs or other parts of the city, their original functions long-forgotten or vestigial. But their imprints are indelible. As the future comes to Philadelphia ever more quickly, this tour seeks to preserve and interpret its rich and diverse past, and to illuminate its ongoing complexity and vitality.
The places on this tour were selected with the help of neighborhood residents, and the stories that these sites tell incorporate community voices. We hope these virtual tours will encourage you to visit the neighborhoods and discover places you never knew existed, or re-discover old haunts. You can get directions for up to 25 of your favorite sites with Google maps at MyPhilaPlace.
Enjoy the journey and feel free to share your own story of a PhilaPlace with us!
Sparks Shot Tower