Eastwick, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Eastwick is a neighborhood in the Southwest
section of Philadelphia
, Pennsylvania
, United States
. It is the southwesternmost neighborhood in the city, bordering Philadelphia International Airport
and the city line with Delaware County, Pennsylvania
at Cobbs Creek
and Darby Creek
. The Elmwood Park
neighborhood borders it to the northeast.
The neighborhood is named for Andrew M. Eastwick. It was largely rural until the 1920s when swampy land was dredged to create room for an airport and other large-scale uses within the city limits. Much of the original housing built before the 1950s lacked sewer service and other urban conveniences. Residents referred to the neighborhood as "The Meadows."
Residents enjoyed the ability to have a rural lifestyle within city limits; nearby creeks provided recreation in the form of swimming, bathing, and fishing. An extensive crabbing home industry was based in The Meadows.
Homes ranged from traditional single-family residences with lawns and gardens to traditional Philadelphia-style row houses; sometimes, these two housing styles appeared on the same block. Brick was the predominant material used in construction. Homes were built from the early 19th century until the Second World War caused a shortage of material for new construction.
The city of Philadelphia, which had been under Republican control in the 1940s, shifted in the 1950s toward reform Democrats, whose policies included community redevelopment.
This plan may have ultimately led to the Authority's 1951 description of the area as "predominantly open land," despite the more than 19,000 residents, 72 percent of whom owned their own homes. (McKee 549) Opposition to the redevelopment among residents was widespread. In 1958, Art Peters wrote in the Philadelphia Tribune
:
In 1958, Eastwick was declared the largest urban renewal
project in the country, with the Korman Company making plans to replace the allegedly "poorly maintained and blighted homes" with newer, suburban-style construction in the 1960s and 70s. As Guian A. McKee writes in his study of Eastwick, the new development came at the expense of the existing community.
Eminent domain action led to forced relocation of most residents and widescale destruction of existing homes. The resulting open fields lied open ffor decades, and most of the planned development never occurred. Eventually, a limited amount of new housing was constructed, but the Korman Company had little involvement and the reason for which the neighborhood was destroyed was never realized. The housing that was built was suburban-style townhouses. The neighborhood was one of only three in Philadelphia that grew in population between 1970 and 1990. (McKee 563)
The Heinz National Wildlife Refuge extends from Eastwick to Tinicum Township, Pennsylvania
. Eastwick contains a large industrial area where manufacturing and distributing uses take advantage of proximity to the Airport, Interstate 95
, and Center City Philadelphia. There are many gas tank farms, oil
refineries, and a sewage
treatment plant. The area offers affordable land for industrial uses at reportedly "one-third the cost of outlying suburbs," while enabling companies to remain in the city where employees can utilize public transithttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E6D9163AF932A35751C0A96E958260&sec=&pagewanted=print. The Route 36 SEPTA Subway-Surface Lines runs through the neighborhood, terminating at Eastwick (Subway-Surface station)
.
The neighborhood has been the site of controversy for a number of issues. Some blocks are located in a flood plain, leading to flooded, abandoned homes and vacant lots that are often used for illegal dumping. Issues of environmental regulation and brownfields cleanup have also figured into the history of Eastwick. The Philadelphia metropolitan area's main post office, formerly housed next to 30th Street Station
, moved to a larger, auto-oriented facility in Eastwick in 2006. This move was long criticized by neighborhood groups.
of 2000, there were 14,424 people residing in the neighborhood. The racial makeup was 36.70% White, 57.47% African American, 2.68% Asian, and 0.69% from other races
. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.91% of the population. The median income for a household in the neighborhood was $33,320.
operates the Eastwick Branch, which serves Eastwick and other subdivisions, at 2581 Island Avenue.
Southwest Philadelphia
Southwest Philadelphia is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The section can be described as extending from the western side of the Schuylkill River to the city line, with the SEPTA Media/Elwyn Line serving as the northern border...
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...
. It is the southwesternmost neighborhood in the city, bordering Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...
and the city line with Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....
at Cobbs Creek
Cobbs Creek
Cobbs Creek is an tributary of Darby Creek in Delaware County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It forms an approximate border between Montgomery County and Delaware County. After Cobbs Creek passes underneath Township Line Road , it forms the border between Philadelphia County and Delaware County...
and Darby Creek
Darby Creek
Darby Creek may refer to:*Darby Creek , a tributary of the Delaware River*Two streams in central Ohio:** Big Darby Creek** Little Darby Creek...
. The Elmwood Park
Elmwood Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Elmwood Park, also known simply as Elmwood, is a neighborhood in the Southwest section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It borders the city line with Delaware County at Cobbs Creek, and extends to the Schuylkill River...
neighborhood borders it to the northeast.
The neighborhood is named for Andrew M. Eastwick. It was largely rural until the 1920s when swampy land was dredged to create room for an airport and other large-scale uses within the city limits. Much of the original housing built before the 1950s lacked sewer service and other urban conveniences. Residents referred to the neighborhood as "The Meadows."
Residents enjoyed the ability to have a rural lifestyle within city limits; nearby creeks provided recreation in the form of swimming, bathing, and fishing. An extensive crabbing home industry was based in The Meadows.
Homes ranged from traditional single-family residences with lawns and gardens to traditional Philadelphia-style row houses; sometimes, these two housing styles appeared on the same block. Brick was the predominant material used in construction. Homes were built from the early 19th century until the Second World War caused a shortage of material for new construction.
The city of Philadelphia, which had been under Republican control in the 1940s, shifted in the 1950s toward reform Democrats, whose policies included community redevelopment.
During the late 1940s, city planners began to view Eastwick's vast and relatively open spaces as a potential solution to the problem of residential displacement from redevelopment projects planned for largely black sections of North and West Philadelphia. In 1949, the (Philadelphia Redevelopment AuthorityPhiladelphia Redevelopment AuthorityThe 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...
) argued that low-income blacks in these areas could be relocated to a new, planned community in Eastwick that, in the words of one commentator, "would not only siphon off the black overflow but would be a low visibility cul-de-sac into which the burgeoning Negro population could be stuffed." (McKee 552)
This plan may have ultimately led to the Authority's 1951 description of the area as "predominantly open land," despite the more than 19,000 residents, 72 percent of whom owned their own homes. (McKee 549) Opposition to the redevelopment among residents was widespread. In 1958, Art Peters wrote in the Philadelphia Tribune
Philadelphia Tribune
The Philadelphia Tribune is an American newspaper, headquartered at 520 South 16th Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that primarily targets the African American community. Published Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, it is the oldest continually running African-American newspaper,...
:
Negro and white residents of Eastwick are fighting together for what they call the "common cause." The common cause, as they see it, is to prevent at any cost the planned redevelopment of Eastwick. Almost to a man, the Eastwick residents agree that the planned redevelopment of their community will cause segregated housing in Eastwick, which for years has been thoroughly integrated and which its citizens wish to remain integrated. (quoted in McKee 556)
In 1958, Eastwick was declared the largest 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...
project in the country, with the Korman Company making plans to replace the allegedly "poorly maintained and blighted homes" with newer, suburban-style construction in the 1960s and 70s. As Guian A. McKee writes in his study of Eastwick, the new development came at the expense of the existing community.
The pursuit of these goals brought an attendant element of tragic irony, as the project required the destruction of the area's unique existing community, which, unlike most of Philadelphia during this period, was already racially integrated. (McKee 547)
Eminent domain action led to forced relocation of most residents and widescale destruction of existing homes. The resulting open fields lied open ffor decades, and most of the planned development never occurred. Eventually, a limited amount of new housing was constructed, but the Korman Company had little involvement and the reason for which the neighborhood was destroyed was never realized. The housing that was built was suburban-style townhouses. The neighborhood was one of only three in Philadelphia that grew in population between 1970 and 1990. (McKee 563)
The Heinz National Wildlife Refuge extends from Eastwick to Tinicum Township, Pennsylvania
Tinicum Township, Pennsylvania
Tinicum Township, Pennsylvania could refer to:*Tinicum Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania*Tinicum Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania...
. Eastwick contains a large industrial area where manufacturing and distributing uses take advantage of proximity to the Airport, Interstate 95
Interstate 95 in Pennsylvania
Interstate 95 is an Interstate highway running from Miami, Florida north to Houlton, Maine. In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the route is known by many as the Delaware Expressway, but is officially named The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway. and locally known as "95"...
, and Center City Philadelphia. There are many gas tank farms, oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
refineries, and a sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
treatment plant. The area offers affordable land for industrial uses at reportedly "one-third the cost of outlying suburbs," while enabling companies to remain in the city where employees can utilize public transithttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E6D9163AF932A35751C0A96E958260&sec=&pagewanted=print. The Route 36 SEPTA Subway-Surface Lines runs through the neighborhood, terminating at Eastwick (Subway-Surface station)
Eastwick (Subway-Surface station)
The Eastwick Loop is the Western terminus of the SEPTA Subway-Surface Route 36 trolley at Island Road near the former 80th Street intersection in the Eastwick neighborhood of Southwest Philadelphia. Trolleys run from here to Center City Philadelphia. The station is near Island Avenue and I-95...
.
The neighborhood has been the site of controversy for a number of issues. Some blocks are located in a flood plain, leading to flooded, abandoned homes and vacant lots that are often used for illegal dumping. Issues of environmental regulation and brownfields cleanup have also figured into the history of Eastwick. The Philadelphia metropolitan area's main post office, formerly housed next to 30th Street Station
30th Street Station
30th Street Station is the main railroad station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the five stations in SEPTA's Center City fare zone. It is also a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone Corridors...
, moved to a larger, auto-oriented facility in Eastwick in 2006. This move was long criticized by neighborhood groups.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 14,424 people residing in the neighborhood. The racial makeup was 36.70% White, 57.47% African American, 2.68% Asian, and 0.69% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.91% of the population. The median income for a household in the neighborhood was $33,320.
Education
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 Eastwick Branch, which serves Eastwick and other subdivisions, at 2581 Island Avenue.
External links
- PA DEP Joins City of Philadelphia and Eastwick Community in Celebrating Cleanup Agreements, 2005
- Blight Recertification Report, City Planning Commission, 2006
- Branch History, Free Library
- "New postal center opens to support," Henry J. Holcomb, Philadelphia Inquirer