Fishtown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Fishtown is a neighborhood in 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

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. 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. Some newer residents expand the area to Lehigh Avenue, while some older residents shrink the area to Norris Street. It is served by the Market–Frankford Line rapid transit subway/elevated of the SEPTA system. Fishtown is known as a working class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

Irish Catholic

Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...

neighborhood.

The name "Fishtown" is derived from the area's former role as the center of the shad fishing industry on the Delaware River

Delaware 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...

. The name comes from the fact that a number of 18th and early 19th centuries German and German-American families bought up the fishing rights on both sides of the Delaware River from Trenton Falls down to Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States...

. Also, in the early 18th century, an English colonist was fabled to have caught the largest shad

Shad

The shads or river herrings comprise the genus Alosa, fish related to herring in the family Clupeidae. They are distinct from others in that family by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. The several species frequent different areas on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea....

in the world in the Delaware River

Delaware River

.

The apocryphal local legend traces the name of Fishtown to Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

who purportedly visited the neighborhood in March 1842, but records show this to be false, as it was named Fishtown prior to his visiting.

Pre-1800

The area was originally inhabited by members of the Turtle Clan of the Lenni Lenape Indian

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

tribe (who the Europeans named the Delaware Indian Tribe). The first European

European ethnic groups

The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

settlers were a group of 6 Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

farming families, later replaced by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

landed gentry, then British

United Kingdom

shipbuilders and German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

fishermen.

1800-1950

Within a few generations there was another influx of German immigrants, then still later in the late 19th century Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

and Irish Catholic immigrants. The three Roman Catholic Churches, St. Laurentius

St. Laurentius in Philadelphia

Saint Laurentius Parish is a Roman Catholic parish designated for Polish immigrants in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.It is the oldest Polish Roman Catholic Church within both, the City and Archdiocese of Philadelphia....

, Holy Name of Jesus and the Immaculate Conception were built by these immigrants. Saint Laurentius, built by the Polish immigrants, and Holy Name and the Immaculate Conception, built by predominantly Irish immigrants, continue to serve the community.

Modern history

The neighborhood has been working class

Working class

for centuries. While poverty grew after jobs left in the de-industrialization which afflicted many "rust belt" cities, Fishtown's workers continued to maintain a stable working-class community. Most long-time residents trace their ancestry to Irish, German, and Polish Catholic immigrants.

In recent years Fishtown has experienced moderate gentrification

Gentrification

Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...

characterized by significant rises in housing prices and the opening of upscale art, entertainment, and dining establishments. An influx of artists and professionals has joined the ranks of police officers, fire fighters, nurses, carpenters, electricians, stonemasons, plumbers, sheet-metal workers, and teamsters.

The neighborhood was chosen by the state of Pennsylvania to be the site of the SugarHouse Casino

SugarHouse Casino

SugarHouse Casino is a casino entertainment development along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Fishtown neighborhood. It was one of five stand-alone casinos awarded a gaming license on December 20, 2006 by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board...

gaming complex on Delaware Avenue near Frankford Avenue. This choice deeply divided the neighborhood, causing conflict between those who believe it will bring jobs and economic development and those who believe it will lead to increased crime, addiction, and other social problems which negatively impact on quality of life. A Community Benefits Agreement was reached between SugarHouse Casino and the membership of Fishtown Action and the New Kensington CDC, which will provide money for community projects that would not otherwise be available to the residents.

Borders disputed

Fishtown is actually the eastern most triangle of the larger surrounding Kensington District, created out of Northern Liberties Township in 1820. The Kensington District, when created, had a Northern border of Norris Street, an Eastern border of the Delaware River

Delaware River

, a Southern border of the Cohocksink Creek

Cohocksink Creek

The Cohocksink Creek was formerly a stream running between what are now the Philadelphia neighborhoods of Northern Liberties and Kensington. It was a tributary of the Delaware River. Its name, spelled various ways, is said to come from a Lenape word for "pine lands." Alternate names included...

, and a Western border of 6th Street. The Kensington District is not to be confused with the 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...

neighborhood of today.

There has never been an official designation of this area as "Fishtown." Locals who lived in the eastern part of the Kensington district, namely those in Philadelphia’s 18th Political Ward, referred to it as Lower Kensington, as seen in early buildings and churches, until the late 1800s. Fishtown stuck as the nickname because of the shipping and fishing industries along the Delaware River

Delaware River

. By the 2nd and 3rd quarter of the 20th century, the area was no longer being called Kensington or Lower Kensington.

With the Eastern border locked as the Delaware River, the Southern border has become where Laurel Street, Frankford Avenue and Delaware Avenue meet. The Western border follows Laurel Street west to Front Street, then north on Front Street to Norris Street. The northern border is disputed by different peoples as either Norris Street, York Street, or Lehigh Avenue. There are three main reasons for the northern border confusion:

Political Border (Norris Street)
- The northern border of the Kensington District, founded in 1820, was Norris Street.
- In 1854, with the consolidation of Philadelphia County and City
  Act of Consolidation, 1854
  The Act of Consolidation, more formally known as the act of February 2, 1854 , was enacted by General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and approved February 2, 1854 by Governor William Bigler...
  
  , the northern border of Philadelphia's 18th Ward was drawn as Norris Street.

Political, Religious, and Industrial Border (York Street)
- In 1852, the Kensington District expanded from Norris Street, north on West Street (now Belgrade Street) to York Street then east to River.
- In 1905, with the large influx of Roman Catholic immigrants to the area, a new Roman Catholic parish, Holy Name of Jesus, was created. Its northern border was designated, and remains, York Street.
- York Street is a wide multiple lane avenue, once the home of an industrial metal-stamping company, a large printing company, and numerous food distributors. It was common to see dozens of 18-wheeled trucks blocking traffic and neighborhood flow. For this reason, York Street became the psychological northern border.
- York Street is used as the northern border by the Fishtown Neighbors Association.

Current Gentrification and Real Estate Market Border (Lehigh Avenue)
- With a recent development boom in the area created in the triangle south of York Street, developers and realtors have made it fashionable to “extend” the name of Fishtown to any surrounding area, even though there is no historical basis.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.