Packer Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Packer Park is a neighborhood in the South Philadelphia
section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, United States
that includes 1,200 homes built in two unique builder developments of Packer Park 1950s and Brinton Estates 1990s. It is one of four residential communities that form Philadelphia's Sports Complex Special Services District
. The approximate boundaries are Packer Avenue to the north, Hartranft Street to the south, Broad Street to the east, and 20th Street to the west. Packer Park is also home to one of the most organized community groups in the South Philadelphia region.
a defunct township that was located in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania originally occupied by settlers from New Sweden
. The township ceased to exist and was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia following the passage of the Act of Consolidation, 1854
. The American Swedish Historical Museum
located in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park
on the southern border of the Packer Park community memorializes the Swedish ethnic history.
To the immediate east is the South Philadelphia sports complex consisting of Citizens Bank Park
, Lincoln Financial Field
, Wachovia Spectrum
and Wachovia Center
. It was the former site of both now demolished Veterans Stadium
and John F. Kennedy Stadium
.
of 1926. Following 1926, the exposition was demolished and the US Navy built temporary housing on the site. The Navy abandoned the site and moved families to new housing west of Penrose Avenue. This opened up the site to the private development of Packer Park on what was reclaimed swampy land and preserving the vitality of the borders of Board Street's Southern Blvd, together with the Olmsted Brothers
architecturally designed landscaped FDR Park on the south and Marconi Plaza, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Park on the upper north. FDR Park is 348 acres (1.41 km2) which includes a 146-acre (0.59 km2) golf course, about 125 acres (0.51 km2) of buildings and managed landscapes, and about 77 acres (310,000 m2) of natural lands including ponds and lagoons. Also on the south side from Packer Avenue to Hartranft Street is the Philadelphia Eagles
Football Practice Field, Novacare Center and Vendemmia Square maintaining large green areas from the site of the former U.S. Naval Hospital. Along the six blocks from Broad Street to 20th on Hartranft Street is a landscaped pedestrian walkway park lined with trees and seasonal plants, nicknamed the "Gladway" (memorializing the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition green area of rows of hundreds of Galdiolus). At 20th and Hartranft Street is another memorial green space, named "Lion Park" in honor of Ludwig Capozzi.
The Packer Park urban townhouses distinguish themselves in South Philadelphia by departing from the Philadelphia grid of streets and blocks of dense rowhomes. This included cul-de-sacs that were designed with a greater emphasis on a green park setting with common green spaces and accommodation for driveways and off street car parking. The community soon became populated by a large second-generation Italian immigrant population, and continues to be an Italian American
neighborhood like much of South Philadelphia.
Homes. located west of Broad Street from Packer Avenue south to Geary Street and bordering the expansive parking lots of the Baseball Stadium. The parking lot border includes a large raised buffered zone of green space with dense trees and grass.
South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west.-History:...
section 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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that includes 1,200 homes built in two unique builder developments of Packer Park 1950s and Brinton Estates 1990s. It is one of four residential communities that form Philadelphia's Sports Complex Special Services District
Sports Complex Special Services District
The Sports Complex Special Services District is a 501 non-profit organization in Philadelphia that was established in the year 2002 to minimize the impact of concentrating major sporting and entertainment facilities in a geographic area adjacent to established Philadelphia residential...
. The approximate boundaries are Packer Avenue to the north, Hartranft Street to the south, Broad Street to the east, and 20th Street to the west. Packer Park is also home to one of the most organized community groups in the South Philadelphia region.
Overview
Historically this area was a section of Passyunk Township, PennsylvaniaPassyunk Township, Pennsylvania
Passyunk Township is a defunct township that was located in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. The township ceased to exist and was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia following the passage of the Act of Consolidation, 1854.-History:...
a defunct township that was located in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania originally occupied by settlers from New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
. The township ceased to exist and was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia following the passage of the Act of Consolidation, 1854
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 American Swedish Historical Museum
American Swedish Historical Museum
The American Swedish Historical Museum is the oldest Swedish-American museum in the United States. It is located in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in the South Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on part of a historic 17th-century land grant originally provided by Queen...
located in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park is an aesthetically designed park located along the Delaware River in the southern most point of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, comprising some which includes a golf course, about of buildings, roadways, pathways for walking, landscaped architecture, and a...
on the southern border of the Packer Park community memorializes the Swedish ethnic history.
To the immediate east is the South Philadelphia sports complex consisting of Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a 43,647-seat baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, and home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Citizens Bank Park opened on April 3, 2004, and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12 of the same year, with the...
, Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field is the home stadium of the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles. It has a seating capacity of 68,532 . It is located in South Philadelphia on Pattison Avenue between 11th and 10th streets, also aside I-95 as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
, Wachovia Spectrum
Wachovia Spectrum
The Spectrum, formerly known as the CoreStates Spectrum , First Union Spectrum , and Wachovia Spectrum was an indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
and Wachovia Center
Wachovia Center
The Wells Fargo Center is an indoor arena located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
. It was the former site of both now demolished Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
and John F. Kennedy Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that stood from 1925 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was situated on the east side of the far southern end of Broad Street at a location that is now part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
.
Packer Park
The original 1950s core community was named after the main Avenue by the primary real estate developer Ludwig Capozzi. Packer Avenue itself was named in honor of William Fisher Packer, a former governor of Pennsylvania, and was built as an approach to the American International exposition grounds of the Sesquicentennial ExpositionSesquicentennial Exposition
The Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition of 1926 was a world's fair hosted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the 50th anniversary of the 1876 Centennial Exposition-History:The honor of hosting...
of 1926. Following 1926, the exposition was demolished and the US Navy built temporary housing on the site. The Navy abandoned the site and moved families to new housing west of Penrose Avenue. This opened up the site to the private development of Packer Park on what was reclaimed swampy land and preserving the vitality of the borders of Board Street's Southern Blvd, together with the Olmsted Brothers
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was an influential landscape design firm in the United States, formed in 1898 by stepbrothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. .-History:...
architecturally designed landscaped FDR Park on the south and Marconi Plaza, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Marconi Plaza, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Marconi Plaza is a neighborhood located in South Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.An Italian-American enclave, Marconi Plaza has two main halves, East and West, which are divided in the middle by Broad Street. It is located at the most southern end of the city and within the northern...
Park on the upper north. FDR Park is 348 acres (1.41 km2) which includes a 146-acre (0.59 km2) golf course, about 125 acres (0.51 km2) of buildings and managed landscapes, and about 77 acres (310,000 m2) of natural lands including ponds and lagoons. Also on the south side from Packer Avenue to Hartranft Street is the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
Football Practice Field, Novacare Center and Vendemmia Square maintaining large green areas from the site of the former U.S. Naval Hospital. Along the six blocks from Broad Street to 20th on Hartranft Street is a landscaped pedestrian walkway park lined with trees and seasonal plants, nicknamed the "Gladway" (memorializing the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition green area of rows of hundreds of Galdiolus). At 20th and Hartranft Street is another memorial green space, named "Lion Park" in honor of Ludwig Capozzi.
The Packer Park urban townhouses distinguish themselves in South Philadelphia by departing from the Philadelphia grid of streets and blocks of dense rowhomes. This included cul-de-sacs that were designed with a greater emphasis on a green park setting with common green spaces and accommodation for driveways and off street car parking. The community soon became populated by a large second-generation Italian immigrant population, and continues to be an Italian American
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
neighborhood like much of South Philadelphia.
Parker Park - West (The Reserve)
The Packer Park community name expanded in 2003–2007 adjacent to the original footprint became known as the "Reserve" at Packer Park, a separate housing development of 230 homes built on a triangular land area to the west of 20th Street, north of Pattison, east of Penrose Avenue. The Reserve was built on what was formerly a United States naval housing site, built in 1962 and abandoned in 1995 after the Cold War. The Capehart property, a designated ACT II site, housed nearly 400 naval families in two story townhouse structures separated using a cul-del-sac street design. Upon the Military Base Closing Act in 1995, the United States government deeded the 27½ acre Brownfield property to the city of Philadelphia. New luxury townhouses were built on the site by a private developer, John Westrum and Real Estate agent, daughter of the original Packer Park developer, Barbara Capozzi, who styled these homes for families. The colonial styled architecture incorporated the "green technology" of environmentally adaptive re-use of existing piles and foundations, infrastructure, and materials previously built by the Navy. The existing street layout preserved green areas augmented with large back yards, open area pocket parks and tot lots. The streets and cul-de-sacs were renamed to memorialize sections of Italy to reflect the Italian-American population.Parker Park - West (Siena Place)
The Packer Park community name further expanded in 2008 in a new townhouse community of 313-luxury-townhome community set on a 30-acre land parcel in this area of South Philadelphia. The development accessed the Packer Park neighborhood name as a sales marketing program. The Siena Place townhouse community furthers the revitalization of the South Philadelphia area for redevelopment of a former US Navy community converted to public housing known as Passyunk Homes, that was under-maintained and deteriorated with various environmental concerns.Packer Park - East (Stella Maris Homes)
The Packer Park community name extended for a separate 1950s development of about 500 homes, commonly associated with the "Stella Maris" parish housing on 13th street for the priest and nuns until the buildings were completed on 10th and Bigler Street. Thereafter, the area took on the name of the 1960s Stadium built on vacant land to the south border and later demolished to make way for a baseball stadium and known as Veterans StadiumVeterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
Homes. located west of Broad Street from Packer Avenue south to Geary Street and bordering the expansive parking lots of the Baseball Stadium. The parking lot border includes a large raised buffered zone of green space with dense trees and grass.
See also
- Aquarama Aquarium Theater of the SeaAquarama Aquarium Theater of the SeaAquarama Aquarium Theater of the Sea also known as Aquarama was a unique 1960s aquarium attraction located in South Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, at the intersection of Broad Street and Hartranft Street, just west of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex , south of Marconi Plaza, north of FDR Park,...
- Naval Hospital PhiladelphiaNaval Hospital PhiladelphiaThe Philadelphia Naval Hospital was the first high-rise hospital building constructed by the United States Navy. At its 1935 opening it represented a state-of-the-art facility for the Navy with 650 beds and a total floor space of...
- Sesquicentennial ExpositionSesquicentennial ExpositionThe Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition of 1926 was a world's fair hosted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the 50th anniversary of the 1876 Centennial Exposition-History:The honor of hosting...