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. A diverse working-class community of many neighborhoods, South Philadelphia is well known for its large Italian-American population, though it also contains large Asian-American, Irish-American, African-American, and Latino populations.

History

South Philadelphia began as a satellite town of Philadelphia, with small townships such as Moyamensing and Southwark.
Towards the end of the First Industrial Revolution, the area saw rapid growth in population and urban development. This expansion was in part due to an influx of working class laborers and immigrants looking for factory jobs and dock work, as well as the first wave of mass immigration of Irish refugees or impoverished immigrants from Ireland in the wake of the Great Irish Hunger. South Philadelphia's urbanized border eventually expanded to reach that of Philadelphia proper, or what is today known as Center City Philadelphia. Along with all other jurisdictions in Philadelphia County, South Philadelphia became part of the City of Philadelphia proper with passage by the Pennsylvania legislature of the city-county Act of Consolidation, 1854.
The area continued to grow, becoming a vital part of Philadelphia's large industrial base and attracting immigrants from Italy, Ireland, Poland and many Southern European and Eastern European countries during the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries, as well as Black American migrants from the southern United States during the Great Migration of the early 20th century. The immigrants and migrants became the basis of South Philadelphia's unique and vibrant culture that developed over the next several decades. Struggling to maintain their Catholic identity in a mostly Protestant city, the Irish built a system of Irish Catholic churches and parochial schools for their children, including Catholic high schools. The later immigrant populations of Italians and Poles were also Catholic. Initially, these populations attended existing Catholic churches but built their own ethno-national churches when possible. However, the more established Irish-American ethnic community controlled the Catholic clergy and hierarchy for decades in Philadelphia and throughout the region, often excluding the more recent Italian populations from participating in the church hierarchy.
In addition to the influx of Catholic immigrants to the majority Protestant city of Philadelphia, many Polish Jews and other Jews from Central and Eastern Europe settled in South Philadelphia during the first half of the 20th century, especially in the diverse area now known as Queen Village where Jewish immigrants lived among Catholic Polish immigrants, Irish-Americans, and Italian immigrants. A smaller but significant Greek immigrant community also flourished around this time, leading to the establishment of Greek Orthodox parishes in South Philadelphia, while Lebanese immigrants established Lebanese Maronite parishes. Despite this dramatic growth in population, the low funding of education by the city resulted in the first public high school not being formed in South Philadelphia until 1934.
Attracted to the industrial jobs, the new residents of South Philadelphia created communities that continued many of their Old World traditions. While many of the new arrivals were Catholic, neighborhood parishes reflected their ethnic and national traditions. Monsignor James F. Connelly, the pastor of the Stella Maris Catholic Church and an editor of the 1976 work The History of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said in a 2005 Philadelphia Inquirer article that each parish church "offer the immigrants the faith they were familiar with." Coptic Orthodox Christian churches were also established in South Philadelphia in the 1960s. With the dramatic loss of industrial jobs during mid-20th century restructuring, there were population losses in South Philadelphia as well as other working-class parts of the city, and some neighborhood Catholic schools had to close.
Today, many of South Philadelphia's communities are largely Italian Americans. Many of these communities contain both older and more recent Italian immigrants and Italian speakers, and Italian saint festivals and cultural celebrations, including the South 9th Street Italian Market festival, are popular in the South Philadelphia Italian-American communities. In addition, South Philadelphia continues to be home to many ethnic Irish American communities and African American communities. Both Irish American and African American communities can be found in the neighborhoods of Grays Ferry and Southwest Center City, while the nearby neighborhood of Point Breeze is largely African American and is often considered the center of the South Philadelphia's African American communities. The neighborhood of Pennsport remains primarily a working class Irish-American neighborhood and the cultural center of Irish-American South Philadelphia. An increase in late 20th-century and early 21st-century immigration has given South Philadelphia significant populations from Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, including populations from Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand. In addition, there has been an increase in recent years of immigrants from Russia, Mexico and Central American nations such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Today, many vendors that work alongside the Italian-Americans at the Italian Market are of Asian descent and Mexican or Central American descent, and Vietnamese, Thai, Mexican, and Central American restaurants are interspersed with historic Italian restaurants in the Market area. The recent revitalization of Center City Philadelphia and the subsequent gentrification of adjacent neighborhoods has also led to dramatic rises in prices of housing in the neighborhoods of historic Queen Village, Bella Vista, and some other northern parts of South Philadelphia, leading to an influx of young urban professionals in those more northern neighborhoods.
Many of the community clubs that create the annual Mummers Parade every New Year's Day have traditionally been from South Philadelphia, especially those located on the largely Irish-American S. 2nd Street in the Pennsport neighborhood.

Government and infrastructure

Portions of South Philadelphia are within Philadelphia City Council Districts 1 and 2. As of 2014 Councilman Mark Squilla and Councilman Kenyatta Johnson represent the two districts.
The Philadelphia Fire Department operates nine fire stations serving South Philadelphia. Most of South Philadelphia resides in Fire Battalion 1, headquartered at 711 S. Broad Street. Portions of South Philadelphia reside in Battalion 4, headquartered at N. 4th and Arch streets, and Battalion 11, headquartered at 43rd and Market streets.
The Philadelphia Police Department patrols three districts located within South Philadelphia. The three patrol districts serving South Philadelphia are the 1st, 3rd and 17th districts.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, South Philadelphia has an area of 9.7 sq. miles, all land.

Neighborhoods

The South Philadelphia Planning Analysis Section is bounded by South Street on the north and the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers to their confluence. The portions on either side of Broad Street are known as South Philadelphia West and South Philadelphia East.
  • Bella Vista: North to South Street, South to Washington Avenue, West to 11th Street, East to 6th Street
  • Cambodia Town
  • Central South Philadelphia
  • Devil's Pocket: Irish neighborhood west of Grays Ferry Avenue
  • Dickinson Square West - Diverse neighborhood. Washington to Mifflin, 4th to 6th.
  • East Passyunk Crossing: North to Tasker Street, South to Snyder Avenue, West to Broad Street, East to 9th Street
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park
  • Girard Estate
  • Greenwich: 4th to 9th Streets, Mifflin to Snyder
  • Grays Ferry: North to Gray's Ferry Ave., south to Passyunk Ave., west to the Schuylkill River, east to 24th Street
  • Hawthorne: From South Street to Washington Ave., Broad Street to 11th Street
  • Italian Market: Along 9th Street from Fitzwater Street in the north to Wharton Street in the south.
  • Little Saigon
  • Lower Moyamensing: North to Snyder Avenue, South to Oregon Avenue, West to Broad Street, East to 7th Street
  • Marconi Plaza
  • Moyamensing
  • Newbold
  • Packer Park
  • Passyunk Square: Washington Ave. to Tasker Street, 6th Street to Broad Street
  • Pennsport: Locally referred to as "Two Street", Penn's Port is a predominantly Irish-American Catholic neighborhood.
  • Point Breeze, a largely African-American neighborhood.
  • Queen Village: North to Lombard Street, south to Washington Ave., east to the Delaware River, west to 6th Street. The neighborhood contains a large Jewish-American population.
  • Schuylkill
  • Southwark: The limits of the district started on Cedar Street and the Delaware River, and proceeded west to Passyunk Ave.; along the latter to Moyamensing Ave.; then by Keeler's Lane to Greenwich Road; then to the Delaware River, and along the several courses of the same until reaching the beginning point again.
  • Southwest Center City: North to South Street, south to Washington Ave., east to Broad Street, west to 24th Street
  • Sports Complex
  • West Passyunk
  • Wharton
  • Whitman

    Demographics

In 2010, the area's population was 168,782. Though mostly known for its large Italian population, South Philadelphia contains a diverse population of Italians, Irish, African Americans and Mexicans, as well as growing populations of Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian, Indonesian, Thai and Central Americans. In addition, the area contains smaller but historically significant Greek, Jewish, and Maronite Lebanese communities.
On January 22, 2010 the Associated Press said "South Philadelphia has been growing more diverse for decades, but the last 20 years have seen the greatest influx of Asian and Hispanic families." David Elesh, a Temple University urban sociologist, said that of the almost 60,000 Philadelphia residents who reported being born in China, many lived in South Philadelphia.
As of the 2010 Census, there are 168,782 people in 78,440 housing units. The population density is 16,771 people per square mile. 46.6% of the population is male, and 53.4% is female. The South Philadelphia area comprises the zip codes of 19145, 19146, 19147 and 19148.