Southwest Center City, also known as South of South, SoSo, Graduate Hospital, and G-Ho, is a neighborhood in Center City Philadelphia. This neighborhood is bounded by South Street, Broad Street, Washington Avenue, and Grays Ferry Avenue. Originally a part of the Moyamensing Township, this area was incorporated into Philadelphia County with the Act of Consolidation of 1853. This area began to be populated by immigrants during and after the Civil War. By 1870, the area was a mostly Irish American community. Many rowhomes were built during the 19th and early 20th centuries in this area, some of which still stand. In 1889, the Philadelphia Polyclinic was built at 20th and South. This area then became the site for the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate Hospital in 1916. Around 1920, the population began to change from Irish American immigrants into an African-American population. From this time until immediately after World War II, the neighborhood was growing and becoming a stable working class neighborhood. But in the 1950s, industry declined, many residents lost their jobs, and the area began to deteriorate. Since then, this area has started to grow once more and gentrify. Today the neighborhood is popular with graduate students, professors, artists, young professionals, and couples without children.
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