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West Poplar locksmith's faded sign gets repainted
As part of their reporting for Philadelphia Neighborhoods and PlanPhilly, Tasia N. Morgan, Angela M. Mayo, and Samantha Ortiz are sharing dispatches from East and West Poplar. They recently paid a visit to…
Explore Fort Mifflin ruins (new and old) this Sunday and next
For the next two Sundays the Hidden City Festival invites guests to step into a space where it’s not quite clear what’s new, what’s old and what could be part of…
Inside Old City's woodworking time capsule
As part of the Hidden City Festival this year, the John Grass Wood Turning Factory at 146 North 2nd Street offers visitors a look inside a workshop out of the past,…
Curbside refreshment for man and beast
From Bainbridge Green to Fairhill Square and the triangle formed by Grays Ferry Avenue and 23rd Street at South Street, we keep bumping into horse troughs and water fountains…
Dissension arises among Germantown neighbors at Potter's Field meeting
If all went according to the Philadelphia Housing Authority's plan to replace the Queen Lane Apartments, residents could have been moving into the 55 new low-rise units this summer. But, as…
Rough but far from ruined: Seeing Philly's past anew along the Northeast Corridor
As PHS seeks to spur new investments in the areas lining North Philadelphia's stretch of the Northeast Corridor, Community Contributor Brett Sturm invites us to look closer at this landscape's fascinating…
From Above: Refining along the Lower Schuylkill, 1926
In honor of the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan’s [pdf] release earlier this month, we head back into the past to look at a section of the Lower Schuylkill from above.…
In Conversation With: Greg Heller on Ed Bacon and his legacy
On the eve of the official launch of Ed Bacon: Planning, Politics, and the Building of Modern Phiadelphia (University of Penn Press), author Greg Heller chatted with PlanPhilly's JoAnn Greco about…
Planning underway for a new river wards history museum
The Native American, colonial and industrial artifacts discovered during I-95 construction through the river wards and a collection of documents and objects commemorating the Treaty of Friendship signed between William Penn…
Schuylkill Banks eyes train bridge-trail connection, resumes riverboat tours
A silvery metal pier newly jutting into the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia's Forgotten Bottom neighborhood offers open views of the water and the University Ave./34th St. Bridge. Glimpses of the Woodlands…
Love Note #165: Theresa McCaul-Miller's love poem to Laurel Hill Cemetery
Here's another installation in our Philly Love Notes collaboration - sweet peace found at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Love Note #165: Theresa McCaul-Miller's love poem to Laurel Hill Cemetery Favorite Spot:…
No human remains found at Potter's Field site, final PHA decision pending
No human remains were found during an archaeological dig at the site of the Philadelphia Housing Authority's Queen Lane Apartments, where an 18th-century Potter's Field burial ground also once existed. Hand-sifting…
From Above: Race Street Pier and High-Pressure Fire Service Building, 1926
For this installation in our From Above series, we head to a hot spot on the Central Delaware Waterfront for a view of the old Race Street Pier and High-Pressure Fire Service…
Waldorf School's move to historic Germantown church property gets zoning-board support
Plans to move the Waldorf School of Philadelphia to a long-empty historic Germantown church property are moving ahead with support from local groups and an OK from the zoning board. It…
South Kensington Church Plans to Sell Building
As part of her reporting for Philadelphia Neighborhoods and PlanPhilly Sara Khan checked in on the vacant St. Michael's Business School at 2nd and Jefferson, a property the Philadelphia Archdiocese is anticipated to…
From auto house to church: A view into Kingsessing's past
On Elmwood Avenue, halfway between 58th and Alden streets, what looks like a small brick barn sits far back in a large lot that is otherwise empty. Since this barn was…
Search for remains begins ahead of schedule at Germantown Potter's Field site
Several newly dug holes peppered the property around the Queen Lane Apartments this week as archaeologists began examining several locations in the search for remains from an 18th-century Potter's Field on…
Letter to the Editor: Wunsch responds to Farnham
To the Editor: Jon Farnham evidently believes that historic preservation is alive and well in Philadelphia. Reading his oddly ad hominem response to my December PlanPhilly interview, I was struck by…
Philadelphia Historical Commission Reviews PFSF, Curtis, other projects
Applications that would alter two prominent public spaces were on the agenda of Friday's Historical Commission meeting, but it was a convoluted, albeit fascinating and layered, case in the Girard Estates…
