Frankford, once land owned by Quakers, is a neighborhood in the lower Northeast section of Philadelphia. The neighborhood spans from Aramingo Avenue to Adams Avenue and from Roosevelt Boulevard to Cheltenham Avenue. The name Frankford likely comes from William Penn’s business with a group of Quaker Businessmen. Penn sold the “Manor of Frank” to the Quakers who were apart of the “Society of Free Traders”. By 1683 the main road through Frankford, King’s Highway, carried troops from Rhode Island to Virginia to establish a decisive victory over for the Americans at Yorktown. Today Kings Highway is one of the oldest country roads still in use. By the 1700’s Frankford was home to numerous estates belonging to prominent Philadelphia families, however by the industrial revolution many, if not all, of these country estates were destroyed in order to make way for factories and other industrial centers. There is also evidence that Frankford played an important role in the signing of the Declaration of Independence, with one of its prominent residents, Dr. Enoch Edwards, hosting an after party in which Jefferson and others were said to be in attendance. Nowadays Frankford continues to progress economically with the development of prominent shopping outlets along Frankford Avenue and easy access to center city through its SEPTA station. In recent years the area has seen its fair share of crime and drug abuse, however many residents are hopeful that the gentrification that renewed Kensington and Fishtown’s environment will spread north to Frankford.
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