East Falls, Philadelphia

East Falls
Neighborhood of Philadelphia
East Falls at Ridge Avenue and Midvale Avenue
East Falls
Coordinates: Coordinates: 40°00′54″N 75°11′31″W / 40.015°N 75.192°W / 40.015; -75.192
Country  United States
State Pennsylvania
County Philadelphia County
City Philadelphia
Area code(s) Area code 215
The East Falls section of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
The Kelly Family House.

East Falls (a.k.a. The Falls) is a neighborhood in the Northwest section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on the east or left bank side of the now submerged Schuylkill River cataracts, the 'Falls of the Schuylkill' that became submerged as the Schuylkill Canal and Fairmount Water Works projects were completed in 1822. The East Falls community is located adjacent to Germantown, Roxborough, Allegheny West, and Nicetown-Tioga neighborhoods. East Falls is also adjacent to Wissahickon Valley Park. The neighborhood runs along a stretch of Ridge Avenue that is only a few miles long, along the banks of the Schuylkill River then extends northeast to Wissahickon Avenue. East Falls overlooks the multi-use recreational path of Fairmount Park along Kelly Drive, and is desirable for its central location, an easy commute to Center City, with easy access to several major roadways and public transportation. East Falls continues to develop, with new housing, retail space and recreation centers in production. It features three streets in proximity with the word "Queen" in them (Queen Lane, New Queen Street, and Indian Queen Lane), two train stations, a number of bars and restaurants, and illustrious mansions as well as some recently renovated housing that continues to increase in value.

Recently, East Falls has been undergoing redevelopment to elevate its status to nearby Manayunk and other local shopping districts in the Philadelphia area. The recently completed Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education Center offers instruction to Philadelphia youth in a 9.2-acre (37,000 m2), sixteen-court facility that operates in cooperation with the City of Philadelphia, School District of Philadelphia, and others. It was built with private funding in partnership with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

East Falls is best known as the childhood home of Grace Kelly, actress and Princess of Monaco, who grew up in a house at 3901 Henry Avenue. In addition, former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, Jewish studies scholar Chaim Potok, Pennsylvania Governor and former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell owned homes in the neighborhood. Ravenhill Academy, a Catholic girls school run by the Mothers of the Assumption from the Philippines, was attended by Grace Kelly and the former President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino. It was closed in 1977 and now is part of the Philadelphia University campus.

East Falls was the site of the Schuylkill Falls Public Housing Project by the architect Oscar Stonorov. Constructed in 1953, Schuylkill Falls was one of the most admired and studied high-rise public housing designs in the US. The building stood vacant for many years and was finally demolished in 1996.

East Falls is also home to historic Laurel Hill Cemetery, burial place of numerous prominent Philadelphians and other notables.

The Thomas Mifflin School, Wissahickon, and Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]

Early history

East Falls takes its name from its location on the east side of the Schuylkill Falls along the Schuylkill River at the original line of waterfalls known as the 'Falls of the Schuylkill' where the river descends from the elevation of the Pennsylvania piedmont to the coastal plain occupied by the main part of the City of Philadelphia. Thus East Falls was in colonial and Federalist times the highest point on the river navigable down the river by boat's not driven by a skilled pilot; accordingly the settlement housed a dock and became a transfer point to the Indian path converted into colonial roadways which later became Ridge Avenue and Germantown Avenue.

Before the War of 1812, Josiah White and Erskine Hazard harnessed the water power from the cataracts for a foundry, wire mill and nail manufactory — whose combined energy needs led them to learn how to successfully use anthracite in industrial heating during the war of 1812, caused them to push for the legislation and corporation behind the Schuylkill Canal, then found the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company and in many respects, bootstrap the American industrial revolution between 1820 and 1860 by building mines, canals, and railroads, including the first railroad over five miles long and bringing smelting of Anthracite pig iron to the United States.[2]

The falls disappeared when the river level was raised by the construction of the dam at the Fairmount Water Works, four miles downstream, but rocks still visible above the water show the location of the natural fall-line. Before the arrival of European settlers, the Lenni Lenape Indians considered the lower Schuylkill River their home. The Wissahickon Creek runs into the Schuylkill here and today is included as a part of Fairmount Park, providing walking and bike paths along its banks. Wissahickon is a merging of two Lenape words: "Wisaucksickan" meaning "yellow-colored creek", and "Wisamickan" meaning "catfish creek". In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries "catfish and waffles" was a favorite food at the many inns and taverns that ran through the valley, and a catfish still serves as the weathervane atop the Free Library of Philadelphia Falls of Schuylkill Branch. East Falls, so named in the nineteenth century, had earlier been known as Falls of the Schuylkill or Falls Village. In the 19th century, the Dobson Mills textile factory thrived there.

Note: A detailed early history of East Falls is contained in "Early History of the Falls of Schuylkill, Manayunk, Schuylkill and Lehigh Navigation Companies, Fairmount Waterworks, Etc.", by Charles V. Hagner, in 1869. It was reprinted by the University of Michigan in 2010 as part of its Historical Reprint Series.

Demographics

As of the census[3] of 2000, the racial makeup of East Falls is 72.06% White, 19.98% African American, 4.79% Asian, and 0.86% from other races. 2.58% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

In 2005, the median home sale price in the 19129 ZIP code, which contains East Falls, was $184,000. This was an increase of 8% over the median sale price for 2004.

Government

  • 4th Council District (includes Roxborough, Manayunk, Andorra and part of West Philadelphia)
  • 38th ward (becomes 21st Ward west at School House Lane)
  • U.S. Representative District 2 (most of Philadelphia west of Broad Street)
  • State Senator District 7 (similar to 4th Council District)
  • State Representative Districts 194, 197, and 198

Economy

East Falls is home to a number of businesses.[4]

The largest center of commerce in East Falls is the Falls Center. It is home for over 18 businesses and dormitories for Philadelphia University.

Education

Colleges and universities

  • Jefferson University is a private university with a 100-acre (0.40 km2) campus in East Falls, predominantly along School House Lane and Henry Avenue. Founded in 1884, it was previously known as The Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science (1961–1999). Currently with 3,100 part and full-time students, the university offers more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
  • East Falls became the main campus of Drexel University College of Medicine since it took over MCP-Hahnemann University School of Medicine in 2003. It is the consolidation of two medical schools, each with over one hundred and fifty years of history, Hahnemann Medical College, founded in 1848, and Woman's Medical College, founded in 1850 and later the Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

The School District of Philadelphia operates public schools.

  • The Mifflin School, a K–8 grade school, is currently undergoing an $8 million refurbishment project, and is also part of the Bright Futures project.

Private schools

Public libraries

Falls of Schuylkill Branch

The Falls of Schuylkill Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia serves East Falls.[5]

Places of worship

  • Baptist: Falls of Schuylkill Baptist Church
  • Catholic: St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church
  • Episcopal: Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd
  • Lutheran: Redeemer Lutheran Church
  • Presbyterian: East Falls First Presbyterian Church

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ See articles: Lehigh Coal Company, Lehigh Canal, Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, and Lehigh Crane Iron Company. Main article, Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company lists the many important railway lines opened by the company before the 1880s. The readers should exclude the Lehigh & New England Railroad, which the founders did not influence.
  3. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  4. ↑ "East Falls Business Directory". East Falls Development.
  5. ↑ "Falls of Schuylkill Branch". Free Library of Philadelphia. Retrieved on October 19, 2012.
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