Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Independence Hall, 18th Century
- Alternate meanings: Philadelphia
(disambiguation)
Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania,
occupying all of Philadelphia County. 6. As of the 2000 census, the population was 1,517,550, but a July 1, 2002 Census estimate showed the population dropping to 1,492,231, making it the fifth largest city in the United
States.
Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in the United States (dating
from 1681) and has played a central role in American history and the development of the
United States.
During part of the 18th century the city was the second capital and then-largest city of the United States. At that time it eclipsed Boston and New York in political and social importance, with Boston-born
Benjamin Franklin playing an extraordinary role in its rise.
The city is the central city for the Delaware Valley metropolitan area.
Downtown is known informally as "Center City."
History
Philadelphia was a planned city founded and developed
by William Penn, a Quaker. It was
the major center for the independence movement during the American Revolutionary War.
For a time in the 18th century, Philadelphia was the largest city in
the Americas north of Mexico City, and second only to London in size in the British Empire.
In 1790, the seat of the United States Government was moved from Federal Hall in New York to Congress Hall in Philadelphia as the
result of a compromise between a number of Southern congressmen and United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. In exchange for locating a permanent capital on the banks of the Potomac
River, the congressmen agreed to support Hamilton's financial proposals. Philadelphia served as the temporary capital until
1800 when the Capitol
building in the new Federal city of Washington, DC was
opened.
1888 German map of Philadelphia
An early railroad center, Philadelphia was the original home of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the world's largest builder of
steam locomotives (which relocated to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania). The Pennsylvania Railroad, once America's largest railroad by revenue
and traffic volume and at one time the largest public corporation in the world, was headquartered on Broad Street, as was its
merger successor, the Penn Central Railroad.
The city limits have been coterminous with the county since 1854. Prior to that, the
city of Philadelphia consisted only of those areas between South
Street, Vine Street, the Delaware River, and
the Schuylkill River.
In 1876 Philadelphia hosted the World's Fair known as the Centennial
Exposition. Memorial Hall and the expansive mall in front of it are remnants of this fair.
In 1926, the city held the Sesquicentennial Exposition.
Street layout of central Philadelphia
Penn's surveyor, Thomas Holme,
laid out the city in a strict grid, with all streets running either north-south or east-west. The north-south streets are numbered sequentially from Front
(instead of First), along the Delaware River, to 13th, followed by the
main north-south thoroughfare, Broad Street (instead of 14th).
The numbered streets then resume, continuing in the original plan to 28th at the Schuylkill River. The east-west streets, many of them named for trees, e.g., Chestnut, Walnut,
Locust, and Spruce, parallel the main
thoroughfare named High Street by Penn, but called Market Street since at least the early 18th century. He also planned five
public parks, one at the intersection of High and Broad Streets in the very center of the city (now occupied by the City Hall)
and four others (now called Washington Square, Rittenhouse Square, Logan Circle and Franklin Square) surrounding it. The eastern edge of Rittenhouse Square is on 18th St., four blocks west of
City Hall, while the western edge of Washington Square is between 7th and 8th, about six and a half blocks east of City Hall.
Both are the same distance south of City Hall. Through the late 1980s, City Hall used to
be locally known as the highest building in Philadelphia. However in 1987, One Liberty Place broke the
gentlemen's agreement not to exceed the William Penn
Statue on City Hall. Since then, seven other skyscrapers have been completed
exceeding the statue including One Liberty Place's little sister, Two Liberty Place. One Liberty Place is the tallest building in
Pennsylvania with Two Liberty Place trailing behind it.
Rittenhouse Square is named after David Rittenhouse, a son of the first paper-maker in Philadelphia, William Rittenhouse.
Rittenhousetown is a delightful rural setting in Fairmount Park. David Rittenhouse was a clockmaker and friend of the American
Revolution.
8th and Market Streets, 1910s
Government
From a governmental perspective, Philadelphia County is a legal nullity, as all county functions were assumed by the city in
1952, which has been coterminous with the county since 1854.
Executive
The city is headed by an elected mayor who is limited to two, four-year terms. The
incumbent is former Philadelphia City Council
President John Street (D), who was first elected in 1999. He was re-elected
by a larger majority in 2003.
See also: List of mayors of
Philadelphia
Legislative
The legislative branch of Philadelphia is the Philadelphia City Council.
Judicial
The Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, also
known as the Court of Common Pleas for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, is the trial court of general jurisdiction for Philadelphia. It is funded and operated largely by City resources and
employees.
The Philadelphia Municipal
Court handles matters of limited jurisdiction as well as landlord-tenant disputes, appeals from traffic court, conducts
preliminary examinations for felony-level offenses, and the like.
Traffic Court is a court of
special jurisdiction which hears violations of traffic laws.
Pennsylvania's three appellate courts have chambers in
Philadelphia. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which is the court of last resort in the state, regularly
hears arguments in Philadelphia City Hall. Also, the
Superior Court of Pennsylvania and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania sit in Philadelphia several times a year.
Judges for all of the above courts are elected at large.
Business
Philadelphia's economy is heavily based upon manufacturing, refining, and financial services. Philadelphia has its own
stock exchange.
The list of major
companies in Philadelphia includes Aramark, GlaxoSmithKline, Sunoco, Comcast, and Pep Boys.
The Federal government plays a large role in Philadelphia as well. The east-coast operations of the United States Mint are based near the historic district, and the
Federal Reserve Bank's Philadelphia division is based there as
well.
Geography
Philadelphia is located at 39°59'53" North, 75°8'41" West (39.998012, -75.144793)1.
According to the United States Census
Bureau, the city has a total area of 369.4 km˛ (142.6 mi˛). 349.9 km˛ (135.1 mi˛) of it is land and 19.6 km˛ (7.6 mi˛) of it is water. The
total area is 5.29% water. Bodies of water include the Schuylkill
River, Cobbs Creek, Wissahickon Creek, and Pennypack Creek.
Philadelphia is unofficially divided into numerous neighborhoods. These include Andorra, Roxborough, Northern Liberties, Manayunk, Center City, Queen Village, Kensington, University City, Strawberry Mansion, Chestnut Hill,Fishtown, Germantown, Mount Airy, Chinatown, Fox Chase, South
Philly, Society Hill, the
Museum District and many others.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 1,517,550
people, 590,071 households, and 352,272 families residing in the city. The population density is 4,337.3/km˛ (11,233.6/mi˛). There are 661,958 housing units at an average density
of 1,891.9/km˛ (4,900.1/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city is 45.02% White, 43.22% African American, 0.27% Native American, 4.46%
Asian American, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.77% from other races, and
2.21% from two or more races. 8.50% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Of the 590,071 households, 27.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.1% are married couples living
together, 22.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 40.3% are non-families. 33.8% of all households are made
up of individuals and 11.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.48 and the
average family size is 3.22.
In the city the population is spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from
45 to 64, and 14.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 86.8 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 81.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $30,746, and the median income for a family is $37,036. Males have a median
income of $34,199 versus $28,477 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,509. 22.9% of the population and 18.4% of
families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 31.3% are under the age of 18 and 16.9% are 65 or
older.
Transportation
Public transportation
Philadelphia is served by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA.
SEPTA runs buses, trains, subways, trolleys, and trackless trolleys around Philadelphia and into the suburbs.
Philadelphia lies directly on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. Amtrak's 30th Street
Station is a major railroad facility which offers access to Amtrak, SEPTA, and NJ Transit rail
lines.
PATCO provides light rail service to Camden, Collingswood,
Haddonfield, Cherry Hill, Ashland, and Lindenwold,
New Jersey, from stations on Locust Street between 16th and 15th, 13th and
12th, and 10th and 9th Streets, and on Market Street at 8th Street.
Two airports, Philadelphia
International Airport and Northeast
Philadelphia Airport, reside within the city limits. Philadelphia International Airport provides domestic and international
scheduled air service, while Northeast Philadelphia Airport serves general and corporate aviation.
Roads
Interstate 95 runs directly through the city along the Delaware River, providing
transportation from Florida to Maine.
The city is also served by Interstate 76 (also known as the Schuylkill Expressway) which
runs along the Schuylkill River. It meets with the Pennsylvania Turnpike at King of Prussia and provides access to Harrisburg and points west.
Interstate 676, or the Vine Street Expressway, was completed in 1991 after years of
planning as a link between I-95 and I-76. It runs beneath city level through Center City.
The Delaware River Port Authority
operates three bridges in Philadelphia over the Delaware River to New Jersey: the Walt Whitman Bridge, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and the Betsy Ross Bridge.
People and culture of Philadelphia
Philadelphia is known for distinctive food
- Cheesesteaks, a kind of humble culinary
masterpiece, made of cheese (usually either Cheez Wiz(tm) or provolone) and slices of fried ribeye steak on a hoagie roll,
sometimes combined with onions and/or mushrooms
- Hoagies -- a type of sandwich made with cold cuts on a Italian roll
- unusually shaped soft pretzels, served with mustard
- scrapple -- corn meal mush cooked up with every part (scrap) of the pig
- Italian water ice -- a frozen dessert, similar to a slushie
except stiffer
Philadelphia still gets many immigrants, and has a large Italian-American population.
List of famous Philadelphians
Philadelphia in film and television
- 1776 (Film version of Broadway musical, 1972)
- American Bandstand (Dance party show, 1952-1964 in Philadelphia; aired from Los Angeles 1964-1989)
- Beloved (Oprah Winfrey feature film, 1998)
- Cold Case (TV series, 2003- )
- Fallen (Feature film, 1988)
- Philadelphia (Feature film, 1993)
- Philly (TV Series, 2001-2002)
- Rocky (Feature film, 1976)
- Rocky II (Feature film, 1979)
- Rocky III (Feature film, 1982)
- Rocky V (Feature film, 1990)
- Taps (Feature film,
1981) (also filmed at adjacent Valley
Forge Military Academy and other nearby locations)
- The Sixth Sense (Feature film, 1999)
- Trading Places (Feature film, 1983)
- Twelve Monkeys (Terry Gilliam feature film, 1995)
- Unbreakable (Feature film, 2000)
- Witness (Feature film, 1985)
Colleges and universities in Philadelphia
Colleges and universities in the vicinity of Philadelphia include Bryn Mawr College, located in Bryn Mawr; Haverford College; and
Villanova University, located in Villanova, all
three located northwest of Philadelphia on the Pennsylvania
Main Line; Swarthmore College, located in Swarthmore; and Widener University, located
in Chester.
see List of professional sports teams in Philadelphia.
List of museums and libraries
Events
- Mummer's Parade
- Greek Picnic
- Wing Bowl
- Philadelphia Flower Show
External links
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