Columbus Boulevard (formerly Delaware Avenue) is a major north-south thoroughfare in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is famous for being the location of the

Penn's Landing Penn's Landing is a waterfront area of Center City Philadelphia along the Delaware River. Its name commemorates the landing of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania in 1682. The actual landing site is farther south in Chester, Pennsylvani ...

area and is generally parallel with Interstate 95 south of the

Benjamin Franklin Bridge The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and ...

. The road extends south towards Pattison Avenue and is home to many big box retailers between Snyder Avenue and Oregon Avenue. The street originated as an informal footpath connecting the docks and piers along the waterfront, a major Atlantic seaport. In 1831, the Philadelphia banker Stephen Girard, died and left the City $500,000 to construct a wide boulevard in its place, to be known as Delaware Avenue. The portion south of Spring Garden Street was controversially renamed after

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

in 1992 despite opposition from residents north of

Center City Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...

and the Lenape (also known as Delaware) nation. Many Philadelphians continue to refer to it as Delaware Avenue. Some older maps of Philadelphia show this route as once being part of

Pennsylvania Route 291 Pennsylvania Route 291 (PA 291) is an east–west route in Pennsylvania that runs from U.S. Route 13 (US 13) and US 13 Business (US 13 Bus.) in Trainer, Delaware County, east to Interstate 76 (I-76) in South Philadelphia near the Walt Whi ...

History

Delaware Avenue was originally a "major freshwater port" which has recently seen revitalization with the increase in tourism and the start of casino businesses in the 2000s. The boulevard was dedicated in 1992 as the Italian Americans persuaded city hall to rename the portion of Delaware Avenue south of Spring Garden Street on the 500th anniversary of

sailing to America. The 106-foot-tall Christopher Columbus monument was dedicated in the same year. Major attractions along this route include the Independence Seaport Museum,

, and several notable ships including; the cruiser , the submarine , and the tall ship ''

Moshulu ''Moshulu'' is a four-masted steel barque, built as ''Kurt'' by William Hamilton and Company at Port Glasgow in Scotland in 1904. The largest remaining original windjammer, she is currently a floating restaurant docked in Penn's Landing, Phil ...

'', along with waterfront views of, and easy access to Camden, New Jersey, New Jersey State's

Adventure Aquarium The Adventure Aquarium, formerly the Thomas H. Kean New Jersey State Aquarium, is a for-profit educational entertainment attraction operated in Camden, New Jersey on the Delaware River Camden Waterfront by Herschend Family Entertainment. Origin ...

and the warship across the Delaware river.{{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IF-6FaY5OGAC&dq=Columbus+Boulevard+Philadelphia&pg=PA52, title=Guide to Civil War Philadelphia, author=Richard A. Sauers, date=21 July 2009, isbn=9780786749904 File:ColumbusBoulevard.jpg File:ColumbusBoulevard2.jpg

References

External links

Historic photos of Delaware Avenue
from the Temple University Libraries Digital Collections at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

Streets in Philadelphia Boulevards in the United States