The Fox Ridge Historic District (or Fox Ridge) is a municipal

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

and neighborhood within

Midtown, Harrisburg Midtown is a neighborhood in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Its zip code is 17102. The Midtown neighborhood is delineated by Forster Street to the south, Maclay Street to the north, 7th Street to the east, and the Susquehanna River to the west. Former ...

recognized by the

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares for ...

(PHMC). The district was adopted by the PHMC in February 1983 and certified by the Secretary of the Interior in January 1985 as an addition to the larger

Harrisburg Historic District The Harrisburg Historic District is a national Historic district (United States), historic district which is located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places ...

. The neighborhood district, sometimes called Old Fox Ridge, is between Third and 6th Streets and Forster and Herr Streets. It contains mostly 19th Century vernacular style homes, with some institutional buildings. New Fox Ridge, a

homeowners association A homeowner association (or homeowners' association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners' association or POA), or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity often formed either ''ipso jure'' in a building ...

, is one of the city's first modern town house developments, a collection of 63 brick town houses along North Third Street.

History

Fox Ridge has gone through several alterations through the from late 1950's to the mid-1970s. The construction of New Fox Ridge and Cumberland Court apartments began in 1974 with the leveling and razing of multiple properties, and the elimination of Cumberland, Hay and Montgomery Streets from Fox Ridge. During Mayor

Stephen R. Reed Stephen Russell Reed (August 9, 1949 – January 25, 2020) was the longest-serving mayor of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Dubbed "Mayor-for-Life," he was re-elected to seven four-year terms, serving from 1982 to 2010. After leaving office, Reed fac ...

's tenure, City money was spent to help revitalize the neighborhood. Because of the neighborhood's historic Jackson Rooming House along Sixth Street, which hosted African-Americans (

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

famously among them), it was proposed in 2004 to be the site of a National African American Cultural Center, which the city passed on. Since then, retired NFL player

LeSean McCoy LeSean Kamel McCoy (born July 12, 1988), nicknamed "Shady", is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Pittsburgh and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the ...

purchased the properties for renovation as well as a new affordable housing senior living project.

References

{{Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Neighborhoods in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania