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Frankford is a neighborhood in the
Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...
section of
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
situated about six miles (10 km) northeast of Center City. Although its borders are vaguely defined, the neighborhood is bounded roughly by the original course of Frankford Creek on the south to Castor Avenue on the northwest and southwest, to Cheltenham Avenue on the north, and to Aramingo Avenue and
I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
on the east. Adjacent neighborhoods are Bridesburg, Juniata, Northwood, Summerdale, and Wissinoming. Historically, Frankford had an unofficial division separating Frankford (proper) from East Frankford, which encompassed the area east of Frankford Avenue. The division divided the community first along racial lines, with African Americans to the east of Frankford Avenue and Caucasians to the west.


History

The village of Frankford was established by the
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...
in about 1682 in an area formerly occupied by
Dutch people The Dutch, or Netherlanders (Dutch language, Dutch: ) are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common ancestry and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities wor ...
(''Nederlanders''). At the time of Penn's arrival it was occupied by
Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...
,
Finns Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...
and Native Americans. The land known as the Manor of Frank was purchased by the Free Society of Traders, a group of Quaker businessmen in England. The original settlers were Henry Waddy, Thomas Fairman, Robert Adam, and Edward Seary. The village very likely took its name from the title of the Frankfurt Company, which took up ground there, along what is now known as Frankford Creek, in the lower part of Oxford Township. Frankford Creek's upper tributaries were the Tacony Creek and the Wingohocking Creek; while its lower tributaries are the ''Little Tacony Creek'' and the ''Freaheatah''. Frankford was an early suburb of the town of
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...
forged a trail through the village running from the original town (now Center City) to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, passing through Bucks County near the site of his home, Pennsbury Manor. That trail came to be known as "Frankford Pike" (later Frankford Avenue) and was the town's main street. The village was incorporated into a borough on March 2, 1800, bounded by Leiper Street on the northwest, Little Tacony (or Tackawanna) Creek on the south and east, and Frankford Creek on the west.William Bucke Campbell, ''Old Towns and Districts of Philadelphia'', City History Society of Philadelphia, 1942.
/ref> By an act on April 4, 1831, the boundaries of the borough were extended to include land to the northwest of Leiper Street, the line running along Harrison and Horrocks Streets, to a point on Frankford Creek below Wyoming Avenue. In 1853, the part of Whitehall Borough lying between Torresdale and Frankford Avenues below what is now Whitehall Common was added, to encompass a total of 1.468 square miles. In 1854, the borough was annexed by the city of Philadelphia through the
Act of Consolidation, 1854 The Act of Consolidation, more formally known as the act of February 2, 1854 (P.L. 21, No. 16), is legislation of the Pennsylvania General Assembly that created the consolidated City and County of Philadelphia, expanding the city's territory t ...
. Frankford was historically a manufacturing center, beginning with a
gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...
constructed in the 1660s. This same mill became famous during the American Revolutionary War due to the heroics of Lydia Darrah. Before and during the Revolution, two lesser-known grist-mills operated on the creek above the town of Frankford. In 1771, Robert Morris (a miller) purchased a mill at the junction of the Tacony Creek and Frankford Creek. On November 25, 1773, after receiving permission to dam the creek from a Quaker named Nicholas Waln, a feme-sole trader named Mary Peters established a small grist mill. She was in a partnership with Richard Whitman of Oxford Township, Philadelphia County. Frankford also has the distinction of having played a role in the
Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
.
"There is also a tradition that on the afternoon of that day, or possibly a day or two earlier, there was a joyful private celebration of the great event, by Jefferson and others, at the garden-house of a country-seat in Frankford (near Philadelphia), then occupied by Dr. Enoch Edwards, a leading patriot of that time."
Frankford was also the site of a gunpowder mill that became famous because of its association with Oswald Eve and
Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...
. In the 19th century, the town became a center for textile production. Other
manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...
industries also flourished. An early description of industry in 1837:
The borough of Frankford, on the Delaware, is the seat of numerous manufacturing establishments, including several
cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...
s, calico print-works and bleacheries, woolen mills,
ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...
, & etc. Here are also an Arsenal of the United States, and a
Lunatic Asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...
belonging to the
Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...
.
The
Frankford Arsenal The Frankford Arsenal is a former United States Army ammunition plant located adjacent to the Bridesburg neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, north of the original course of Frankford Creek. History Opened in 1816 on of lan ...
rivaled the Philadelphia Navy Yard during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. It provided over 22,000 jobs and at its peak, produced 8 million bullets per day. In 1922, the Frankford Elevated Line opened, connecting to the Market Street Elevated to provide rapid-transit access to Center City and
West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Although there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the n ...
. The terminus of today's
SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...
Market-Frankford Line, now known as the Frankford Transportation Center, became a major transit hub, with connections to bus and trolley routes extending into
Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Great Northeast, and known colloquially as simply "the Northeast", is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of betw ...
. Residents of Frankford live within walking distance of the terminal. SEPTA's elevated train (the "El") runs through the neighborhood above Frankford Avenue. Although the Frankford Line helped catapult Frankford Avenue into a major shopping district in the early 20th century, the traditionally working-class neighborhood saw decline in the 1950s as many Philadelphians moved to the suburbs.
White flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...
eventually took its hold on the neighborhood throughout the 1970s and 1980s. By 1990, over 30% of the storefronts on Frankford Avenue were vacant. Since this time, Frankford has seen a push for improvement. In 1993, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission adopted the ''Frankford Plan'' as a blueprint for revitalizing the neighborhood. Although many vacant storefronts remain, businesses catering to new customers have opened in recent years. Many business owners hope that
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
of neighborhoods such as Fishtown and
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
will spread north into Frankford. Others worry that previous attempts at improving Frankford have not been as effective as hoped, with most areas of the neighborhood still suffering from street crime and open-air drug sales. Between 1985 and 1990, a serial killer known as the " Frankford Slasher" murdered several women in the neighborhood. Although several suspects were taken into custody, the actual killer has never been identified.


Notable sites


Museums

* Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Library, 4278 Griscom St. * Historical Society of Frankford, established 1905, 1507 Orthodox St.


Churches

*The Baptist Worship Center, 4355 Paul St. *St. Bartholomew R.C. Church, 5600 Jackson St. *By Grace Alone Christian Reformed Church, 1300 Dyre Street * Campbell African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1657 Kinsey St., founded 1804 *Central United Methodist Church, 4620 Griscom St. *Christ Independent Baptist Church, 1618 Womrath St. *The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4610 Frankford Ave. *Sixth Church of Christ, Scientist, 4720 Leiper St. *Crossroads Community Church, 4624 Leiper St. *Faith Assembly of God, 5049 Charles St. *Faith Tabernacle, 1744 Foulkrod St. * Frankford Friends Meeting House, 4371 Waln St., established 1684 * Frankford Memorial United Methodist Church, 1300 Dyre St. *Hermon Presbyterian Church, 4835 Frankford Ave. *Holy Cross Church of Christ, 1822 Orthodox St. *International Druidic Society, 4455 Frankford Ave. * St. James Lutheran Church, Pratt St. and Castor Ave. * St. Joachim Church, Philadelphia, 1527 Church St., established 1845 *St. John Apostolic Church, 4404-06 Paul St. * St. Mark's Church, Frankford, 4442 Frankford Ave., is an Episcopal Church, established 1832 *Mar Thoma Church * St. Mary's Malankara Orthodox Syrian Cathedral, 1424 Orthodox St. *Mizpah Seventh-day Adventist Church, 4355 Paul St. *Church Of Christ (Iglesia Ni Cristo), 1676 Ruan St. *By Grace Alone Frankford Fellowship, 4730 Oxford Ave. * New Beginning Church of Philadelphia, 4200 Roosevelt Blvd, 19124 *Northeast Baptist Church, 4744 Tackawanna St. * Christ Fellowship Christian Church, 1639 Harrison St., *The Presbyterian Church of Frankford, 4302 Frankford Ave., dating to 1605, was begun as a German-speaking reformed church *Rehoboth United Methodist Church, 4229 Paul St. *Second Baptist Church of Frankford, 1801 Meadow St. *Second Spanish Baptist Church, 4917 Frankford Ave. (began as North Frankford Baptist Church – given to Second Spanish Baptist in the early 1990s) *Strait Gate Church of Faith and Deliverance, Inc., 4265 Frankford Ave. *St. Thomas United Methodist Church, 4701 Tackawanna St. * St. Valentine's Polish National Church, 2330 Margaret St. *Word of Faith Christian Center, 4355 Paul St.


Schools

*The Charter School of Arts & Science: String Theory (formerly Henry R. Edmunds School), 1197 Haworth St. * First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy, 4300 Tacony St. * Frankford Friends School, 1500 Orthodox St. * Frankford High School, 5000 Oxford Ave. * Frankford Hospital School of Nursing, 4918 Penn St. * Warren G. Harding Middle School, 2000 Wakeling St. * John Marshall School, Sellers and Griscom Sts. * Northwood Academy Charter School, 4621 Castor Ave. *
Smedley Elementary School The Mastery Charter School - Smedley Elementary is an American Charter schools in the United States, charter school that is located in the Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building ...
, Bridge and Mulberry Sts. * Allen M. Stearne Elementary School, 1655 Unity St.


Historic sites

* Garden-House, owned by Dr. Enoch Edwards, where Jefferson and others celebrated the passage of the Declaration is present-day Womrath Park. (Demolished) * Cedar Hill Cemetery, established 1849 * Oswald Eve's gunpowder mill, built 1774. (Demolished) * Frankford Community Memorial Stadium, opened 1922, site of several games of the
Frankford Yellow Jackets The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, although its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets wo ...
professional football team. * Frankford Avenue, formerly Main Street, and before that the King's Highway


Philadelphia Register of Historic Places

Source: *Campbell African Methodist Episcopal Church of Frankford (sometimes called Second Bethel or Little Bethel), 1657 Kinsey St., founded circa 1804. After an earlier application for the National Historic Register was rejected, Campbell AME was placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1982. The burial ground was nominated in a separate application because archeology was not a criterion listed on Philadelphia's early nomination applications. This burial ground was approved and placed onto the Philadelphia Register 11 February 2022. * Comly Rich House (built 1826), 4276 Orchard Street, was the first house in the United States to receive a mortgage (1831) * David Wilmot School *The Free Burying Ground of Frankford aka Potter’s Field or Wilmot Cemetery, 1801 Meadow St., enacted into Ordinance the 15th day of October 1811 by Isaac Worrell Chief Burgess. The Nomination was approved and was placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places 30 August 2021. Nathan Harper and Mary his Wife granted unto the said Burgesses and Inhabitants of the said Borough of Frankford with this deed restriction: "To be occupied as a public burying Ground forever hereafter for the Dead of All Nations Sects and Colours without any charge what ever except the Customary expenses of digging and keeping up the Graves to the only use of a public burying ground free and clear of and from all Judgments heirs and other Incumbrances whatsoever..." The Burial Ground (now a playground) contains the remains of many African American Civil War Veterans. * Greenwood Cemetery, established 1869, where Dr.
Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...
kept a summer home in the late 18th century.


National Register of Historic Places

* William W. Axe School *
Frankford Arsenal The Frankford Arsenal is a former United States Army ammunition plant located adjacent to the Bridesburg neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, north of the original course of Frankford Creek. History Opened in 1816 on of lan ...
* Friends Hospital, the first private psychiatric hospital in the U.S., founded 1813 * Warren G. Harding Junior High School * Henry Longfellow School * John Marshall School * The John Ruan House, built 1796 * Franklin Smedley School * James J. Sullivan School * David Wilmot School


Others

*Frankford Hospital *Eastern Regional Medical Center, a facility of Cancer Treatment Centers of America (formerly Parkview Hospital)


Northwood

Within the bounds of Frankford exists an enclave known as Northwood. Northwood is made up almost entirely of pre-World War II twin and single-family dwellings. Northwood is bounded by Harrison Street to the south, Roosevelt Boulevard to the west and Oxford Avenue to the east, its northernmost point being Sanger Street, just below the intersection of Castor Avenue, Roosevelt Blvd ( U.S. 1) and Oxford Avenue. However, a more broad definition of Northwood would extend to Adams Avenue on the south, including the location of Northwood Park and the larger mansions on Castor Avenue south of Harrison Street. Three of Frankford's schools lie within Northwood. Other facilities in Northwood include Frankford High School's War Memorial Stadium, built in honor of area residents who served in World War I, and Baldwin Field, named for local businessman and philanthropist E. A. Baldwin, who had a milk business in Northwood. The field was dedicated on June 3, 1938. The neighborhood is home to a mostly middle-class population. The neighborhood was also home to former Philadelphia mayor and Representative from the 5th (then 3rd) Congressional District
William J. Green, III William Joseph Green III (born June 24, 1938) is an American politician from Pennsylvania. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Green served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1964 to 1977 and as the Mayor of Philadelphia, 94th M ...
, and the late Edward R. Becker, former justice on the
Third Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * Eas ...
for the United States. Burk Deed Restriction In 1881, Alfred and Louis Burk founded Louis Burk, Inc., Philadelphia meat packers, and also built Atlantic City's original
Steel Pier The Steel Pier is a 1,000-foot-long () amusement park built on a pier of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City (formerly the Trump Taj Mahal). Built in 1897 and opened in 1898, it wa ...
in 1898. Several other brothers were engaged in this family-run business. (Another brother, Henry Burk, was a well-known local politician.) As real-estate investors and developers in Philadelphia, they bought and sold large parcels of land in Northwood. To protect the integrity of the neighborhood, Louis Burk placed several various
deed restriction A covenant, in its most general and historical sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. Under historical English common law, a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the presence of a seal. B ...
s upon many of the tracts he sold.


Northwood Civic Association

The Northwood Civic Association received its charter of incorporation as a Pennsylvania not-for-profit corporation during a meeting held in City Hall, Room 577, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, July 25, 1963, at 3:00 P.M., E.D.S.T., there being present: ISRAEL STIEFEL, ESQ., THE MASTER: BECKER & BECKER BY Edward R. Becker, ESQ., For Petitioners. J. WALTER KLINE testified:
''This corporation was originally started in the spring of 1954, and the main purpose was to try and uphold the quality of the neighborhood – to keep real estate from being depreciated, to promote and preserve the civic, social and moral welfare of the community known as Northwood in the City of Philadelphia, to maintain and elevate the quality of land usage therein, to maintain and elevate the value of real estate therein, to prevent the infiltration of degrading and inharmonious land use therein, to do all other things necessary to preserve and maintain the amenities and high standards of the community, to engage in any peaceable activities including the institution of legal proceedings necessary for the promotion of the purposes, and this is a corporation which does not contemplate pecuniary gains or profit, incident or otherwise, to its members.''


Crime

Frankford was the hunting ground for the " Frankford Slasher", who stalked victims between 1985 and 1990. The intersection of Bridge Street and Hawthorne Street was listed number six in a 2007 list of the city's top ten
recreational drug Recreational drug use is the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness, either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an Sub ...
corners according to an article by '' Philadelphia Weekly'' reporter Steve Volk.


Demographics

Frankford is a diverse working-class neighborhood, containing a wide variety of ethnic groups, including a large number of
Irish Americans Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
,
Polish Americans Polish Americans () are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, ...
,
Italian Americans Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...
,
Portuguese Americans Portuguese Americans (), also known as Luso-Americans (''luso-americanos''), are citizens and residents of the United States who are connected to the country of Portugal by birth, ancestry, or citizenship. Americans and others who are not nativ ...
, Brazilian Americans,
Arab Americans Arab Americans ( or ) are Americans who trace ancestry to any of the Arab immigration to the United States, various waves of immigrants from the Arabic-speaking countries. In the United States census, Arabs are racially classified as White Amer ...
,
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
s,
Hispanic Americans Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...
, specifically from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and
West Indian American Caribbean Americans or West Indian Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to the West Indies in particular or Caribbean in general. Caribbean Americans are a multi-ethnic and multi-racial group that trace their ancestry further in tim ...
s, mainly from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Haiti. As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, the racial makeup of Frankford is 31.8% African American, 30.8% White, 29% Hispanic, and 8.4% other. The population of Frankford grew by 3% between the 1990 and 2000 censuses.


Notable people

* Butch Ballard, jazz drummer and band leader * Edward R. Becker, Judge of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...
. * Jesse Bennett, Physician who carried out North America's first ever Caesarian section procedure and was born in Frankford, Philadelphia in 1769. * Stephen Decatur Sr. for a time kept a home here. * Dr. Enoch Edwards kept a summer home in Frankford. He was medical student who studied under Dr.
Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...
, an attending physician to General
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
. Edwards was also a correspondent to France for
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
and
James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...
. * Earl G. Harrison, Dean of the
University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...
; Commissioner of the INS, 1942–44 * William Walker Foulkrod, US Congressman * Jeanette DuBois Meech (1835–1911), evangelist and industrial educator * James T. Nulty, Pennsylvania State Senator for the 8th district from 1911 to 1914 * Norman Paris (1925–1977), pianist, arranger, composer, bandleader"New York, New York City, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1947", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WZ7K-MPW2 : Sat Mar 09 21:41:14 UTC 2024), Entry for Norman Thaddeus Pawlak and Discharged From U.S. Navy, 29 Apr 1946. * Charles B. Penrose (1798–1857), Pennsylvania State Senator, President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury *Dr.
Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...
, Continental Congressman and signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...
, had a summer home here.


Education

Frankford, like all areas of Philadelphia, is served by the
School District of Philadelphia The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated State schools, public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the largest school district in Pennsylvania and the eighth-lar ...
. In particular Frankford High School has been the community's public high school since 1910. The
Free Library of Philadelphia The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the 16th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the ...
also operates the Frankford Branch in the neighborhood. The Frankford Hospital School of Nursing operated from 1904 to 2020.


Sports

The community was the home of the
Frankford Yellow Jackets The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, although its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets wo ...
, a
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
team that won the championship in 1926 but folded in 1931. Frankford is also home to the N.E. Frankford Boys and Girls Club American Legion Post 224 Drill Team, who won the AMA Nationals Championship in 2005 and 2006. Also part of the community for decades was the Frankford Boys Club. It was an organization that gave Frankford youth an opportunity to learn how to play football, baseball, softball, basketball and Cheerleading as part of NESAC. The Boys Club was one of NESAC’s flagship organizations and participated in many playoff games and championship victories. During the 90’s and 2000’s they dominated the league in Football and Cheerleading, winning almost every championship in every age group.


See also

* Frankford Special Services District of Philadelphia


References


External links


"Under the El"
Duane Swierczynski, Philadelphia ''City Paper''

Tom Waring, '' Northeast Times''
"Fond of Frankford"
Diane Villano, ''Northeast Times''
"Lydia Darragh"
frankfordgazette.com
“Frankford Chronicles Agent Lydia Darragh - Intelligence Operative”
Joseph J. Menkevich, "self publication"
"House and ground where the 1st "4th of July" was celebrated." Enoch Edwards, Womrath property; 4216 Frankford Ave."
ca 1870, P.9062.53b (Brenner) Notes: Reduced image in HSP: Bd 862 N447, 6th Series with printed label. *Dripps, M
''Map of the Township of Oxford, Boroughs of Frankford and Bridesburg, 1849.''
*Hopkins, G. M
''City Atlas of Philadelphia, 23rd Ward, 1876''
(includes Frankford)

"Map of The Various Deed Restricted Tracts of Northwood" * {{Authority control Frankford, Philadelphia, Neighborhoods in Philadelphia Municipalities in Philadelphia County prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854 Populated places established in 1800 Populated places established in 1684 1854 disestablishments in Pennsylvania German-American history Irish-American neighborhoods 1682 establishments in Pennsylvania 1684 establishments in Pennsylvania