Kingsessing is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

in the Southwest section of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

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, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On the west side of the Schuylkill River, it is next to the neighborhoods of Cedar Park,

Southwest Schuylkill Southwest Schuylkill is a neighborhood in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Schuylkill River, north of Elmwood Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Elmwood, in the vicinity of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transpor ...

, and Mount Moriah, as well as the borough of Yeadon in Delaware County. It is roughly bounded by 53rd Street to the northeast, Baltimore Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek and 60th Street to the southwest, and Woodland Avenue to the southeast.

History

The name Kingsessing, also spelled Chinsessing, comes from a

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

word meaning "a place where there is a meadow". The historic

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

, or Delaware as the English called them, had a village of the same name that roughly occupied the same site as where the current neighborhood was later developed. When the township was organized to encompass where the Lenape and a later Swedish village stood, it also was named as Kingsessing.

Bartram's Garden Bartram's Garden is a 50-acre public garden and National Historic Landmark in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, situated on the banks of the Tidal Schuylkill River. It is a venue for art, an access to the tidal river and wetlands, an outdoor ...

, started by colonial botanist

John Bartram John Bartram (March 23, 1699 – September 22, 1777) was an American botanist, horticulturist, and explorer, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for most of his career. Swedish botanist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus said he was the "greatest na ...

in the late 1700s, is still operated in this neighborhood. It had an international reputation and is considered the first true botanical garden in the United States. It has been designated as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

. The S. Weir Mitchell School was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1986.

Infrastructure and government

* The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

operates the Kingsessing Post Office at 5311 Florence Avenue. *

Grays Ferry Bridge Gray's Ferry Bridge (more recently, Grays Ferry Bridge) has been the formal or informal name of several floating bridges and four permanent ones that have carried highway and rail traffic over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The bridge today ...

49th Street station (SEPTA Regional Rail) 49th Street station is a SEPTA Regional Rail station in Philadelphia. It is located at 1104 South 49th Street in the Kingsessing section of Southwest Philadelphia, and serves the Media/Wawa Line. In 2013, this station saw 62 boardings and 52 aligh ...

Education

Public libraries

Free Library of Philadelphia operates the Kingsessing Branch at 1201 South 51st Street, below Chester Avenue.Kingsessing Branch
" '' Free Library of Philadelphia''. Retrieved on November 10, 2008.

References

;Sources
''Chronology of the Political Subdivisions of the County of Philadelphia, 1683–1854''
() *

courtesy o
ushistory.org
'

- excerpted from the book at the ushistory.org website

'Row House Days' courtesy o
ushistory.org
{{Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Neighborhoods in Philadelphia Southwest Philadelphia

History

Infrastructure and government

Education

Public libraries

See also

References