Southwest Center City (SWCC), also known as Graduate Hospital,
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
South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.[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 ...]
. The neighborhood is bordered on the north by
South Street, on the south by
Washington Avenue Washington Avenue may refer to:
United States
* Washington Avenue (Miami Beach) in Miami Beach, Florida
* Washington Avenue (Milford Mill, Maryland)
* Washington Avenue (Towson, Maryland)
* Washington Avenue (Minneapolis), a major street in Minne ...
, on the west by the
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...
, and on the east by
Broad Street. It is an area adjacent to the
Fitler Square
Fitler Square is a 0.5 acre (0.20 ha) public park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and a surrounding neighborhood of the same name. The square is bounded on the east by 23rd Street, on the west by 24th Street, on the north by Panama St ...
and
Rittenhouse Square
Rittenhouse Square is a neighborhood, including a public park, in Center City Philadelphia. The park is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas Holme during the late 17th century.
The neighborho ...
neighborhoods to the north and
Point Breeze to the south. It is home to several community service organizations, restaurants, many churches, a few retail establishments, and some light industry.
Cityscape
The area is connected by the South Street Bridge to the University City district across the river. The Schuylkill Avenue Project, as it is known by the hospital, will be an expansion of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) into the area next to Naval Square. It will replace the Springfield Beer Distributor, and the former JFK Vocational Center (earlier the Marine Corps Depot of Supplies), which have been demolished.
3]
The project was expected to be completed by 2017 (and was completed in time) with the Schuylkill Trail extending to Christian Street according to another source.
5] According to the Philadelphia Inquirer article, the area is bordered by Naval Square and Grays Ferry to the east, the Schuylkill Trail and River and University City to the west, Fitler Square to the north, and Point Breeze to the south.
Names
The neighborhood has many nicknames. The Philadelphia Planning Commission refers to it as Southwest Center City.
Since the 1980s, it has been often referred to as Graduate Hospital, after the on the northern edge of the neighborhood. This name has become merely historical in nature since the hospital closed in 2007. Despite this, it is still used and is sometimes shortened to G-Ho. The area is also variously referred to as South of South, So-So,
Naval Square, Philadelphia, Naval Square, or
Schuylkill-Southwest. A small corner of this area is sometimes known as
Devil's Pocket.
Composition
The neighborhood consists primarily of nineteenth and twentieth-century
rowhomes interspersed with corner stores, 22 churches and a few larger architectural landmarks. On the eastern half of the neighborhood is the Scottish Rite
affordable housing
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affo ...
complex which consists of two multi-story apartment buildings that cater mostly to elderly and low income individuals. The former buildings of Graduate Hospital lie on South Street, the northern border of the neighborhood. Along Grays Ferry Avenue is the former
Philadelphia Naval Asylum
The Philadelphia Naval Asylum is a complex of buildings at Gray's Ferry Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built in 1827 as a hospital, it later housed the Philadelphia Naval School, served as a home for retired sailors for the United States Na ...
or Naval Home, designed in 1826 by
William Strickland. This
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 ...
, first constructed in 1833, closed in 1976, and is now being developed into condos. The
Schuylkill Arsenal
The Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot, now known as the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, was founded as the Schuylkill Arsenal in 1799.
History
The Schuylkill Arsenal was built in 1800 to function as a quartermaster and provide the U.S. mil ...
was originally built at the edge of this neighborhood, but has since been demolished.
History
![M Anderson House Philly](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/M_Anderson_House_Philly.jpg)
Prior to 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 ...
, this neighborhood was part of
Moyamensing Township. Moyamensing was originally chartered by the Dutch governor Alexander d'Hinoyossa, and in 1684,
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
confirmed the title.
The neighborhood began taking shape after the Civil War. In 1870, it was predominantly an
Irish American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png
, image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state
, caption = Notable Irish Americans
, population =
36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
community; however, the neighborhood was in a transitional period, and by 1920, a majority of its residents were
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s. It continued to experience significant in-migration from the south prior to, during, and immediately after World War II. It remained a solid working-class neighborhood for most of the first half of the twentieth century.
In the 1960s a crosstown expressway running along South Street was planned. This would have created a barrier between Center City and the neighborhoods to the south. The result was widespread abandonment of properties in SWCC and the decay of the South Street business corridor. The loss of jobs and residents caused the neighborhood to decline as buildings were abandoned and left to deteriorate.
The
Marian Anderson House
The Marian Anderson House is a historic home located in the Southwest Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built circa 1870 in the same neighborhood where opera singer and civil rights advocate Marian Anderson was born 27 year ...
,
Franklin Hose Company No. 28,
William S. Peirce School,
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Freight Shed
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Freight Shed is a historic Goods station, freight station located in the Southwest Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Southwest Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, along Broa ...
,
Royal Theater Royal Theatre or Royal Theater may refer to:
Venues Australia
* Royal Theatre, Canberra
Belgium
* Royal Theatre of La Monnaie, Brussels
* Royal Park Theatre, Brussels
* Royal Flemish Theatre, Brussels
Canada
* Royal Theatre, Victoria, Briti ...
,
St. Anthony de Padua Parish School
St. Anthony de Padua Parish School is a historic Catholic school building located in the Southwest Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1897, and is a four-story, red brick building with stone trim in the Romane ...
,
Edwin M. Stanton School, and
Tindley Temple United Methodist Church
Tindley Temple United Methodist Church, also known as Tindley Temple Methodist Episcopal Church and Calvary United Methodist Church, is a historic Methodist Episcopal church located in the Southwest Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Penn ...
are listed on 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 ...
.
Recent development
In recent years the area has experienced growth and
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
. Hundreds of single family homes and condominium units have been built or refurbished. As a result of the neighborhood's proximity to Center City and increasing desirability, a variety of new businesses catering to the increasingly gentrified population have opened. Despite the improvements, the neighborhood still contains some abandoned and dilapidated housing, especially towards the south.
The
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
winning musician and local resident
Kenneth Gamble
Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...
founded Universal Companies in Southwest Center City to revitalize the neighborhood. Universal Community Homes, a division of the company, began the Universal Court housing project in the neighborhood in the 1990s. Originally, some tension existed between the company and the local South of South Neighborhood Association, but this was soon resolved as the project was deemed a success. Universal Companies has since opened several small neighborhood businesses, low-income housing, and a charter school.
Culture
Every year since 1975, the area hosts Philadelphia's
Odunde festival
The Odunde Festival is a one-day festival and mostly a street market catered to African-American interests and the African diaspora. It is derived from the tradition of the Yoruba people of Nigeria in celebration of the new year. It is centered ...
, a one-day festival and mostly a
street market
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...
catered to African-American interests and the
African diaspora
The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...
. It is derived from the tradition of the
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
of
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, in celebration of the new year. It is centered at the intersection of Grays Ferry Avenue and South Street.
A local pub, Grace Tavern, was ranked first on ''
Philadelphia Weekly
''Philadelphia Weekly'' (''PW'') is a website based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a newspaper in 1971 as ''The Welcomat'', a sister publication to the ''South Philadelphia Press''. In 1995, the paper became ''Philadelphia Weekl ...
''s list of the Top 50 Bars in 2008.
References
External links
Historyof Philadelphia Naval Home
{{Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, state=collapsed
Neighborhoods in Philadelphia
Irish-American neighborhoods
.