Whitehall Borough is a defunct

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

that was located in

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsy ...

. The borough ceased to exist when it was incorporated into the

City 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. Since ...

on the passage of 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 ...

History

The area takes its name from White Hall, a grand mansion built there by Jesse Waln.''The Bristol Pike'', by Samuel Fitch Hotchkin, published by George W. Jacobs, 1893 When it was incorporated into a borough on April 9, 1849, it covered what today is called East Frankford, between the Little Tacony (or Tackawanna) and

Frankford Creek Frankford Creek is a minor tributary of the Delaware River in southeast Pennsylvania. It derived its name from the nearby town of Frankford, Philadelphia County. The stream originates as Tookany Creek at Hill Crest in Cheltenham Township and mean ...

s, including Frankford and

Bridesburg Bridesburg is the northernmost neighborhood in the River Wards, Philadelphia, River Wards section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Bridesburg is an historically German and Irish community, with a significant community of Poles, Polish ...

Stations on the former

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, Whitehall Commons, and 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 land pu ...

.William Bucke Campbell, ''Old Towns and Districts of Philadelphia'', City History Society of Philadelphia, 1942.
/ref> It lay northwest of Bridesburg Borough, and southeast of Frankford Borough. It was situated in the old township of Tacony and the later Northern Liberties Township. In 1853, the part of Whitehall that lay between Torresdale Avenue and Frankford Creek and below what is now Whitehall Commons was ceded to the borough of Frankford, leaving it with an area of only 0.471 square mile.

References

Resources

''Chronology of the Political Subdivisions of the County of Philadelphia, 1683-1854''
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excerpted at ushistory.org {{PhilaCnty1854 Municipalities in Philadelphia County prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854 1849 establishments in Pennsylvania 1854 disestablishments in Pennsylvania