Naval Square is a gated community within the Graduate Hospital neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

that served as the first

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

from 1834 to 1845, when the Naval Academy formed in Annapolis. It continued as a

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Typically, each person or couple in ...

for sailors and marines and was called the Naval Home until 1976, when the facility was relocated to

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. According to the Office of Housing and Community Development, the neighborhood became official, as the three independent parties, the city of Philadelphia (Office of Housing and Community Development), the OHNP (Office of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation), and

Toll Brothers Toll Brothers is a company which designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges financing for residential and commercial properties in the United States. In 2020, the company was the fifth largest home builder in the United States, based on home ...

worked to bring the historic location to prominence. The

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...

said that the neighborhood, considered a condo development, succeeded in bucking "the trend with what buyers cited as a combination of location, security, and newness." Prices for houses ranged from $300,000 to $900,000, with 618 units built.

Features

A unique notable feature of Naval Square is that the neighborhood has a "suburban feel" inside the city, unlike other neighborhoods in the city. According to the source, one resident chose the neighborhood because he wanted a home "near bars, but not in them." ''The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' states that Naval Square is part of a trend of the city's

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

, driven by new tax abatement policies. The boundaries of the neighborhood are set by the surrounding brick wall on Grays Ferry Avenue to the east, Bainbridge Street to the north, Schuylkill Avenue to the west, and Christian Street to the south. The

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is a children's hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with its primary campus located in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia in the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The ...

will be building three new 26-story towers next door to this community in the Schuylkill neighborhood, just outside the gated community, by 2017.

Demographics

The average income of the location, which is also part of the "G-Ho" (Graduate Hospital) neighborhood is around $43,000 to $67,000, and the demographic swing from black to white was described as "dramatic." According to a resident, many black families "moved south to North Carolina or Florida."

History

The location of Naval Square was the home of the

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 ...

, a precursor to the

, was completed in 1833 and became the "first retirement home for sailors and marines." By 1838, the midshipmen who were approaching promotion examinations were assigned to the school for eight months of study. When the Naval Home was relocated to

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport is the second-largest city in Mississippi after the state capital, Jackson. Along with Biloxi, Gulfport is the co-county seat of Harrison County and the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolit ...

, the facility was closed. The historic section of the neighborhood was placed 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 ...

and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971. In 2004, Toll Brothers began the first phase of development, with 345 condominiums. In 2009, the firm sold 220 condos and 74 townhomes.

References

File:CHOP-Prototype.jpg, Naval Square is in the background with brick wall behind CHOP prototype of building {{South Philadelphia Neighborhoods in Philadelphia Gated communities in Pennsylvania Southwest Center City, Philadelphia