__NOTOC__ Spruce Hill is a neighborhood in the University City section of

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough 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 nort ...

. It is between 40th and 46th streets, and it stretches from Market Street south to Woodland Avenue. With a population of over 16,000, it is a racially and ethnically diverse part of the city where much historic architecture is preserved. The neighborhood contains a large number of Victorian

rowhouses In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house (British English, UK) or townhouse (American English, US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings party ...

, many of which have been converted to multi-family apartments. It was built as a

streetcar suburb A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...

for Center City between 1850 and 1910. Among its most prominent developers was financier Clarence Howard Clark Sr. (1833 – 1906), who built dozens of rowhouses, donated land for the Walnut Street West Branch of the

Free Library of Philadelphia The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia. It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia gove ...

, settled a tax assessment by founding the 9.1-acre

Clark Park Clark Park is a municipal park in the Spruce Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Spruce Hill section of West Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its are bordered by 43rd and 45th streets, and by Baltimore Avenue, Baltimore and Woodland Aven ...

, and established his mansion on the grassy block that today holds the Penn Alexander public elementary school. SpruceHill

A statue of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, cast in 1890 by

Francis Edwin Elwell Francis Edwin Elwell (also cited as Frank Edwin Elwell) (June 15, 1858, Concord, Massachusetts – January 23, 1922, Darien, Connecticut) was an American sculptor, teacher, and author. He lectured on art at Harvard University, and taught modelin ...

, stands in Clark Park; it is one of just two known statues of the author.

Education

The

School District of Philadelphia The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the 8th largest school district in the nation, by enrollment, serving over 200 ...

operates Penn Alexander School and the

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...

High School for Human Services. The Spruce Hill Christian elementary and middle school is on Baltimore Avenue. The

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

campus extends into Spruce Hill and the

University of the Sciences University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (University of the Sciences or USciences) was a private university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. USciences offered bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in pharmacy and other health-related dis ...

campus is also in the neighborhood.

Public libraries

The

Walnut Street West Branch serves Spruce Hill.Walnut Street West Branch
"

. Retrieved on October 19, 2012.

References

External links

Spruce Hill Historic District

Spruce Hill Community Association

- University of Pennsylvania Neighborhoods in Philadelphia Streetcar suburbs {{Philadelphia-stub

Education

Public libraries

See also

References

External links