Walnut Hill is a neighborhood in the

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 ...

section 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 ...

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, ...

. It is located between 45th Street and 52nd Street, bounded by Market Street and Spruce Street. Most of the neighborhood is in the northwestern part of the University City District. It is located north of the neighborhoods of Garden Court and Spruce Hill. It is a racially mixed neighborhood with a large seasonal student population. Walnut Hill was largely built from the start of the 20th century through the 1940s, with a large growth spurt immediately following the construction of what is now the

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...

Market-Frankford Line. The primarily residential neighborhood consists of 2 and 3-story rowhomes, with several pre-war garden style apartments.

West Philadelphia High School West Philadelphia High School is a secondary school located in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the intersection of 49th Street and Chestnut Street. History The original West Philadelphia High School (WPHS) building ...

is located in Walnut Hill and

The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College (aka just Walnut Hill College) is a private, for-profit, family-run, culinary school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History The school was founded in 1974 as America's first private college to offer c ...

is close by, if not technically within the boundaries of the neighborhood. In recent years, th
Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation
in collaboration with th
Walnut Hill Community Association
has made strides to spur development in the neighborhood. The

La Blanche Apartments The La Blanche Apartments is an historic, American building that is located in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History and architectural features Built in 1910, this historic structure was designed in the Georgian Revival Georgian architect ...

and Henry C. Lea School of Practice 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 ...

. American Bandstand was first broadcast from the ABC studio at 46th and Market Streets (now the Enterprise Center).

Science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

author Isaac Asimov lived at Wyngate Hall (now called The Terrace), a garden apartment building at 50th and Spruce, from 1942–1945, and wrote several of the stories that comprise ''

I, Robot ''I, Robot'' is a fixup (compilation) novel of science fiction short stories or essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines ''Super Science Stories'' and '' Astounding Science Fiction'' be ...

'' and the Foundation series while living there. Singer, actor and activist

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

lived with his sister at 50th and Walnut from 1968 until his death in 1976. A

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

at 45th and Chestnut commemorates Robeson. From the 1930s through the 1970s the

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) is a private medical school with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and additional locations in Suwanee, Georgia (PCOM Georgia) and Moultrie, Georgia (PCOM South Georgia). Founded ...

(PCOM) was located at 48th and Spruce, their former building now houses the Emmanual Church, a Korean language Presbyterian congregation.

References

External links

West Philadelphia Data and Information Resources
- University of Pennsylvania Neighborhoods in Philadelphia University City, Philadelphia {{PhiladelphiaPA-geo-stub