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 Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, expanding the city's territory to the entirety of Philadelphia County and dissolving the other municipal authorities in the county. The law was enacted by the General Assembly and approved February 2, 1854, by Governor William Bigler. This act consolidated all remaining townships,

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

s, and

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English language, 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 ...

within the County of Philadelphia, dissolving their governmental structures and bringing all municipal authority within the county under the auspices of the Philadelphia government. Additionally, any

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

s were included in the consolidation. The consolidation was drafted to help combat lawlessness that the many local governments could not handle separately and to bring in much-needed tax revenue for the State.

History

In early 1854, the city of

's boundaries extended east and west between the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

and

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

s and north and south between

Vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

and South streets, representing the present-day Center City section of Philadelphia. The rest of Philadelphia County contained thirteen townships, six

and nine

s. Philadelphia City's recent influx of immigrants spilled over into the rest of Philadelphia County, surging the area's population. In 1840, Philadelphia's population was 93,665 and the rest of the county was 164,372; by 1850 the populations were 121,376 and 287,385 respectively. One of the major reasons put forth for the consolidation of the city was the county's inability to govern. Law enforcement found it difficult to enforce the peace. A person could break the law in Philadelphia City and quickly cross the border and escape punishment. Districts outside Philadelphia could not control their criminal elements and at the same time refused to let Philadelphia get involved. An example of how poorly law enforcement agencies worked together was in May, 1844 when an anti-Catholic riot erupted in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

. The

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

was the only police officer available in Kensington at the time and when Philadelphia's

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

was called they hesitated because they hadn't been reimbursed for past calls. By the time the militia arrived, the riot was out of control. Attempts to improve the issue included an 1845 law that required several of the surrounding districts to maintain adequate law enforcement and an 1850 act that gave Philadelphia law enforcement the authority to police seven surrounding districts. As a result, the act also achieved one of its intended roles: Expand and strengthen the jurisdiction of the Philadelphia Police Department. The other major reason for consolidation was that Philadelphia's actual population center was not in Philadelphia, but north of Vine Street. Between 1844 and 1854, Philadelphia's population grew by 29.5 percent. Places like Spring Garden grew by 111.5 percent, and the

section of Philadelphia grew by 109.5 percent. This population shift was draining the city of much-needed tax revenue for police and fire departments, water, sewage, and other city improvements.

Consolidation

There had been several unsuccessful proposals at consolidation before 1854. The main opposition of consolidation came from the Whig Party. The Whigs usually dominated Philadelphia City elections while the outlying districts were dominated by the Democrats and the Whigs feared they would lose power within the city. With support from all the city's major newspapers, and the end of the Whig party's existence around that time, the consolidation overcame opposition and the issue was brought to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Eli Kirk Price brought the issue to the

Pennsylvania Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mi ...

while Matthias W. Baldwin and William C. Patterson brought it to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. A bill was produced on December 20, 1853, and by January 31, 1854, the bill had passed both houses. The bill was then brought to Governor William Bigler, who was in

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. Bigler was awoken out of bed before midnight on February 2 and signed the bill into law. The signing was rushed because several districts were considering assuming new debts for railroad loans and other projects, with the expectation that the consolidated city would pay instead. The Act of Consolidation, along with creating Philadelphia's modern border, gave executive power to a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

who would be elected every two years. The mayor was given substantial control of the

police department The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citize ...

and control of municipal administration and executive departments with oversight and control of the budget from the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

. On March 11 there was a large celebration for the consolidation. Governor Bigler, members of the legislature, and chief officers of the state visited the city for the celebration. Events included an excursion on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

, a ball at the Philadelphia Chinese Museum and a banquet at the Sansom Street Hall the next day. Although the city and county now shared the same boundaries, a number of city and county functions remained separate. Many of these functions were overseen by " City Commissioners" who were elected separately from the city council and mayor. In 1951, the state constitution was amended to allow cities and counties to fully merge, and Philadelphia voters adopted a new home rule charter that merged nearly all city and county institutions. The new charter took effect in January 1952. Although Philadelphia County has effectively been a legal nullity since then, the county row offices still exist, though all except the Register of Wills are subject to city civil service rules.

Districts, townships, and boroughs consolidated into Philadelphia

The following is a list of municipal authorities which were consolidated into the modern City and County of Philadelphia. * Aramingo Borough * Belmont District * Blockley Township * Bridesburg Borough * Bristol Township * Byberry Township * Delaware Township * Frankford Borough * Germantown Borough * Germantown Township * Kensington District * Kingsessing Township * Lower Dublin Township * Manayunk Borough * Moreland Township * Moyamensing District * Northern Liberties District * Northern Liberties Township * Oxford Township * Passyunk Township * Penn District * Penn Township * Philadelphia City * Roxborough Township * Richmond District * Southwark District * Spring Garden District * West Philadelphia Borough * Whitehall Borough

Notes

References

* * *

External links

A Brief History of Philadelphia
*Ellet, Charles, Jr. ttp://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/ellet ''Map of the County of Philadelphia from Actual Survey, 1843.''*Barnes, R.L
''New Map of the Consolidated City of Philadelphia, 1855''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Act Of Consolidation 1854 1854 in American law 1854 in Pennsylvania History of Philadelphia Legal history of Pennsylvania Mergers of administrative divisions in the United States Municipalities in Philadelphia County prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854 Pennsylvania statutes