Pennsport is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

in the

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west."." ''City of Philadelphia''. Retrieved November 8, ...

section 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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. Pennsport is home to a large working-class

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

population, many of them descendants of immigrants from the mid to late 19th century. They maintain social organizations (also called "clubs"), which are located along 2nd Street (known locally as "Two Street"). Each year the clubs spend months preparing costumes, music and performances for Philadelphia's annual

Mummers Parade The Mummers Parade is held each New Year's Day in Philadelphia. It started in 1901, and is the longest-running continuous folk parade in the United States. Local clubs, usually called "New Years Associations" or "New Years Brigades", compete i ...

on Broad Street on New Year's Day. At one time, Pennsport was proposed as a location for development of casinos along the Philadelphia waterfront. Many residents opposed this, as they wanted development that would provide better jobs. The state and city had conducted some negotiations with the

Mashantucket Pequot The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is a federally recognized American Indian tribe in the state of Connecticut. They are descended from the Pequot people, an Algonquian-language tribe that dominated the southern New England coastal areas, and ...

, whose reservation is based in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, to establish Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia in this neighborhood, but the proposal never gained approval.

Location

Pennsport is bounded by 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 ...

to the east, the Queen Village neighborhood to the north, Whitman to the south, and Dickinson Square West to the west. The Pennsport Redevelopment Area Plan of 1968 listed the border streets as Washington Avenue on the north, Snyder Avenue on the south, and Fourth Street on the west.

Demographics

The 2000 census listed Pennsport's population as 26,300, but this figure includes the populations of

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, Queen Village, and Whitman neighborhoods.'' South Philly Review'', October 7, 2004,
The Place Where You Live: Pennsport
. Pennsport's population identifies as 70%

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 17%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 8%

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

, and 5%

Hispanic and Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...

, of any race. Roughly 40% of the population is under 18.

History

According to the ''Genealogy of Philadelphia County Subdivisions'', Pennsport was originally part of Moyamensing Township. Most of the area north of present-day Mifflin Street was included in the Southwark District from 1794 until the consolidation of Philadelphia in 1854. At that point, it was mostly contained in the First Ward. The First and Second wards ran east of Passyunk Avenue and were divided by Wharton Street (First to the south, Second to the north). The southern boundary of the First Ward initially spanned south to the river, but it was stopped at Mifflin Street in 1898. The Washington Avenue Immigration Station was an immigrant processing facility located at the end of Washington Avenue at Pier 53 on the

. It operated from 1873 to 1915. During

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in ...

in 1748, a young

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

erected the "Association Battery" or "Grand Battery" here along the river. These were earthwork defenses fitted with artillery. The first United States naval yard started in the 1770s as a private commercial yard located in what is now Pennsport at Federal Street on the Delaware River. It was owned and operated by noted shipbuilder Joshua Humphreys. He designed the

original six frigates of the United States Navy The United States Congress authorized the original six frigates of the United States Navy with the Naval Act of 1794 on March 27, 1794, at a total cost of $688,888.82 (equivalent to $ in ). These ships were built during the formative years of ...

. In addition, the frigate , not one of those six, was also built at what became the official navy yard. The naval yard was designated for the US Navy in 1801 and was active until 1875. That year it was relocated to new facilities built on League Island. The shipyard expanded to support production and repair of ships. During World War II, some 40,000 people worked here in shifts that operated 24 hours a day. The shipyard was closed in 1991, as a result of a decision by the

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) was a process by a Federal government of the United States, United States federal government commission to increase the efficiency of the United States Department of Defense by coordinating the realignment and ...

Commission. Nearly 1000 acres was transferred to the City of Philadelphia for redevelopment. What is known as The Navy Yard has been developed for businesses and manufacturing. A part of the site is still devoted to shipbuilding. The neighborhood has other buildings and structures of historic interest.

Furness High School Horace Howard Furness High School is a secondary (9th-12th) school in South Philadelphia. It is part of the School District of Philadelphia. Portions of South Philadelphia (including Bella Vista, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, Queen Village ...

and the former Abigail Vare School are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The Historic rowhouse synagogue, Congregation Shivtei Yeshuron-Ezras Israel, was featured in the Hidden City Philadelphia 2013 Festival.

Education

The

School District of Philadelphia The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated State schools, public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the largest school district in Pennsylvania and the eighth-lar ...

operates public schools serving Pennsport.

Vare-Washington School Vare-Washington School, is a K-8 school in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a part of the School District of Philadelphia. It occupies the former George Washington School building in the Dickinson Narrows neighborhood, in ...

serves grades K-8. The school was previously named Abigail Vare School and had occupied a building in Pennsport.Jennings, James.
Mt. Sinai Developer Plans Apartments, Townhomes at Shuttered Pennsport School
" ''

''. June 10, 2015. Retrieved on November 30, 2015. In October 2013 the Philadelphia School Reform Commission (SRC) voted to close Washington School in Dickinson Square West. Abigail Vare School moved from its previous building to the former Washington building at 1198 South 5th Street.

also serves area residents.Horace Furness High School Geographic Boundaries

Archive
.

. Retrieved on October 4, 2011.

Public libraries

The

Free Library of Philadelphia The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the 16th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the ...

Whitman Branch in Whitman serves Pennsport.Whitman Branch
"

. Retrieved on October 19, 2012.

Notable people

Rob McElhenney Robert McElhenney III ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actor, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his role as Mac on the FX/ FXX comedy series '' It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present), a show he created and co ...

– actor, creator of ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', also known colloquially simply as ''Always Sunny'', is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and co-developed by Glenn Howerton for FX (TV channel), FX. It premiered on August 4, 2005, and stars Charl ...

'' * Edward "Babe" Heffron - A paratrooper in Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Heffron took part in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

in Belgium and helped liberate the

Kaufering concentration camp Kaufering () was a system of eleven subcamp (SS), subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp which operated between 18 June 1944 and 27 April 1945 and which were located around the towns of Landsberg am Lech and Kaufering, Bavaria, Kaufering in ...

in Landsberg, Germany. He received a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. * William "Wild Bill" Guarnere (April 28, 1923 – March 8, 2014) - a United States Army soldier who fought in World War II as an NCO with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

produced a miniseries ''Band of Brothers'' (2001), based on Guarnere and his unit; Guarnere was portrayed by

Frank John Hughes Frank John Hughes (born November 11, 1967) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his portrayals of "Wild Bill" Guarnere in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', Tom Fox in ''Catch Me If You Can'', Tim Woods in '' ...

. Guarnere later wrote and published his own account: '' Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story'' (2007). Long-time friend Edward "Babe" Heffron and journalist Robyn Post were co-authors. Bronze statues of William “Wild Bill” Guarnere and Edward “Babe” Heffron have been installed at a park o
2nd and Reed Streets
It portrays the pair as young men, as they looked just before leaving Pennsport to fight in Europe during World War II.

Gallery

File:The Grand Battery Historical Marker S Columbus Blvd at US Coast Guard Station Philadelphia PA (DSC 2949).jpg, Grand Battery Historical Marker, U.S. Coast Guard Station, Philadelphia File:Washington Avenue Immigration Station Historical Marker 1 Washington Ave Philadelphia PA (DSC 2703).jpg, Washington Avenue Immigration Station Historical Marker, 1 Washington Avenue, Philadelphia

References

External links

Second Street Irish SocietyPennsport Civic AssociationFriends of Jefferson Square ParkFriends of Dickinson Square ParkWashington Avenue GreenRizzo RinkPennsport School of Dance
{{Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Neighborhoods in Philadelphia Irish-American neighborhoods Irish-American history Irish-American culture in Philadelphia South Philadelphia