The city of Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the
sixth most populous city in the United States[1]. It is conterminous
with Philadelphia County, and serves as the county seat. It is
colloquially referred to as "the City of Brotherly Love" (from Greek: Φιλαδέλφεια,
[pʰi.la.ˈdel.pʰeː.a], Modern Greek: [fi.la'ðɛl.fi.a], "brotherly love" from philos "love" and adelphos "brother"). The city is
commonly and informally referred to as "Philly" by residents.
In 2006 the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the
city proper to be over 1.4 million.[2]
Philadelphia is a commercial, educational, and cultural center. As of the 2006 population estimate, the Philadelphia metropolitan area was the fifth-largest in the United States with a population of 5.8 million.[3]
The city was once the second largest in the British Empire and most populous city of
the United States.[4] It was one of the first
capitals. During the 18th Century, it briefly eclipsed
Boston and New York City in political and
social importance, with Benjamin Franklin taking a large role in Philadelphia's early
rise to prominence. It was the social and geographical center of the original 13 American
colonies. It was in this city that some of the ideas, and subsequent actions, gave birth to the American Revolution and American independence.
History
-
Prior to the arrival of Europeans the Philadelphia area was inhabited by the Lenape (Delaware)
Indians. Europeans arrived in the Delaware Valley in the early 1600s, with the first settlements being founded by the Dutch, British and Swedish. In 1681,
as part of a repayment of a debt, Charles II of England granted William Penn a charter for what would become the Pennsylvania colony. Part of Penn's plan for the colony was to create a city on the
Delaware River to serve as a port and place for government. Despite already having been
given the land by Charles II, Penn bought the land from the local Lenape to be on good terms with the Native Americans and ensure
peace for his colony.[5] According to legend Penn made a treaty of friendship with Lenape chief Tammany under an elm
tree at Shackamaxon, in what is now the city's Kensington section.[6] Having been a Quaker, Penn had experienced
religious persecution and wanted his colony to be a place where anyone could worship freely despite their religion. Penn named
the city Philadelphia, which is Greek for brotherly love (philos, "love" or
"friendship", and adelphos, "brother").[7]
Penn's plan was that Philadelphia would be like an English rural town instead of a city. The city's roads were designed with a
grid plan with the idea that houses and businesses would be spread far apart and surrounded by
gardens and orchards. The city's inhabitants didn't follow Penn's plans and crowded by the Delaware River and subdivided and
resold their lots.[8] Before Penn left Philadelphia for the
last time, he issued the Charter of 1701 establishing Philadelphia as a city. The city soon grew and established itself as an
important trading center. Conditions in the city were poor at first, but by the 1750s living conditions had improved. A
significant contributor to Philadelphia at the time was Benjamin Franklin. Franklin
helped improve city services and found new ones, such as the American Colonies' first
hospital.[9] Due to Philadelphia's central location
in the colonies, during the American Revolution the city was used as the location
for the First Continental Congress before the war, the Second Continental Congress, which signed the United States Declaration of Independence, during the war, and the
Constitutional Convention after the war. A number of battles during the war were fought in Philadelphia and its environs as well.
Unsuccessful lobbying after the war to make Philadelphia the United States capital helped make the city the temporary U.S.
capital in the 1790s.[10]
The state government left Philadelphia in 1799 and the federal government left soon after in 1800. However Philadelphia was
still the largest city in the United States and a financial and cultural center. New York City soon surpassed Philadelphia in
population, but construction of roads, canals, and railroads helped turn Philadelphia into the United States' first major industrial city. Throughout the
19th century Philadelphia had a large variety of industries and businesses, the largest being textiles. Major corporations in the 19th and early 20th centuries included the Baldwin Locomotive Works, William Cramp and Sons Ship
and Engine Building Company, and the Pennsylvania Railroad.[11] Industry, along with the U.S. Centennial, was celebrated in 1876 with the Centennial Exposition, the first official World's Fair
in the United States. Immigrants, mostly German and
Irish, settled in Philadelphia and the surrounding districts. The rise in population of the
surrounding districts helped lead to the Act of Consolidation of 1854 which
extended the city of Philadelphia to include all of Philadelphia
County.[12] In the later half of the century
immigrants from Russia, Eastern Europe and
Italy and African Americans from the southern U.S. settled in the city.[13]
By the 20th century Philadelphia had become known as "corrupt and contented." Philadelphians were content with the city's lack
of change or excitement, and single-party politics, centered around the city's entrenched Republican political machine, allowed
corruption to flourish. The machine and corruption permeated in all parts of city government and reformers had little
success.[14] The first major success in reform came in
1917 when outrage over the murder of a police officer during that year's election led to the shrinking of the Philadelphia City Council from two houses to just one.[15] In the 1920s the public flouting of Prohibition laws, mob violence, and police involvement
in illegal activities led to the appointment of Brigadier General Smedley Butler of the U.S. Marine Corps as director
of public safety, but political pressure prevented any long term success in fighting crime and corruption.[16]
After struggling through the Great Depression, World War II created jobs and brought the city out of the Depression. However, after the war there was a
severe housing shortage with about half the city's housing being built in the 19th century, many of which lacked proper
facilities. Adding to housing problem was white flight, as African Americans and
Puerto Ricans moved into new neighborhoods resulting in racial tension.[17] After a population peak of over two million residents in 1950 the city's
population declined while the suburban neighboring counties grew. After a five year investigation into corruption into city
government, the outcry with what the investigation found led the drafting of a new city charter in 1950. The city charter
strengthened the position of the mayor and weakened the city council among other changes to help prevent the corruption of the
past. The first Democratic mayor since the first half of the 19th
century was elected in 1951. However, after two early reform mayors, a Democratic political organization had established itself
replacing the old Republican one.[18]
Protests, riots and racial tensions were common in the 1960s and 70s. Mostly drug related gang violence plagued the city and
crack houses invaded the city's slums. Confrontations between police and the radical group
MOVE culminated when the police dropped a satchel bomb on their headquarters starting a fire that
killed eleven MOVE members and destroyed sixty-two neighboring houses. Revitalization and gentrification of neighborhoods began in the 1960s and continues into the 21st century, with much of the
development in the Center City and University City areas of the city. After many of the old manufacturers and
businesses had left Philadelphia or shut down, the city started attracting service businesses and began to more aggressively
market itself as a tourist destination. Glass and granite skyscrapers were built in Center City and historic areas such as
Independence National Historical Park were improved. This has
slowed the city's forty-year population decline after losing nearly a quarter of its population.[19][20]
Geography
Topography
Philadelphia is located at 40° 00' north latitude and 75° 09' west longitude. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 369.4 km² (142.6 mi²), of which 349.9 km² (135.1 mi²) is land and 19.6
km² (7.6 mi², 5.29%) is water. Bodies of water include the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, and Cobbs, Wissahickon, and Pennypack Creeks.
The lowest point lies feet ( m) above sea level near Fort Mifflin in
Southwest Philadelphia at the convergence of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers.
The highest points are in Chestnut Hill, at feet
( m) above sea level (one at the intersection of Germantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike and the other nearby in a few
backyards off Evergreen Place).[21]
The city is the seat of its own county. The adjacent counties are
Montgomery to the north; Bucks to the northeast; Burlington County,
New Jersey to the east; Camden County, New Jersey to the southeast;
Gloucester County, New Jersey to the south; and Delaware County to the west.
Climate
Philadelphia falls in the humid subtropical climate zone, although it is
the northernmost U.S. city that falls in this classification. Because Philadelphia lies in the northern end of this zone, some of
its outlying suburbs, especially to the north and west, fall in the humid
continental zone. Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. Snowfall is
variable, with some winters bringing light snow and others bringing some significant snowstorms. It is common for the heavier
snowfall to occur north and west of the city. Annual snowfall
averages 21 in (534 mm). Precipitation is generally spread throughout the year, with eight to eleven wet days per month,[22] at an average annual rate of 42 in (1068 mm).
January lows average 23 °F (–5 °C) and highs average 38 °F (3 °C). The lowest officially recorded temperature was –11 °F (–24
°C) on February 9, 1934,[23] but temperatures below 14 °F (–10 °C) occur only a few times a year. July lows
average 67 °F (20 °C) and highs average 86 °F (30 °C)[24], although heat waves see highs above 95 °F (35 °C) with the heat
index running as high as 110 °F (43 °C). The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on August 7 1918.[25] Early fall and late winter are generally driest, with February being the driest month, averaging
only 2.74 in (69.8 mm) of precipitation.
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
Rec high °F
(°C) |
74
(23) |
74
(23) |
85
(29) |
94
(34) |
97
(36) |
100
(38) |
104
(40) |
101
(38) |
100
(38) |
89
(32) |
84
(29) |
72
(22) |
104
(40) |
Avg high °F
(°C) |
39
(4) |
42
(6) |
51
(11) |
63
(17) |
73
(23) |
82
(28) |
87
(31) |
85
(29) |
78
(26) |
67
(19) |
55
(13) |
44
(7) |
64
(18) |
Avg low °F
(°C) |
24
(–4) |
26
(–3) |
33
(1) |
43
(6) |
53
(12) |
62
(17) |
68
(20) |
66
(19) |
59
(15) |
47
(8) |
38
(3) |
29
(–2) |
46
(8) |
Rec low °F
(°C) |
–7
(–22) |
–4
(–20) |
7
(–14) |
19
(–7) |
28
(–2) |
44
(7) |
51
(11) |
44
(7) |
35
(2) |
25
(–4) |
15
(–9) |
1
(–17) |
–7
(–22) |
Precipitation in.
(mm) |
3.2
(81.3) |
2.8
(71.1) |
3.7
(94.0) |
3.4
(86.4) |
3.6
(91.4) |
3.4
(86.4) |
4.2
(106.7) |
3.9
(99.1) |
3.3
(83.8) |
2.7
(68.6) |
3.3
(83.8) |
3.3
(83.8) |
40.9
(1038.9) |
| Source: Weatherbase[26] |
Cityscape
Neighborhoods
- See also: List of Philadelphia
neighborhoods
Philadelphia has many neighborhoods, each with its own identity. The large Philadelphia sections, North, Northeast, Northwest, West, South and Southwest Philadelphia surround
Center City, which falls within the original city limits prior to
consolidation in 1854. Numerous smaller neighborhoods within the areas coincide with the boroughs, townships, and other
communities that made up Philadelphia County before their absorption by the city. Other neighborhoods formed based on ethnicity,
religion, culture, and commercial reasons.[27]
Architecture
Image:Common brick rowhouse multiunit.JPG
Row homes in West Philadelphia.
-
- See also: List of tallest
buildings in Philadelphia
Philadelphia's architectural history dates back to Colonial
times and has included a wide range of styles that, in certain areas, are showcased within a range of several blocks. The
earliest structures were constructed with logs, but by 1700 brick structures were common.
Georgian architecture dominated the cityscape
during the 18th century with the most notable Georgian structure being Independence Hall. In the first decades of the 19th century Federal architecture and Greek Revival
architecture were popular.[28] In the second half
of the 19th century Victorian architecture was common. In 1871 construction began
on the Second Empire style, Philadelphia City
Hall. Even with the construction of steel and concrete skyscrapers in the 1910s, 20s
and 30s, the ft ( m) City Hall remained the tallest building in the city until 1987 when One Liberty Place was constructed. Numerous glass and granite skyscrapers were built from the late
1980s onwards with the largest being the Comcast Center. In 2007 the
Comcast Center surpassed One Liberty Place and officially became the tallest building in Philadelphia.[29]
For much of Philadelphia's history the typical Philadelphia home has been the row
house. The row house was introduced to the United States via Philadelphia in the early 1800s and, for a time, row houses
built elsewhere in the United States were known as "Philadelphia rows".[30] There is a variety of row houses throughout the city from Victorian style homes in North
Philadelphia to twin row houses in West Philadelphia. While newer homes are scattered throughout the city, much of Philadelphia's
housing is from the early 20th century or older. The age of the city's homes has created numerous problems which has led to
blight and vacant lots in many parts of the city, while other neighborhoods such as Society Hill, which has the largest concentration of original 18th century
architecture in the United States, have been rehabilitated and gentrified.[31][32]
Culture
-
-
Philadelphia has become notable in various arts and in culture. Philadelphia has had a prominent role in music — including, starting in the 1970s, Philadelphia
soul, which had a major impact in the music of that and later eras. On July 13
1985, Philadelphia hosted the American end of the Live Aid
concert at John F. Kennedy Stadium. On July 2
2005, Bob Geldof, who organized the Live Aid concert, chose
Philadelphia as the American host of the Live 8 concert. This time the show was held as a free
concert on the Ben Franklin Parkway, where an estimated 600 000 - 800 000
people showed up for the global supershow.[33] The city
is home to many art galleries, many of which participate in the First Friday event. The first Friday of every month galleries in
Old City are open late and for free. Annual events include film festivals and parades, the most famous being New Year's Day Mummers Parade. In cuisine the city is well known for its hoagies, soft pretzels, water ice, and is home to the cheesesteak.
Tourism
Boat House Row Sept. 2007
- See also: List of sites of
interest in Philadelphia
Philadelphia contains many national historical sites that relate to the
founding of the United States. Independence National Historical
Park is the center of these historical landmarks. Independence
Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed,
and the Liberty Bell are the city's most famous attractions. Other historic sites include
homes for Edgar Allan Poe and Betsy Ross and early government buildings like the First and Second Banks of the United
States.[34]
The city contains many museums such as the
