Jessiealan
xr
Member of the Month, October 2013
Posts: 8,726 
|
Post by Jessiealan on Aug 8, 2017 0:23:19 GMT -5
Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood near the Delaware River, close to Interstate 95, is a historic cobblestoned street lined with thirty two houses built in the Georgian and Federal styles. These houses with their old-fashioned flower boxes, shutters, and Flemish bond brickwork, provide visitors a glimpse of how Philadelphia was in the early 18th century. Elfreth's Alley is named after Jeremiah Elfreth, a blacksmith and land speculator, who built and rented out many of the alley's homes. Often the homes were rented to fellow artisans such as shipwrights, silver and pewter smiths, glassblowers, shoemakers, wagon builders and carpenters. These people were the backbone of colonial Philadelphia.  Elfreth's Alley didn’t originally appear in William Penn’s blueprints for Philadelphia. Penn wanted to build Philadelphia more like an English rural town with wide streets, gardens and orchards. But the demand for land in proximity to the Delaware River erased Penn’s dream of a bucolic country town. The city’s inhabitants, consisting mostly of tradesmen and artisans, crowded by the Delaware River, close to the ports where goods and materials arrived. In order to ease the crowding and facilitate easier access to to the river, two landowners, Arthur Wells and John Gilbert, combined their properties between Front and Second Streets to open Elfreth’s Alley. Throughout the 18th century, grocers, shoemakers, cabinetmakers, tailors and others who lived at Elfreth's Alley conducted business out of their homes. The houses they inhabited ranged between two and four stories, and residents often used the front room on the first floor as workplaces and shops, while the kitchen and upper levels served as private space for the family. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Industrial Revolution transformed the Alley and surrounding neighborhood. Perhaps the first was a stove factory that in 1868 took its place in a row of residential houses. Eventually, factories surrounded Elfreth's Alley. As the years passed, immigrants from Ireland, Italy and later Russia flocked to the street to take advantage of the many factory jobs in the area. Over the decades, Elfreth's Alley lost its importance and the houses became derelict. In the 1930s, the Elfreth's Alley Association was founded and they began raising funds to purchase and restore the houses. The EAA helped save the street from demolition, and also lobbied the city to restore the alley's name to "Elfreth's Alley"; it had been designated as the 100 block of Cherry Street years before as part of a street-name simplification program. Today, Elfreth's Alley, referred to as the “nation’s oldest residential street” is a National Historic Landmark.   A few more pictures here. Very Nice. www.amusingplanet.com/2017/07/elfreths-alley-americas-oldest.html |
|
|
|
Post by mouse on Aug 8, 2017 5:05:22 GMT -5
apart from the shutters it could be any where in the UK
a shame those two buildings at the top spoil it when a different design and colour could have actually added to the charm
why the bollards though
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2017 11:01:43 GMT -5
apart from the shutters it could be any where in the UK a shame those two buildings at the top spoil it when a different design and colour could have actually added to the charm why the bollards though I would have planted large trees at the end to block out those two ugly buildings or made them to blend in. I've no clue why the bollards thought the pic would make you feel at home  |
|
|
|
Post by beth on Aug 8, 2017 11:23:38 GMT -5
Chef, I don't understand why you added this last pic. Was it part of the article? It kind of ruins the whole thing. The actual street is lovely.
Bollards ... possibly to keep traffic (the random lost vehicle) from driving down that street.
Jessie - KP, very nice. No idea why Chef and mouse are picking at it.
|
|
|
|
Post by beth on Aug 8, 2017 11:38:48 GMT -5
apart from the shutters it could be any where in the UK a shame those two buildings at the top spoil it when a different design and colour could have actually added to the charm why the bollards though Since it dates from early (early!) Americana, it makes sense that it looks British. It's been preserved, then renovated. The rest of the city is just a few steps away from the street, so there's no help for the buildings that make it so. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2017 12:00:42 GMT -5
Chef, I don't understand why you added this last pic. Was it part of the article? It kind of ruins the whole thing. The actual street is lovely. Bollards ... possibly to keep traffic (the random lost vehicle) from driving down that street. Jessie - KP, very nice. No idea why Chef and mouse are picking at it. It is a picture of the alley during a festival and I thought Mouse would enjoy the setting. I can't speak for Mouse but certainly not "picking at it"...just curious why the bollards and the two buildings at the end of the street do detract. I would love to visit that area...reminds me of Williamsburg. |
|
|
|
Post by Sysop3 on Aug 8, 2017 13:50:50 GMT -5
Chef, I don't understand why you added this last pic. Was it part of the article? It kind of ruins the whole thing. The actual street is lovely. Bollards ... possibly to keep traffic (the random lost vehicle) from driving down that street. Jessie - KP, very nice. No idea why Chef and mouse are picking at it. It is a picture of the alley during a festival and I thought Mouse would enjoy the setting. I can't speak for Mouse but certainly not "picking at it"...just curious why the bollards and the two buildings at the end of the street do detract. I would love to visit that area...reminds me of Williamsburg. Might help to say it's a special occasion and not a daily event. The rest have some charm. That one looks like Disneyland. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2017 14:19:43 GMT -5
It is a picture of the alley during a festival and I thought Mouse would enjoy the setting. I can't speak for Mouse but certainly not "picking at it"...just curious why the bollards and the two buildings at the end of the street do detract. I would love to visit that area...reminds me of Williamsburg. Might help to say it's a special occasion and not a daily event. The rest have some charm. That one looks like Disneyland. do you seriously think the alley is always pristine with no crowds or activities?  I posted because Mouse mentioned it looked like the U.K.....it fit perfectly. FETE DAY ~ JUNE 2, 2018 Spend the afternoon on the the nation’s oldest residential street during our annual Fete Day celebration. Get a rare glimpse into many of the 18th-century private homes of residents while enjoying crafts, music and colonial games. Take an 18th century family photo on the alley. Dating back to the 1930s, this traditional celebration is the only opportunity of the season for visitors to actually step into the private homes of Elfreth’s Alley and discover how generation after generation have continued to preserve, alter and add to these historic structures |
|
|
|
Post by mouse on Aug 9, 2017 2:51:49 GMT -5
PICKING AT IT ? how where and why.. whats to pick ? I think it absolutely charming and spot on 100% reminds me of parts of York/Lancaster etc
I don't see how cheff was picking either she was just being light hearted.. she simply added a pic in keeping with the times
perhaps these two comments have been seen as picky .. they were not intended to be picky at all in any way
my comments/Question were why bollards..and re bollards in one photo theres a 4x4 driving up the middle.. but as cheff said possibly to stop cars vans
and why those two buildings at the top had been allowed.. as they are not in keeping and could have been better colour and design as background to the actual street its self.. some one in planning fell down there.. in exactly the same way they do here[UK]
|
|
|
|
Post by beth on Aug 9, 2017 9:17:30 GMT -5
Don't be offended and huffy, mouse. It wasn't meant as an insult.
I thought it was a very nice article and a lovely little street. Chef's pic, without explanation, made it look more like a Disney exhibition. That was easily explained, which she did.
What you see in the background is the city proper. I'd say the renovation of the alleyway came quite a while after those buildings went up. That's one thing that makes it so delightful - the past in contrast with the present -in the middle of the bustling city.
|
|
Omega
