Welcome to Fishtown

I think it is pretty safe to say that regardless of what section of Philadelphia you venture to, there will always be row-homes lining the streets (with the exception of Center City). However, there is only one neighborhood throughout the entire city where you will see fish everywhere – Fishtown. Despite the areas rich history in the fishing industry, these fish that you can see lining the streets aren’t real fish. Many residents, and even some businesses, in Fishtown have their address number mounted next to their front door on the image of a fish. Some business, such as Fishtown’s 15th Round, located in the heart of Fishtown on the corners of Earl and Belgrade Streets even include the name of this neighborhood in their business name.

Fishtown is about a five minute drive east on Cecil B. Moore Avenue from Temple University’s Main Campus. This triangular shaped, and rather small neighborhood, are bounded by York and Front Streets, and runs along the Delaware River between the Betsy Ross and Ben Franklin Bridges right at Penn Treaty Park.

Fishtown is so small that it is often confused to be a part of the Kensington section of the city, but www.phila.gov indicates that, according to local legend, this neighborhood was named by famous English novelist Charles Dickens in the mid-nineteenth century.

Aside from I-95, Girard Avenue is the most traveled road in Fishtown. The avenue begins in the far east of the neighborhood, and stretches westward across the city. Despite the heavy morning traffic on Girard, coming off of I-95 exit 23, it is pretty hard to miss SEPTA’s old-fashioned green trolley cars that roll along the length of the avenue.

In Sept. 2005, SEPTA decided to reopen the historic route 15 trolley line to the public for everyday use. Thousands of Philadelphians rely of SEPTA’s services on a daily basis, and many Fishtown locals count on the route 15 trolley to take them to their destinations.

Although the free library in Fishtown, and the effects on it caused by the mayor’s budget cuts, has been the hot topic in local news, Fishtown has also been in the news more recently. On Jan. 28, shortly after a woman moved her car, the street caved in, and formed a giant sinkhole in the middle of Front Street. It was a concern that with the Market-Frankford line directly above the sinkhole would cause a problem, but trains continue to run without delay – at least not due to the sinkhole.

Look for some rather interesting stories from Team 7 on this blog as we begin to delve deeper into the history and the people of Fishtown over the course of the semester.

-Mon. Team 7: Kaitlyn Dirkx, Brian Gatti, and Katie Hutton.