A Look Back at Mantua's History

One of the more valuable resources we’ve come across during our time reporting on Mantua and Parkside is www.phillyhistory.org, a Web site that has an archive of more than 9,000 historic photographs, organized in an easy-to-navigate format on a Flash map of the city. It’s incredibly interesting to see what these neighborhoods looked like back in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, before the ravages of economic depression and urban blight. It offers a perspective on how far the neighborhoods have come (in some of these old photos, Parkside is barely developed at all; now, it’s a bustling area with lots of housing and businesses) and how far the neighborhoods have fallen (in the older photos, there’s little sign of graffiti, trash, abandoned lots or destroyed cars – things that are common to see in both Mantua and Parkside today). It also shows how much has stayed the same – the houses that line Parkside Ave., facing Fairmount Park, for example, have barely changed at all since 1950.

If you’re interested in taking a visual tour through Philadelphia’s rich, colorful history, spend some time on this Web site – you’ll be surprised at how much has and hasn’t changed over the past couple of decades.

Anna Hyclak and Sherri Hospedales, Group 25, Mantua/Parkside