Kensington is a neighborhood in the River Wards section of Philadelphia. Kensington is a primarily low-income and working-class area, and it experienced increasing poverty after the loss of its industries in the 1960s during deindustrialization. Disinvestment and general neglect has led to high abandonment in some parts of the neighborhood, catalyzing several grassroots actions from its residents. Simultaneously, its lower portions have experienced significant gentrification in recent years.
Kensington traditionally is known for its large Irish Catholic and Irish American population, but is now home to a large population of Hispanic Americans, mainly Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, as well as African Americans. Communities of Polish Americans and Asian Americans also make up the neighborhood. Additionally, there is a large population of homeless individuals. Particularly south of Lehigh Avenue, the neighborhood also recently has seen a large influx of primarily white young urban professionals and gentrification, particularly in Fishtown – which is no longer considered to be part of Kensington – and in Olde Kensington, Norris Square, and East Kensington.
In recent years, Kensington is frequently associated with its open-air drug market. Today, the epicenter of the drug trade is near the intersection of Kensington and Allegheny avenues, which by 2020 housed a billion-dollar drug market with rampant open drug use and dealing on sidewalks and in public parks, particularly McPherson Square. Kensington's troubles with the drug trade have attracted national and even international news coverage. The drug trade has existed in Kensington since the 1970s, likely due to its many vacant factory buildings (convenient for drug storage, sale, and use), location several miles away from the concentration of institutions, residents, and workers in Center City, and easy access to the neighborhood via both the Market-Frankford Line and Interstate 95. In 2024, Mayor Cherelle Parker proposed a policy plan to address issues caused by the market, shifting spending and priorities away from harm reduction strategies and towards increased law enforcement, including more enforcement of low-level drug offenses.
Simultaneously, the lower part of the neighborhood (particularly below Lehigh Avenue) has become a hotspot for real-estate development and gentrification. The 19122 and 19125 ZIP codes, both of which include parts of Lower Kensington, are two of the top ZIP codes in Philadelphia for real estate development between 2021–2024, with new unit counts similar to the much more densely populated 19103 ZIP code in Center City Philadelphia. Recently, large developments have initiated north of Lehigh Avenue, in what is typically considered the heart of Kensington.
As with all neighborhoods in Philadelphia, the lack of any official designation means the boundaries of the area vary between sources over time and are disputed among locals. Sub-neighborhoods within Kensington include East (or Lower) Kensington, West Kensington, and Harrowgate. The adjacent Fairhill and Norris Square neighborhoods are more separate but may be included in Kensington; Fishtown and South (Olde) Kensington were historically included. The most conservative boundaries of the neighborhood are Front Street and 5th Street to the west, the Amtrak train tracks to the North, Trenton Avenue, the Trenton Avenue train tracks, and Frankford Avenue to the east, and Cecil B. Moore Avenue to the south.
Geography
As with all neighborhoods in the city, the lack of any official designation means the boundaries of the area vary between sources over time. Before the Act of Consolidation, 1854, the Kensington District was an independent municipality, which included portions of the neighborhoods known today as Olde Kensington, East Kensington, West Kensington, and Fishtown, with its northern border at Lehigh Avenue and its eastern boundary at Frankford Avenue. These boundaries have since shifted so that a large area north of Lehigh Avenue is now considered part of Kensington, while Fishtown is no longer considered part of the neighborhood. The current greater Kensington area roughly coincides with the former Kensington District, Richmond District, Aramingo Borough, and Northern Liberties Township.
The generally accepted boundaries of the neighborhood are Front Street and 5th Street to the West; the Amtrak train tracks to the North; Trenton Avenue, the Trenton Avenue train tracks, and Frankford Avenue to the East; and Cecil B. Moore Avenue to the South. More simply, some define Kensington as the triangular area bounded by Erie Avenue to the north, Front Street (and sometimes Fifth Street) to the West, and Trenton Avenue to the East.
Kensington belongs to or divides Lower Northeast and North Philadelphia. It is part of the River Wards section of the city, a group of neighborhoods close to the Delaware River in North and Northeast Philadelphia. Kensington's river ward identity puts it in contrast with the neighborhoods to its west. Fairhill and Norris Square are separate from Kensington with a more central North Philadelphia identity; however, exactly where the neighborhoods separate is subject to much debate and there are people within both neighborhoods who identify with Kensington.
To the east of Kensington, Port Richmond and Olde Richmond are each predominantly white neighborhoods. Port Richmond has a historically Polish population but is becoming more mixed, and Olde Richmond, an area just north of Fishtown, is experiencing similar gentrification. Juniata, the neighborhood to the north, and Kensington are similar demographically, yet the former is slightly wealthier and has more green space.
Sections Within Kensington, various sub-neighborhoods including Harrowgate, Lower Kensington, West Kensington. Central Kensington, or "the Heart of Kensington" as it is called in a recent Impact Services neighborhood plan, stretches along Kensington Avenue from Tusculum and Somerset Streets to Tioga Street (see Impact Services plan for a more accurate map). The area is known as the center of Kensington and was historically the commercial center of the neighborhood. The area is densely residential, but crime rates are highest in this part of Kensington. Harrowgate is the furthest north, bordering Juniata and named for Harrowgate Park.
The part of Kensington below Lehigh Street, or as it has been rebranded "Lower Kensington" or "East Kensington", is the part of Kensington most clearly experiencing gentrification. As it is just north of Fishtown, higher income residents have been moving further up, increasing property values and rents.
West Kensington is similar to Norris Square and Fairhill in that it has a similar demographic to most of Kensington while having a more North Central Philadelphia identity, but unlike the other two neighborhoods it remains certainly part of Kensington.
History
18th century Kensington was founded by Anthony Palmer in the early 1730s. Using proceeds from the sale of the Hope Farm estate (present day Port Richmond), which included three enslaved people named Abraham, Hannibal, and Phillis, Palmer purchased what was called the Fairman Estate, located along the Delaware River in the Northern Liberties Township (area just north of the City of Philadelphia on the Delaware River). The entire estate consisted of 191.5 acres of land, much smaller than the present-day Kensington area. Palmer was an English merchant who came to Philadelphia by 1704 from Barbados.
The town of Kensington was named for the area in London known as Kensington, which had been recently established as the residency of the British crown. Palmer laid out his town and sold parcels to many of the shipwrights and shipbuilders who were outgrowing their riverfront lots in present-day Old City, Southwark, and Society Hill areas. He also sold to recent German fishermen immigrants. The original area of Kensington is now more commonly called Fishtown, mainly because of the shad fishing that was one of the dominant businesses in Kensington in the 18th and 19th centuries.
19th century Kensington has traditionally been known as one of the working class centers of Philadelphia. Employment initially focused around the nearby waterfront and the activities of fishermen and ship- and boatbuilders. In the early 19th century, Kensington transitioned to iron and steel manufacturing and became home to a variety of factories, potteries, and machine works.
Kensington is also historically known for its large working class Irish Catholic community and was the site of the Philadelphia nativist riots in the 19th century. It was also the birthplace of the K&A Gang, currently known as the Northeast Philly Irish Mob, an Irish American organized crime network.
By the mid-19th century, Kensington became one of the leading centers of the textile industry, particularly in carpet. McNeil Laboratories began with the purchase of a pharmacy in the area in 1879 by the company's namesake.
20th century In 1903, Mother Jones organized a "Children's Crusade" of children from the local mills and mines to protest against child labor. They marched from Kensington to Oyster Bay, New York, carrying banners demanding, "We want to go to School and not the mines!"
Deindustrialization eventually took hold in the neighborhood in the 1950s, leading to a significant population loss, high unemployment, economic decline, an increase in crime, and numerous abandoned homes and businesses. However, some sections of the neighborhood have been revitalized in recent years, especially those near Frankford Avenue, Kensington's neighbor south of Lehigh Avenue, and Fishtown, another traditionally working class neighborhood which has seen rents increase. While most of the large manufacturers have left, the area has many small shops and large renovated factories and warehouses for newer artisans to set up shop.
National Register of Historic Places Listed on the National Register of Historic Places: The 26th District Police and Patrol Station Beatty's Mills Factory Building H.W. Butterworth and Sons Company Building Kensington High School for Girls Philip H. Sheridan School Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Clifton Mills, 1833 N. Howard Street, Kensington (1852–63). Clifton Mills, Building 4, 1809-11 N. Howard Street, Kensington (1852–63). The Columbia Works, 155-59 Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA. The Decorating Plant of Gillinder & Sons' Franklin Flint Glass Works, 1700-06 N. Howard Street (1876). Frankford Avenue Baptist Church, 2347-49 Frankford Avenue, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA (1889). Harbisons' Dairies, 2041-55 Coral Street (1895). The Harbison Dairies is notable for its water tower, which stands on top of the industrial building in the form of a milk bottle. With development pressures in the neighborhood on the rise, the Harbison Dairies and its iconic milk bottle were threatened with demolition, which led neighbors to engage Oscar Beisert, Architectural Historian and Historic Preservationist, to draft a nomination to list the building in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, which was filed on June 7, 2016. Despite opposition from the property owner and claims of structural issues, Harbisons' Dairies was finally designated by the Philadelphia Historical Commission on January 12, 2018. Kensington Hospital for Women, 128-40 Diamond Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA. Peter Woll & Sons, Curled Hair & Bristles, 173 W. Berks Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA. Second Associate Presbyterian Church, 1523-25 N. Front Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA (1852–54). The Star Carpet Mills, 1801-03 N. Howard Street, Kensington (1880–82). Weisbrod & Hess' Loading Room, Condenser & Storage/Boiler & Wash House, 2117 E. York Street (1890–91).
Demographics