Society Hill is a historic neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 6,215 . Settled in the early 1680s, Society Hill is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Philadelphia.The Center City District dates the Free Society of Traders to 1683. See Other sources show that the Society was established in 1681. See William Penn did not arrive until October 1682. See History of Philadelphia. After urban decay developed between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an urban renewal program began in the 1950s, restoring the area and its many historic buildings. Society Hill has since become one of the most expensive neighborhoods with the highest average income and second-highest real estate values in Philadelphia., the median household income in Society Hill was $93,222, and the average income was $145,260, which are the highest values for any neighborhood in Philadelphia. Society Hill's historic colonial architecture, along with planning and restoration efforts, led the American Planning Association to designate it, , as one of the great American neighborhoods and a good example of sustainable urban living.
The neighborhood hosts one of the largest concentrations of original 18th- and early 19th-century buildings in the United States. Society Hill is noted for its Franklin street lamps, brick sidewalks, cobblestone and Belgian block streets bordered by two- to four-story brick rowhouses in Federal and Georgian architecture, and public buildings in Greek Revival architecture such as the Merchants' Exchange Building and the Old Pine Street Church.
Etymology Society Hill is named after the 17th-century Free Society of Traders, which had its offices at Front Street on the hill above Dock Creek. The Free Society of Traders was a company of elite merchants, landowners, and personal associates of William Penn who were granted special concessions in order to direct the economy of the young colony.
Society Hill was initially known as the Dock Ward, an appropriate designation until the post-World War II period when the shipping industry declined and relocated. The Dock Ward, first defined in 1705, was one of the ten original wards that the city used to subdivide land east of 7th Street. As part of the 1854 Act of Consolidation, the Dock Ward was renamed the 5th Ward. The wards were realigned in 1965 and the boundaries of the 5th Ward no longer correspond to Society Hill's boundaries.
Geography The land area of Society Hill is approximately . Bordering the Delaware River just south of Old City and Independence Hall, Society Hill is loosely defined as bounded by Walnut, Lombard, Front and 8th Streets. The Society Hill Civic Association further subdivides Society Hill along Spruce Street and 4th Street into quadrants by intercardinal directions: northeast (NE), southeast (SE), southwest (SW), and northwest (NW).. See also . Across different sources, variation in the exact border includes extending the eastern boundary to the Delaware River,The Society Hill Civic Association includes the area east of Front Street as part of Society Hill and recognizes residents of the 300 and 400 blocks of Gaskill Street and the 500 block of Front Street (all south of Lombard) as part of Society Hill. ; See also . The inclusion of these few blocks below Lombard Street is consistent with the southern boundaries that designate which buildings are within the Society Hill Historic District, as opposed to the neighborhood of Society Hill. the southern border to South Street, the northern border to Chestnut Street, or limiting the western border to 7th Street,Google Maps indicates that the southern border of Society Hill extends one block past Lombard street to South Street and that the western boundary terminates at 7th Street instead of 8th. The Center City District has adopted the Google boundaries, but extended the northern border by one block to Chestnut Street. making the boundaries coterminous with U.S. Census tracts 10.01 and 10.02.
History
With prime access to the Delaware River and Philadelphia's civic buildings, including Independence Hall, the neighborhood quickly became one of the most populous areas in colonial Philadelphia. Several market halls, taverns and churches were built alongside brick houses of Philadelphia's affluent citizens.
After the Revolutionary War, the polluted Dock Creek—which had been used as a public sewer—became Dock Street when the city filled in the creek and created a new food distribution market. Though the streets of Philadelphia were carefully laid out in a grid, the new Dock Street's arc connecting Chestnut and Spruce Streets between 2nd and 3rd, owes its uncharacteristic shape to the path of the former creek as it ran to the river.
In the 19th century, the city expanded westward and the area lost its appeal. Houses deteriorated, and by the 1940s, Society Hill had become a slum neighborhood, one of the worst in the city., p.119
In the 1950s, the city, state and federal governments began one of the first urban renewal programs aimed at the preservation of historic buildings. While most commercial 19th-century buildings were demolished, historically-significant houses were restored by occupants or taken over by the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority and sold to individuals who agreed to restore the exteriors. Replicas of 18th-century street lights and brick sidewalks were added to enhance the colonial atmosphere. Empty lots and demolished buildings were replaced with parks, walkways, and modern townhouses.
From 1957–1959, the Greater Philadelphia Movement, the Redevelopment Authority and the Old Philadelphia Development Corporation bought around Dock Street. They demolished and relocated the Dock Street market, setting aside of land that would become the Society Hill Towers. In 1957, Edmund Bacon, the executive director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, awarded developer-architect firm Webb and Knapp the competition for the redevelopment of Society Hill. Architect I. M. Pei and his team designed a plan for three 31-story Society Hill Towers and low-rise buildings. The Towers and townhouses project was completed in 1964, while the entire plan was completed in 1977.Le Faivre-Rochester, p. 36. Architect Louis Sauer designed dozens of rowhouse projects for the area around Society Hill, including Waverly Court and Penn's Landing Square.
Historic buildings in Society Hill include the Society Hill Synagogue, built in 1829 as a Baptist church by Philadelphia architect Thomas Ustick Walter, one of the architects of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The synagogue was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. Another notable building is St. Peter's Church, constructed between 1758 and 1761 by Robert Smith. Congregation Kesher Israel occupies and has renovated the building constructed by the Universalist Church in 1796 at 412 Lombard Street.
The Society Hill Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. In 1999, it was listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.
Demographics
As of the 2010 U.S. Census, there were 6,215 people residing in Society Hill, which accounts for 0.4% of Philadelphia's total population. With 22,281 people per square mile, Society Hill's population density is about twice that of Philadelphia's 11,497 people per square mile.
Education Primary and secondary schools Residents of all neighborhoods in Philadelphia are assigned to specific public schools by the School District of Philadelphia. Society Hill residents are zoned to the General George A. McCall School, located at 325 S. 7th Street,Jackson, Leigh. "SCHOOL BOARD TACK: SLASH, UNSLASH" (Archive). Philadelphia Daily News. May 28, 1994. 06 Local. Retrieved on November 8, 2011. - Article info for kindergarten through eighth grade,"Gen. George A. McCall Elementary School Geographic Boundaries" (Archive). School District of Philadelphia. Retrieved on November 28, 2015. and all persons zoned to McCall are assigned to Benjamin Franklin High School."High School Directory Fall 2017 Admissions" (Archive). School District of Philadelphia. p. 30/70. Retrieved on November 16, 2016. Previously Furness High School was the zoned high school for Society Hill."Horace Furness High School Geographic Boundaries" (Archive). School District of Philadelphia. Retrieved on November 28, 2015.
The McCall School serves Society Hill and the Chinatown areas.Kadaba, Lini S. "An Effort To Speak To More Students The School District Is Extending The Reach Of Its Bilingual Programs." (Archive). The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 6, 1998. Article info. B01 City & Region. Retrieved on November 29, 2015. A construction contract for the McCall school building was awarded on October 26, 1909 and the official opening occurred in February 1911."A Little Bit of History" (Archive). McCall Home and School Association. Retrieved on November 28, 2015. Russell Scott Smith of Edutopia wrote that in 2004, compared with other schools in Philadelphia, "McCall already had a fairly good reputation for academic rigor and safety" and that by 2009 it had improved even more.Smith, Russell Scott. "Affluent Parents Return to Inner-City Schools for Educational Opportunities" (Archive). Edutopia. August 26, 2009. Retrieved on November 28, 2015. In 2012 Kristen A. Graham of The Philadelphia Inquirer stated that McCall was one of "the district's stronger neighborhood schools".Graham, Kristen A. "Organizers raise funds to offer free summer school" (Archive). The Philadelphia Inquirer. July 12, 2012. Retrieved on November 28, 2015.
St. Peter's School, located on Lombard Street between 3rd and 4th, is an independent, coeducational, non-sectarian day school, serving students in preschool (age 3) through eighth grade. The school was founded in 1834.St. Peter's School, At A Glance
The designated parochial grade school of Old St. Mary's Church and Old St. Joseph's Church, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is St. Mary Interparochial Grade School.
Libraries The Free Library of Philadelphia operates the Independence Branch at 18 South 7th Street."Independence Branch." Free Library of Philadelphia. Retrieved on January 20, 2009. The Athenaem is a private library and museum with collections including architecture and interior design history, particularly for the period from 1800 to 1945.The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, Mission and History
Historic congregations
Society Hill's many historically significant congregations reflect the fruition of William Penn's Quaker maxim of religious toleration. Old St. Joseph's Church (1733) St. Peter's Church (1761) Old St. Mary's Church (1763) Old Pine Street Church (1768) Holy Trinity Church (1784) Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church (1794) Society Hill Synagogue (since 1967; First Baptist from 1829–1909; Roumanian-American Hebrew Congregation from 1910-1966)
Transportation
Society Hill is accessible via several forms of public transportation.
Rapid Transit
The Market–Frankford subway line stops at 2nd Street and 5th Street, which are two blocks north of Society Hill's Walnut Street boundary.
The PATCO Speedline, a rapid transit system connecting Philadelphia and southern New Jersey stops at 8th and Market Street station, two blocks north of Society Hill, and at the 9th and Locust Street station, which is one block west of Society Hill's 8th Street boundary.
Bus The SEPTA 9 and 21 buses run westbound along Walnut Street. The 12 and 42 run westbound along parts of Spruce and Walnut Streets. The 12 also runs eastbound along Pine Street. The 47 runs northbound along 7th Street and southbound along 8th Street. The 57 runs northbound along 3rd Street and southbound along 4th Street.
Bikeshare