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127-662: The company was founded in 1857 in Philadelphia by Edward Brown, inventor of the first pyrometer of American design. In 1934, the firm became a division of Honeywell . The company was a large employer in North Philadelphia during most of the 20th century. A large brick factory building across Windrim Avenue from Wayne Junction , currently Extra Space Storage, was a principal Brown Instrument Company building. A 1921 catalog mentions laboratories here. The Wayne Avenue façade still has "Brown Instrument Co" relieved into

254-743: A 24-hour particle pollution rating of D in the American Lung Association 's 2017 State of the Air report, which analyzed data from 2013 to 2015. The city was ranked 22nd for ozone, 20th for short-term particle pollution, and 11th for year-round particle pollution. According to the same report, the city experienced a significant reduction in high ozone days since 2001—from nearly 50 days per year to fewer than 10—along with fewer days of high particle pollution since 2000—from about 19 days per year to about 3—and an approximate 30% reduction in annual levels of particle pollution since 2000. Five of

381-495: A bachelor's degree or higher. 23.9% spoke a language other than English at home, the most common of which was Spanish (10.8%). 15.0% of the populations foreign born, roughly half of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens. 3.7% of the population are veterans. The median household income was $ 52,889 and 22.8% of the population lived in poverty. 49.5% of the population drove alone to work, while 23.2% used public transit, 8.2% carpooled, 7.9% walked, and 7.0% worked from home. The average commute

508-403: A budget of $ 371 million. The Philadelphia Parking Authority is responsible for ensuring adequate parking for city residents, businesses, and visitors. Philadelphia's architectural history dates back to colonial times and includes a wide range of styles. The earliest structures were constructed with logs , but brick structures were common by 1700. During the 18th century, the cityscape

635-531: A campus there, although the Brown Instrument name has been retired. Philadelphia Philadelphia , colloquially referred to as Philly , is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the sixth-most populous city in the United States , with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 census . The city is the urban core of the larger Delaware Valley , also known as

762-472: A career. The acceptable careers in Philadelphia were medicine and law , with insurance , banking , and brokerage next in line on the ladder of acceptability. Running the family business was also acceptable especially if it related to iron and steel making, coal , and the railroads . Beyond their careers, the Philadelphia elite strived to have a seat on a board , particularly as the chairman of

889-494: A center of early American culture, political leadership, intellectual thought, and industry and manufacturing. It served as the capital of both colonial-era British America and then, until 1800, as the first capital of the United States . Present-day Philadelphia was formerly inhabited by Lenape , a Native American tribe. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Philadelphia was known globally for its freedom of religion and

1016-474: A city on the Delaware River to serve as a port and place for government. Hoping that Philadelphia would become more like an English rural town instead of a city, Penn laid out roads on a grid plan to keep houses and businesses spread far apart with areas for gardens and orchards . The city's inhabitants did not follow Penn's plans, however, and instead crowded the present-day Port of Philadelphia on

1143-531: A city where people could live without fear of persecution because of their religious affiliations or practices. Thousands of Quakers , Mennonites , and other Protestant denominations at odds with the pracitices of the Church of England and Catholic Church at the time fled Europe to seek refuge in Philadelphia. Prior to the American Revolution and following it, Philadelphia grew quickly into

1270-573: A declaration to King George III declaring the Thirteen Colonies free and independent states. Adams, a leading proponent of independence, persuaded the Committee of Five to charge Jefferson with writing the document's original draft, which Jefferson largely wrote in isolation between June 11 and June 28, 1776, from the second floor of a three-story home he was renting at 700 Market Street in Philadelphia. The Declaration of Independence

1397-497: A grid pattern between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers that is aligned with their courses. The original city plan was designed to allow for easy travel and to keep residences separated by open space that would help prevent the spread of fire. In keeping with the idea of a "Greene Countrie Towne", and inspired by the many types of trees that grew in the region, Penn named many of the east–west streets for local trees. Penn planned

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1524-716: A growth in its population in 2007, which continued with incremental annual increases through the present. A migration pattern has been established from New York City to Philadelphia by residents opting for a large city with relative proximity and a lower cost of living . Philadelphia's geographic center is about 40° 0′ 34″ north latitude and 75° 8′ 0″ west longitude. The 40th parallel north passes through neighborhoods in Northeast Philadelphia , North Philadelphia , and West Philadelphia including Fairmount Park . The city encompasses 142.71 square miles (369.62 km ), of which 134.18 square miles (347.52 km )

1651-631: A joint effort between former mayors John F. Street and Michael Nutter . The zoning changes were intended to rectify incorrect zoning maps to facilitate future community development, as the city forecasts an additional 100,000 residents and 40,000 jobs will be added by 2035. The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) is the largest landlord in Pennsylvania. Established in 1937, the PHA is the nation's fourth-largest housing authority, serving about 81,000 people with affordable housing, while employing 1,400 on

1778-492: A major destination for immigrants, with large Chinese , Vietnamese , Korean , East African , Middle Eastern , Indian and Mexican immigrant populations, among others. The city has made contributions in art, music, television, architecture and food. Philadelphia institutions range from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to Pat's Steaks . Before the first European settlers arrived in present-day Philadelphia,

1905-851: A major political and economic center of the United States, serving as the nation's capital until 1800. During the Revolutionary War , the First and Second Continental Congress met at what today is Independence Hall at 4th and Chestnut streets. In 1776, 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress, determined to secure independence from British colonial rule , charged the Committee of Five , including John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Thomas Jefferson , Robert R. Livingston , and Roger Sherman , with authoring

2032-495: A majority of the Christians in Philadelphia into the present day. During the last decades of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the origin of immigrants shifted from England, Ireland, and Germany to Italy , Southern Europe , Russia , Poland , and Eastern Europe . Italians and Poles helped increase the city's Catholic population, but Jewish immigrants, mainly from Poland, Lithuania , and Russia, were

2159-610: A moderately sunny climate with an average of 2,498 hours of sunshine annually. The percentage of sunshine ranges from 47% in December to 61% in June, July, and August. The January daily average temperature is 33.7 °F (0.9 °C). The temperature frequently rises to 50 °F (10 °C) during thaws. July averages 78.7 °F (25.9 °C). Heat waves accompanied by high humidity and heat indices are frequent, with highs reaching or exceeding 90 °F (32 °C) on 30 days of

2286-404: A newspaper for African Americans. During World War II , factories began hiring African Americans. The Philadelphia Police Department first hired African Americans in 1881. In the 1950s, the first African American promoted to Police Captain was James N. Reaves. Reaves went on to integrate patrol car crews. During the 1950s and 60s the factories and a large portion of the white population left

2413-651: A production company, Lubin Manufacturing Company , and later opened up some of the city's first movie theaters . In 1905, Jules Mastbaum opened the city's first Nickelodeon movie theater . Lubin Studios shut down in 1917 and through most of the 20th Century Philadelphia had an almost non-existent film industry . In 1985, the Greater Philadelphia Film Office was created as part of the city government. In 1992, it became

2540-516: A regional economic office. Since 1992, the GPFO, which promotes the Philadelphia region and helps coordinate film productions , has assisted in the making of over 200 films and television shows. Between 1992 and 2002 film productions have brought in US$ 500 Million to the city's economy. In 2007, MovieMaker Magazine named Philadelphia the second-best city in the nation in which to make

2667-747: A time, row houses built elsewhere in the United States were known as "Philadelphia rows". A variety of row houses are found throughout the city, from Federal-style continuous blocks in Old City and Society Hill to Victorian-style homes in North Philadelphia to twin row houses in West Philadelphia . While newer homes have been built recently, much of the housing dates to the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, which has created problems such as urban decay and vacant lots. Some neighborhoods, including Northern Liberties and Society Hill, have been rehabilitated through gentrification . As of 2014 ,

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2794-657: A town in Finland with a Swedish majority. In 1655, a Dutch military campaign led by New Netherland Director-General Peter Stuyvesant took control of the Swedish colony, ending its claim to independence. The Swedish and Finnish people settlers continued to have their own militia , religion, and court, and to enjoy substantial autonomy under the Dutch. An English fleet captured the New Netherland colony in 1664, though

2921-544: Is 31 minutes. Culture of Philadelphia The culture of Philadelphia goes back to 1682 when Philadelphia was established by William Penn , founder of the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania . Philadelphia emerged quickly as the largest and most influential city in the Thirteen Colonies . By the 1750s, Philadelphia was the second-largest city in the British Empire after London , and

3048-428: Is he worth. In Philadelphia , who were his parents." A person could not enter Philadelphia society by acquisition of wealth, but their offspring, if they grew up well and married into the right family, could create a new lineage if the family stayed respectable. In the 18th century, the wealth had been built on shipping , trade, and real estate . Despite the later generations' inheritance they were expected to pursue

3175-466: Is highly variable. Some winters have only light snow while others include major snowstorms. The normal seasonal snowfall averages 22.4 in (57 cm), with rare snowfalls in November or April, and rarely any sustained snow cover. Seasonal snowfall accumulation has ranged from trace amounts in 1972–73, to 78.7 inches (200 cm) in the winter of 2009–10. The city's heaviest single-storm snowfall

3302-492: Is home to five Fortune 500 corporate headquarters. Metropolitan Philadelphia ranks as one of the Big Five U.S. venture capital hubs, facilitated by its geographic proximity to both the entrepreneurial and financial ecosystems of New York City and to the federal regulatory environment of Washington, D.C. Greater Philadelphia is also a biotechnology hub. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange , owned by Nasdaq since 2008,

3429-665: Is land and 8.53 square miles (22.09 km ), or 6%, is water. Natural bodies of water include the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, lakes in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park , and Cobbs , Wissahickon , and Pennypack creeks. The largest artificial body of water is East Park Reservoir in Fairmount Park . The lowest point is sea level and the highest point is in Chestnut Hill , about 446 feet (136 m) above sea level on Summit Street near

3556-440: Is often ranked as the nation's best city for professional sports fans. The city has a culturally and philanthropically active LGBTQ+ community . Philadelphia also has played an immensely influential historic and ongoing role in the development and evolution of American music, especially R&B , soul , and rock . As of 2022 , the Philadelphia metropolitan area had a gross metropolitan product of US$ 518.5 billion and

3683-598: Is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the U.S. The two parks, along with the Colonial Revival , Georgian and Federal -style mansions in them, have been listed as one entity on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972. Within the Köppen climate classification , Philadelphia falls under the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen Cfa ). Within

3810-1007: Is the New Freedom Theatre , located on North Broad St. Other modern theaters include the Arden Theater Company , the Wilma Theater , Lantern Theater Company , and the University of the Arts ' Merriam and Arts Bank theaters. The University of Pennsylvania puts on productions at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts , the Irvine Auditorium and the Iron Gate Theater. African American themed plays are put on at

3937-433: Is the nation's oldest stock exchange and a global leader in options trading. 30th Street Station , the city's primary rail station, is the third-busiest Amtrak hub in the nation, and the city's multimodal transportation and logistics infrastructure also includes Philadelphia International Airport , a major transatlantic gateway and transcontinental hub; the rapidly-growing PhilaPort seaport ; and Interstate 95 ,

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4064-456: The 2020 U.S. Census , there were 1,603,797 people residing in Philadelphia, representing a 1.2% increase from the 2019 census estimate. The racial composition of the city was 39.3% Black alone (42.0% Black alone or in combination), 36.3% White alone (41.9% White alone or in combination), 8.7% Asian alone, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native alone, 8.7% some other race, and 6.9% multiracial. 14.9% of residents were Hispanic or Latino. 34.8% had

4191-602: The African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. As the African American population grew, so did white hostility towards them. African Americans were attacked and killed in the street and in their houses during a race riot in 1834, and four years later a state law was passed that prevented African Americans from voting. Abolitionists were also targets; they were prevented from spreading their message, and one of their meeting houses

4318-788: The Battle of Brandywine in Chadds Ford Township , on September 11, 1777, during the Philadelphia campaign , the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless and the city prepared for what was perceived to be an inevitable British attack. Because bells could easily be recast into munitions, the Liberty Bell , then known as the Pennsylvania State Bell, and bells from two Philadelphia churches, Christ Church and St. Peter's Church , were hastily taken down and transported by heavily guarded wagon train out of

4445-624: The British Army , which was then the world's most powerful military force. Since the Declaration's July 4, 1776, adoption, its signing has been cited globally and repeatedly by various peoples of the world seeking independence and liberty. It also has been, since its adoption, the basis for annual celebration by Americans; in 1938, this celebration of the Declaration was formalized as Independence Day , one of only eleven designated U.S. federal holidays . After George Washington 's defeat at

4572-614: The Delaware River watershed , western Long Island , and the Lower Hudson Valley . Most Lenape were pushed out of the region during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, exacerbated by losses from intertribal conflicts. Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox , and conflict with Europeans. The Iroquois occasionally fought the Lenape. Surviving Lenape moved west into

4699-684: The Eastern Mediterranean during the Greek and Roman periods, including modern Alaşehir , mentioned as the site of an early Christian congregation in the Book of Revelation . As a Quaker , Penn had experienced religious persecution and wanted his colony to be a place where anyone could worship freely. This tolerance, which exceeded that of other colonies, led to better relations with the local native tribes and fostered Philadelphia's rapid growth into America's most important city. Penn planned

4826-615: The Franklin Institute . It was the first demonstration of moving pictures using flexible film in Philadelphia. A week later Woodville Latham 's eidoloscope was shown to Philadelphia audiences. German immigrant and optician , Siegmund Lubin , was impressed with the technology and bought Jenkins' camera. In Philadelphia, he filmed his first film, his horse eating hay. Lubin continued to make films in Philadelphia, now showing them commercially, and built his own cameras and projectors which he marketed. In 1902, he eventually created

4953-583: The Great Migration from the South . By the 20th century, Philadelphia had an entrenched Republican political machine and a complacent population. In 1910, a general strike shut down the entire city. In 1917, following outrage over the election-year murder of a Philadelphia police officer, led to the shrinking of the City Council from two houses to just one. In July 1919, Philadelphia

5080-547: The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2001. The city developed an early jazz scene with many future best selling artists, including John Coltrane and Charlie Biddle , coming out of Philadelphia. In 1952, WFIL-TV premiered Bandstand which, in a few years, would become American Bandstand hosted by Dick Clark . The national success of the show led to rise of local music labels such as Swan Records , Cameo-Parkway and Chancellor Records . The 1960s saw

5207-559: The Middle East to Philadelphia began as early as the 1880s with immigrants primarily from Lebanon . Starting in the 1960s immigrants from other Middle Eastern countries, such as Syria , the Palestinian territories and Iraq moved to the city. Other immigrants from Asia during the last decades of the 20th century include Indians , Vietnamese and Cambodians . Another community who established an identity in Philadelphia during

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5334-653: The Pennsylvania Ballet founded in 1963. The Pennsylvania Ballet performs in the Academy of Music and the Merriam Theater. The Philadelphia Dance Company (Phildanco) was founded in 1970 and specializes in modern dance . The Koresh Dance Company was formed in 1991 and performs choreography that mixes elements of ballet , jazz , modern dance , and other dance forms. On December 18, 1895 Charles Francis Jenkins showed off his film projector at

5461-670: The Philly Pops , the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Opera Company of Philadelphia . Founded in 1900, the Philadelphia Orchestra , once called Philadelphia's "chief contribution to civilization" by Lawrence Gilman of the New York Herald , rose to prominence with conductors Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy in the middle of the 20th century. The orchestra's home was the Academy of Music until

5588-698: The Second Continental Congress , which adopted the Declaration of Independence in what was then called the Pennsylvania State House and was later renamed Independence Hall. Historian Joseph Ellis , in 2007, described the Declaration of Independence, written predominantly by Thomas Jefferson , as "the most potent and consequential words in American history," and its adoption represented a declaration of war against

5715-701: The Southwark Theatre in Philadelphia in 1766 marked the permanent presence of theater in Philadelphia. Theatrical performances were banned during the American Revolution, but when the ban was repealed in 1784 theater returned and another theater, the Chestnut Street Theatre , opened a decade later. Over the next century a number of other theaters opened in the city including the Walnut Street Theatre and

5842-666: The State in Schuylkill and the Philadelphia Union League . The upper class started with mansions in Old City , but through the 18th and 19th centuries upper class gradually moved west through Center City until the end of the 19th century when much of the upper class moved to large mansions along the Philadelphia Main Line . The Philadelphia aristocracy lasted well into the 20th century but by

5969-480: The Trewartha climate classification , Philadelphia has a temperate maritime climate ( Do ) limited to the north by the continental climate ( Dc ). Summers are typically hot and muggy. Fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is moderately cold. The plant life hardiness zones are 7a and 7b, reflecting an average annual extreme minimum temperature between 0 and 10 °F (−18 and −12 °C). Snowfall

6096-649: The Welsh , Scots , free blacks , Germans , Ulster Scots , Finns , Swedes , Dutch Americans , and Irish moved to the city. Lutherans established places of worship in the city as early as the 1720s. In 1748, Henry Muhlenberg led the founding of the Lutheran-affiliated Pennsylvania Ministerium . In 1734, followers of what would become the Schwenkfelder Church arrived in Philadelphia and settled in

6223-423: The city's Anti-Graffiti Network , is intended to beautify neighborhoods and also provide an outlet for graffiti artists. The Mural Arts Program, which became independent from the Anti-Graffiti Network in 1996, has funded more than 2,300 murals created by professional, staff and volunteer artists. The program also runs art education programs and tours of the murals. Music began to be a major part of city life in

6350-448: The world's 54th-largest urban park . Philadelphia is known for its arts, culture , cuisine , and colonial and Revolutionary-era history; in 2016, it attracted 42 million domestic tourists who spent $ 6.8 billion, representing $ 11 billion in economic impact to the city and its surrounding Pennsylvania counties. With five professional sports teams and one of the nation's most loyal and passionate fan bases, Philadelphia

6477-434: The 1870s and 1880s; over the next century, the neighborhood grew into a diverse community with immigrants from many Asian countries. By the 21st century, Philadelphia's two largest Asian ethnic groups were Chinese and Korean immigrants. Philadelphia became the earliest recorded East Coast city with a Korean community in the 1880s; early members were largely political exiles supporting Philip Jaisohn . Immigration from

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6604-490: The 1980s. Historic areas such as Old City and Society Hill were renovated during the reformist mayoral era of the 1950s through the 1980s, making both areas among the most desirable Center City neighborhoods. Immigrants from around the world began to enter the U.S. through Philadelphia as their gateway, leading to a reversal of the city's population decline between 1950 and 2000, during which it lost about 25 percent of its residents. Philadelphia eventually began experiencing

6731-531: The 2 square miles (5.2 km ) of Center City to the roughly 134 square miles (350 km ) of Philadelphia County . In the latter half of the 19th century and leading into the 20th century, immigrants from Russia, Eastern Europe, and Italy, and African Americans from the southern U.S. settled in the city. Philadelphia was represented by the Washington Grays in the American Civil War . The African-American population of Philadelphia increased from 31,699 to 219,559 between 1880 and 1930, largely stemming from

6858-508: The 20th century was the gay community . The city's homosexual community is centered in a portion of Washington Square West , nicknamed the "gayborhood" by residents. The first black people in Philadelphia were slaves; with at most 1,500 people living as slaves in the city during the period slavery was legal. Slaves in Philadelphia usually lived in the same house of their owners and worked as servants or in their owners' shops. An abolition law in 1780 did not free any existing slaves, but banned

6985-417: The Artists Equity Association helped create the Percent for Art ordinance , the first for a U.S. city. The program, which has funded more than 200 pieces of public art, is administered by the Philadelphia Office of Arts and Culture, the city's art agency. Philadelphia has more murals than any other U.S. city. In 1984, the Department of Recreation created the Mural Arts Program. The program, an extension of

7112-504: The Declaration of Independence in the Gettysburg Address , one of the most famous speeches in American history, saying, "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." In the 19th and 20th century, immigration and migration led to large concentrations of Irish , Italians , Germans , Asians , Puerto Ricans and African Americans . Philadelphia continues to be

7239-400: The Delaware River and subdivided and resold their lots. Before Penn left Philadelphia for the final time, he issued the Charter of 1701 establishing it as a city. Though poor at first, Philadelphia became an important trading center with tolerable living conditions by the 1750s. Benjamin Franklin , a leading citizen, helped improve city services and founded new ones that were among the first in

7366-450: The Fairmount Park Art Association was created, the first private association in the United States dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning . The Association is responsible for the art along the Schuylkill River drives. In the late 1950s, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority included a clause in its development contracts requiring that at least one percent of construction budget be allocated to fine art. In 1959, lobbying by

7493-435: The Forrest Theater. Philadelphia produced several major theater actors, including Edwin Forrest , John Drew , and several members of the Barrymore family . The Philadelphia Theater Company , founded in 1974 and specializes in new American plays , used to perform in the Plays and Players Theatre but moved into the Suzanne Roberts Theatre on the Avenue of the Arts in 2007. Pennsylvania's oldest African-American theatre

7620-428: The Freedom Theater and the Bushfire Theater. Other theater companies include the Adrienne, the InterAct Theater Company, the Venture Company, the Mum Puppet Theater and the new play development conference PlayPenn . Every year the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival performs three Shakespeare plays. There are an estimated 120 theater organizations in the Philadelphia area. The Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia

7747-401: The Philadelphia metropolitan area, the nation's eighth-largest metropolitan area and seventh-largest combined statistical area with 6.245 million residents and 7.366 million residents, respectively. Philadelphia has played an extensive role in United States history . The city was founded in 1682 by William Penn , an English Quaker and advocate of religious freedom , and served as

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7874-452: The Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777, and the city later served as the meeting place for the Constitutional Convention , which ratified the Constitution in Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. Philadelphia served as capital of the United States for much of the colonial and early post-colonial periods, including for a decade, from 1790 to 1800, while Washington, D.C. ,

8001-522: The United States after Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Philadelphia's neighborhoods are divided into six large sections that surround Center City: North Philadelphia , Northeast Philadelphia , South Philadelphia , Southwest Philadelphia , West Philadelphia , and Northwest Philadelphia . The city's geographic boundaries have been largely unchanged since these neighborhoods were consolidated in 1854. However, each of these large areas contains numerous neighborhoods, some of whose boundaries derive from

8128-447: The art exhibits from the Centennial Exposition . The museum holds over 225,000 pieces of artwork including work by Vincent van Gogh , Pablo Picasso , and Marcel Duchamp . Not far from the Museum of Art is the Rodin Museum . The museum, founded in 1929, is the largest collection of Auguste Rodin work outside France. Planned nearby is a new museum intended to hold the collection of the Barnes Foundation . In 1923, Albert C. Barnes

8255-401: The board. Business boards such as the boards for the Pennsylvania Railroad and Philadelphia Savings Fund Society were important, but so were charitable, institutional, cultural and social boards. The Philadelphia upper class engaged in fox hunting , race horse breeding, attending balls and lavishly entertaining in their townhouses or mansions. The elite also joined exclusive clubs such as

8382-405: The boroughs, townships, and other communities that constituted Pennsylvania County before their inclusion within the city. The City Planning Commission , tasked with guiding growth and development of the city, has divided the city into 18 planning districts as part of the Philadelphia2035 physical development plan. Much of the city's 1980 zoning code was overhauled from 2007 to 2012 as part of

8509-400: The capital of the Pennsylvania Colony during the British colonial era . The city went on to play a historic and vital role during the American Revolution and Revolutionary War , serving as the central meeting place for the nation's founding fathers , hosting the First Continental Congress in 1774, preserving the Liberty Bell , and hosting the Second Continental Congress during which

8636-468: The city for its outlying railroad commuting towns and newer housing. The resulting reduction in Philadelphia's tax base and the resources of local government caused the city to struggle through a long period of adjustment, and it approached bankruptcy by the late 1980s. In 1985, the MOVE Bombing of the Cobbs Creek neighborhood by city helicopters occurred, killing 11 and destroying 61 homes. Revitalization and gentrification of neighborhoods began in

8763-402: The city's 17th century founding through the present, Philadelphia has been the birthplace or home to an extensive number of prominent and influential Americans . Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the early 17th century, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape Indians in the village of Shackamaxon . They were also called the Delaware Indians, and their historical territory was along

8890-456: The city's director of public safety, but political pressure still prevented long-term success in fighting crime and corruption. In 1940, non-Hispanic whites constituted 86.8% of the city's population. In 1950, the population peaked at more than two million residents, then began to decline with the restructuring of industry that led to the loss of many middle-class union jobs. In addition, suburbanization enticed many affluent residents to depart

9017-400: The city's first African American mayor, Wilson Goode , being elected in 1984. Starting at the end of the 20th century a new wave of immigrants directly from Africa settled in the city. Coming from over thirty different countries there are an estimated 55,000 African immigrants in Philadelphia. By the second half of the 18th century Philadelphia had developed an upper-class society. Many of

9144-502: The city's first Catholic and Jewish mayors elected in 1963 and 1992 respectively. In the second half of the 19th century, immigration began from Latin America , mainly from Puerto Rico and Cuba . Starting in the 1950s, large numbers of Puerto Ricans settling primarily in North Philadelphia . By the end of the 20th century, Puerto Ricans became the largest Latino group in Philadelphia. Immigrants from China founded Chinatown in

9271-399: The city's tallest building. The Comcast Technology Center was completed in 2018, reaching a height of 1,121 ft (342 m), as the tallest building in the United States outside of Manhattan and Chicago. For much of Philadelphia's history, the typical home has been the row house . The row house was introduced to the United States via Philadelphia in the early 19th century and, for

9398-519: The city's total park space, including municipal, state, and federal parks in the city, amounts to 11,211 acres (17.5 sq mi). Philadelphia's largest park is Fairmount Park , which includes the Philadelphia Zoo and encompasses 2,052 acres (3.2 sq mi) of the total parkland. Fairmount Park's adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park contains 2,042 acres (3.2 sq mi). Fairmount Park, when combined with Wissahickon Valley Park,

9525-403: The city, Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading centers for higher education and academic research . The city is a national cultural center, hosting more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other city in the nation. Fairmount Park , when combined with adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the same watershed , is 2,052 acres (830 ha), representing one of the nation's largest and

9652-578: The city, including William Williams who introduced oil painting to another Philadelphia artist, Benjamin West . In 1805, an art collector, believing Philadelphia the best place for the encouragement of artistic taste, offered the city numerous paintings, sculptures, engravings and other art work. To accept the gift the city formed the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts . The Academy,

9779-446: The city. African Americans became the city's largest ethnic group, with most of North Philadelphia , West Philadelphia, Germantown and portions of South Philadelphia becoming black neighborhoods. Old black working-class neighborhoods became ghettos filled with vacant lots and houses due to loss of industrial jobs. Starting in the 1970s African Americans began to gain significant independent political influence in city government, with

9906-403: The city. Some of these immigrants were Catholic , which fueled anti-Catholic feelings and organizations. In the 1840s Philadelphia became a major base for anti-Catholic Protestant groups which soon led to deadly riots in 1844 . However, by the end of the 19th century, Roman Catholics had become the largest single denomination in Philadelphia, though all Protestant denominations combined remained

10033-694: The city. The Liberty Bell was taken to Zion German Reformed Church in Northampton Town, which is present-day Allentown , where it was hidden under the church's floor boards for nine months from September 1777 until the British Army's departure from Philadelphia in June 1778. Two Revolutionary War battles, the Siege of Fort Mifflin , fought between September 26 and November 16, 1777, and the Battle of Germantown , fought on October 4, 1777, took place within Philadelphia's city limits. In Philadelphia,

10160-500: The collection to Philadelphia was based on financial reasons. In 1991, to promote Old City art galleries, the Old City Art Association began First Fridays . On the first Friday of every month, Old City galleries hold a collaborative open house night. Philadelphia has more public art than any other American city. The inclusion of decorative art in Philadelphia structures goes back to the 19th century. In 1872,

10287-608: The colonies made it a natural center for America's revolutionaries . By the 1750s, Philadelphia surpassed Boston as the largest city and busiest port in British America , and the second-largest city in the entire British Empire after London . In 1774, as resentment of British colonial practices and support for independence was burgeoning in the colonies, Philadelphia hosted the First Continental Congress . From 1775 to 1781, Philadelphia hosted

10414-473: The colony. Penn made a treaty of friendship with Lenape chief Tammany under an elm tree at Shackamaxon , in what is now the city's Fishtown neighborhood. Penn named the city Philadelphia, which is Greek for "brotherly love", derived from the Ancient Greek terms φίλος phílos (beloved, dear) and ἀδελφός adelphós (brother, brotherly). There were a number of cities named Philadelphia in

10541-533: The concrete. A Google Book search for "Brown Instrument" "Wayne Ave" shows multiple addresses for the company on the 4400 and 4500 blocks of Wayne Ave, which straddle Wayne Junction. Another search result from 1915 mentions 311 Walnut St. Across the regional rail tracks from Fern Rock Transportation Center there is another old factory building topped by a sign marked "Honeywell – Brown Instrument Division". The firm later moved to Fort Washington, Pennsylvania . Honeywell's automation and control businesses still have

10668-402: The country, and the first Black Episcopal Church . The free Black community also established many schools for its children with the help of Quakers . Large-scale construction projects for new roads, canals , and railroads made Philadelphia the first major industrial city in the United States. Throughout the 19th century, Philadelphia hosted a variety of industries and businesses; the largest

10795-490: The creation of five public parks in the city which were renamed in 1824. Centre Square was renamed Penn Square ; Northeast Square was renamed Franklin Square ; Southeast Square was renamed Washington Square ; Southwest Square was renamed Rittenhouse Square ; and Northwest Square was renamed Logan Circle/Square . Center City had an estimated 183,240 residents as of 2015 , making it the second-most populated downtown area in

10922-399: The development of Philadelphia soul , led by producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff . Towards the end of the century Philadelphia artists made contribution to Hip hop music with artists such as DJ Jazzy Jeff , Will Smith , The Roots , and Schoolly D . Philadelphia is also a cultural center for rock music , with multiple nationally recognized rock music radio stations, including WMMR ,

11049-570: The end of the century the old rich families were overwhelmed by the new rich. By the late 20th century, membership in the upper class was defined less by ancestry, and organizations such as the Union League began to accept limited numbers of Jews , Catholics , and African Americans . Prior to the American Revolution the upper class increasingly supported the arts, particularly by commissioning portrait paintings. The demand for portraits made Philadelphia attractive to artists and many came to

11176-475: The families that made up the upper class could trace their lineage to the earliest Quaker settlers, though many of these had subsequently joined the Church of England or Presbyterian denominations. The Philadelphia upper class was exclusive; what mattered was a person's family, not a person's wealth. Inheritance was better than self-made wealth. In the late 19th century Mark Twain observed, "In Boston , they ask how much does he know. In New York , how much

11303-620: The first modern International Style skyscraper in the United States, the PSFS Building , designed by George Howe and William Lescaze . The 548 ft (167 m) City Hall remained the tallest building in the city until 1987 when One Liberty Place was completed. Numerous glass and granite skyscrapers were built in Center City beginning in the late 1980s. In 2007, the Comcast Center surpassed One Liberty Place to become

11430-543: The first official World's fair in the U.S. Immigrants, mostly from Ireland and Germany, settled in Philadelphia and the surrounding districts. These immigrants were largely responsible for the first general strike in North America in 1835, in which workers in the city won the ten-hour workday. The city was a destination for thousands of Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine in the 1840s; housing for them

11557-627: The intersection of Germantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike at: 40.07815 N, 75.20747 W. Philadelphia is located on the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line that separates the Atlantic Plain from the Piedmont . The Schuylkill River's rapids at East Falls were inundated by completion of the dam at Fairmount Water Works . The city is the seat of its own county . The city is bordered by six adjacent counties: Montgomery to

11684-478: The largest religion to settle in the city during this period. Supplementing the already settled German Jews, the city's Jewish population swelled from 5,000 in 1881 to 100,000 in 1905. Philadelphia's Italian population changed from 300 in 1870 to 77,000 in 1910. Hungarian and Polish immigrants also settled in the city, but in smaller numbers. In the 20th century political power began to shift from primarily white Protestants to Irish and Italian Catholics and Jews, with

11811-551: The last occurrence of such a temperature being July 21, 2019. The lowest officially recorded temperature was −11 °F (−24 °C) on February 9, 1934. Temperatures at or below 0 °F (−18 °C) are rare, with the last such occurrence being January 19, 1994 . The record low maximum is 5 °F (−15 °C) on February 10, 1899, and December 30, 1880. The record high minimum is 83 °F (28 °C) on July 23, 2011, and July 24, 2010. See or edit raw graph data . Philadelphia County received an ozone grade of F and

11938-546: The late 1970s and continues into the 21st century with much of the development occurring in the Center City and University City neighborhoods. But this expanded a shortage of affordable housing in the city. After many manufacturers and businesses left Philadelphia or shut down, the city started attracting service businesses and began to market itself more aggressively as a tourist destination. Contemporary glass-and-granite skyscrapers were built in Center City beginning in

12065-526: The middle of the 18th century. Organs began to appear in non- Quaker churches and the city staged its first opera , The Beggar's Opera . The city's musical scene grew in the 19th century with the music of William Henry Fry , and the founding of the Musical Fund Society which began underwriting concerts in 1820. The Musical Fund Society begat the Academy of Music in 1857, which now hosts

12192-581: The nation's 56 founders formed the Continental Army and elected George Washington as its commander in 1775, and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. For nine months, from September 1777 to June 1778, the city fell under British occupation during the war's Philadelphia campaign . In 1787, the U.S. Constitution was ratified in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Convention . Philadelphia remained

12319-485: The nation's largest city until 1790, and it served as the nation's first capital from May 10, 1775, until December 12, 1776, and on four subsequent occasions until 1800, when construction of the new national capital in Washington, D.C. was completed. Philadelphia maintains extensive contemporary influence in business and industry , culture , sports , and music . With 17 four-year universities and colleges in

12446-849: The nation, including a fire company , library , and hospital . A number of philosophical societies were formed, which were centers of the city's intellectual life, including the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture (1785), the Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts (1787), the Academy of Natural Sciences (1812), and the Franklin Institute (1824). These societies developed and financed new industries that attracted skilled and knowledgeable immigrants from Europe. Philadelphia's importance and central location in

12573-597: The new factories refused to hire African Americans, with only about one percent of Philadelphia's African American population finding employment with the factories. In 1899, W. E. B. Du Bois said that ninety percent of the African American population in the city was below the poverty line . White-collar office jobs also refused to hire African Americans and many worked as domestic workers. There were African Americans that did manage to own their own businesses, while other became professionals such as doctors and lawyers. In 1884 Christopher J. Perry founded The Philadelphia Tribune ,

12700-449: The northwest; Bucks to the north and northeast; Burlington County, New Jersey to the east; Camden County, New Jersey to the southeast; Gloucester County, New Jersey to the south; and Delaware County to the southwest. Philadelphia was created in the 17th century, following the plan by William Penn 's surveyor Thomas Holme . Center City is structured with long, straight streets running nearly due east–west and north–south, forming

12827-537: The now-shuttered WYSP , and others. The city is a top tour venue for rock musicians. More recently, Philadelphia has been home to a number of acclaimed independent alternative musicians. Dr. Dog , The War on Drugs , Kurt Vile , Nothing (band) , Philadelphia Slick , Alex G , and Beach Slang all call Philadelphia their home. In Philadelphia's early history the city was visited by outside theater troupes, but experienced some resistance from conservatives and Quakers who tried to restrict performances. The creation of

12954-479: The oldest art school and museum in the United States, helped establish many artists. Portraitist Charles Willson Peale and sculptor William Rush helped found the Academy of the Fine Arts and artists such as Thomas Eakins , Henry Ossawa Tanner and some of the members of the Philadelphia Ten studied there. The city's major art museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art was founded in 1876 to maintain

13081-540: The pursuit of Happiness ." Historian Stephen Lucas called the Declaration of Independence "one of the best-known sentences in the English language." Historian Joseph Ellis has written that the document contains "the most potent and consequential words in American history". Following the Battle of Gettysburg , the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War , President Abraham Lincoln famously referenced

13208-540: The region was inhabited by the Lenape , a group of Native American people. The Lenape occasionally fought with the earliest Dutch settlers, but had much better relations with William Penn and the early inhabitants of the English subjects of the colony of Pennsylvania . Still, disease and development pushed the Lenape west. A member of the Religious Society of Friends who faced religious persecution and

13335-606: The region. The first American Presbytery was founded in 1706 in Philadelphia and a year later in September 1707 the Philadelphia Baptist Association was founded, the oldest Baptist association in the United States. The city's first Catholic chapel was built in 1733 and the city's first recorded practicing Jew , Nathan Levy, arrived as early as 1735. During most of the 19th century, immigrants mainly from Germany, England, and Ireland settled in

13462-435: The rich white families they worked for. There was also a small group of upper class African Americans, both educated, wealthy and Philadelphia born, who descended from freedmen earlier in the century. The aristocratic African Americans were generally isolated, not recognized or even known about by the white population and alienated from the rest of the city's African American population. As Philadelphia grew more industrialized

13589-768: The second half of the 19th century. His contemporaries included John McArthur Jr. , Addison Hutton , Wilson Eyre , the Wilson Brothers , and Horace Trumbauer . In 1871, construction began on the Second Empire -style Philadelphia City Hall . The Philadelphia Historical Commission was created in 1955 to preserve the cultural and architectural history of the city. The commission maintains the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places , adding historic buildings, structures, sites, objects and districts as it sees fit. In 1932, Philadelphia became home to

13716-612: The situation did not change substantially until 1682, when the area was included in William Penn 's charter for Pennsylvania. In 1681, in partial repayment of a debt, Charles II of England granted Penn a charter for what would become the Pennsylvania colony . Despite the royal charter, Penn bought the land from the local Lenape in an effort to establish good terms with the Native Americans and ensure peace for

13843-444: The slave trade in Pennsylvania and freed the children of slaves born after the law was passed once they reached a certain age. By the time the law was passed, about 400 slaves and 800 free black people lived in Philadelphia. Many newly freed slaves and escaped slaves from the South moved to the city, and by 1820 the city's African American population was nearly eleven percent. During this time one former slave, Richard Allen , founded

13970-467: The spine of the north–south highway system along the U.S. East Coast . Philadelphia is a city of many firsts, including the nation's first library (1731), hospital (1751), medical school (1765), national capital (1774), university (by some accounts) (1779), central bank (1781), stock exchange (1790), zoo (1874), and business school (1881). Philadelphia contains 67 National Historic Landmarks , including Independence Hall . From

14097-493: The surrounding Delaware Valley in the early 17th century. The first settlements were founded by Dutch colonists , who built Fort Nassau on the Delaware River in 1623 in what is now Brooklawn, New Jersey . The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony. In 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina , located in present-day Wilmington, Delaware , and quickly spread out in

14224-522: The ten largest combined statistical areas (CSAs) were ranked higher for ozone: Los Angeles (1st), New York City (9th), Houston (12th), Dallas (13th), and San Jose, California (18th). Many smaller CSAs were also ranked higher for ozone, including Sacramento (8th), Las Vegas (10th), Denver (11th), El Paso (16th), and Salt Lake City (20th). Only two of those same ten CSAs, San Jose and Los Angeles, were ranked higher than Philadelphia for both year-round and short-term particle pollution. As of

14351-629: The upper Ohio River basin. Following the American Revolutionary War and subsequent formation of an independent United States, the Lenape began moving further west. In the 1860s, the United States government sent most remaining Lenape in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma and surrounding territories as part of the Indian removal policy. Europeans first entered Philadelphia and

14478-587: The valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their war against Maryland colonists. In 1648, the Dutch built Fort Beversreede on the west bank of the Delaware, south of the Schuylkill River near the present-day Eastwick section of Philadelphia, to reassert their dominion over the area. The Swedes responded by building Fort Nya Korsholm , or New Korsholm , named after

14605-491: The year. The average window for freezing temperatures is November 6 to April 2, allowing a growing season of 217 days. Early fall and late winter are generally dry, with February having the lowest average precipitation at 2.75 inches (70 mm). The dewpoint in the summer averages between 59.1 and 64.5 °F (15 and 18 °C). The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on August 7, 1918. Temperatures at or above 100 °F (38 °C) are not common, with

14732-541: Was 30.7 in (78 cm), which occurred in January 1996. Precipitation is generally spread throughout the year, with eight to eleven wet days per month, at an average annual rate of 44.1 inches (1,120 mm), but historically ranging from 29.31 in (744 mm) in 1922 to 64.33 in (1,634 mm) in 2011. The most rain recorded in one day occurred on July 28, 2013, when 8.02 in (204 mm) fell at Philadelphia International Airport . Philadelphia has

14859-472: Was being constructed and prepared to serve as the new national capital. In 1793, the largest yellow fever epidemic in U.S. history killed approximately 4,000 to 5,000 people in Philadelphia, or about ten percent of the city's population at the time. The capital of the United States was moved to Washington, D.C. in 1800 upon completion of the White House and U.S. Capitol buildings. The state capital

14986-625: Was burned. In the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century large numbers of African Americans migrated from the Southern United States to Philadelphia giving the city the largest African American population of a northern U.S. city. In 1896 W. E. B. Du Bois came to Philadelphia and wrote his sociological book The Philadelphia Negro . Du Bois' study of the city's African Americans found many lived in Center City with growing populations in West Philadelphia . Many African Americans lived in neighborhoods near

15113-514: Was developed south of South Street and later occupied by succeeding immigrants. They established a network of Catholic churches and schools and dominated the Catholic clergy for decades. Anti- Irish , anti-Catholic nativist riots erupted in Philadelphia in 1844. The rise in population of the surrounding districts helped lead to the Act of Consolidation of 1854 , which extended the city limits from

15240-482: Was dominated by Georgian architecture , including Independence Hall and Christ Church . In the first decades of the 19th century, Federal and Greek Revival architecture were the dominant styles produced by Philadelphia architects such as Benjamin Latrobe , William Strickland , John Haviland , John Notman , Thomas Walter , and Samuel Sloan . Frank Furness is considered Philadelphia's greatest architect of

15367-652: Was formed in 1990 form its predecessor, the Performing Arts League of Philadelphia, to promote local theater; since 1994, the organization has presented the annual Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater to theater productions in the area. Dance became a part of Philadelphia with the beginning of the Philadelphia Dancing Assemblies in 1748 which remained popular into the 20th Century. Major dancing organizations include

15494-486: Was imprisoned in Great Britain for challenging established religious views of the Church of England , Penn envisioned his colony as a place where many groups of people could live together and worship freely. Mennonites , Amish , Moravians , and Pietists moved to the area during the 17th century. By the mid-18th century, Quakers and the English had become a minority in the colony as other ethnic groups such as

15621-439: Was moved from Philadelphia to Lancaster in 1799, then ultimately to Harrisburg in 1812. Philadelphia remained the nation's largest city until the late 18th century. It also was the nation's financial and cultural center until ultimately being eclipsed in total population by New York City in 1790. In 1816, the city's free Black community founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church , the first independent Black denomination in

15748-406: Was one of more than 36 industrial cities nationally to suffer a race riot during Red Summer in post- World War I unrest as recent immigrants competed with Blacks for jobs. In the 1920s, the public flouting of Prohibition laws, organized crime , mob violence, and corrupt police involvement in illegal activities led to the appointment of Brig. Gen. Smedley Butler of the U.S. Marine Corps as

15875-508: Was outraged that his collection of paintings by Paul Cézanne , Henri Matisse , Pablo Picasso , and Amedeo Modigliani was so poorly received by Philadelphians when put on display at the Academy of the Fine Arts that Barnes removed the collection and housed it in a building in Merion, Pennsylvania where Barnes enjoyed denying access to most Philadelphians. The controversial decision in 2002 to, against Barnes' wishes expressed in his will , move

16002-713: Was the textile industry . Major corporations in the 19th and early 20th centuries included the Baldwin Locomotive Works , William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company , and the Pennsylvania Railroad . Established in 1870, the Philadelphia Conveyancers' Association was chartered by the state in 1871. Along with the U.S. Centennial in 1876, the city's industry was celebrated in the Centennial Exposition ,

16129-457: Was unanimously adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which both formalized and escalated the Revolutionary War . The document has become one of the most inconic statements on human rights and human liberties, particularly its second sentence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal , that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and

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