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77-640: The neighborhood runs along a few miles of Ridge Avenue, along the banks of the Schuylkill River , then extends northeast to Wissahickon Avenue. It overlooks the multi-use recreational path of Fairmount Park along Kelly Drive, and is desirable for its central location, an easy commute to Center City with easy access to several major roadways and public transportation including the East Falls station . The largest center of commerce in East Falls

154-423: A factory system of labor . Throughout this period, much of the U.S. population remained in small scale agriculture. Despite a small percentage of the population then working in industry, the U.S. government took action to promote the expansion of U.S. industry. An important example is Alexander Hamilton 's proposal of the "American School" ideas which supported high tariffs to protect U.S. industry. This idea

231-678: A 9.2-acre (37,000 m), sixteen-court facility that operates in cooperation with the City of Philadelphia, School District of Philadelphia , and others. It was built with private funding in partnership with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania . East Falls is best known as the childhood home of Grace Kelly , actress and Princess of Monaco , who grew up at 3901 Henry Avenue. In addition, former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter , author and Jewish studies scholar Chaim Potok , Pennsylvania governor and former Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell owned homes in

308-521: A center of business and social life, with employees living on or near the mill. The company grew rapidly and by the mid-19th century had become the largest supplier of gunpowder to the United States military. In the late 1700s, Robert Fulton of Pennsylvania proposed plans for steam-powered vessels to both the United States and British governments. Having developed significant technical knowledge in both France and Great Britain, Fulton returned to

385-532: A common problem with northern canals. The success of these projects and the rosy promise of anthracite (a new wonder fuel in the day) to alleviate energy problems spurred canal construction for the next decade in the east, and commercial opportunities funded three decades of investment from Illinois to the Atlantic Ocean, including the ambitious 1824 Main Line of Public Works bill to connect Philadelphia with

462-419: A demonstration for Congress in which he assembled muskets from parts chosen randomly from his supply. While this demonstration was later proved to be fake, it popularized the idea of interchangeable parts, and Eli Whitney continued using the concept to allow relatively unskilled laborers to produce and repair weapons quickly and at a low cost. Another important innovator is Thomas Blanchard , who in 1819 invented

539-549: A hit by tossing it into the Schuylkill River, noting, "There's a spot in the Schuylkill River everybody uses. If they ever send divers down there, they'd be able to arm a small country." The Schuylkill River has been a plot point in several episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia . In the 2011 episode "Thunder Gun Express", Frank Reynolds , played by Danny DeVito , steals a tourist ferry and travels down

616-565: A skilled pilot; accordingly the settlement housed a dock and became a transfer point to the Indian path converted into colonial roadways which later became Ridge Avenue and Germantown Avenue. Before the War of 1812 , Josiah White and Erskine Hazard harnessed the water power from the cataracts for a foundry, wire mill and nail manufactory. Their combined energy needs led them to learn how to successfully use anthracite in industrial heating during

693-556: Is a river in eastern Pennsylvania . It flows for 135 miles (217 km) from Pottsville southeast to Philadelphia , the nation's sixth-largest city, where it joins the Delaware River as one of its largest tributaries. The river's watershed of about 2,000 sq mi (5,180 km ) lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania, stretching from the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians through

770-418: Is filmed by the Schuylkill River and the adjacent neighborhood of Manayunk . The Schuylkill is shown in the beginning of the 2015 video for "Looking Out for You" by Philadelphia indie rock band Joy Again . The 2017 video for "Pain", from A Deeper Understanding by Philadelphia rock band The War on Drugs , features the band floating down the river while performing on a barge. Industrial Revolution in

847-560: Is held on the river near Boathouse Row , as is the annual BAYADA Home Health Care Regatta, featuring disabled rowers from all over the continent, and in autumn the annual Head of the Schuylkill Regatta takes place in Philadelphia. Also, the Stotesbury Cup Regatta , the biggest high school regatta in the world, takes place there. The Chinese sport of dragon boat racing was introduced to the United States on

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924-405: Is included as a part of Fairmount Park , providing walking and bike paths along its banks. Wissahickon is a merging of two Lenape words: "Wisaucksickan" meaning "yellow-colored creek", and "Wisamickan" meaning "catfish creek". In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries " catfish and waffles " was a favorite food at the many inns and taverns that ran through the valley, and a catfish still serves as

1001-466: Is known to have been on fire more than once throughout history, for example in November 1892 when the surface film of oil that had leaked from nearby oil works at Point Breeze , Philadelphia, was ignited by a match tossed carelessly from a boat, with fatal results. Silt and coal dust from upstream industries, particularly coal mining and washing operations in the headwaters, led to extensive silting of

1078-492: Is most associated with starting up the textiles industry in the U.S. and who initially brought the textile technology to the U.S. was Samuel Slater . Slater learned that Americans were interested in textile techniques used in England, but since exporting such technical designs were illegal in England, he memorized as much as he could and departed for New York City . Moses Brown , a leading Rhode Island industrialist, secured

1155-553: Is the Falls Center , which is home for over 18 businesses and an apartment complex. Located on the banks of the Schuylkill River and next to Fairmount Park, East Falls provides year-round access to walking, jogging, and cycling trails. Street fairs, community clean-up days, a robust Community Association, and numerous volunteer opportunities typify life in East Falls. The recently completed Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education Center offers instruction to Philadelphia youth in

1232-807: The Erie people west and northwest through the gaps of the Allegheny in eastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania (between the upper Allegheny River and Lake Erie), as well as the Five Nations of the Iroquois , another Amerindian confederation eastwards from the right bank of the Genesee River through the Finger Lakes region of upper New York down the St. Lawrence . The Lenape had settlements on

1309-572: The Grays Ferry section of Philadelphia , overlooking the Schuylkill River. In 2007 Beth Kephart published Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River , a series of poetic ruminations about the river. Philadelphia on the Fly , published in 2005, and Small Fry: The Lure of the Little , published in 2009 contain essays by Ron P. Swegman describing the experience of fly fishing along

1386-665: The Industrial Revolution : the Lehigh Coal Company and the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. Following White's plan, the latter company improved down river navigation on the Lehigh River , using his Bear Trap Locks design to deliver over 365 tons of anthracite to Philadelphia docks by December 1820, four years ahead of promises to Stockholders. The success, along with the pending opening of

1463-570: The Pennsylvania Railroad were vital shipping conduits from the second decade of the 19th century through the mid-20th century. The rise of trucking capabilities and state & county development of road and highway networks progressively took increasing amounts of business away from both competing transport industries. By the mid-1930s the canals inflexibility and a geographically limited pool of customers steadily shifting energy usage away from anthracite doomed most eastern canals, so

1540-715: The Piedmont to the Atlantic Plain . Historically the Schuylkill lay within the territory of the Susquehannock and Lenape peoples. In 1682, William Penn founded the city of Philadelphia between the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers on lands purchased from the Lenape Indian tribe. The Schuylkill River became key in the development of the city and the surrounding region. While long used for transport,

1617-546: The Schuylkill Expressway was completed in 1959. Industrial pollution and mining silt plagued the river in the 19th and 20th centuries. Early concerns over water quality led to the creation of Fairmount Park in 1812. Protections came with the 1972 passing of the Clean Water Act , and the Schuylkill was designated as the first Pennsylvania Scenic River in 1978. Water quality has largely recovered in

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1694-474: The Schuylkill River Trail . There are efforts to extend both rail and trail farther upriver than they currently reach. The Schuylkill River Trail continues upriver from Norristown to Mont Clare , and designers plan to connect it to sections above Pottstown. SEPTA Regional Rail service currently does not go farther upriver than Norristown. Visions of resuming commuter rail service farther up

1771-558: The War of 1812 and to push for the legislation and corporation behind the Schuylkill Canal , then found the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company . In many respects, they bootstrapped the U.S. industrial revolution between 1820 and 1860 by building mines, canals, and railroads, including the first railroad over five miles long and bringing smelting of anthracite pig iron to the United States. The falls disappeared when

1848-508: The War of 1812 , the two took delivery of an ark of anthracite coal which was notoriously difficult to combust reliably and experimented with ways to use it industrially, providing the knowledge to successfully begin resolving the ongoing decades long energy crises around eastern cities. The two then heavily backed the flagging effort to improve navigation on the Schuylkill, which efforts date back to legislation measures as early as 1762. By 1816, needing energy resources and disenchanted with

1925-666: The "Father of the American Industrial Revolution". But Slater also earned the pejorative "Slater the Traitor" from many in Great Britain who felt he betrayed them in bringing British textile techniques to the Americas. With the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1794, American slaveholders had the means to make cotton production significantly more profitable. The era of King Cotton

2002-524: The 1780s, the Erie Canal was proposed, then re-proposed in 1807 with a survey being funded in 1808. Construction began in 1817 and the original canal was about 363 miles with 34 numbered locks from Albany to Buffalo . Prior to the Erie Canal, bulk goods were limited to shipping by pack animal, there were no railways and water was the most cost-effective way to ship bulk goods. Use of this new canal

2079-544: The 1860s Iron works, foundries, manufacturing mills, blast furnaces, rolling mills, rail yards , rail roads, warehouses and train stations sprang up throughout the valley. Tiny farm villages grew into vibrant company towns then transitioned into small cities as a major industry and supporting businesses transformed local economics and populations swelled. Restoration of the river has been funded by money left for that purpose in Benjamin Franklin 's will. The river

2156-470: The Blanchard lathe, which could produce identical copies of wooden gun stocks. Interchangeable parts made the development of the assembly line possible. In addition to making production faster, the assembly line eliminated the need for skilled craftsmen because each worker would only do one repetitive step instead of the entire process. The first Industrial Revolution had a profound effect on labor in

2233-494: The Civil War, rifles with interchangeable parts had been developed, and after the war, more complex devices such as sewing machines and typewriters were made with interchangeable parts. In 1798, Eli Whitney obtained a government contract to manufacture 10,000 muskets in less than two years. By 1801, he had failed to produce a single musket and was called to Washington to justify his use of Treasury funds. There, he created

2310-485: The Embargo Act resulted in the expansion of new, emerging US domestic industries across the board, particularly the textile industry, and marked the beginning of the manufacturing system in the United States, reducing the nation's dependence upon imported manufactured goods. The early Industrial Revolution, which lasted into the mid-19th century, was marked by shift in labor, from an outwork system of labor towards

2387-511: The Jeffersonian-dominated Congress did not renew it. State legislatures were persuaded to charter their own banks to continue helping merchants, artisans, and farmers who needed loans, and, by 1816, there were 246 state-chartered banks. With these banks, states were able to support internal transportation improvements, such as the Erie Canal , which stimulated economic development. The Industrial Revolution altered

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2464-662: The Lehigh, Delaware and Schuylkill Canals all ceased operations during the Great Depression years. The zooming rise of automobile ownership post-World War II, the development of suburbs, and dispersal of industrial buildings into far flung parks serviced by the government supported highways and new Interstate Highways doomed intercity rail transport; even as Interstate Commerce Committee regulations required railway operating companies to maintain passenger rail services past its economic viability—which costs further imperiled

2541-719: The Schuylkill River. In Jerry Spinelli 's 1990 young adult novel Maniac Magee , the protagonists's parents die when their commuter train plunges into the river. Much of the story takes place along the river in Two Mills, a fictionalized version of Norristown . The Schuylkill River is also the setting of the fictional estate White Acre in Elizabeth Gilbert 's 2013 novel The Signature of All Things , based on The Woodlands . The main protagonist in Ta-Nehisi Coates ' 2019 novel The Water Dancer first arrives in

2618-501: The Schuylkill in 1983, and two major dragon boat regattas are held there in June and October of each year. Water skiing, swimming and other aquatic sports are also common outside of Philadelphia city limits. The Schuylkill River Trail , which generally follows the river bank, is a multi-use trail for walking, running, bicycling, rollerblading, and other outdoor activities. The trail presently runs from Philadelphia, through Manayunk to

2695-406: The Schuylkill valley (" Schuylkill Valley Metro ") have yet to become reality. The Schuylkill Expressway ( Interstate 76 ) and the U.S. Route 422 follow the course of the river from Philadelphia to Valley Forge to Reading. Above Reading, Pennsylvania Route 61 continues along the main river valley to Schuylkill Haven, then follows the east branch to Pottsville. U.S. Route 209 continues along

2772-627: The Schuylkill's eastern branch is in heavily mined land, one ridgeline south of Tuscarora Lake along a drainage divide with the Little Schuylkill River , about a mile east of the village of Tuscarora and about a mile west of Tamaqua , at Tuscarora Springs in Schuylkill County . Tuscarora Lake is one source of the Little Schuylkill. The West Branch starts near Minersville and joins the eastern branch at

2849-492: The Schuylkill, noting that it is "the depository of all the unsolved crimes and murders in Philadelphia". In the 2013 episode "Mac Day", Mac , played by Rob McElhenney , films a stunt video that makes it look like he jumped into the river, after which his cousin Country Mac, played by Seann William Scott , shows him up by actually jumping into the river. The 2005 video for "Doesn't Remind Me" by hard rock band Audioslave

2926-667: The U.S. The Industrial Revolution occurred in two distinct phases, the First Industrial Revolution occurred during the later part of the 18th century through the first half of the 19th century and the Second Industrial Revolution advanced following the American Civil War . Among the main contributors to the First Industrial Revolution were Samuel Slater 's introduction of British industrial methods in textile manufacturing to

3003-503: The U.S. Companies from the era, such as the Boston Associates , would recruit thousands of New England farm girls to work in textile mills. These girls often received much lower wages than men, though the work and pay gave young women a sense of independence that they did not feel working on a farm. The First Industrial Revolution also marked the beginning of the rise of wage labor in the United States. As wage labor grew over

3080-462: The U.S. economy and set the stage for the United States to dominate technological change and growth in the Second Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age . The Industrial Revolution also saw a decrease in labor shortages which had characterized the U.S. economy through its early years. This was partly due to a transportation revolution happening at the same time, low population density areas of

3157-664: The U.S. economy. Some technologies that advanced the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. were appropriated from British designs by ambitious British entrepreneurs hoping to use the technology to create successful companies in the U.S. Much of the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. originated in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania , where anthracite coal , iron ore , steel , textile , and industrial sectors experienced breakthroughs and emerged as global manufacturing leaders. One entrepreneur who

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3234-506: The U.S. were better able to connect to the population centers through the Wilderness Road and the Erie Canal , with steamboats and later rail transport , leading to urbanization and an increased labor force available around larger cities, including Chicago , Philadelphia , and New York City , and labor force shortages elsewhere as workers fled to these highly populated cities. Also, quicker movement of resources and goods around

3311-582: The United States Employment In the United States from the late 18th and 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution affected the U.S. economy , progressing it from manual labor, farm labor and handicraft work, to a greater degree of industrialization based on wage labor . There were many improvements in technology and manufacturing fundamentals with results that greatly improved overall production and economic growth in

3388-446: The United States, Eli Whitney 's invention of the cotton gin , Éleuthère Irénée du Pont 's improvements in chemistry and gunpowder making, and other industrial advancements necessitated by the War of 1812 , as well as the construction of the Erie Canal , among other developments. As Western Europe industrialized in the mid-to-late 1700s, the United States remained agrarian with resource processing, gristmills, and sawmills being

3465-503: The United States, working with Robert R. Livingston to open the first commercially successful steamboat operating between New York City and Albany . Fulton built a new steamboat sturdy enough to take down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, he was an early member on a commission to plan the Erie Canal , and Fulton designed the first working muscle-powered submarine, the Nautilus . In

3542-588: The citizens in funding an iron bridge over this river, before abandoning " pontifical works" on account of the French Revolution . Over the next few decades, industrialists Josiah White and protege and partner Erskine Hazard built iron industries at the Falls of the Schuylkill during the Jefferson's administration , where White built a suspension bridge with cables made from their wire mill. During

3619-482: The country drastically increased trade efficiency and output while allowing for an extensive transport base for the U.S. to grow during the Second Industrial Revolution. Techniques to make interchangeable parts were developed in the U.S., and allowed easy assembly and repair of firearms or other devices, minimizing the time and skill needed to repair or assemble devices. By the beginning of

3696-600: The east branch of the river to its head in Tuscarora . In Philadelphia, Kelly Drive (formerly East River Drive), and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (formerly West River Drive) flank the river. The Schuylkill River is popular with rowing , dragon boat , and outrigger paddling enthusiasts. The Schuylkill Navy was established on the riverside adjacent to the city of Philadelphia to promote amateur rowing in 1858. The Dad Vail Regatta , an annual rowing competition,

3773-606: The east side of the Schuylkill Falls along the Schuylkill River at the original line of waterfalls known as the 'Falls of the Schuylkill' where the river descends from the elevation of the Pennsylvania piedmont to the coastal plain occupied by the main part of the City of Philadelphia . Thus East Falls was in colonial and Federalist times the highest point on the river navigable down the river by boats not driven by

3850-472: The first operable sections of New York's Erie Canal spurred stockholders of the Schuylkill Canal to finally fund the works. A project which had languished for over a decade got capitalized and began operations in 1822—the same year the Lehigh companies combined into the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, having had to raise additional funds for repairs due to badly ice-damaged improvements,

3927-440: The lack of urgency found in other investors to accelerate the anemic and underfunded construction rate of the Schuylkill Canal, the two jumped to option the mining rights of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company , which disenchanted stockholders were giving up on. They then waited until a charter to improve the Lehigh went delinquent, resulting in two groups of investors forming two complementary companies in 1818 that jump-started

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4004-745: The lands down along the Chesapeake Bay to the left bank Potomac River across from the Powhatan Confederacy when traders first stopped in the Delaware River and settlers arrived in the first decade of the 1600s. With ample tributary streams, the Schuylkill was ground zero during the early years of the Beaver Wars , during which the Lenape tribe became tributary to the victorious Susquehannocks. The Susquehannocks were an Iroquoian people also often in contention with their relatives:

4081-645: The main industrial, non-agrarian output. As demand for U.S. resources increased, canals and railroads became important to the economic growth as transportation necessitated and the U.S. population was sparse, especially in areas where resources were being extracted such as the American frontier . This made it necessary to expand technological capabilities, which led to an Industrial Revolution in America as entrepreneurs, businesses competed with and learned from each other to develop better technology, fundamentally altering

4158-519: The native name for the river was Ganshowe-hánne , meaning "roaring stream". The river was also sometimes called the Manaiunk in European sources, which derives from a Lenape place-name meaning "place to drink". This name appears on a Swedish map of 1655 in the form Menejackse Kÿl . The mighty Susquehannock confederation claimed the area along the Schuylkill as a hunting ground, as they did to

4235-775: The neighborhood. Ravenhill Academy , a school for girls led by the Religious of the Assumption , a Roman Catholic order of nuns founded in France, was attended by Kelly and Corazon Aquino , former president of the Philippines. Ravenhill closed in 1977, its grounds and buildings are now part of Jefferson University East Falls Campus. East Falls is the site of the demolished Schuylkill Falls Public Housing Project designed by architect Oscar Stonorov . Constructed in 1953, Schuylkill Falls stood at Ridge Avenue near Calumet Street and

4312-702: The newly emerging states of the Northwest Territory via the Allegheny & Ohio valleys at Pittsburgh and to Lake Erie — leveraging the wide-ranging branches of the Susquehanna River in the state's center. In the 1830s railway technology and new railroads grew in leaps and bounds, and the Schuylkill Valley was at the heart of these developments, as well as the new Anthracite iron and mining industries. From 1820 to

4389-582: The population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. In 2005, the median home sale price in the 19129 ZIP code, which contains East Falls, was $ 184,000. This was an increase of 8% over the median sale price for 2004. The School District of Philadelphia operates public schools. The Falls of Schuylkill Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia located at Midvale Avenue and Warden Drive serves East Falls. Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( / ˈ s k uː l k ɪ l / SKOOL -kil , locally / ˈ s k uː k ə l / SKOO -kəl )

4466-419: The railroad's profits leading to a widespread collapse of the industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Rail freight still uses many of the same valley rights-of-way that the 19th-century railroads used. Passenger and commuter rail service is more limited. Today, the old rail bed rights-of-way along the river between Philadelphia and Norristown contain SEPTA 's Manayunk/Norristown Line , formerly Reading Railroad and

4543-409: The river has improved much over the past decades. A fish ladder to support shad migration has been constructed at the Manayunk dam. Mayfly hatches (signifying good water quality) now occur yearly along the Montgomery sections of the river. The Schuylkill River valley was an important thoroughfare in the eras of canals and railroads. The river itself, the Schuylkill Canal , the Reading Railroad , and

4620-423: The river level was raised by the construction of the dam at the Fairmount Water Works , four miles downstream, but rocks still visible above the water mark the natural fall line . Before the arrival of European settlers, the Lenni Lenape Indians considered the lower Schuylkill River their home. The Wissahickon Creek runs into the Schuylkill here and separates East Falls from Wissahickon, Philadelphia . Today it

4697-462: The river through the early 20th century. The river was shallow and filled with extensive black silt bars. By the early 20th century, upstream coal operations contributed over 3 million tons of silt annually to the river. In 1948, led by then governor James H. Duff , a massive cleanup effort began. Twenty three impounding basins were excavated along the river, to receive dredged silt. The 1945 Desilting Act helped begin this cleanup task. The quality of

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4774-407: The river was made fully navigable via the Schuylkill Canal in 1825, followed by the construction of the Reading Railroad Main Line in 1838 and the Schuylkill Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1884. Through these corridors, millions of tons of anthracite coal flowed down the Schuylkill from the Coal Region to its north in Northeast Pennsylvania . The canal was abandoned in 1931, while

4851-399: The river, including Nittabakonck ("place where heroes reside"), a village on the east bank just south of the confluence of Wissahickon Creek, and the Passyunk site, on the west bank where the Schuylkill meets the Delaware River. > American patriot paper maker Frederick Bicking owned a fishery on the river prior to the American Revolution , and Thomas Paine tried in vain to interest

4928-455: The running water to power the machinery in the plant. Thus, many of the factories of the First Industrial Revolution were in the Northeastern United States To aid the expansion of industry, Congress chartered the Bank of the United States in 1791, giving loans to help merchants and entrepreneurs secure needed capital. However, Jeffersonians saw this bank as an unconstitutional expansion of federal power, so when its charter expired in 1811,

5005-434: The services of Slater, with Slater promising to recreate British textile designs. After an initial investment by Brown to fulfill initial requirements, a mill successfully opened in 1793 being the first water-powered roller spinning textile mill in America. By 1800, Slater's mill had been duplicated by many other entrepreneurs as Slater grew wealthier and his techniques more and more popular with Andrew Jackson calling Slater

5082-422: The site of the former Philadelphia Navy Yard , now the Philadelphia Naval Business Center, just northeast of Philadelphia International Airport . The Schuylkill's name derives from the Dutch words schuilen , meaning to hide, and kil , meaning stream, apparently because of the "retired and hidden situation of its mouth". According to John Heckewelder , a missionary who worked among the local Lenape Indians ,

5159-403: The town of Schuylkill Haven . It then combines with the Little Schuylkill River downstream in the town of Port Clinton . The Tulpehocken Creek joins it at the western edge of Reading . Wissahickon Creek joins it in northwest Philadelphia. Other major tributaries include: Maiden Creek , Manatawny Creek , French Creek , and Perkiomen Creek . The Schuylkill joins the Delaware River at

5236-403: The urban Schuylkill River in the 21st century. In several episodes of Cold Case , a CBS television series based on the Philadelphia Police Department that aired from 2003 to 2010, various members of the Cold Case squad mention finding "a floater in the Schuylkill". In the 2019 film The Irishman , mob hitman Frank Sheeran , played by Robert De Niro , disposes of a gun he just used in

5313-406: The village of Mont Clare , the latter of which are the locations of the last two remaining watered stretches of the Schuylkill Canal . There is also a section of trail starting at Pottstown and running upriver toward Reading. Plans are under way to complete the trail from the Delaware River to Reading. Jules Verne 's 1904 novel Robur the Conqueror starts out in Philadelphia on the banks of

5390-439: The weathervane atop the Free Library of Philadelphia Falls of Schuylkill Branch. East Falls, so named in the nineteenth century, had earlier been known as Falls of the Schuylkill or Falls Village . In the 19th century, the Dobson Mills textile factory thrived there. As of the census of 2000, the racial makeup of East Falls is 72.06% White , 19.98% African American , 4.79% Asian , and 0.86% from other races . 2.58% of

5467-471: The years since. The Schuylkill River above Fairmount Dam has been a major rowing venue since the founding of the Schuylkill Navy in 1858. In recent decades the Schuylkill River Trail cycle and foot path has been constructed along the river. The Schuylkill Heritage Corridor was designated a Pennsylvania Heritage Park in 1995 and a National Heritage Area in 2000 to promote the river's historic, environmental, and recreational significance. The source of

5544-656: Was a cumulative addition to the Non-importation Act of 1806 (2 Stat. 379), which was a "Prohibition of the Importation of certain Goods and Merchandise from the Kingdom of Great Britain," the prohibited imported goods being defined where their chief value, which consists of leather, silk, hemp or flax, tin or brass, wool, glass, and paper goods, nails, hats, clothing, and beer. The prohibition of imports under

5621-410: Was copied by many and improved upon. The du Pont family emigrated to the United States due to repercussions from the French Revolution , bringing with them expertise in chemistry and gunpowder. E.I. du Pont observed that the quality of American gunpowder was poor, and opened Eleutherian Mills , a gunpowder mill on Brandywine Creek in 1802. The mill served as home for du Pont's family as well as

5698-615: Was embraced by the Whig Party in the early 19th century with their support for Henry Clay 's American System . This plan, proposed shortly after the War of 1812 , promoted not only protective tariffs , but also canals and roads to support the movement of manufactured goods around the country. As in Britain, the First Industrial Revolution in the United States revolved heavily around the textile industry. Early U.S. textile plants were located next to rivers and streams as they would use

5775-552: Was faster than using carts pulled by draft animals and cut transport costs by about 95%. The canal gave New York City's port a significant advantage over all other U.S. port cities and contributed to a growth in population in New York state and regions farther west. It inspired canals elsewhere, bringing a canal age . In response to British aggression against the U.S., Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807 . The embargo

5852-594: Was one of the most studied high-rise public housing designs in the U.S. The building stood vacant for many years and was demolished in 1996. East Falls is home to historic Laurel Hill Cemetery , burial place of numerous prominent Philadelphians and other notables. Thomas Mifflin School and the former Woman's Medical College, both located in East Falls, have been named to the National Register of Historic Places . East Falls takes its name from its location on

5929-518: Was underway by the early 1800s to such an extent that by the mid-19th century, southern slave plantations supplied 75% of the world's cotton. The introduction of the cotton gin was as unexpected as it was unprecedented. British textiles had expanded with no change in ginning principles in centuries. For the American planter class , up front costs were higher but productivity improvement among their slaves were clear and Whitney's original 1794 gin design

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