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26-463: Grays Ferry shares borders with Southwest Center City to the north, Point Breeze to the east, and Girard Estate to the south. Gray’s Ferry is across from where Mill Creek debouches at about 43rd street. Grays Ferry was historically one of the largest enclaves of Irish Americans in the city, and while there are still many Irish left, it is now home to a significant African American population. The area developed near an important crossing of

52-477: A church rally in a compromise negotiated by Mayor Ed Rendell . In 1998 there were two separate community organizations that were dominated by each race: Grays Ferry West among black people and Grays Ferry Community Council among white people. As the housing market has boomed in Philadelphia, the neighborhood has begun to see some resurgence. Where the former housing projects intersect with the neighborhood,

78-642: A few larger architectural landmarks. On the eastern half of the neighborhood is the Scottish Rite affordable housing complex which consists of two multi-story apartment buildings that cater mostly to elderly and low income individuals. The former buildings of Graduate Hospital lie on South Street, the northern border of the neighborhood. Along Grays Ferry Avenue is the former Philadelphia Naval Asylum or Naval Home, designed in 1826 by William Strickland . This National Historic Landmark , first constructed in 1833, closed in 1976, and has been developed into condos

104-557: A group of neighbors have started turning an empty lot into a new park at 30th and Oakford, and the area is beginning to see a trickle of young professionals overflowing from the nearby Graduate Hospital area. Southwest Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Southwest Center City ( SWCC ), also known as Graduate Hospital , is a neighborhood that is located in South Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , United States, bordering Center City Philadelphia . The neighborhood

130-528: A large diaspora , which includes over 31 million American citizens , plus over 7 million Irish Australians , of whom around 67% adhere to Catholicism. Divisions between Irish Roman Catholics and Irish Protestants played a major role in the history of Ireland from the 16th century to the 20th century, especially during the Home Rule Crisis and the Troubles . While religion broadly marks

156-684: A six region area that also includes University City all the way to the Philadelphia International Airport that is part of a revitalization plan to stimulate the region. The proposal for three new Schuylkill Avenue towers proposed by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is for the towers to take the place of the Springfield Beer Distributor, and the former JFK Vocational School , with each tower being 26 stories high. Every year since 1975,

182-596: Is a former school in Grays Ferry. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia operated King of Peace School until its 1999 closure; it and another school consolidated with St. Gabriel School to form Our Lady of the Angels School (at St. Gabriel). In 2012 the former King of Peace building began to be uses for Alcorn's middle school classes. The Diocese formerly operated St. Gabriel School until it became an Independence Mission School in 2012 (an action which at

208-662: Is bordered on the north by South Street , on the south by Washington Avenue , on the west by the Schuylkill River , and on the east by Broad Street . It is an area adjacent to the Fitler Square and Rittenhouse Square neighborhoods to the north and Point Breeze to the south, and is home to community service organizations, restaurants, churches, retail establishments, and some light industry. The neighborhood has many nicknames. The Philadelphia Planning Commission refers to it as Southwest Center City . Since

234-519: Is now known as Naval Square . The Schuylkill Arsenal was originally built at the edge of this neighborhood, but has since been demolished. Prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854 , this neighborhood was part of Moyamensing Township . Moyamensing was originally chartered by the Dutch governor Alexander d'Hinoyossa, and in 1684, William Penn confirmed the title. The neighborhood began taking shape after

260-657: The Gray's Ferry Bridge and several rail bridges. Before the Act of Consolidation in 1854, this neighborhood was part of Moyamensing Township . Moyamensing was chartered by the Dutch governor Alexander d'Hinoyossa , and in 1684, William Penn confirmed the title. This neighborhood was once the site of the Schuylkill Arsenal . The James Alcorn School , Charles Y. Audenried Junior High School , Grays Road Recreation Center , James McCann Foundation , University Avenue Bridge , and Anthony Wayne School are listed on

286-645: The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , Catholics and Presbyterians , who were not part of the established Church of Ireland , found common cause. Irish Catholics are found in many countries around the world, especially in the Anglosphere . Emigration exponentially increased due to the Great Famine which lasted from 1845 to 1852. In the United States , anti-Irish sentiment and anti-Catholicism

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312-479: The National Register of Historic Places . In recent years, the area has experienced growth and gentrification . Hundreds of single family homes and condominium units have been built or refurbished. As a result of the neighborhood's proximity to Center City and increasing desirability, a variety of new businesses catering to the increasingly gentrified population have opened. Despite the improvements,

338-467: The National Register of Historic Places . Residents are in the School District of Philadelphia . Most of Grays Ferry is zoned to Alcorn K-8 and Audenried High School . Some parts are zoned to Delaplaine McDaniel School (K-8) and South Philadelphia High School . Some parts in the southeast are zoned to Stephen Girard Elementary, E. H. Vare Middle, and Audenried High. Anthony Wayne School

364-669: The Philadelphia Housing Authority declared certain higher density housing as blighted , demolishing it and replacing with lower density, townhome-style public housing. In 2004, the Tasker Homes were demolished and replaced with the Greater Grays Ferry Estates. The new townhomes have increased tensions between working-class residents and occupants of Section 8 housing within the neighborhood. The reasons most often cited are memories of

390-537: The Schuylkill River . In the 18th century, Gray's Ferry was the southernmost of three ferries that crossed the Schuylkill River to Philadelphia . The neighborhood's namesake ferry originally belonged to a Benjamin Chambers in the 17th century. By 1747 George Gray had taken over the ferry, and established the nearby Gray's Inn and Gray's Garden , which were popular in the 1790s. The river is now spanned by

416-869: The 1960s a crosstown expressway running along South Street was planned. This would have created a barrier between Center City and the neighborhoods to the south. The result was widespread abandonment of properties in SWCC and the decay of the South Street business corridor. The loss of jobs and residents caused the neighborhood to decline as buildings were abandoned and left to deteriorate. The Marian Anderson House , Franklin Hose Company No. 28 , William S. Peirce School , Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Freight Shed , Royal Theater , St. Anthony de Padua Parish School , Edwin M. Stanton School , and Tindley Temple United Methodist Church are listed on

442-556: The 1980s, it has been often referred to as Graduate Hospital , after the medical facility on the northern edge of the neighborhood. This name has become merely historical in nature since the hospital closed in 2007. Despite this, it is still used and is sometimes shortened to G-Ho . The area is also referred to as South of South or So-So. A small corner of this area is sometimes known as Devil's Pocket . The neighborhood consists primarily of nineteenth and twentieth-century rowhouses interspersed with corner stores, 22 churches and

468-482: The Civil War. In 1870, it was predominantly an Irish American community; however, the neighborhood was in a transitional period, and by 1920, a majority of its residents were African Americans . It continued to experience significant in-migration from the south prior to, during, and immediately after World War II. It remained a solid working-class neighborhood for most of the first half of the twentieth century. In

494-480: The Springfield Beer Distributor and the former JFK Vocational Center (earlier the Marine Corps Depot of Supplies ), which were demolished. The Philadelphia Inquirer states that the area will be undergoing gentrification to the point that the area may no longer be known by its current name "Devil's Pocket." Furthermore, the area is expected to become a major contributor to Philadelphia's economy with

520-637: The area hosts Philadelphia's Odunde festival , a one-day festival and mostly a street market catered to African-American interests and the African diaspora . It is derived from the tradition of the Yoruba people of Nigeria , in celebration of the new year. It is centered at the intersection of Grays Ferry Avenue and South Street. Irish Catholic Irish Catholics ( Irish : Caitlicigh na hÉireann ) are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish . They have

546-488: The company and the local South of South Neighborhood Association, but this was soon resolved as the project was deemed a success. Universal Companies has since opened several small neighborhood businesses, low-income housing, and a charter school. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is expanding in the western part of the neighborhood and opened its first facility in 2017 along the Schuykill River. It replaced

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572-458: The delineation of these divisions, the contentions were primarily political and they were also related to access to power. For example, while the majority of Irish Catholics had an identity which was independent from Britain's identity and were excluded from power because they were Catholic, a number of the instigators of rebellions against British rule were actually Protestant Irish nationalists , although most Irish Protestants opposed separatism. In

598-571: The neighborhood still contains some abandoned and dilapidated housing, especially towards the south. The Grammy Award winning musician and local resident Kenneth Gamble founded Universal Companies in Southwest Center City to revitalize the neighborhood. Universal Community Homes, a division of the company, began the Universal Court housing project in the neighborhood in the 1990s. Originally, some tension existed between

624-408: The potential of $ 63 billion pumped into the economy as well as a job generator. The hospital has hired a consultant to plan the traffic patterns around the area as they did for Delaware Waterfront and New York's Battery Park . The plan is for "... three towers, of about 26 stories each, would be lined up along Schuylkill Avenue." The plans unveiled by the city show that Schuylkill Avenue is part of

650-502: The problems with Tasker Homes. Over the years, the neighborhood has seen numerous instances of racial violence. The Irish Catholics living in the neighborhood's modest row homes clashed with African Americans living in the demolished Tasker Homes and newly built Greater Grays Ferry Estates. There have been riots and beatings and, sometimes, killings. Tensions peaked in 1997 when Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan threatened to join marchers to protest racial violence, but spoke at

676-611: The time prevented its closure), and then closed completely in 2021. St. Thomas Aquinas School was to take the majority of St. Gabriel students. The Tasker Homes (also known as the Tasker Housing Project) were located at 29th and Morris Streets and visible from the Schuylkill Expressway . Originally, the housing project had 1,100 units and followed the city's general model of high-density, low-income housing. During Mayor John Street 's administration,

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