Cherry Street (Philadelphia)

Cherry Street
Cherry Street in Chinatown with the Pennsylvania Convention Center in the back
Maintained byCity of Philadelphia
Postal code19102, 19103, 1904
NorthRace Street
SouthArch Street
Construction
Commissioned1682

Cherry Street is a minor east-west street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that runs parallel to Race Street to the north and Arch Street to the south. It was not one of William Penn's original gridded streets from the 1680s, and began as an alleyway, bridging from one numbered street to the next.[1] It is listed by name on the map in Birch's Views of Philadelphia (1800) – Race and Arch Streets are listed by their original names, "Sassafras" and "Mulberry." The earliest official use of the name Cherry Street was in 1809.[2]

Location

It is not continuous through the eastern half of Center City. On blocks it did not cut through, minor streets just north or south of it were assigned the name.[2] From Front to 2nd Streets it is called Elfreth's Alley, established in 1702, and purported to be the nation's oldest continuously-inhabited residential street.[3] From Bread to 3rd Streets it was called Fetter Street. From 3rd to 4th Streets it was called Hill Street.[4] From 4th to 7th Streets is it discontinuous because of the U.S. Mint, Independence Mall, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. From 7th to 11th Streets it passes through Philadelphia's Chinatown. From 11th to Broad (14th) Streets it is discontinuous because of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. A half-block of it, from Broad to Carlisle Streets, has been converted into a plaza and sculpture garden for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It is continuous from Carlisle to 23rd Street (the Schuylkill River), except for a slight jog at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It is extremely discontinuous in West Philadelphia; existing only between 32nd and 34th Streets (originally called Howell Street), a half-block between Conestoga and 55th Streets, and between 56th and 58th Streets.

History

In the late-18th century, an early free-black community existed around Cherry Street, between 5th and 6th Streets.[5] Among the residents was former-slave James Oronoko "Noke" Dexter, one of the founders of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. Archaeologists excavated the site of Dexter's house in 2003, prior to the building of the National Constitution Center.

Points of interest

Center City

From east in Center City near the Delaware River to west (near the Schuylkill River:

West Philadelphia

From Drexel University from 32nd to 34th Streets:

  • Elfreth's Alley, looking west toward 2nd Street
    Elfreth's Alley, looking west toward 2nd Street
  • NW corner 3rd and Cherry Streets
    NW corner 3rd and Cherry Streets
  • Plaza at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
    Plaza at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
  • Race Street Meeting House, NW corner 15th and Cherry Streets
    Race Street Meeting House, NW corner 15th and Cherry Streets
  • Embassy Suites Hotel, NW corner Cherry Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
    Embassy Suites Hotel, NW corner Cherry Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
  • Cherry Street Tavern, NE corner 22nd and Cherry Streets
    Cherry Street Tavern, NE corner 22nd and Cherry Streets
  • North Hall at Drexel University, NE corner 33rd and Cherry Streets
    North Hall at Drexel University, NE corner 33rd and Cherry Streets

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cherry Street (Philadelphia).
  1. ^ Robert F. Looney, Old Philadelphia in Early Photographs, 1839–1913 (Courier, 2013).[1]
  2. ^ a b Alotta, Robert I. (1990). Mermaids, Monasteries, Cherokees, and Custer: The Stories Behind Philadelphia Street Names. Chicago, IL: Bonus Books, Inc. p. 52. ISBN 9780933893900.
  3. ^ Elfreth's Alley Archived February 26, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, from ushistory.org.
  4. ^ "Historic Street Name Index".
  5. ^ Stephan Salisbury, "Beneath Independence Mall, story of early free black America," The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2, 2008.[2]

39°57′20″N 75°09′53″W / 39.955577°N 75.16475°W / 39.955577; -75.16475