More philadelphia photos
Dock scenes, old buildings and street shots
(Photos ©urban75, Dec 2006, words, ©Siobhan Lyons March 2008)




Tug Boat Annie's, 901 S. Columbus Boulevard

Breakfast and lunch shack on the waterfront near Pier 40.


Delaware River


Delaware river piers, Delaware Avenue and Carpenter

These surviving freight piers were built in the early 1900s as part of a plan to upgrade the Delaware as a shipping channel. Piers 38 and 40 are now private storage facilities.

Fabulous article on the decline of the Delaware waterfront here.




Municipal Pier 38


Philly skyline

Liberty One and Two in the background.


Battleship New Jersey

USS New Jersey is an Iowa-class battleship ordered by the United States Navy to escort the Fast Carrier Task Forces in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.

Launched in 1942, New Jersey is the most decorated battleship in US naval history, having earned the Navy Unit Commendation for service in Vietnam and a total of 19 battle stars for service in World War II, the Korean war and the Vietnam war, as well as service in Lebanon and the Gulf.

New Jersey was decommissioned for the last time in 1991 and is now a museum ship in Camden, New Jersey.


Moshulu, Penn's Landing, 401 S. Columbus Boulevard

Floating restaurant and bar docked at Penn's Landing. The largest four-masted ship still afloat, Moshulu was built in 1904 by W. Hamilton and Co. at Port Glasgow on the River Clyde.

Originally called Kurt, Moshulu was made famous by Eric Newby, a British writer and travel editor for The Observer, who wrote of his time on board the ship in The Last Grain Race. And while the Philly docks are not quite as exciting as sailing the world, the bar here is worth a visit and a lovely place to spend a summer afternoon.


Ben Franklin Bridge

One of the four main bridges linking Philadelphia to New Jersey, the Ben Franklin was briefly the largest suspension bridge in the world on its completion in 1926.




USS Olympia and the USS Becuna

Launched in 1892, USS Olympia was the flagship of Commodore George Dewey in his victory over the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in 1898 and is both the oldest steel warship and the only American warship from the Spanish American war still afloat. Olympia was decommissioned in 1922.

USS Becuna is Balao-class submarine launched in 1944. Becuna completed five war patrols in the Pacific during World War II, earning four battle stars, before being converted to a Guppy 1-A nuclear submarine in 1951. Becuna was decommissioned in 1969.


Olympia and Becuna


Screw propeller from the Becuna


Dock Street

Society Hill Towers (designed by I.M. Pei) can be seen in the background.


Philly streets




Headhouse Square, 2nd and Lombard

Headhouse Square is an open-air marketplace dating back to 1745. The square takes its name from the headhouse or fire station pictured above, which was built in the early 1800s and is the oldest firehouse in the United States.

The original market buildings, known as the Shambles, were rebuilt in the 1960s and now house a farmer's market on weekends during the summer.


Christchurch, 22-26 N. 2nd Street

Christchurch was founded in 1695, the first parish of the Church of England in Pennsylvania.

After the American revolution, Christchurch also saw the birth of the American Episcopal Church, which formally separated from the Church of England in 1789 to exempt its clergy from taking an oath of loyalty to the British crown. The current building dates from the 18th century.

Website: christchurchphila.org


Mural

Philly prides itself on having more murals than any other city in the world, nearly 3,000 of them. Much of this is thanks to the Mural Arts Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to youth development through the medium of art and which also organizes mural tours around the neighbourhoods of Philadelphia.


The Drake, 1512-1514 Spruce Street

Built in 1929 as a luxury hotel, The Drake was designed by the firm Ritter & Shay, a prominent architectural firm whose Art Deco skyscrapers dominated the skyline of 1920s Philadelphia.

Other Philadelphia landmarks by Ritter & Shay include the Packard building, the U.S. Custom House and One East Penn Square (now a Marriott hotel).


Avenue of the Arts Running from Glenwood Avenue in north Philly to Washington Avenue in the south, Avenue of the Arts is a three-mile stretch of museums, galleries, restaurants and theatres along Broad Street.




Stone detail, City Hall


The view from City Hall

Looking west down Market Street


Art Institute of Philadelphia, 1622 Chestnut Street

The Art Institute of Philadelphia occupies the original home of Philadelphia's CBS affiliate, WCAU, in what was the first building in America to be designed specifically for a radio station.

This Art Deco masterpiece was designed by architects Gabriel Roth and Harry Sternfeld and completed in 1928.


Continental Mid-town, 1801 Chestnut Street

One of the restaurants in the Stephen Starr empire.


Mural

Commerce Square highrise in the background.




College of Physicians, 22nd and Chestnut

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, founded in 1787, is the oldest professional medical organization in the United States.

It is also home to the Mütter Museum, a macabre collection of medical instruments and specimens, ranging from the world's largest colon to the death masks of Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins.


First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, 2125 Chestnut Street

The First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia was founded in 1796. The church building was designed by Frank Furness, one of Philadelphia's most celebrated architects, whose father also happened to be the church's first minister.

The stained glass windows are by John La Farge and Louis Tiffany & Co., and the church also features a three-manual 50-rank Casavant organ.

And if religious music is not your thing, the church's basement also doubles as a popular live venue, showcasing punk and alternative bands. www.r5productions.com


Lil Spot, Juniper and Chestnut

Donut shop that has since, unfortunately, closed.


Reading Terminal Market



« Philadelphia photos home