Delaware River Basin Project
 Delaware River Basin Project | Home | Study Area Geographical Information for PhiladelphiaGeographic LocationThe city of Philadelphia is situated in Philadelphia County in southeastern Pennsylvania, at the junction of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, and covers almost 130 square miles. It lies approximately 100 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean and about halfway between New York City and Washington, D.C. Philadelphia is located on a narrow strip of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, separated from the Piedmont Plateau by the fall line. The geographic coordinates in the center of downtown are approximately 39° and 57' latitude, and 75° and 10' longitude, with vertical elevations near sea level. Historical Information for PhiladelphiaSettlement History Historical Events Transportation History Economic HistoryHealth History Settlement HistoryEarly InhabitantsThe Algonquian Indian tribes, Delaware and Shawnee, first occupied this region, living in villages along the creeks and rivers before the first Europeans arrived. Village populations ranged from 100 to 300 people, and these villages were moved frequently to support population growth. First European Settlement By 1609 Dutch and Swedish colonists had explored, traded, and farmed along the Delaware River. In 1615 a navigator from the Netherlands viewed the land site that became Philadelphia. A Dutch trading post and stockade were established within the present limits of Philadelphia in 1623. In the mid-1600's, several treaties were signed with the Indian tribes for the purchase of their lands. Between 1643 and 1681, Swedes and Dutch settled in the area, as well as Finns and English. Most of them lived in cabins on good farming land near the river. Fur and tobacco were their main commodities for trading. First Colonial Settlement In March 1681 William Penn (an active Quaker) received the title to Pennsylvania in a land grant from King Charles II of England. Penn assigned a commission to select a location with suitable water frontage on the Delaware River. Penn arrived at the site to establish the city, Philadelphia, in October 1682. He planned a rectangular grid pattern on 1,200 acres between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. At this time, the plan consisted of a 22- by 8-block grid pattern, a building and housing layout, and potential for the city to grow. His plan also provided an innovative urban planning design of four public squares (now parks) and a town square (now City Hall). Penn's plan would influence the future growth of Philadelphia and help set the urban planning pattern for most later cities in America. Incorporation of City The governor and council established Philadelphia as the seat of government and capital of the colony of Pennsylvania in March 1683. During the next few years, Philadelphia expanded rapidly and flourished, with inhabitants numbering from a few hundred at first to a few thousand in 1700. Most settlers in the area now were Quakers or Friends from England, but as the community developed into a thriving trade center, increasing numbers of German, Scottish, and Irish immigrants arrived. The community was incorporated as a city in 1701. The population grew to about 7,000 in the early 1700's, and Philadelphia, a trading and manufacturing center, soon became a key port and major city before the American Revolution. Historical EventsCity of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia was the stage for many history-making events, the home of several prominent citizens and statesmen, and the site of some famous landmarks. Over the years, Philadelphia has had many nicknames, such as "Quaker City", "City of Brotherly Love", "Cradle of the Revolution", and "Nation's Birthplace". Many U.S. and State "firsts" were associated with the city of Philadelphia:
Philadelphia's industrial, commercial, and cultural growth was rapid during the 1700's. As one of the largest communities in the colonies, Philadelphia was the site of many historical events before, during, and after the American Revolution. The city played a significant role in the struggle for independence. After the French and Indian War in 1763, Britain's policy shifted toward stricter regulation of colonial trading. Because of disagreement with this policy and imposition of unpopular taxes by the British government, there was increasing support for independence among many Americans in the 1770's. By 1774 Philadelphia had become the military, economic, and political center of the colonies. The First Continental Congress convened at Carpenters' Hall in 1774. Congress rejected the plan that denounced British policy and instead adopted a commercial boycott against British trade goods. The Second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia in 1775, and, before the session began, fighting started between the colonists and British troops in Massachusetts, marking the beginning of the American Revolution. In Philadelphia at Independence Hall, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and announced it to the world. Philadelphia served as the seat of national government from 1776 to 1800 (except for a brief period in 1789 and 1790) until Washington, D.C., became the capital in 1800. From September 1777 to May 1778, the British occupied Philadelphia, the capital of the new Nation, while Congress met in the town of York. During that bitter winter, Valley Forge witnessed the heroic endurance of George Washington's army. In 1781 wartime financial needs influenced Congress to establish the Bank of the United States in Philadelphia, and the need for a stronger government was provided by the Articles of Confederation. The Philadelphia Convention was held in 1787 at the State House where the delegates drafted the Constitution of the United States. The State capital of Pennsylvania was moved from Philadelphia to Lancaster in December 1799. Civil War Philadelphia was the first large city north of the Mason-Dixon line to be involved in the Civil War. The city was home to several regiments of infantry and cavalry who fought for the Union. Thousands of soldiers and sailors were recruited within or near the city. Philadelphia was a principal provider of uniforms, munitions and rifles for the Army. The city's Navy Yard built 11 warships, and many other vessels were fitted for combat during the war. Many troops marched through the city's streets and to the train stations en route to the battlefields. Philadelphia received many of the returning wounded, and the Union set up the first military hospital in the city. Eventually the military hospitals in the city had over 10,000 beds and cared for over 150,000 soldiers and sailors during the war. Urban Planning Philadelphia began as a planned city. It was first laid out on a relatively level site by William Penn in the fashion of a checkerboard. Philadelphia urbanization at first involved the movement and clustering of people into the city and later the transformation of the rural countryside into suburbs, thus forming one large metropolitan area. Urbanization grew apace as immigrants came into the city. Philadelphia continued its street grid system indefinitely along the urban border. The rectangular survey of open farmland and the laying out of streets and blocks provided an effective and efficient method for rapid urban development. However, by the early 1900's, the city had outgrown itself; much of its growth happened without planning, which resulted in congestion. With improved highway networks, areas immediately outside the city became more accessible for development. Philadelphia continued to promote the city in the 1930's by issuing a pamphlet entitled "Philadelphia, Historic in the Past, Inviting in the Present, Superb in the Future," and implementing "The Regional Plan" for future expansion. The 1950's saw a heavy migration of people and industry to the suburbs and many downtown jobs were lost. Most large cities like Philadelphia were suffering from suburban growth where the suburbs grew faster than the city itself. Many neighborhoods, such as Germantown, East Falls, Queen Village, Bridesburg, Kensington, and Manayunk, would retain the environment of the ethnic groups that initially settled there. Philadelphia engaged in a series of self-improvement plans in the 1950's by replacing blocks of buildings with beautiful parks, modern buildings, and parking garages and by providing better transportation. During this urban renewal the city lost some significant architecture and Victorian structures. But these improvement plans were an attempt to revitalize the downtown area, and the appearance of downtown changed dramatically with major redevelopment and restoration projects. Some areas that were once industrialized and populated are now open areas for future use. The city of Philadelphia has maintained itself while preserving as much as possible of the old and integrating the new. Over the years, Philadelphia urban sprawl has extended nearly 100 square miles across southeastern Pennsylvania and into Delaware and New Jersey. The Philadelphia metropolitan area has expanded to the point that it merges with several nearby cities, forming a large urbanized area. The Philadelphia urban region is part of the huge, consolidated urban sprawl from Boston to Washington, and it is one of the few regions in the United States that has been urbanized for 300 years. Parks Originally in 1682, four public squares and a town square were set aside to be parks open to all. As the city expanded, conservationists made an effort to retain open green spaces. Eventually, other parks were established in Philadelphia. In 1855 the city dedicated the Lemon Hill Park, which was the foundation of Fairmount Park. Philadelphia now held a park of approximately 110 acres. By 1859 the city had planned an expansion for Fairmount Park. The park was the site of the Centennial Exposition in 1876. Today Fairmount Park covers over 8,000 acres along both sides of the Schuylkill River, and has many scenic drives, walks, bicycle routes, and trails. Transportation HistoryGeneralFrom the start, the agricultural and mineral resources of the Philadelphia region enticed investment in transportation. Because of this investment, Philadelphia was well provided with transportation facilities. The 19th century brought tremendous growth and development to the city. An intricate network of roads, bridges, canals, subways and elevated lines, bus and trolley services, and rail lines accelerated an already rapid westward expansion. Highways In the beginning, William Penn had encouraged road building in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Road south to Chester and Old York Road to the north). In the 1700's the road conditions were poor and travel grew heavier; about 30 miles per day was the limit a traveler could go. The Great Conestoga Road (Philadelphia Wagon Road) to Lancaster, nearly 70 miles away, was completed in 1741. This road was a major interior development, and by mid-century it was the most frequently used highway in America. Many roads were constructed in the city during the late 1700's, such as the Germantown and Reading roads and the Ridge Pike, which broke through the grid pattern of the city streets. Roads that fanned out from Philadelphia in 1790 were in poor condition, with deep holes and ruts. The idea of a turnpike from Lancaster to Philadelphia was visualized as a road of crushed stone construction and 20 feet wide, a type of road not yet used in America. Tollgates would be used to force payment and ensure the capital investment. Road construction was completed in 1794, and in spite of the tollgates, the cost of moving goods decreased. By 1821 Philadelphia had a network of paved toll highways from the city to New York City, Reading, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Baltimore, and into New Jersey. As the population increased, improvements were necessary on all main roads. By 1870 Philadelphia had paved over 300 miles of roads serving the city. In the early 1900's two important boulevards, the Roosevelt and the Parkway, were constructed; these provided better neighborhood access from the city. Over the years, Philadelphia established a good network of Federal, State, and local road systems. This improved highway network provided a means of tranportation for commuters in the suburbs and exerted a major influence on urban land use. The Pennsylvania Turnpike was the first major superhighway built in the United States. Railroads Philadelphia, which is among the Nation's leaders in railroad service, owns its local railway system. Railroads were one of the reasons for the city's industrial eminence, and building railroads in the 1800's was important to acheiving prosperity. The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad first opened 20 miles of track west of Philadelphia in 1832, and by 1834 the entire 82-mile line was completed. Soon railroads such as the Philadelphia and Germantown, Philadelphia and Trenton, Philadelphia and Erie, and Philadelphia and Reading were completed. By 1840 the rail connection to New York and the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore to the south had been completed, which provided Philadelphia with greater access to goods and commerce. Of all means of transportation, railroads had the greatest impact because they dramatically increased the speed of travel and the quantity of goods that could be moved. The combination of petroleum, coal, and iron resources provided expansion to the west for the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1850's, bringing more wealth to the city. The Philadelphia and Delaware River Railroad established passenger lines with horse-drawn streetcars in 1854. In the 1870's the valleys of Delaware and Schuylkill rivers were laced with railroad tracks, and some 35 miles of track were laid throughout the city alone. Waterways Philadelphia is about 90 miles from the mouth of Delaware Bay on the Delaware River. The city became the third largest port on the Atlantic Seaboard in 1690. After the revolution, Philadelphia had canal projects under way to reach the interior lands. The Schuylkill Canal was completed in 1825, reaching from Fairmont to Port Carbon above Reading, a total length of 108 miles. Coal and supplies were transported to and from Philadelphia. The Lehigh Coal Canal started operating in 1827 but had downstream navigation only for 56 miles. During this time, Philadelphia focused on shipbuilding, which became a very important industry for the city. The U.S.S. Pennsylvania, launched in Philadelphia, was the largest ship in the world in 1837. Philadelphia, the focus of ocean traffic for the State of Pennsylvania, is one of the nation's busiest handlers of water-transported goods. The Port of Philadelphia, on the Delaware River, is the largest U.S. port, the world's busiest freshwater port, and a major port of entry that handles several thousand cargo ships each year. Along the waterfront are several facilities for refining petroleum and sugar, generating electricity, and processing and distributing goods. Bridges Since Philadelphia's beginning there had been ferries for crossing waterways, and from the time of the American Revolution there had been two floating bridges across the Schuylkill River. The first bridge in the city, on Front Street, was a drawbridge over Dock Creek built in 1700. A wooden bridge known as the "First Permanent Bridge" was constructed across the Schuylkill at Market Street in 1804. A newly designed bridge constructed at the Falls of Schuylkill in 1809 was known as the "The Chain Bridge." By 1810 many bridges were built throughout the city, and the major pikes had structured bridges. A railroad bridge was constructed over the Schuylkill in 1838, replacing the old Gray's Ferry. The Delaware River Bridge, also known as the Benjamin Franklin, was completed in 1926 with a span of nearly two miles. It was then considered to be the longest suspension bridge in the world. The city had several development projects during the 1930's, and one was the University Bridge. During the 1950's and 1960's many improvements were made, in the construction and widening of bridges, underpasses, and overpasses to relieve congestion in the area. Two very important bridges built over the Delaware River were the Walt Whitman and the Betsy Ross. Mass Transit Throughout Philadelphia a dense network of street railways existed in the 1850's, and by 1880 the city led all American cities in the length of its horse-car lines. Eventually these were converted to cable cars in the 1880's and to electric trolleys in the 1890's. An important Philadelphia transportation development was the Market Street Subway, the city's first underground railway built in 1907. The Broad Street Subway was completed in the 1920's to expand the city's rapid transit system. By the 1930's, both subways had been extended in the city, and work on the Locust Street Subway had begun. By 1955 trackless trolleys had replaced the trolley cars on rails to relieve congestion in the business district. Mass transit was provided mainly by trolley or bus lines, which networked across the metropolitan area. Airports By the end of World War II, Philadelphia had established an airport, but it needed to be enlarged and improved to support air traffic. In 1954 the Philadelphia International Airport was dedicated along the Delaware River. At first air traffic was light, but the airport had become nearly inadequate to demands by 1960. The city immediately started an expansion plan to keep up with air traffic demands. Today Philadelphia International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the State. Economic HistoryPhiladelphia EconomySince the colonial period, Philadelphia has had healthy economic growth. Abundant forests and rich farmlands have been important natural resources since the colonial settlers arrived. Industrialization grew swiftly as immigrants came to Philadelphia with their skills and knowledge. Transportation, navigable rivers, and proximity to the eastern shore have also contributed to a rapid commercial, industrial, and cultural growth. During the 19th century Philadelphia began moving toward manufacturing for economic growth, and despite recurring financial panics and depressions, the city boomed between 1830 and 1860. By 1850 it was the world's largest manufacturer of pharmaceutical chemicals, and other important products and industries included iron machinery and tools, textiles, glass, furniture, ships, printing, and publishing. Philadelphia was an early center of the abolitionist movement, and during the Civil War it was a major industrial supplier for the Union. After the war, the city's economy continued to grow at an alarming rate while attracting immigrants from many European countries. After World War I, Philadelphia experienced a time of economic and social transformation characterized by a relative decline in and reorganization of agriculture, an increase in the importance of service activities complementing the manufacturing/industrial sector, a series of migration flows (urban to rural), and changed methods and rates of movement for both people and goods. These economic changes had dramatic spatial effects and the transformation made progress where accompanied by a relocation of population. The most important change was the redistribution of manufacturing activities from the city to the countryside. Improved transportation led to increased land values, rapid residential developments, and the movement of center city families to the countryside. During the suburb explosion from the 1950's through the 1970's, Philadelphia's economic growth was slow compared to other cities in the United States, but growth began to occur at a faster rate than in the rest of the country during the 1980's. Today, Philadelphia's economy is one of the most diverse in the United States. It is based on a system of manufacturing, commercial, and technological activities, and on tourism. In the downtown area, there are many headquarter offices for major regional, national, and international corporations, as well as several facilities for pharmaceutical, computer, and technology companies. The banking and insurance industries also are very important to this growing economy. Large groups of industrial and manufacturing plants are located in the suburbs and nearby neighborhoods. Philadelphia has several medical schools, numerous colleges and universities, and many private research firms. Health HistoryPhiladelphia experienced its first epidemic in 1762 with yellow fever. In the summer of 1793, an epidemic of yellow fever was raging again in Philadelphia. This epidemic brought death to a tenth of the population in one of the worst disasters to strike an American city. The disease affected not only the population but business in the city. The persistent yellow fever returned in 1794-1798, but it was not as severe as in 1793. Philadelphia immediately started programs for improving sanitation and making the city cleaner. Because of yellow fever reoccurrence in the city, a hospital was opened in 1810 for contagious diseases.The cholera epidemic in 1832, with over 900 reported deaths, posed another big challenge for Philadelphia's physicians. Typhus broke out several times in the 1840's, causing over 200 deaths. Again in 1849 the cholera epidemic brought the death toll to over 1,000. Public concerns were raised again for improving the city's health, and many believed there was a connection between sanitation and diseases. Malarial fevers were raging between downtown and the Schuylkill River and south between the rivers in the 1850's. Other reported cases were smallpox and scarlet fever in 1852 with 400 deaths each, yellow fever in 1853 with 100 deaths, and another cholera epidemic in 1866. It was estimated that more than 10 times as many people died of malaria and tuberculosis than of cholera. Most people died gradually with malaria and tuberculosis compared to the rapid deaths from cholera. The connection between poverty and disease became evident during this time period. The huge population growth, increased number of immigrants, large urban growth and deterioration, and industrialization contributed to the rising mortality rate. Many of the problems in Philadelphia centered on sewage disposal, water supply, street cleanliness, and housing upkeep. Philadelphia had experienced cholera and typhoid epidemics in the 1890's, which had caused a push for better water systems in the city. The typhoid fever death rate was the highest in the Nation, over 1,000. By 1908 Philadelphia had opened a huge water filtration plant, which helped reduce the number of sick by one-half that year. For additional information on Philadelphia history, timelines, and other facts, please visit The Independence Hall Association's Philadelphia Page top Philadelphia Population DataPopulation DataPopulation History Philadelphia Trends Philadelphia had more than 23,000 people in 1760. The first official U.S. Census in 1790 provided a total count of 28,552 residents in Philadelphia but an estimated 42,000 in the area. By 1800 Philadelphia ranked first in population with 70,000 and New York was second with 60,000. The following years resulted in spectacular population gains for Philadelphia; by 1840, 93,665, and by 1850, 121,376. When the city limits were extended to the county boundaries and several surrounding settlements were annexed, the city population was over half a million residents in 1860; more than 90 inhabitants per square mile. The city itself became one large urban area covering 6 square miles. Until the 1880's Philadelphia was ranked the second largest city in the United States. In the 50 years from 1880 to 1930, Philadelphia's population doubled, and it held the status of third largest city until the 1950's. The city was 1 of 10 whose population exceeded 1 million. In the early 1900's the city experienced its greatest population increase for any other time period. The number of inhabitants grew by nearly a third as a result of the flood of immigrants to America before World War I. The percentage of foreign-born inhabitants in the city's population grew to 25 percent in 1910. It was estimated that one-quarter of the city's inhabitants were living beyond the Schuylkill River in 1912. In 1930 the metropolitan region population had grown to 2.8 million, and the city itself contained 1.9 million, with nearly 1 million in adjacent counties. top |
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