History

to deteriorate in the early 1920s. It was at this time when a University of Pennsylvania Fine Arts faculty member and architect, James P. Methany, seeing the potential of the area, built a house for his family at 2420 Pine Street. This, along with his persuasion of a friend, Joseph H. Horn of Horn and Hardart Company, to build another house at 2410 Pine Street, were all part of an attempt to revive and beautify Southwest Center City and the Fitler area. The house at 2410 still stands today and is a true spectacle, standing beautifully on the south side of Pine Street. Also, in 1953, the Center City Residents’ Association asked Norman Rice, an architect, to draft a plan to rehabilitate Fitler Square. In his large-scale project, Rice replaced the cracked cement walk s with curving pathways and covered the bare dirt with 10,000 ivy plants. When the restoration was complete, the park was a wonderful success, but this success was short-lived and the park was reduced to a few shrubs and the brick guardhouse. Vandals had stolen most of the plants, broken most of the benches, and torn out most of the ivy, leaving Fitler Square a sad mess of a park. In response to the vandalism of the park, in 1962, the Fitler Square Improvement Association (FSIA) was formed. In 1981, under the leadership of Mrs. John F. Wilson, the founder and president of the FSIA, Fitler Square underwent major restoration. The current brick pathway, light poles, and wrought iron fence were installed at this time. In thanks to Wilson, the surrounding residents dedicated the Victorian fountain, found in the center of the park and installed in 1976, to her name. Later, in 1982, 1983, and 1989, the three statues: “Fitler Square Ram,” “Grizzly,” and “Family of Turtles” were installed on either edge of the park.

As part of the areas other significant history, there were the building of the Crosstown Expressway in 1967 and the building of Graduate Hospital after that. Although the Crosstown Expressway ended in failure and was not actually built, it, and Graduate Hospital, caused a lot of displacement of working-class, mostly African American, citizens of South and Lombard Streets. Although both areas have now very much recovered from their blight, they have lost many residents who used to create the commercial center of South Street.

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Southwest Center City describes the neighborhood bounded by South Street to the south, Chestnut Street to the north, Eighteenth Street to the east, and the Schuylkill River to the west. It overlaps and is interchangeable with a number of other neighborhoods, including but not limited to Schuylkill, Fitler Square, Rittenhouse, and Graduate Hospital. The area has always been predominantly residential, although some of it is commercial, and in the past it has also been, in large portion, industrial. The neighborhood includes three main parks: Fitler Square in the southwest, Rittenhouse Square in the northeast, and the most recent addition, the Schuykill River Park along the Western border. Along the years, the neighborhood has seen a number of periods of urban blight and renewal, but overall has remained relatively stable, friendly, and culturally intact.

Philadelphia made its mark early on as an extremely industrial city. Much of Old City and Center City used to be occupied by factories. However, during the eighteenth century, as the city developed, the pollution of industries such as tanneries and brick-makers became a problem for residents. As a result, many of these industries were pushed toward Northern Liberties and westward toward the Schuylkill River. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw a number of industries emerge and disappear from the riverfront of the Schuylkill, including Baldwin Locomotive Works, Wetherill Paint and Chemical Company, and a number of coal and freight yards. During the nineteenth century, the area along the Schuylkill was converted in the Schuylkill River Park and Markward playground, known to many locals as Taney Park. Very recently, the area above the Schuylkill River Park has been converted into the Schuylkill River Path.

Rittenhouse Square is located in the northeastern corner of Southwest Center City. It is bounded by 18th Street to the East, Walnut St. to the north, Rittenhouse Square West, and Rittenhouse Square South. One of William Penn’s original five squares, it was initially called Southwest Square, but was renamed in 1825 after David Rittenhouse, a clockmaker and astronomer, as well as a descendant of the first paper-maker in Philadelphia. The square was originally used for grazing livestock, however the residents of the area raised funds to enclose the park with a fence and add trees and walkways, and the area quickly became a fashionable place to live. In 1913, the park was redesigned to include diagonal walkways, a large number of new trees, and the reflecting pool still used today as a place for children to play and office workers and residents alike to sit around and eat lunch.Since its beginning, the area has witnessed the establishment of numerous cultural institutions. One such institution is the Curtis Institute of Music, created in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok, and named after her father, Cyrus Curtis. With the goal in mind of helping musically gifted youth, Bok fused three mansions on Rittenhouse Square, creating the institution, and left the school with 12 million dollars. The institute now trains orchestral musicians, who most often proceed to join the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Another institution in the area is the Rosenbach Museum and Library, founded in 1954 through a donation by Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach and his brother, Philip Rosenbach, and located in two historic townhouses on the block of Delancey on which the brothers lived from 1926 to 1952. The two were known for their dealings in rare books, and role in creating private libraries that helped many rare books survive. The Rosenbach Museum’s core collection was once the brothers’ own personal collection. The museum's library now includes Bram Stoker’s notes for Dracula some of Maurice Sendaks original drawings.

The Civil War Museum of Philadelphia, considered the first Civil War museum in the United States, was located in Southwest Center City from its start in 1988 until 2008. The museum, until recently located on 18th and Pine, was created by veterans of the armed forces. The museum’s goal was to preserve memorabilia of the Civil War and to tell the stories of the men and women who lived through that time. It housed over 10,000 artifacts, photographs, and works of art. The museum closed in August of 2008, and its library was to be moved to the new Civil War Heritage Center to be built at the Union League of Philadelphia.