Mill Creekis a neighborhood in theWest Philadelphiasection ofPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania,United States. It sits between 44th and 52nd Streets, north of Market Street and south of Girard Avenue. It was named forPhiladelphia's Mill Creek,which was buried during 19th-century sewer system improvements. In 1961, the sewercollapsed,taking homes with it.
Mill Creek | |
|---|---|
 Rudolph Blankenburg School in Mill Creek, June 2010 | |
  Mill Creek | |
| Coordinates:39°57′58″N75°12′58″W/ 39.966°N 75.216°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Philadelphia |
| City | Philadelphia |
| Area code(s) | 215, 267, and 445 |
History and architectural features
editDuring the early 1800s, Mill Creek was used as a water and power supply source by area lumber companies and gristmills. Sometime after the end of theAmerican Civil War,as Philadelphia's population continued to grow, business and civic leader determined that upgrades were needed to the city's sewer system. One of the projects involved diverting a section of Mill Creek through an underground brick-covered sewer culvert, which was then covered over by landfill. This decision ultimately created "a submerged floodplain" that resulted in sewer collapses during the 20th century.[1]
In 1849, theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphiapurchased farm land in Mills Creek to createCathedral Cemetery,the first Catholic cemetery in Philadelphia[2]to support burials due to the influx of Catholic immigrants from Ireland and Germany.[3]
The neighborhood was formerly home to the Mill Creek Apartments, apublic housingproject that was designed byLouis Kahnduring the early 1950s.[4]Its three 17-story highrise project towers were demolished in 2002 and replaced withsuburban-style low-rise houses, a development named Lucien Blackwell Homes after thecongressman.[5]
Mill Creek was the site of the 2000 "Lex Street Massacre,"in which four men killed seven others and wounded three in retaliation for damage to a car, Philadelphia's worst killing spree in modern history.
TheRudolph Blankenburg School,theMayer Sulzberger Junior High School,andInstitute of the Pennsylvania Hospitalare listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[6]
References
edit- ^"Mill CreekArchived2023-09-29 at theWayback Machine,"in" West Philadelphia Collaborative History. "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, retrieved online April 30, 2023.
- ^Baldwin, Lou."After a glorious history, twin spires of West Phila. church will go silent".catholicphilly.com.CatholicPhilly.Retrieved4 November2024.
- ^Longwell, Lance."Old Cathedral Cemetery: Philadelphia Immigration Story".guidetophilly.com.LL-Squared LLC.Retrieved3 November2024.
- ^"User account | Stuart Weitzman School of Design".Archivedfrom the original on 2012-05-27.Retrieved2012-08-31.
- ^Eichel, Larry (December 5, 2005). "The New Urban Landscape, Mixed Blessings". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.July 9, 2010.
External links
edit- PHA's Lucien Blackwell Homes
- Restoring Mill Creek: Landscape Literacy, Environmental Justice, City Planning and Design,Anne Whiston Spirn
- Tearing Down Louis Kahn,New York Times