Brewerytown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Site of the Bergdoll Brewery Company, 29th and Parrish Street

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Brewerytown is a neighborhood in the North Philadelphia district of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. An unofficial region; Brewerytown runs approximately between the Schuylkill River's eastern bank and 23rd Street, bounded by Cecil B. Moore Avenue in the north and Parrish Street in the south. As its name suggests, Brewerytown is so called because of the numerous breweries which were located along the Schuylkill during the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is now primarily a residential neighborhood, with an active commercial sector along Girard Avenue. Despite struggling with poverty in recent decades, Brewerytown has seen a recent influx of young professionals, and it is considered a neighborhood on the rise.

[edit] History

The earliest indications of this legacy can be seen on maps from the 1860's, which list several minor brewers and distillation facilities in this region. Proximity to the river and nearby farmland allowed these establishments to flourish, and as demands increased, so did development in Brewerytown. Much of the expansion into the early 20th century was handled by architect Otto Wolf, who oversaw the construction of over 60 buildings in the area, bringing a distinct German texture to the houses, saloons, and breweries of the area. Some of his buildings are still standing, including the Bergdoll Brewing complex, and F.A. Poth Brewing. Columbia Park, former home of the Philadelphia Athletics major league baseball team, was located at 30th and Oxford Streets in the neighborhood.

At its peak, 700 breweries operated across Philadelphia, several in a 10 block area of Brewerytown. Unfortunately, with the collapse of local industry later in the 20th century, and beer production moving primarily to the midwest, every single brewer had vanished by 1987. The industry has slowly returned to the city, but at nowhere near the capacity of its heyday. Ironically, there are still no currently operational breweries in Brewerytown. During this late 20th century slump, the entirety of North Philadelphia, Brewerytown included, was hit hard by economic depression, white flight and a myriad of other factors. Much of the area was deemed blighted by the city government. For the last few decades, Brewerytown has been a predominantly poor, African-American neighborhood.

In 1991, the Brewerytown Historic District was certified by the National Register of Historic Places. The district contains 380 buildings and is roughly bounded by 30th St., Girard Ave., 32nd St. and Glenwood Ave.[1]

[edit] Gentrification

Recently there has been a trend towards gentrifying Brewerytown. The Girard Avenue commercial corridor has improved, along with increases in property values all across the city. In 2004 The Westrum Development Company announced a multi-million dollar real estate project, known as Breweryown Square, which is to create hundreds of housing units aimed at middle class buyers. The project is opposed by the community group AABRA, or African-American Business & Residents Association, which is led by Al Alston. The group claims that Westrum is attempting to drive out long time, lower-income residents in favor of wealthy, young urban professionals, by driving up property values. AABRA is engaged in a lawsuit with the city of Philadelphia of Brewerytown land rights. Despite the ongoing legal proceedings, the first Westrum housing units are already on sale to consumers. AABRA has threatened to create an alternative development called "Songhai City" (in reference to the Songhai Empire), a proposed mecca for black culture. In August of 2006, AABRA leader Al Alston overturned a city government decision which deemed the proposed Sonhai City property blighted. The location, a dilapidated garage, was set to be acquired by Westrum Development, razed, and rebuilt as townhouses in accordance with the developers massive reconstruction efforts in the neighborhood. The decision, a surprise to Westrum which had considered the matter settled, will now force the developer to build around the property, which sits close to what will become the heart of Brewerytown Square. Alston has reopened the garage as a community center, though by his own admission, it is decidedly targeted at the older, poorer Brewerytown community and not the younger and wealthier incoming residents. Little compromise has been reached, and the Westrum development continues to be a source of contention between the residents of Brewerytown, new and old.