Black Bottom (Philadelphia)
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Black Bottom was a predominantly African American neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was razed for urban renewal in the 1950s and 1960s.
[edit] History
Situated in West Philadelphia generally north and east of 40th and Chestnut Streets, on the northern edge of the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, the Black Bottom was a portion of Hamilton Village nicknamed for its racial and economic status (wealthier, white residents lived at the "top", in areas farther west.) In the decades preceding Philadelphia's consolidation in 1854, the area was home to taverns and businesses catering largely to the stagecoach and cattle droving trades. After the Civil War it developed into one of West Philadelphia's affluent streetcar suburbs. The University of Pennsylvania relocated there in 1870. After World War I, wealthier residents moved further west into West Philadelphia and its suburbs leaving neighborhoods in eastern West Philadelphia in decline. The relative availability of cheap housing in the area attracted many African Americans, including migrants from the Southern States, who faced housing discrimination elsewhere in the city.
The University of Pennsylvania had expanded as far north as Walnut Street by 1920, but in 1959, Penn, Drexel University, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and Presbyterian Hospital sought to create large-scale redevelopment in the area to eradicate blight and develop of a "University City" neighborhood of residences and services for students, faculity and staff. Together, they created the West Philadelphia Corporation and acquired large numbers of properties for demolition.
Portions of the area were eventually declared blighted by the city, and remaining properties were purchased by eminent domain. The final buildings were demolished by the late 1960's. The number of displaced residents is estimated between 4,496 and 15,000 by various sources.
Former Black Bottom residents celebrate Black Bottom Day on the last Saturday in August in Fairmount Park.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Dr. Walter Palmer's Blackbottom Project
- The Corporation: "A New Concept for Old Neighbors"
- Profile's in Penn's History "Penn's West Philadelphia Campus"
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