Talk:Franklinville, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Contents 1 Boundaries don't seem to make sense

[edit] Boundaries don't seem to make sense

Sedgley, Broad, and Hunting Park do not form a triangle. --NE2 10:49, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, they do form most of a triangle (although the eastern corner of the triangle is truncated by Front Street). But my problem with this definition of Franklinville is that it swallows up Hunting Park. Somethin ain't right! — Lumbercutter 12:42, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Franklinville appeared to be one of the given names of the neighborhood in which a well-documented madman named Gary Heidnik lived and acted out on some unspeakable criminal acts, which was on the 3500 block of Fairhill St. (inbetween 6th and 7th Streets a block south of Erie Avenue). Though Franklinville was mentioned as this neighborhood, it was also called "Tioga" in some articles referring to the crime as well as in the vicinity of Temple U. Hospital. I refer to this area as part of Hunting Park neighborhood of North Philadelphia.

My feeling is, is that there seems to be evidence that this neighborhood might have been much smaller, perhaps within the confines of Front and W. Sedgley to the east and south; to the west to Germantown Avenue/Broad Erie and to the north to Erie Avenue, which could form a very thin strip of land that could be a triangle since W. Sedgley curves.

The evidence is that there was (at least of a year ago) a crumbling mound of debris with a facade that says "Welcome to Franklinville" around 5th or 6th and Sedgley.

What happened to the neighborhood? It appears to me that it belongs in with Hunting Park, but what was the reason for change in name and when did this all cease to exist? My gut feeling was that it might have had to do with the bad press in the late 80s from the Heidnik fiasco and that neighborhood officials as well as people involved in real estate and business decided to call it a day and align itself with the larger surrounding neighborhood of Hunting Park, which has had a somewhat stronger role as a viable neighborhood in north Philadelphia.

This is really just my own speculation, but since this portion is a forum I thought I'd share.- Lionel P. Jameson

That could be true. My own tentative hypothesis is that the name "Franklinville" was an earlier name further back in the 19th century than "Hunting Park" was, and "Hunting Park" has been gradually eclipsing it for most of the last 100 years. However, that was just my guess, and I haven't had time to search for any local histories (let alone read them!). If I find any interesting sources, I'll mention them here. — Lumbercutter 03:05, 26 June 2007 (UTC)