Juniata, Philadelphia

Juniata
Neighborhood of Philadelphia

The entrance of Erie-Torresdale along Erie and Kensington Avenues in Juniata.
Country  United States
State Pennsylvania
County Philadelphia County
City Philadelphia
Area code(s) Area code 215

Juniata (also known as Juniata Park) is a working class, predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in North Philadelphia, which is a section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Juniata is located south of the Juniata Golf Club in Tacony Creek Park. It is bordered to the northeast by Frankford, to the west by Feltonville, and to the south by Harrowgate and Port Richmond. The neighborhood is bordered by G Street to the west, Juniata Park to the north, Tacony Creek to the east, and by SEPTA rail tracks to the south. Juniata shares the ZIP code of 19124 with the nearby neighborhood of Frankford.

History

Prior to the 1920s, Juniata Park was mostly farmland. Nicetown Lane ran generally west to east from near the line of B St. and Erie Avenue through to the present-day Pike Street and Frankford Avenue. Powder Mill Lane ran from the present-day Wingohocking Street in Frankford southwest to Nicetown Lane, near the intersection of L and Lycoming Sts. I Street, from Ramona Avenue west, was called Fisher's Lane and ran generally through the west side of the Tacony Creek to the intersection of Harrowgate Lane, near the present day H Street and Ramona Avenue. Harrowgate Lane ran generally south and southeast into Harrowgate to the present day Atlantic Street, ending at Frankford Avenue.

The first row homes were built in Juniata Park, near Castor Avenue and Luzerne Street, in the mid-1920s. The western area of Juniata, around I and Cayuga Sts., was developed in the 1950s.

Facilities and infrastructure

The Market–Frankford Line elevated train stops in the neighborhood at the Erie-Torresdale Station, located at the intersection of Kensington, Erie, and Torresdale Avenues.

The Juniata News, the neighborhood's weekly community newspaper, was first published in July 1934.

Most of the neighborhood's retail and commercial establishments are situated along Kensington, Castor, Hunting Park, and Erie Avenues.

In 1935, the Carl Mackley Houses (now Apartments) were constructed on the block bounded by Castor Avenue, Bristol, M, and Cayuga Streets.

Schools

Churches

Recreation

In the 1960s and 1970s, its two playgrounds, green acres around the golf course, and a small stables at K Street and East Sedgley Avenue served as a great escape for kids in the surrounding neighborhoods who would walk or ride their bikes to it for a small touch of country in the city.

The Juniata municipal golf course, designed by Ed Ault in 1930, is an 18-hole, par-66 course that features the Frankford Creek as a water hazard in six of its holes.

Their little league was well known throughout the city as very competitive with many quality players. The 1964-65 Comets won 35 straight games led by Harry Heselpoth, Jack Schneider and Mark Wintersteen.

Population

The population is 13,617. When largely built in the 1920s and 1930s, Juniata Park had a mixed population, largely German-American, with German bakeries and delicatessen/grocery stores, and Jewish grocery and drug stores. The neighborhood was known as a heavily unionized area.

Over the past twenty years, Juniata transitioned from a predominantly working class Irish American community to a largely middle class Puerto Rican and Dominican community.[1] As of 2010, the neighborhood was 59.6% Hispanic, 18.1% White, 14.5% Black, and 7.7% Asian and other. Like much of the city's Lower Northeast neighborhoods, Juniata's crime rate has generally risen over the past decade; theft and vandalism are all too common in certain pockets of the neighborhood.

References

  1. ↑

Coordinates: 40°00′30″N 75°06′32″W / 40.008446°N 75.108786°W / 40.008446; -75.108786

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