Did you ever wonder who lived in your house in the decades before you? We generally know something about our immediate predecessors, but what about the first residents? Were the houses on your block generally owner-occupied in 1900? Did you ever wonder who these “Victorians” were? The Historic Preservation Committee of the Powelton Village Civic Association has been collecting information about the earliest residents of Powelton Village. Taken as a whole, this information provides a unique look at a Victorian neighborhood.
The information we are finding is being added to the Interactive Map on PVCA’s website: http://poweltonvillage.org/interactivemap. The basic information comes from the censuses of 1860-1930 which give names and some social characteristics such as place of birth and occupation. This has been supplemented using city directories for the 1850 and ‘60s, 1887-1895, and 1950. Once we have names, we can start Googeling. (You can also Google addresses.) We have found an astonishing array of genealogies, biographies, news items, etc. that provide interesting insights into who these people were and how they were related. We have also started searching Philadelphia newspapers for the 19th and the 20th centuries on-line. With help from the University City Historical Society, we were able to collect information on about 1,000 dead transfers which are very helpful in a neighborhood where many houses were rentals.
Without the interactive map, this would just be a disk full of data. The interactive map is based the 1927 Bromley Atlas. It shows almost all of the houses that were ever in the area. A mouse click on a house provides extensive information about the architecture, the owners, and previous residents. There are photos of most houses and we are adding photos of previous residents.
The map is designed for “touring” the neighborhood. Each page has links to neighboring houses so you can tour a block. For example, starting at the Riebenack mansion (now Drexel University’s Ross Commons) at 34th and Powelton you can follow down 34th St. to see who lived where Drexel’s new Millennium Hall now stands. Other links help you follow individuals or families as they moved around the neighborhood. For example, take a tour of the homes of Kevin Bacon’s father and grandparents starting at 3603 Baring St. Interested in houses that aren’t there anymore? Try the houses where the Powel School stands (3501 and 3515 Powelton Ave. and 302 and 304 N. 35th St.). The large house that was at 207 N. 35th St. (now a parking lot) and the house at 3500 Powelton Ave. (now replaced by the Powelton Apartments) had fascinating histories and we have links to numerous photos. A red square marks 3316 Baring St. which once sat on the land now occupied by 3308-3310 Baring and 3315-3333 N. 34th. In addition, this blog is filled with links to individual addresses mentioned in the text.
There are many surprises. For example, George Washington Taylor was a leader in the anti-slavery movement who boycotted goods made with slave labor. Isaac Ray laid the medical and legal foundation for the “insanity defense.” Architect Frederick Thorne designed his home (205 N. 36th St.) in a Victorian style that reflects Japanese design. Some Poweltonians were members of the corrupt Republican machine that ran Philadelphia for decades (e.g., Richard Peltz) as well as Republican reform politicians (e.g., Erastus Poulson). There are many, many more.
The map now has entries for about 450 houses with information from an average of more than three censuses each. The quantity and quality of the information available through the Interactive Map probably rivals (and may well exceed) what is available for any historical population of comparable size. There is much more to add and we are posting new information every week.
A number of people have contributed to the map including: Keith Roeckle who set up and maintains the clickable map; Sabra Cameron who searched for additional information; and John Wheeler who collected and organized extensive information from deed transfer summaries. Scott Ryder has helped me with all aspects of the search for information. He has also helped immensely with all questions about architecture and we have coauthored many articles.
(Reproduced in part from the Powelton Post.)
