Fishtown: Five Fish to Catch Around the Neighborhood

Packed with bars, music venues and coffee shops, the community members of Fishtown are united by location, interests – and their love of fish. The community displays its slippery mascot in various ways throughout the streets, as evidenced by these five works of art below.

Welcome to Fishtown

Stopping to smell the roses may be hard to do in a neighborhood that has this many new construction projects underway. That doesn’t stop Fishtown from being a welcoming neighborhood, giving local residents an outlet for their creativity in any way possible. Residents and businesses alike take pride in their neighborhood and display that with fish.

No dumping

Scattered throughout the neighborhood, these stickers remind residents to treat their drains with respect. With the Delaware River as one of its borders, Fishtown’s drains lead right into the rivers. These reminders, left by the Philadelphia Water Department, spread a good message while appealing to Fishtown’s namesake.

Heads up

The neighborhood is filled with outdoor art featuring fish that remind you, yes, you are in Fishtown. One example is this overhang featuring a metallic school of fish. This structure is located above 20th Century by HFKA, a fine arts and antiques gallery on the 1300 block of Frankford Avenue.

Residential fish

Not only do businesses use fish as decorations to show their pride, but so do the residents. This fish can be spotted on a porch near Fishtown Tavern, an old-school local bar that offers great beers and food.

Steap and Grind

Located on the 1600 block of Frankford Avenue, Steap and Grind welcomes its customers with an iron fish on door. Known for its wide range of loose teas and fair prices they serve the community in-house and at home.

Feed the fish

With help from the thriving art scene, Fishtown is keeping its streets clean using a fun and artistic outlet for its neighbors. This trashcan is one of many in a series created for the Feed the Fish program. Unveiled in 2014, local artists and students sculpted and painted the fish heads that serve as lids for the cans. This creative program raises awareness to keeping streets clean and provides a creative outlet for local artists.

– Text and images by Khaliha Hawkins and Logan Krum.