Queen Village: Neighborhood Encourages the Preservation of Historic Homes
Queen Village is an area extraordinarily rich in history. The development of the neighborhood can be traced all the way back to the early 17th century when Swedish immigrants settled in the area slightly south of Philadelphia and began expanding north. Relatives of Öle and Andreas Swanson—the original owners of the 800-acre plot of land […]
Queen Village: Historic Homes Have Stories To Tell
Imagine Queen Village as it was in the early 1800s—a growing community located right outside of the capitol of a fairly recently independent nation. The U.S. Naval Shipyard was on the rise and offering plenty of jobs, although they were very low paying. The devastation of the yellow fever epidemic, which had swept the city […]
Queen Village: Used Book Store Offers More Than Books
Mostly Books, located at 529 Bainbridge St., is not your average used book store. Although it’s mostly books, hence the name, it also carries many other unique items. The store offers used CDs, artwork, personal photographs, DVDs, tapes and books on almost every subject. Mostly Books may look small from the outside, but once inside […]
Queen Village: Keeping Health a High Priority
Since its opening in 1969 Essene Market & Café, located at 719 S. Fourth St., has been providing the surrounding neighborhood with the some of the healthiest and most wholesome food around. Not only does Essene support organic and local farmers, it actually has the largest selection of organically grown produce and natural foods in […]
Bella Vista: Fleisher Art Memorial Encourages the Community to Create
Founded in 1898, the Fleisher Art Memorial, which was previously known as the Graphic Sketch Club, had a relatively simple mission—to provide arts education and instruction to individuals within the community. Although the name and the location of the institution have changed over the years, not much else differs in terms of the focus and […]
South Philadelphia: Nebinger School on the Rise
Faced with low test scores and gentrification in South Philadelphia, Ralph Burnley became the new principal in August of the George W. Nebinger School. The South Philadelphia school, which is located at Sixth and Carpenter streets, lies on the cusp of the up-and-coming Bella Vista and Queen Village neighborhoods. Despite the recent underperformance of the […]
South Philadelphia: The City’s Earliest Suburbs Become a Desired Destination
Let’s face it, the area is great. It’s old and quaint and its historic charm seems to translate seamlessly with current expectations of modern living. For residents of Bella Vista and Queen Village, many of whom have been living in the area for decades, South Philadelphia is an ideal place to live and invest both […]
Queen Village: Reinventing the Wheel
The spring-cleaning bug—we’ve all felt it. It’s that almost insatiable need to rearrange a room, dust and polish everything within sight and of course, throw stuff out. It is a time to get rid of all the stuff that you can’t remember why you ever bought in the first place. Out with the old and […]
Queen Village: A Thrift Store Helps AIDS Sufferers
Philly AIDS Thrift located on 514 Bainbridge St. has a reputation for having almost anything one could possibly think of. The store has so many items they seemingly fall out of the front door onto the sidewalk. Beyond having a wide variety of clothing, music, jewelry and house wares, Philly AIDS Thrift has a charitable […]
Queen Village: Making Biking Look Good
For many individuals living in the city, biking is more than just exercise or a convenient way around town—it is a lifestyle. Thusly, it is important that there are shops around town that cater accordingly to these individuals. This is where Bryan VanArsdale stepped in. Realizing that there was a huge market and need for […]