Industrialization
From the Del to the El: a Neighborhood Evolving
Posted July 17th, 2008 by Scribe Video Center in
Producer of the Work / Filmmaker:
New Kensington CDC with Scribe Video Center
Year released:
2005
Length:
12 min 4 seconds
Price:
This video is available for purchase as part of a Precious Places Community History Project Vol.2 compilation DVD.
Wedged between the Delaware River and the El train, Fishtown is a working class neighborhood northeast of Center City in Philadelphia. True to its namesake, the area was known in the 1700s as a prime fishing and shipbuilding site, built by German and Irish immigrants. Massive industrialization later transformed the neighborhood into the "workshop of the world," but the neighborhood grew poorer as the factories left after the second World War. By the 1970s, many residents were leaving for the suburbs.
