September Advocacy Update

On Friday, September 13, the Philadelphia Historical Commission voted 9-0 (with one abstention and one recusal) to add the Washington Square West Historic District to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places!

The nomination, co-sponsored by the Preservation Alliance and the Washington Square West Civic Association, highlights how the district illustrates the development of Philadelphia’s residential and commercial core over more than two centuries. From the establishment of the Mikveh Israel Cemetery in 1740, through the growth of the City's Black community in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the emergence of the neighborhood as an LGBTQ+ community beginning in the 1960s, the neighborhood exemplifies several compelling narratives that distinguish it as one of Philadelphia's most significant historic areas.

This neighborhood is not just a collection of 18th to 20th-century buildings—it is a living testament to Philadelphia’s rich architectural and cultural legacy. 

The Preservation Alliance supports the preservation of Chinatown’s built environment, cultural identity and neighborhood vitality.

It is time for public sector decision-makers and policymakers to be proactive in working with the Chinatown community to find the right mix of tools, policies, and strategies that will protect not only historic buildings but also the people and intangible heritage qualities that make Chinatown special. We believe that a menu of regulatory tools and targeted incentive programs are key to protecting and preserving its vitality and cultural identity, arena or no arena, well into the future.

The 200-block of South Camac Street will regain its wooden pavers after being paved with asphalt in 2015 due to advanced deterioration.

The block is formally recognized as part of the city’s Historic Street Paving Thematic District, which recognizes historic paving across the city. The return of wood pavers reflects the street's rich cultural history, with roots dating back to 1813. It will once again become one of the only wood-paved streets anywhere. 

This restoration is part of Philadelphia's Historic Streets Project, funded by a $1.4 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Multimodal Transportation Fund in 2020. The city plans to use durable black locust wood and improve drainage to prevent issues that plagued previous restorations on Camac. The grant is also funding rehabilitation work on Waverly Street, Mermaid Lane, and Winston Road.

On September 27, Rep. Ben Waxman (D-Phila.), the Philadelphia Streets Department, Councilmember Mark Squilla, the Washington Square West Civic Association, and the Preservation Alliance celebrated additional funding for the rehabilitation of historic streets in the Washington Square West neighborhood.

This funding, another $1.4 million from the state’s Multimodal Transportation Fund, will be used to rehab five streets in the Washington Square West Historic District, including sections of Quince, Irving, Manning, Hutchinson, and Bonaparte. We applaud the continued effort to restore the City’s historic streets!

We're excited to announce that our Poquessing Creek Trail of History project has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage!

This funding will help us launch site-specific installations along the Poquessing Creek Trail to tell the stories of the diverse peoples of the Byberry neighborhood and the area’s role in early American history.

The project is co-sponsored with the Friends of Northeast Philadelphia History, in partnership with Byberry Quaker Meeting, the Society to Preserve Philadelphia African American Assets, the Friends of Poquessing Watershed, and the Delaware Tribe of Indians and in coordination with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks.