Society Hill

This article is about the Philadelphia neighborhood. For other uses, see Society Hill (disambiguation).
Society Hill Historic District
Head House Square on the 400 block of S. 2nd Street
Map of Center City Philadelphia with Society Hill outlined in red
Society Hill is located in Philadelphia
Society Hill
Location of Society Hill in Philadelphia
Society Hill is located in Pennsylvania
Society Hill
Society Hill (Pennsylvania)
Society Hill is located in the United States
Society Hill
Society Hill (the United States)
LocationCenter City, bounded by 8th, Front, Walnut, and Lombard Streets[2][note 1]
Coordinates39°56′42″N 75°08′56″W / 39.945°N 75.149°W / 39.945; -75.149
Area163 acres (66 ha)[5]
Built18th-century and later
Architectural styleGeorgian, Federal, Greek Revival
NRHP reference No.71000065[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 23, 1971
Designated PRHPMarch 10, 1999[6]

Society Hill is a historic neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 6,215 as of the 2010 United States Census.[7] Settled in the early 1680s, Society Hill is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Philadelphia.[8] After urban decay developed between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an urban renewal program began in the 1950s, restoring the area and its many historic buildings.[9] Society Hill has since become one of the most expensive neighborhoods with the highest average income and second-highest real estate values in Philadelphia.[10] Society Hill's historic colonial architecture, along with planning and restoration efforts, led the American Planning Association to designate it, in 2008, as one of the great American neighborhoods and a good example of sustainable urban living.[11]

The neighborhood hosts one of the largest concentrations of original 18th- and early 19th-century buildings in the United States.[3][12] Society Hill is noted for its Franklin street lamps,[13][11] brick sidewalks, cobblestone and Belgian block streets bordered by two- to four-story brick rowhouses in Federal and Georgian architecture, and public buildings in Greek Revival architecture such as the Merchants' Exchange Building[note 2] and the Old Pine Street Church.[3]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Society Hill (and Pennsylvania Hospital of Washington Square West) Historic District" (PDF), phila.gov, Philadelphia Historical Commission, City of Philadelphia, p. 1, archived from the original (PDF) on November 1, 2016, retrieved December 14, 2016, Note: PDF file link found on phila.gov/historical/register/Pages/districts.aspx
  3. ^ a b c "Philadelphia Register of Historic Places - Society Hill Nomination" (PDF). phila.gov. Philadelphia Historical Commission, City of Philadelphia. March 10, 1999. pp. 1–2. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 1, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016. Note: PDF file link found on phila.gov/historical/register/Pages/districts.aspx
  4. ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form". nps.gov. National Park Service. June 23, 1971. p. 5. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference City-Data was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference PRHP districts was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Leading the Way: Population Growth Downtown" (PDF). centercityphila.org. p. 4. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  8. ^ The Center City District dates the Free Society of Traders to 1683. See "Neighborhood: Society Hill". centercityphila.org. Retrieved December 22, 2016. Other sources show that the Society was established in 1681. See Lance R. Eisenhower. "Free Society of Traders". philadelphiaencyclopedia.org. Retrieved December 30, 2016. William Penn did not arrive until October 1682. See History of Philadelphia.
  9. ^ Orso, Anna (18 March 2015), Society Hill: Philly's richest ZIP code, where The Sixth Sense was filmed and Chase Utley lives, BillyPenn.com, retrieved December 30, 2016
  10. ^ As of 2013, the median household income in Society Hill was $93,222, and the average income was $145,260, which are the highest values for any neighborhood in Philadelphia. "Philadelphia 2013: The State of the City" (PDF). pewtrusts.org. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  11. ^ a b Great Places in America -- Society Hill: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, American Planning Association, 2008, retrieved December 30, 2016
  12. ^ Dowdall, George W. (2015), Society Hill, The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, retrieved December 30, 2016
  13. ^ FRANKLIN STREET LAMPS, Philadelphia, Forgotten New York, May 16, 2015, retrieved December 30, 2016


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).