Bridesburg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Bridesburg, Pennsylvania)
Jump to: navigation, search
Map of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania highlighting Bridesburg Borough prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854
Map of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania highlighting Bridesburg Borough prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854

Bridesburg is a neighborhood in the Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Contents

As of the 2000 Census, Bridesburg's 19137 ZIP code had a population of 8,069, of which 95.5% was white, 1.1% was black or African-American, 0.5% was American Indian or Alaska native, 0.4% was Asian, and the remaining 2.5% was other or mixed races. Of these, 2.9% identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino.[1] It is noted for it's concentration of Polish-American and Irish-American residents

The historic boundaries of Bridesburg (the former incorporated borough) were the original bed of Frankford Creek around the north and west, the Delaware River to the southeast, and Port Richmond to the southwest, along a border at Pike Street.[2] With the diversion of Frankford Creek in 1956 and the construction of I-95 in the late 1960s, these have become the effective southwest and northwest borders. Adjacent neighborhoods are Wissinoming to the northeast, Frankford to the northwest, and Port Richmond to the southwest.

The 19137 ZIP Code, called "Bridesburg", of which Bridesburg proper is the major part, extends, however, as far to the southwest as Castor Avenue, and includes some area to the northwest of I-95 and the original bed of Frankford Creek.

Before the arrival of European settlers, the Lenni Lenape Indians inhabited the Delaware Valley region. The explorer Henry Hudson, in 1609, was the first European to set foot in this region, and based on his findings these Indians were considered to be the first inhabitants of the area. The Delaware Indians also lived in this area and received their name by the English, after the Delaware River.

In 1683 land was bought west of the Delaware River from the Indians and named New Sweden by the Swedes. These people lived with the Indians on very friendly terms. By 1645 the Swedes had expanded to the Northeast section of Philadelphia and in 1647 the Dutch came. It was not until the 1680s when the English came with William Penn that the area was actually developed. After 1750, Germans then settled in the area, particularly in Bridesburg and Frankford.

The region was known in Colonial times as Point-no-Point, due to the deceptive appearance of the blunt cape at the mouth of the creek. When first seen going northward it appeared to be a point, boldly jutting out into the stream and upon coming nearer, it lost its character and seemed to be an ordinary portion of the right bank; on further approach it seemed to again jut out into a point.

Principal T. Worcester Worrell used to teach his pupils the ditty:

"Point look out, point look in,
Point no Point, and point ag'in."

Many famous personalities in history have passed through the lands of Point-no-Point. The second President of the United States wrote a letter to his wife Abigail describing his travels in Point-no-Point.

On 25 May, 1777 John Adams wrote:

The road to Point-no-point lies along the river Delaware, in fair sight of it and its opposite shore. For near four miles the road is as strait as the streets of Philadelphia. On each side, are beautiful rows of trees, buttonwoods, oaks, walnuts, cherries and willows, especially down towards the banks of the river. The meadows, pastures and grass plats are as green as leeks. There are many fruit trees and fine orchards set with the nicest regularity. But the fields of grain, the rye and wheat exceed all description. These fields are all sown in ridges and the furrow between each couple of ridges is as plainly to be seen as if a swath had been mown along. Yet it is no wider than a ploughshare and it is as strait as an arrow. It looks as if the sower had gone along the furrow with his spectacles to pick up every grain that should accidentally fall into it. The corn is just coming out of the ground. The furrows struck out for the hills to be planted in, are each way as straight, as mathematical right lines ; and the squares between every four hills as exact as they could be done by plumb and line, or scale and compass. [3]

Bridesburg Machine Works
Bridesburg Machine Works

Bridesburg was incorporated as a borough on April 1, 1848[4]; it included the peninsula between the lower Frankford creek and the Delaware, and beyond Richmond district, the boundary lying near the projected line of Pike street, not far from Wheat Sheaf Lane.

It was first called Kirkbridesburg, for Joseph Kirkbride, who operated a ferry to New Jersey, and in 1811 built a toll bridge at Bridge street over the Frankford creek. About one hundred and forty years ago the people of the village decided the name was too long, so Bridesburg was adopted.

In 1854, the borough was annexed to the city of Philadelphia in the Act of Consolidation.

For such a small community, Bridesburg is the home of a large number of churches:

  1. ^ U.S. Census data for ZIP 19137
  2. ^ Excerpt from Incorporated District, Boroughs, and Townships in the County of Philadelphia, 1854, by Rudolph J. Walther
  3. ^ Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 25 - 27 May 1777. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society.
  4. ^ Chronology of the Political Subdivisions of the County of Philadelphia, 1683-1854

v • d • e
Neighborhoods of the Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
v • d • e
Incorporated District, Boroughs, and Townships in the County of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridesburg%2C_Philadelphia%2C_Pennsylvania"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.