The city government views this sprawling chunk of Philadelphia more precisely as three smaller districts, drawn up by the Redevelopment Authority in 1964.

The mansions of wealthy Philadelphians began to dot the landscape, and by the late 18th and early 19th century, several small town centers had developed to anchor the growing population.

However, this suburban landscape was to be interrupted around the middle of the 19th century, as rapid urban expansion led to The Consolidation Act of 1854.

This expansion was also the impetus for breaking ground on the Broad Street Line subway, designed specifically to carry a passenger from the northern hub of Olney to Philadelphia City Hall in under 20 minutes.

Major freight and passenger rail lines were built to intersect at the newly constructed North Broad Street Station and transmit cargo from the bustling factories.

Lower North Philadelphia in particular housed a number of the nouveau riche: ambitious first or second generation immigrants or those that had made their fortunes starting manufacturing firms.

Gentlemen's clubs, upscale restaurants and shopping districts grew in this southern tier for a brief moment in history, peaking in the late 1920s.

The new money culture proved to be an unstable foundation for a lasting community, and like so many constructs of the Gilded Age, this core of wealth was doomed to rot.

For a time, Lower North Philadelphia became a great center of black culture and music, most notably jazz.

Many commercial corridors were maintained for decades, and a great many musicians came to North Philadelphia, like John Coltrane and Stan Getz.

In this way, the wave of national industrial collapse caused the rapid break up of numerous "factory neighborhoods" in the predominantly working class North Philadelphia.

Rumors then spread throughout North Philadelphia that a pregnant black woman had been beaten to death by white police officers.

Later that evening, and throughout the next two days, angry mobs looted and burned mostly white-owned businesses in North Philadelphia, mainly along Columbia Avenue.

The withering of the American manufacturing sector led to the closing of many of the factories that many northern neighborhoods were centered on and depended on.

North Philadelphia Station lost Amtrak Service, and the BSL subway line garnered a reputation for violent crime and rape.

As in many poorer African American city ghettos, drug addiction became a major blight in North Philadelphia, further destabilizing families and social networks.

The trolley lines that once criss-crossed the northern streets and linked the region with the rest of Philadelphia were shut down by SEPTA in 1992.

Immense, abandoned factories sit idle; warehouses lie empty; and disused heavy rail lines scar the landscape.

The names of the old industrialists, such as Gratz, Poth, Uber, Bouvier and Schmidt, still adorn many buildings and street signs in the area but are otherwise foreign to many modern-day residents.

Some areas, like Olney, Allegheny and Erie, still have relatively active communities, but even they are often troubled by drugs, crime and/or social underfunding.

Allegheny West has advanced, mostly from the support of some of the last industries in North Philadelphia, such as Pep Boys, which is headquartered in the neighborhood.

Once economically divested neighborhoods like Brewerytown, Francisville, Northern Liberties, Poplar and West Kensington have seen large scale development break ground.

Other regions have seen virtually no change, save the rising housing values that have accompanied increased attention in urban markets.

Many residents of communities in North Philadelphia have voiced resistance towards these gentrifying forces, viewing the sudden investment as an invasion that threatens the traditional character of the neighborhoods.

[13] The system opened the Mastery Charter Lenfest Campus (7–12) in September 2001 in an office building in North Philadelphia.