Philadelphia

The city's multimodal transportation and logistics infrastructure includes Philadelphia International Airport, a major transatlantic gateway and transcontinental hub;[33] the rapidly-growing PhilaPort seaport;[34] and Interstate 95, the spine of the north–south highway system along the U.S. East Coast.

In 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina, located in present-day Wilmington, Delaware, and quickly spread out in the valley.

[45] In 1648, the Dutch built Fort Beversreede on the west bank of the Delaware, south of the Schuylkill River near the present-day Eastwick section of Philadelphia, to reassert their dominion over the area.

Despite the royal charter, Penn bought the land from the local Lenape in an effort to establish good terms with the Native Americans and ensure peace for the colony.

There were a number of cities named Philadelphia in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Greek and Roman periods, including modern Alaşehir, mentioned as the site of an early Christian congregation in the Book of Revelation.

Hoping that Philadelphia would become more like an English rural town instead of a city, Penn laid out roads on a grid plan to keep houses and businesses spread far apart with areas for gardens and orchards.

Benjamin Franklin, a leading citizen, helped improve city services and founded new ones that were among the first in the nation, including a fire company, library, and hospital.

[67] In July 1919, Philadelphia was one of more than 36 industrial cities nationally to suffer a race riot during Red Summer in post-World War I unrest as recent immigrants competed with Blacks for jobs.

In the 1920s, the public flouting of Prohibition laws, organized crime, mob violence, and corrupt police involvement in illegal activities led to the appointment of Brig.

Gen. Smedley Butler of the U.S. Marine Corps as the city's director of public safety, but political pressure still prevented long-term success in fighting crime and corruption.

The resulting reduction in Philadelphia's tax base and the resources of local government caused the city to struggle through a long period of adjustment, and it approached bankruptcy by the late 1980s.

[79] Natural bodies of water include the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, lakes in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, and Cobbs, Wissahickon, and Pennypack creeks.

Center City is structured with long, straight streets running nearly due east–west and north–south, forming a grid pattern between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers that is aligned with their courses.

The original city plan was designed to allow for easy travel and to keep residences separated by open space that would help prevent the spread of fire.

[95] In 1932, Philadelphia became home to the first modern International Style skyscraper in the United States, the PSFS Building, designed by George Howe and William Lescaze.

Philadelphia County received an ozone grade of F and a 24-hour particle pollution rating of D in the American Lung Association's 2017 State of the Air report, which analyzed data from 2013 to 2015.

[116] Five of the ten largest combined statistical areas (CSAs) were ranked higher for ozone: Los Angeles (1st), New York City (9th), Houston (12th), Dallas (13th), and San Jose, California (18th).

[152] Philadelphia's close geographical and transportation connections to other large metropolitan economies along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States have been cited as offering a significant competitive advantage for business creation and entrepreneurship.

Philadelphia's economic sectors include financial services, health care, biotechnology, information technology, trade and transportation, manufacturing, oil refining, food processing, and tourism.

[173] Other institutions of higher learning within the city's borders include: Philadelphia is home to many national historical sites that relate to the founding of the United States.

[206] The Philadelphia dialect, which is spread throughout the Delaware Valley and South Jersey, is part of a larger Mid-Atlantic American English family, a designation that also includes the Baltimore accent.

Owing to over a century of linguistic data collected by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania under sociolinguist William Labov, the Philadelphia dialect has been one of the best-studied forms of American English.

[213] The Philly Pops plays orchestral versions of popular jazz, swing, Broadway, and blues songs at the Kimmel Center and other venues within the mid-Atlantic region.

The show was renamed American Bandstand in 1957, when it began national syndication on ABC, hosted by Dick Clark and produced in Philadelphia until 1964 when it moved to Los Angeles.

Philadelphia-born singers, including Frankie Avalon, James Darren, Eddie Fisher, Fabian Forte, Bobby Rydell, and South Philly-raised Chubby Checker, topped the music charts, establishing a clean-cut rock and roll image.

[219] Notable rock and pop musicians from Philadelphia and its suburbs include Bill Haley & His Comets, Nazz, Todd Rundgren, Hall & Oates, the Hooters, Cinderella, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Ween, Schoolly D, Pink, the Roots, Beanie Sigel, State Property, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Meek Mill, Lil Uzi Vert, and others.

[297] "Green Cities, Clean Water" is an environmental policy initiative based in Philadelphia that has shown promising results in mitigating the effects of climate change.

[310] Recent owners of the Inquirer and Daily News have included Knight Ridder, The McClatchy Company, and Philadelphia Media Holdings, with the latter organization declaring bankruptcy in 2010.

[324] Each of the nation's commercial networks has an affiliate in Philadelphia: KYW-TV 3 (CBS), WPVI-TV 6 (ABC), WCAU 10 (NBC), WPHL-TV 17 (The CW with MyNetworkTV on DT2), WFPA-CD 28 (UniMás), WTXF-TV 29 (Fox), WPSG 57 (Independent), WWSI 62 (Telemundo), and WUVP-DT 65 (Univision).

[337] Beginning in the 1980s, large sections of the SEPTA Regional Rail service to the far suburbs of Philadelphia were discontinued due to a lack of funding for equipment and infrastructure maintenance.

William Penn (holding paper) and King Charles II depicted in The Birth of Pennsylvania 1680 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
William Penn's 1682 Treaty of Shackamaxon with the Lenape tribe depicted in Penn's Treaty with the Indians , a 1772 portrait by Benjamin West
A Portraiture of the City of Philadelphia, by Thomas Holme
A 1683 portrait of Philadelphia by Thomas Holme , believed to be the city's first map
The Committee of Five presenting their draft of the Declaration of Independence in Independence Hall on June 28, 1776, depicted in an 1818 painting by John Trumbull ; historian Joseph Ellis called the Declaration "the most potent and consequential words in American history." [ 51 ]
President's House on Market Street served as the presidential mansion for the nation's first two presidents, George Washington and John Adams , from 1790 to 1800 prior to the completion of the White House and the development of Washington, D.C. as the nation's new capital.
Independence Hall on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th streets, where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution was ratified, on July 4, 1776, and June 21, 1788, respectively
Opening day ceremonies at the Centennial Exposition at Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park in 1876, the first world fair held in the U.S. on the centennial anniversary of the nation's founding
Chestnut Street in Center City at night in February 2016
Philadelphia City Hall at night in December 2012
Two of Center City Philadelphia's most prominent high-rise buildings, One Liberty Place , built between 1985 and 1987 (in background), and Philadelphia City Hall , built between 1871 and 1901 (in foreground)
Philadelphia's Fairmount Park on the Schuylkill River , the city's largest and one of the world's largest public parks
Ethnic origins in Philadelphia
Philadelphia's famed Italian Market in South Philadelphia
A Gayborhood street sign near Washington Square
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange building, the nation's first stock exchange , at 1411 Walnut Street
Comcast Technology Center in Center City
William Penn Charter School , established in 1689, the nation's oldest Quaker school
The University of Pennsylvania , an Ivy League university in Philadelphia founded in 1749 by Benjamin Franklin and one of the world's highest-ranked universities
The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, one of the world's most prestigious business schools
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts at 300 Broad Street , home of the Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
Keys To Community , a bust of Benjamin Franklin by James Peniston at 325 Arch Street in Center City
Pat's Steaks (foreground) and Geno's Steaks (background) in South Philadelphia
The Curtis Institute of Music at 1726 Locust Street in Center City , one of the world's premier conservatories
The Philadelphia Eagles are awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LII , on February 4, 2018
Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia , home of the two-time Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL) and three-time champion Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA)
Historic Boathouse Row at night on the Schuylkill River , a symbol of the city's rich history in competitive rowing
Old City Hall at 5th and Chestnut Street , Philadelphia's town hall from 1800 to 1854
Musical Fund Hall at 808 Locust Street hosted the first nominating Republican National Convention in 1856
Cherelle Parker , ( D ), the 100th and current Mayor of Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Police Department administration building, known as the Roundhouse, in Center City east of Chinatown
A Philadelphia police cruiser on Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia's 30th Street Station serves both SEPTA regional and Amtrak national trains and is Amtrak's third-busiest train station in the nation.
The Art Deco -style grand concourse at 30th Street Station, one of the nation's busiest passenger train stations, built between 1927 and 1933
A Market–Frankford Line train departing 52nd Street station
An aerial view of Philadelphia International Airport , the busiest airport in Pennsylvania and 21st-busiest in the nation with over 13.6 passengers in 2023
The 9,650-foot (2,940 m) long Benjamin Franklin Bridge spans the Delaware River , connecting Philadelphia and South Jersey
The Schuylkill Expressway eastbound at I-676 and US 30 , also known as the Vine Street Expressway, in Center City
Suburban Station with art deco architecture at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard
Fairmount Water Works , Philadelphia's second municipal waterworks, in December 1984
A Chinatown paifang at 10th and Arch streets, a symbol of Philadelphia's sister city relationship with Tianjin