Philadelphia

Philadelphia, ancient cities

Philadelphia, name of several ancient cities. One was in Lydia, W Asia Minor (now W Turkey). At the foot of Mt. Tmolus and near the location of modern Alaşehir, it was founded in the 2d cent. B.C. by Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamum. One of the Seven Churches in Asia was there (Rev. 3.7). The city was damaged several times by earthquakes. Amman was also renamed Philadelphia by Ptolemy II.

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Philadelphia, city, United States

Philadelphia, city (1990 pop. 1,585,577), coextensive with Philadelphia co., SE Pa., on the Delaware River c.100 mi (160 km) upstream at the influx of the Schuylkill River; chartered 1701. It is the fifth largest city in the United States and has been a leading commercial and cultural center since the 18th cent. An important trading and manufacturing hub even before the Revolution, it maintains a diversified industrial base. Chemicals; metal, paper, and plastic products; foods; textiles; apparel; machinery; electrical and electronic products; transportation equipment; scientific instruments; and furniture are among its manufactures. The metropolitan area's newer industries include health-care and biotechnology firms. Its printing and publishing industry is important, and there are major oil refineries. Philadelphia is also a banking center.

Institutions and Landmarks

A nucleus of American culture in colonial times (among its prominent citizens at that time was the scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin), Philadelphia is still the seat of many philosophical, artistic, dramatic, musical, and scientific societies. Among these are the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1805); the Academy of Natural Sciences (1812); the American Philosophical Society (1743); and the Science Museum of the Franklin Institute (1824), which now includes the Benjamin Franklin Memorial (1933), an important unit of which is the Fels Planetarium. In nearby Merion is the Barnes Foundation, with an extraordinary collection of paintings. Musical activities flourish in the city, whose outstanding symphony orchestra plays in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. In Fairmount Park, the largest city park in the United States, are the Philadelphia Museum of Art, zoological gardens, and many historic monuments and shrines.

Many early historic shrines are also in Independence National Historical Park (est. 1956). Among them are Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed; the Liberty Bell; the neighboring Congress Hall, where Congress met from 1790 to 1800 and where Washington gave his farewell address; and Carpenters' Hall, where the First Continental Congress met. The modern National Constitution Center also is here. Near Elfreth's Alley, a narrow street that has retained its colonial air, is the Betsy Ross House, where, according to one story, the first American flag was made.

City Hall, one of the nation's largest, is a conspicuous building with a tower surmounted by a statue of William Penn. Also of interest are the Rodin Museum; the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church; and Christ Church (begun in 1727), a representative example of Colonial architecture. Edgar Allan Poe's house has also been preserved. The historic 18th-century houses in the Society Hill section are additional tourist attractions, as is the restored Revolutionary War Fort Mifflin.

Philadelphia has over 30 educational institutions, including the Univ. of Pennsylvania, Temple Univ., Drexel Univ., La Salle Univ., Chestnut Hill College, St. Joseph's Univ., Curtis Institute of Music, Thomas Jefferson Univ., the Univ. of the Arts, and Philadelphia Univ. A sports complex in S Philadelpha is home to the National Basketball Association's 76ers, the National Hockey League's Flyers, the National Football League's Eagles, and the National League's Phillies (baseball).

Installations of the U.S. Mint, the Federal Reserve System, and the Internal Revenue Service are in the city. The U.S. Naval Shipyard, once the most prominent of Philadelphia's military installations, was closed in 1995; a commercial shipyard is now on part of the site.

History

Early History

The site was first occupied by Native Americans. In the 17th cent. there was a Swedish settlement; the land was soon claimed by the Dutch and then contested by the British. William Penn acquired it through a grant from Charles II of England and in 1682 founded Philadelphia, the "City of Brotherly Love," intended as a refuge for the peaceable Quakers—hence the nickname Quaker City. Its commercial, industrial, and cultural growth was rapid, and by 1774 it was second only to London as the largest English-speaking city. It was the seat of the Continental Congress and served as the American capital from 1777 to 1788, except during the British occupation (Oct., 1777–June, 1778) after the battle of Brandywine. It was the capital of the new republic from 1790 to 1800, as well as the state capital (to 1799). The two Banks of the United States (1791–1811; 1816–36) were there (see Bank of the United States). The bank buildings are examples of Greek revival architecture.

Modern Philadelphia

Despite an ambitious program of urban redevelopment initiated in the 1950s, the city experienced the decay of its economic base and a sharp decline in population through subsequent decades. Longstanding tensions erupted in race riots in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Frank Rizzo, a former police commissioner with a political base among the city's working-class whites, was elected mayor. Wilson Goode became Philadelphia's first black mayor in 1983. His administration was shaken by the controversial firebombing of a city block containing the home of an armed organization of black radicals. The decline of the central city was met in part by the construction of new office buildings downtown and development projects on the Delaware River waterfront, but the metropolitan area, long noted for its wealthy and exclusive suburbs (especially along the fabled Main Line), witnessed dramatic growth. Since 1986, however, when developers were first permitted to build higher than Penn's statue atop the city hall, the center city skyline has undergone dramatic changes. The city government came close to bankruptcy in 1990.

Bibliography

See S. B. Warner, Jr., Private City (1968); R. S. Wurman and J. A. Gallery, Man-Made Philadelphia (1972); P. O. Muller et al., Metropolitan Philadelphia (1976); W. W. Cutler III and H. Gillette, Jr., ed., The Divided Metropolis (1980); T. Hershberg, ed., Philadelphia: Work, Space, Family and Group Experience in the Nineteenth Century (1981); A. A. Summers and T. F. Luce, Economic Development within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area (1986).

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Philadelphia

City (pop., 2000: 1,517,550) and port, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S., at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. The site was occupied by the Delaware Indians before William Penn founded the city in 1682. It was the capital of Pennsylvania 1683–1799 and the capital of the U.S. between 1790 and 1800. It played a prominent role in opposing British policies and was the site of the first and second Continental Congresses, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitutional Convention. The population grew in the 18th century, with many immigrants from Scotland, Ireland, and Germany. It was the largest and most important city of the U.S. in the 19th century and a centre of the antislavery movement. In 1876 it was the site of the U.S. Centennial Exposition. It is also the site of the U.S.'s oldest art museum (the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, founded in 1805) and the first U.S. hospital (the Pennsylvania Hospital, founded in 1751). It is the largest city in the state and a centre of commerce, finance, industry, and culture. Its numerous educational institutions include the University of Pennsylvania.

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Philadelphia

a city and port in SE Pennsylvania, at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers: the fourth largest city in the US; founded by Quakers in 1682; cultural and financial centre of the American colonies and the federal capital (1790--1800); scene of the Continental Congresses (1774--83) and the signing of the Declaration of Independence (1776). Pop.: 1 479 339 (2003 est.)

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Philadelphia

nicknamed “City of Brotherly Love.” [Am. Hist.: NCE, 2127]

See : Friendship

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Philadelphia

“city of brotherly love.” [Am. Hist.: Hart, 651]

See : Kindness

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Philadelphia

a city on the Atlantic coast of the USA, in Pennsylvania, at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. Population, 1.8 million (1975; including suburbs, 4.8 million). (The population was 1.8 million in 1920.)

Philadelphia is one of the USA’s major centers of industry, commerce, transport, finance, and culture. In 1974 the work force totaled 1.8 million (including suburbs). Manufacturing industries employed 505,000 persons, 195,000 of whom worked within the city limits of Philadelphia. The construction industry employed 90,000; transportation and municipal services 102,000; commerce, 394,000; miscellaneous services, 360,000; finance, 110,000; and civil service, 285,000.

William Penn founded Philadelphia in 1682 as a settlement of Quakers. In the 18th century the city was the cultural center of the English colonies in North America. The people of Philadelphia played a leading role in the American Revolution (1775–83). The First and Second Continental congresses met in Philadelphia, and the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the federal Constitution (1787) were drawn up in the city. Philadelphia was the capital of the USA until 1800 and the main financial center of the country until the 1830’s. At the turn of the 19th century it was the largest American city. Philadelphia was a stronghold of abolitionism in the 19th century, and by the middle of the century it was a major center of the workers’ movement.

After New York, Philadelphia is the United States’ second most important Atlantic port. In 1975 the freight turnover totaled 56 million tons. The city ranks first in imports, which include oil, the ores of ferrous and nonferrous metals, and tropical produce. Harbor moorings extend many kilometers along the channelized Delaware River, which has a guaranteed depth of 12.2 m. There is much heavy industry in Philadelphia, including the production of industrial and power-generating equipment, large metal structures, and pipes and cables. There also are radio-electronic, aerospace, ship-building, oil-refining, and petrochemical industries. The textile industry is highly developed especially fabric dyeing and finishing, carpet-making, and the production of knitwear. Other products include clothing, food, pharmaceuticals, paint and varnish, and military supplies. Philadelphia’s industries include printing, nonferrous and ferrous metallurgy, transport, and machine building. The city has automotive assembly plants.

The city plan, drawn up in 1682 with the help of Penn, consisted of a rectangular stretch of land between the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. The rectangle included five squares, and there was a grid street layout. City Hall, at the intersection of Broad and Market streets, marked the center of the city. On the east is the old city, where there are several 18th-century buildings. The industrial districts are in the east (near the port) and in the west. A diagonal throughfare, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, was built in 1919 and 1920. From 1923 to 1927 a portion of the old city gave way to commercial skyscrapers, and in 1951 the Independence National Historical Park was established. In the 1960’s the Society Hill residential complex (architect I. M. Pei) and Penn Center, a complex of large office buildings near Market Street, were built.

Notable buildings in Philadelphia include Independence Hall (1732–45; tower, 1750–51), Carpenters’ Hall (1768–70), the Merchants’ Exchange (1832–34, architect W. Strickland), the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1871–76, architect F. Furness), the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society building (1932, architects G. Howe and W. Lescaze), and medical laboratories at the University of Pennsylvania (1957–61, architect L. Kahn).

Philadelphia is an important research center. There are a number of universities, including the University of Pennsylvania (founded 1740) and the Drexel Institute of Technology. The city also has several scientific institutes and societies, for example, the Franklin Institute. There is an art museum (see).

The theaters of Philadelphia include the Philadelphia Drama Guild, the Walnut Street Theatre, the Shubert Theatre, the Locust Street Theatre, and the Forrest Theatre. The Academy of Music, the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra and an opera company, is also located in Philadelphia.

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Philadelphia

the name of several Hellenistic ancient cities in Egypt, Palestine, Lydia, and Cilicia that were founded between the third century B.C. and the first century A.D. The city in Egypt was situated in the region of Al Fayyum. A large quantity of Greek papyri of the mid-third century B.C. was discovered there in the 20th century. The papyri are known as the Zenon papyri, after the man who controlled the estates of the nobles of Apollonia.