The first Philadelphia Koreatown () is located around the Olney section of the city of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, United States. Since the late 1980s, the Korean community has expanded northward, and it now straddles the border between

North Philadelphia North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as everything north of either ...

in Philadelphia proper and the northern suburb of

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral ...

, although many Korean-American businesses and organizations and some residents remain in Olney and adjoining neighborhoods.

Upper Darby Township Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city as of 2020 with 1.6 million residents. As of the 2020 cen ...

, bordering

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...

, also has a large Korean-American population; meanwhile, a rapidly growing Korean population and commercial presence has emerged in suburban Cherry Hill,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

since 2010, centered along

Marlton Pike Route 70 is a state highway located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It extends from an interchange with Route 38 in Pennsauken Township, Camden County to an intersection with Route 34 and Route 35 in Wall Township, Monmouth County. Route ...

, attracted to the

Cherry Hill Public Schools The Cherry Hill Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Cherry Hill, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020–21 school year, th ...

. Signage in

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

is ubiquitous in some neighborhoods in these areas.

History

According to ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', the Koreatown had "moved" from the Logan neighborhood into the Olney section in the early 1980s, attributing the migration from Logan to "too much crime" and the "schools weren't so good" at the time in Logan. In Olney, tensions were high between Koreans and the German community, as well as the black community, who did not want the section of the town to be officially declared "Koreatown", causing much violence and crime to be committed not only against Koreans, but East Asians in general. The original Koreatown existed on North 5th Street in Olney since 1984, with Korean language signs put up to help official recognition of the area; those signs were vandalized in the late 1980s.

Religion

There is a Korean Catholic church, Holy Angels.

Gallery

File:From-upper-darby-koreatown-2.jpg, View towards Market Street PA route 3, across from H-Mart, at Terminal Square. The

69th Street Transportation Center The 69th Street Transportation Center is a SEPTA terminal in the Terminal Square section of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, just west of the city limits of Philadelphia. The terminal serves the Market–Frankford Line, Norristown High Speed Line, and t ...

is also nearby. File:HMartUpperDarby.jpg, H-Mart in Upper Darby, PA File:CheltTwp 03.JPG, H-Mart and other Korean-American businesses in Cheltenham File:CheltTwp 04.JPG, More Korean businesses in Cheltenham

References

External links

N. 5th Street Project official website
{{American Koreatowns Neighborhoods in Philadelphia Asian-American culture in Pennsylvania Koreatowns in the United States Korean-American culture in Pennsylvania Olney-Oak Lane, Philadelphia

History

Religion

See also

Gallery

References

External links