Arch Street is a major east-west street in Center City

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, United States.

Location

Arch Street runs from the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

one way westbound through the Old City section of Philadelphia, where landmarks include the

Arch Street Friends Meeting House __NOTOC__ The Arch Street Meeting House, at 320 Arch Street at the corner of 4th Street in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Built to reflect Friends' t ...

, the

Betsy Ross House The Betsy Ross House is a landmark in Philadelphia. It is purported to be the site where the upholsterer and flag-maker Betsy Ross (1752–1836) lived when she is said to have sewed the first American flag. History The origins of the Betsy R ...

Girard Fountain Park Girard Fountain Park is a pocket park in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, at 325 Arch Street. It is open to the public during daylight hours and is maintained by local volunteers now incorporated as Old City Green.U.S. Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. The U.S. Mint is one of two U.S. age ...

, and

Christ Church Burial Ground Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia is an important early-American cemetery. It is the final resting place of Benjamin Franklin and his wife, Deborah. Four other signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here, Benjamin Rush ...

. It crosses Independence Mall at 5th and 6th Streets, traverses Philadelphia's

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

neighborhood, and passes

Reading Terminal Market Reading Terminal Market is an enclosed public market located at 12th and Arch Streets in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It opened originally in 1893 under the elevated train shed of the Reading Railroad Company after the city of Ph ...

. The tourist areas around Logan Square and the museum district are just north of Arch Street, which ends just east of the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

at 23rd Street. West of the river, there is a block of Arch Street between

30th Street Station 30th Street Station, officially William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, is a major intermodal passenger transport, intermodal transit station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The station opened in 1933 as Pennsylvania Station– ...

and

Cira Centre The Cira Centre is a 29- story, office high-rise in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia, directly connected to Amtrak's 30th Street Station. Developed by Brandywine Realty Trust and designed by César Pelli, it was built ...

. Arch Street also runs eastbound one-way from 49th Street to 63rd Street. As of 2023, the section of Arch Street from 6th to Broad Streets is part of Philadelphia's

High Injury Network A high injury network (sometimes shortened to HIN) is a way of identifying parts of an urban street network with higher rates of traffic injuries or fatalities, typically with a goal of prioritizing these streets for safety interventions. High inj ...

, the small fraction of streets on which the majority of traffic deaths and serious injuries occur.

History

The street was called Mulberry Street in

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

's original city grid, but it was renamed Arch in 1854. Other parts of the street were once called Holme and Tioga streets. In the 1950s and 1960s, Arch from 6th to 11th Streets was known as

Radio Row Radio Row is a nickname for an urban street or district specializing in the sale of radio and electronic equipment and parts. Radio Rows arose in many cities with the 1920s rise of broadcasting and declined after the middle of the 20th cent ...

, after its extensive number of electronic goods stores.

In popular culture

*In 2004 and 2005, on the

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

reality television show '' The Real World: Philadelphia'', the cast resided at 249-251 Arch Street at Third and Arch streets.

Gallery

File:Arch Street 2024.jpg, Arch Street in

File:United States Mint Philadelphia.jpg,

Philadelphia Mint The Philadelphia Mint is a branch of the United States Mint in Philadelphia. It was built in 1792 following the Coinage Act of 1792, in order to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States, and is the first and ...

File:6th Street Philadelphia 1.jpg,

Independence National Historical Park Independence National Historical Park is a federally protected historic district in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National ...

at 6th and Arch Streets

Notes

{{Commons category, Arch Street (Philadelphia) History of Philadelphia Streets in Philadelphia