Columbus Boulevard (formerly Delaware Avenue) is a major north-south thoroughfare in

Philadelphia 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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. It is famous for being the location of the

Penn's Landing Penn's Landing is a waterfront area of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, situated along the Delaware River. Its name commemorates the landing of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, in 1682. The actual W ...

area and is generally parallel with

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

south of the

Benjamin Franklin Bridge The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and ope ...

. The road extends south towards Pattison Avenue and is home to many big box retailers between Snyder Avenue and Oregon Avenue. The street originated as an informal footpath connecting the docks and piers along the waterfront, a major Atlantic seaport. In 1831, the Philadelphia banker

Stephen Girard Stephen Girard (born Étienne Girard; May 20, 1750 – December 26, 1831) was a French-born American banker and philanthropist. Born in Bordeaux, Girard subsequently immigrated to the Thirteen Colonies where he established himself in the Banking ...

, died and left the City $500,000 to construct a wide boulevard in its place, to be known as Delaware Avenue. The portion south of Spring Garden Street was controversially renamed after

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

in 1992 despite opposition from residents north of

Center City Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the ci ...

and the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

(also known as Delaware) nation. Many Philadelphians continue to refer to it as Delaware Avenue. Some older maps of Philadelphia show this route as once being part of

Pennsylvania Route 291 Pennsylvania Route 291 (PA 291) is an east–west state route in Pennsylvania that runs from U.S. Route 13 (US 13) and US 13 Business (US 13 Bus.) in Trainer, Delaware County, east to Interstate 76 (I-76) in South Philadelphia near the ...

. As of 2023, nearly all of Columbus Boulevard 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 city streets on which the majority of traffic deaths and serious injuries occur.

History

Delaware Avenue was originally a "major freshwater port" which has recently seen revitalization with the increase in tourism and the start of casino businesses in the 2000s. The boulevard was dedicated in 1992 as

Italian Americans Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

persuaded city hall to rename the portion of Delaware Avenue south of Spring Garden Street on the 500th anniversary of

sailing to America. The 106-foot-tall Christopher Columbus monument was dedicated in the same year. Major attractions along this route include the

Independence Seaport Museum The Independence Seaport Museum (formerly the Philadelphia Maritime Museum) was founded in 1961 and is located in the Penn's Landing complex along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The collections at the Independence Seaport Mus ...

, and several notable ships including; the cruiser , the submarine , and the tall ship ''

Moshulu ''Moshulu'' is a four-masted steel barque, built as ''Kurt'' by William Hamilton and Company at Port Glasgow in Scotland in 1904. The largest remaining original windjammer, she is currently a floating restaurant docked in Penn's Landing, Ph ...

'', along with waterfront views of, and easy access to

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

, New Jersey State's

Adventure Aquarium The Adventure Aquarium, formerly the Thomas H. Kean New Jersey State Aquarium, is a for-profit educational entertainment attraction operated in Camden, New Jersey on the Delaware River Camden Waterfront by Herschend Family Entertainment. Original ...

and the warship across the Delaware river.{{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IF-6FaY5OGAC&dq=Columbus+Boulevard+Philadelphia&pg=PA52, title=Guide to Civil War Philadelphia, author=Richard A. Sauers, date=21 July 2009, publisher=Hachette Books , isbn=9780786749904 File:ColumbusBoulevard.jpg File:ColumbusBoulevard2.jpg

References

External links

Historic photos of Delaware Avenue
from the Temple University Libraries Digital Collections at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

Streets in Philadelphia Boulevards in the United States