Front Street 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 ...

is a north–south street running parallel to and near 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 ...

. In 1682, when the city was laid out by

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 ...

, it was the first street surveyed and built in during the colonial era

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

. As part of the King's Highway, which extended from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, and as the waterfront of Philadelphia's port, it was the most important street in the city from its founding into the 19th century. Front Street is the origin street of Philadelphia's numbered streets. There is no First Street, Front Street exists in its place, and numbered streets begin at the next major block with 2nd Street, a tenth of a mile west. At least three stations of

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

Market–Frankford Line The L, formerly known as the Market–Frankford Line, is a rapid transit line in the SEPTA Metro network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The L runs from the 69th Street Transit Center in Upper Darby, just outside of West Philad ...

are built above Front Street. They include Girard station,

Berks station Berks station is an Rapid transit, elevated rapid transit rapid transit station, station served by SEPTA Metro Market–Frankford Line, L trains, located at the corner of Front Street (Philadelphia), Front and Berks streets in the Kensington, ...

, and

York–Dauphin station York–Dauphin station is an elevated rapid transit station, serving L trains of SEPTA Metro SEPTA Metro is an urban rail transit network in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania ...

. The Spring Garden Station is located on Front Street, and its platform lies in the median of

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 ...

over Spring Garden Street, just west of Front Street.

Historic sites

The

South Front Street Historic District South Front Street Historic District is a national historic district located in the Queen Village neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It encompasses seven contributing buildings, including the Nathaniel Irish House, Widow Maloby's Tav ...

, which includes numbers 700–712 on the west side of South Front, is a historic district listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The district includes three buildings individually also listed on the NRHP:

Widow Maloby's Tavern The Widow Maloby's Tavern is an historic, American tavern building that is located in the Queen Village section of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Part of the South Front Street Historic District, it was added to the National Register of Histo ...

(700), Capt. Thomas Moore House (702), and the

Nathaniel Irish House The Nathaniel Irish House is an historic, American home that is located in the Queen Village neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Part of Philadelphia's South Front Street Historic District, it was added to the National Register of Hist ...

. ''Note:'' This includes ''Note:'' This includes ''Note:'' This includes Four sites listed on the National Register adjoin North Front Street:

Elfreth's Alley Elfreth's Alley is a historic street in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, dating back to 1703. The street has 32 houses, built between 1703 and 1836. The Elfreth's Alley Museum is located at #124 and 126.Historical marker on Elfreth's ...

, the Quaker City Dye Works, and two schools, the Thomas K. Finletter School and

Olney High School The Olney Charter High School, formerly the Aspira Charter School at Olney, and Olney High School, is a public high school that is located in the Olney section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Previously part of the School District of Philadelph ...

. File:758 S Front Philly.JPG, 758 South Front Street File:704-700 S Front St Philly.JPG,

File:Phila FrontStreet05.jpg, North Front Street, looking north towards Arch Street File:Olney HS Philly.JPG,

File:Finletter School Philly.JPG, Finletter School File:Quaker City Dye Works Philly.JPG, Quaker City Dye Works (view from Oxford Street)

References

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