Wingohocking Creek
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Wingohocking Creek was once a major tributary of another
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 ...
stream,
Frankford Creek Frankford Creek is a minor tributary of the Delaware River in southeast Pennsylvania. It derived its name from today's Frankford, Philadelphia neighborhood. The stream originates as Tookany Creek at Hill Crest in Cheltenham Township and meander ...
, which flows into 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 ...
. Frankford Creek was formed by the confluence of Wingohocking Creek and Tacony Creek (sections of which, in
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County, colloquially referred to as Montco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,553, making it the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania after Philadel ...
, are also called Tookany Creek). Since Wingohocking Creek is now obliterated, having been piped underground in the late 19th century, it can be confusing to look at a modern map, which shows Tacony Creek suddenly changing names "in the middle of the stream," so to speak, and becoming Frankford Creek. The point at which the name changes is near the present intersection of I and Ramona Streets, where the Wingohocking once joined the Tacony to form the Frankford Creek. What was once a major stream and the site of many mills and factories has been completely wiped off the map—all but the city's sewer maps, that is. The outlet of the Wingohocking Sewer is the largest in the Philadelphia sewer system, about high. It is visible from various points in the Juniata neighborhood and the adjoining golf course. The word "Wingohocking" may have originated from the indigenous
Lenni Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historical territory included present-day northeastern Del ...
for "favorite land for planting" or, perhaps, "crooked water." By other accounts, the stream was named by James Logan in honor of Chief Wingohocking, with whom he traded names in traditional
Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...
fashion as a sign of mutual respect. The stream now flows in a combined sewer (carrying both storm water and raw sewage) under Belfield Avenue and close to the route of Wingohocking Street in the
Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gove ...
neighborhood of Philadelphia. It had two branches, the larger of which, the West Branch, reached as far as the Mount Airy neighborhood. In the 1860s, when municipal engineers drew up the preliminary drainage maps for Philadelphia's , the conversion of many of the city's smaller streams into sewers became an integral part of the plan. The Wingohocking was converted beginning in the 1880s, with the final section of of streams finally obliterated in 1928. That mistakes were made in this process is evident in the city's
Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gove ...
neighborhood, where more than 900 houses have been evacuated and demolished because of the threat of
subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...
and collapse from weakened foundations caused by the inadequate fill material (
fly ash Coal combustion products (CCPs), also called coal combustion wastes (CCWs) or coal combustion residuals (CCRs), are byproducts of burning coal. They are categorized in four groups, each based on physical and chemical forms derived from coal combust ...
) that was used when the stream was first covered. The city purchased most of the homes in this area (called the Logan Redevelopment Area) and demolished them, leaving only a ghostly, rectangular grid of streets as a reminder of the former urban landscape. The area is slated for commercial redevelopment. The creek formerly ran upstream from its confluence with the Tacony Creek in the vicinity of I Street and Ramona Avenue, west along Ramona two blocks to Cayuga then along Cayuga past G Street, and then Whitaker Avenue, then roughly parallel to Macalester Street and Hunting Park Avenue, staying north of Hunting Park, following the southerly boundary of Greenmount Cemetery near Front Street and Hunting Park Avenue. Sewer manhole pylons are visible in the lowest ground in this area. As described above, the Wingohocking Creek system was composed of two branches, which converged at a point located under Belfield Avenue west of modern-day Broad Street. The southerly branch, Wingohocking Creek proper, followed the path taken today by
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 ...
's Chestnut Hill East rail line (built by the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad in 1833 and extended by the successor
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered rail transport, railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976. Commonly called th ...
in the 1850s) between Sedgwick and Wister stations. The northerly branch, listed on maps as Mill Creek, began in Mt. Airy slightly north of Stenton Avenue and followed the path of Mansfield Avenue which was built on top of Mill Creek when it was arched over. A small section of Wingohocking Creek has been uncovered, or daylighted, at
Awbury Arboretum Awbury Arboretum (55 acres) is a nonprofit arboretum and estate located at 1 Awbury Road in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its grounds are open daily without charge. Established in 1916, it then became a nonprofit organization in 1984. ...
. This is the only portion of the Wingohocking currently visible above ground. Although the creek is now extinct, its name lives on in Philadelphia's Wingohocking Street.


See also

*
List of rivers of Pennsylvania This is a list of streams and rivers in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Delaware Bay Chesapeake Bay *''E ...


References

*Finkel, Kenneth, ed. ''Philadelphia Almanac and Citizen’s Manual''. Philadelphia, PA: Library Company, 1995.


External links


Aerial perspective from Virtual Earth including northern edge of the Logan Redevelopment Area
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Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership, Inc.
{{authority control Rivers of Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Delaware River Subterranean rivers of the United States Former rivers History of Philadelphia Rivers of Philadelphia