It's fair to say that most Philadelphians walking along the 1000 block of Chestnut Street are totally unaware of the presence of a Midcentury Modern architectural gem on the north side of the block. In the middle of the 20th century, the Mercantile Library at 1021 Chestnut St. served residents,

The 1900 block of S. Broad Street has a long history of serving the medical needs of South Philadelphia. Saint Agnes Hospital opened here in 1879, at one point taking up an entire city block. The original hospital building was demoed in the early 1970s and was replaced by a

While there are some parts of Center City that look pretty much the same as they did a decade (or decades) ago, Chinatown just isn't one of them. In this neighborhood in the last number of years, we've seen buildings go up on former parking lots, along with plenty of

The last time we checked in on the former Grand Theatre on the northwest corner of 7th & Snyder, we shared that the property was under contract and wondered whether this transaction might result in the unique building's demolition. The building, which was originally built as a church and then

It's hard to imagine, but the Delaware waterfront was once a massive industrial hub, home to factories, warehouses, shipping concerns, and so forth. Just about all the industry is now gone from the waterfront in the areas around Center City, though vestiges of this industrial history have hung around for

As you've probably noticed, Fishtown and Kensington have experienced some radical changes over the last dozen or so years, with Frankford Avenue being the engine driving the proverbial development train. These days, the Frankford Avenue commercial corridor is one of the most exciting and vibrant in the city, offering a

When we last checked in on the slow moving construction site at 932 Arch St. back in May, it marked more than a decade of coverage of this baffling development in the heart of Chinatown. But recently approved zoning documents for 43-49 10th St. help clarify the latest plans for

During the middle of the 20th century, the Philadelphia Housing Authority built low-income high rise towers across Philadelphia, eventually constructing three dozen buildings that housed thousands of people. By the late 1990s into the early 2000s, a combination of changing thinking around public housing and poor conditions in the towers

It's been more than 30 years since SEPTA decided to "temporarily suspend" trolley service between Chestnut Hill and Center City. But between the tracks in the street, the wires in the air, and traffic signs alerting drivers to wide-turning trolleys, the visual reminders of the decades of trolley service along

We've covered a fair number of former churches being reused for new purposes over the years. In Point Breeze, Manayunk, East Falls, Roxborough and other neighborhoods, we've seen plenty of religious and auxiliary structures converted into housing and other quotidian purposes as financial capacities and membership numbers have waned at