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Delorean Time Machine: Capitolo Playground
If there’s any spot in Philadelphia that’s ripe for haunting, it’s the Capitolo Playground. Rec center Playground Giant grassy field As we mentioned a few weeks ago in our post on the Palumbo...
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Delorean Time Machine: Sacks Playground/Iron Foundry
During the 1960s, Philadelphia saw a host of reclamation projects dedicated to transforming industrial decay into recreational space . . . which it would then, over the course of a few decades, allow...
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Delorean Time Machine: Broad Street Doubletree Hotel
The Southeast corner of Broad and Locust would appear as stable a corner as any on the Avenue of the Arts. Here stands the massive DoubleTree Hotel. However, the history of the location listed as 237...
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Delorean Time Machine: Banana Republic on Broad Street
The Union League building at the Southwest corner of Broad and Sansom Streets is one of Philadelphia’s stateliest and most historically significant landmarks. However, the ten-story building that...
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Delorean Time Machine: Ralston School
The aesthetically pleasing townhouse at the corner of Bainbridge and American Streets is a private residence today, listed as 221 Bainbridge Street. However, in its earliest incarnation, as 625...
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Delorean Time Machine: The Ayer
The properties overlooking Washington Square in Philadelphia have always been among the more coveted in the city. In the mid-19th century, the sunlit green-space was largely encircled by private homes....
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Delorean Time Machine: District 1199 HQ
1319 Locust St. stands out on the north side of its block for its deep red brick edifice and its wrought iron railings. These features hint at the building’s late 19th century construction. However,...
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Delorean Time Machine: Mario Lanza Park
Tucked into a quiet pocket of Queen Village, a little jewel of a park pays tribute to Philadelphia’s most famous tenor. Mario Lanza Park, named to honor the star of stage and film, occupies a lot...
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Delorean Time Machine: Beck’s Engraving Co.
Today, the Charter High School For Architecture and Design (CHAD) stands at 105 S. 7th St., bound by Sansom, Chestnut, 6th and 7th Streets. It would seem a fitting place to learn about architecture...
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Delorean Time Machine: Engine 11 Fire House
1016 South St. stands directly next to Philadelphia mosaic artist Isaiah Zager’s greatest masterpiece, the walk-through debris sculpture aptly called the Magic Garden. While the eyes of most viewers...
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Delorean Time Machine: Rexy Theater
Listed at 819 South St., the parcel on the north side of the constantly changing commercial thoroughfare is today a set of residential units. But the lot’s history says that the location has seen...
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What’s With the Vacant Building at Broad & Jefferson?
We were up near Temple the other day, and a vacant building caught our eye and not for the first time. Located on the northwest corner of Broad & Jefferson, just on the edge of Temple’s campus,...
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Delorean Time Machine: Antiquarian’s Delight
The baroque-styled structure at 615 S. 6th St. has long attracted the curiosity of passersby. Until just this past month, the building housed a modestly-sized mall of antique vendors. By far the most...
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Delorean Time Machine: Blackbird Pizzeria
Though the primary dish has changed considerably over the duration, 507 S. 6th St. has been a popular local eatery of some variety for well over a century now. Its first notable occupant was Abe...
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Delorean Time Machine: United Savings Bank
The southwest corner of 10th and Fitzwater is relatively inconspicuous today, standing across from a far more noticeable corner occupied by popular brunch spot Sam’s Morning Glory Diner and diagonal...
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Delorean Time Machine: Pier 19
Philadelphia’s waterfront has long been the subject of ambition and disappointment. Much discussion has centered on repurposing the dozens of piers that once served the city’s booming maritime and...
View ArticleDelorean Time Machine: City Tavern
True to its name, Old City offers us a glimpse into a Philadelphia neighborhood in the days before independence. The history of some buildings, like The City Tavern, actually tell an even broader...
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