Remembering Kensington & Fishtown

by Milano, Kenneth W.

• ISBN13: 9781596294486
• ISBN10: 1596294485
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-04-18
• Publisher: History Pr

Summary

The native americans called it shackamaxon, the place where the chiefs meet, but Kensington soon became a meeting place of a different kind. Ideologies and demagogues, industry and entrepreneurs all came together in Kensington and Fishtown. Kensington was the epicenter of the American vegetarian movement, and a decade later the area's shipyards gave birth to the U.S. Navy's first submarine. In "Kensington & Fishtown," native son Kenneth W. Milano presents a collection of fascinating and diverse articles from his column "The Rest is History," Relive the golden age of Kensington and Fishtown as you learn about their fascinating pasts.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 9
Preface	p. 11
Olden Days of Kensington
Lenni-Lenape: Original Inhabitants of Shackamaxon	p. 14
The Swedish Settlement of Shackamaxon	p. 15
Did William Penn's Treaty with the Lenni-Lenape Take Place?	p. 17
Hope Farm and the Founding of Port Richmond	p. 20
The Building and Breakup of the Fairhill Estate	p. 25
Early Industry in Kensington and Fishtown
Early Glassmaking in Kensington	p. 32
John Hewson: Calico Textile Printer and Revolutionary War Hero	p. 35
The Fishermen of Fishtown	p. 37
John Harrison: America's First Industrial Chemist	p. 40
William Cramp: Founder of William Cramp and Sons Shipyard	p. 43
Kensington's Sixth Ward: Textile Capital of Philadelphia	p. 47
Edwin Henry Fitler: Kensington-born Mayor of Philadelphia	p. 49
Hamilton Disston: Industrialist and Real Estate Tycoon	p. 52
Recreation in the Neighborhood
Bachelor's Hall: Kensington's First Gentlemen's Club	p. 58
Point Pleasant: A Colonial Resort	p. 60
Bathtown: Kensington's Colonial Spa	p. 61
Fishtown Park	p. 63
Shackamaxon Square	p. 65
The Bramble Club	p. 69
Benjamin F. Shibe: Baseball Man	p. 71
Interesting Nineteenth-Century Vignettes
Earliest Known Use of the Name "Fishtown"	p. 76
A Picture of Kensington in 1811	p. 78
Edgar Allan Poe Reports on Kensington in 1840	p. 80
USS Alligator: First Submarine of the United States Navy	p. 82
A Look at Frankford Avenue in 1890	p. 85
Kensington's Elite Addresses of the 1890s	p. 88
The Cohocksink Creek: Kensington's Historical Border	p. 91
Stories of Cemeteries, Churches and Hospitals
West Street Burial Ground	p. 96
Hanover Burial Grounds	p. 98
Early Worship in Kensington	p. 101
The Bible Christian Church and the Founding of the Vegetarian Movement	p. 103
Saint Michael's Church 175th Anniversary	p. 105
The Yellow Fever Comes to Kensington	p. 108
Norris Square: Home of Dr. Kelly's Kensington Hospital for Women, Saint Boniface Church and the Kensington Tuberculosis Dispensary	p. 110
Some Kensington Biographies
Thomas Moran: American Landscape Painter	p. 116
Albert C. Barnes: Inventor and Art Collector	p. 118
W.C. Fields and Ed Wynn: Actors and Comedians	p. 120
Jack "Legs" Diamond: American Gangster	p. 122
Edward Corner: Marine Merchandiser and Philanthropist	p. 124
Further Reading	p. 127
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