Hidden City Philadelphia

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Hidden City Philadelphia

Hidden City Philadelphia pulls back the curtain on the city’s remarkable spaces and connects them to people and ideas.

Hidden City Philadelphia inspires people to be curious about the city, to fall in love with its remarkable but lesser-known places, and to give their time, resources, and ideas to realize new futures for the places and communities where we work. We celebrate the power of place by presenting tours, events, and a quadrennial festival of site-based art. Our web magazine, Hidden City Daily, fosters pu

blic dialogue by exploring the intersection of people and place, and the tension between the past and the possible future. We wholeheartedly invite you to take part in this discussion by commenting on our Facebook, Tweeting on our Twitter, and responding to articles.

08/15/2025

Attention Philly history buffs and fans of Brutalist architecture: here is a rare opportunity you may not want to miss. Join Hidden City’s Editorial Director Michael Bixler on August 24 for a Sunday stroll around George Pepper Middle School in Eastwick. He will share the history of the city’s most fabled abandoned school, while discussing the potential for resurrecting this long-troubled midcentury landmark.

Folks often pass the school on the way to John Heinz Wildlife Refuge, but never take the time to stop and check it out. Well, here is your chance—with a dense history lesson to boot!

For more information and tickets see below.

Learn the history and possible future of Philly's most fabled abandoned school.

08/14/2025

Today on our website —> SEPTA Crisis: The Opposite of Growth is Decline

Nathaniel Popkin on what's at stake as the transit funding crisis deepens.

Nathaniel Popkin on what's at stake as the transit funding crisis deepens

08/12/2025

Today on our website: Historic District Protections and Destruction Challenge the Philadelphia Register

Kimberly Haas has this report from the August 2025 meeting of the Philadelphia Historical Commission.

Kimberly Haas has this report from the August 2025 meeting of the Philadelphia Historical Commission

08/07/2025

Today on our website: Abuse of Power in the 1700s Ignited a War Between Washington and the Editor of the "Philadelphia Aurora"

Today's federal steamrolling of constitutional safeguards could use an enemy like early American journalist Benjamin Franklin Bache.

Today's federal steamrolling of constitutional safeguards could use an enemy like early American journalist Benjamin Franklin Bache

08/05/2025

Today on our website --> Places to Save: Summer 2025

The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia highlights buildings under threat with its quarterly list, Places to Save.

The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia highlights buildings under threat with its quarterly list, Places to Save

08/01/2025

Here is some endearing news to kick off your weekend. This just in from longtime Hidden City friend Larry Arrigale.

“Happy Ending for the North Philadelphia church artifact at Temple University Ambler Arboretum!

After almost 10 years, the onset of the pandemic, and a devastating tornado in 2021, part of a long forgotten piece of architectural sculpture was given pride of place this spring as the centerpiece of a new Peace Garden at Temple University’s Ambler Arboretum.”

A decade ago Larry discovered remnants of a double archway from the Park Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church at Temple University’s Ambler Campus. The church’s sunday school, where these fragments of the double arch were from, was built in 1900. Temple University demolished the church on its main campus in North Philly in 1998 to make way for the student housing complex named “1940.” Larry wrote about his discovery for Hidden City in 2015.

Read all about it in the HC archives!

https://hiddencityphila.org/2015/07/misplaced-philadelphia-the-double-arch-of-park-avenue-methodist-episcopal-church/

Pictured: 1) Remnants of an abandoned double archway from the Park Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church today, which is now the centerpiece of the Peace Garden at Temple University’s Ambler Arboretum. 2) The “PEACE” relief in 2015. 3) Park Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church in 1894. 4) The student housing complex at Temple that was built after the church was demolished for campus expansion in the late 1990s.

📸s: Larry Arrigale, , and

07/31/2025

Today on our website --> Restoration Role Model: YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School

A neglected PECO building on North Broad Street gets an electrifying redo.

A neglected PECO building on North Broad Street gets an electrifying redo

07/29/2025

Today on our website: When a Philadelphia Hostel Provided Refuge for Victims of Internment Camps

Formerly incarcerated Japanese Americans found sanctuary in the Quaker City during WWII.

Formerly incarcerated Japanese Americans found sanctuary in the Quaker City during WWII

07/26/2025

Raise your hand if you have noticed the extreme uptick in house fly infestations all over the city this summer. From South Philly to the Northeast, it is seriously unbearable. A combination of excessive rain and stagnant garbage due to the Streets Department trash strike? Educated science explainers and general angry complaints (keep it civil) both welcome.

Pictured: a Works Progress Administration (WPA) poster for the Philadelphia Department of Health warns of potential health risks from exposure to flies.

📸 courtesy of

07/25/2025

Today on our website —> Song of Philadelphia Concludes Second Season with Poets’ Tribute to Larry Robin

“This room is filled with poets,” someone observes just before Larry Robin takes the stage at a weekly Moonstone Arts Center reading at Fergie's Pub. In Song of Philadelphia’s season two conclusion, host Julien Suaudeau brings his mic to record the sound of this now beloved Wednesday night event.

https://hiddencityphila.org/2025/07/song-of-philadelphia-concludes-second-season-with-poets-tribute-to-larry-robin/

07/24/2025

Today on our website —> Unlisted Philadelphia: University Parking Garage

Alan Jaffe and Bryan Mckinney spotlight unique and significant buildings not listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in the architectural illustration series, Unlisted Philadelphia. In this installment, a concrete car park to rival them all.

Alan Jaffe and Bryan Mckinney spotlight unique and significant buildings not listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in the architectural illustration series, Unlisted Philadelphia. In this installment, a concrete car park to rival them all

07/23/2025

We are sad to report that the serpentine green sanctuary of 19th Street Baptist Church in Point Breeze has left our urban landscape. Demolition began a few weeks ago. Thankfully, the church’s fellowship hall, at right, is in better structural shape and will not be torn down (for now).

Memorial Church of the Holy Comforter at 1249 S. 19th Street was built in 1874 and designed by architecture firm Furness & Hewitt. The congregation of 19th Street Baptist Church purchased the buildings in 1944. It was placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Read all about the rise, decay, and fall of a truly unique ecclesiastical landmark in Kyle Bagenstose’s excellent HC article from September 2024: https://hiddencityphila.org/2024/09/demolition-of-historic-19th-street-baptist-church-imminent/

📸s:

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https://hiddencityphila.org/

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