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Past Residents & Descendants Teachers About the Elfreth's Alley Association Join our email list to receive newsletters, event announcements, and other information about the Alley
DID YOU KNOW?
Elfreth's Alley is only 16 feet wide, and is typical of the side streets and alleyways developed throughout Philadelphia in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Alley is still an active street and cars can and do drive down the street on a regular basis.
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History of Elfreth's Alley
   Images L to R: Elfreth's Alley looking east c.1940; Time Magazine photo. Young girl in Bladen's Court c.1910. Notice the hand pump for the communal well in the foreground. Elfreth's Alley Day crown in the 1940s. All photos from the Elfreth's Alley Association Archives.
Elfreth's Alley is one of Philadelphia's oldest and longest-surviving working class neighborhoods. The alleyway was opened in 1702 by John Gilbert and Arthur Wells, two property owners who combined their land at the property line to create a small subdivision in the interior of one of William Penn's great blocks. Today there are 32 homes lining the alley built between 1728 and 1836, and they form one of the last intact 18th century streetscapes in the nation. The Alley has been home to more than 3,000 people over the last 300 years - ordinary men and women who lived and worked in sometimes dirty, dangerous, and crowded conditions.
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, numerous artisans and craftsmen lived on the street, often living and working in the same building. During the Industrial Revolution, the Alley became a residential enclave for European immigrants who were seeking new opportunities in America. By the early 20th century the Alley had become a run-down, impoverished neighborhood and faced numerous demolition threats. In 1934 a group of men and women began working to save several houses from demolition by absentee landlords. They called themselves the Elfreth's Alley Association and helped to rescue the street from additional threats, including construction of I-95 in the late 1950s. Elfreth's Alley is a National Historic Landmark District, and is one of the first NHL's designated because of its working class nature. These were not the homes of the rich and famous, but rather the everyday people who built and sustained the City of Philadelphia. |
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Thank you to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and the generous corporations and individuals who support our mission with general operating support. Click here if you would like to help us tell the world about the lives of ordinary people. |
The Elfreth's Alley is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization that uses the Alley as a lens to interpret the lives, lifestyles, and livelihoods of ordinary Philadelphians from the time of the City's founding through to the present day. The Association preserves the Elfreth's Alley National Historic Landmark District as a rare example of a once commonplace working class community from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. |
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