Elfreth's Alley


			Home History of Elfreth's Alley Visiting the Alley Programs and Events Past Residents & Descendants Teachers About the Elfreth's Alley Association Contact Us Join our email list to receive newsletters, event announcements, and other information about the Alley Email: *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.		The Irish and Elfreth's Alley in 1900 Elfreth's Alley housed many immigrants and their families during the last century and a half. Here, immigrants found affordable housing and work in the heart of Philadelphia's commercial district. By 1900, many Irish had immigrated to this city in order to escape poverty and crop failures in their own country. The Federal Census of that year tells us who these Irish immigrants were and where they lived on Elfreth's Alley. Mother and child at home in a working class house at the turn of the century. Image courtesy of Temple University Libraries, Urban Archives, Philadelphia, PA. Work for All Philadelphia's growing industries created many jobs for immigrants. Factories surrounded Elfreth's Alley, and the city's waterfront was only a few blocks away. Irishwoman Catharine Holland (who had arrived in America nearly fifty years before) lived in one of these houses with her two daughters, Veronica and Mary. During the time she lived on Elfreth's Alley, Catharine worked as a cap maker, perhaps for the D&O cap factory at 220 Bread Street. Her daughters, like many children at that time, also worked. Sixteen-year-old Mary made suspenders, possibly at one of the two suspender factories on Market Street. Patrick Menahan and his wife, Ellen (both of whom arrived in the United States as children in 1862) moved to Elfreth's Alley by 1900. Patrick worked as a night watchman and later for the city's coroner's office. His two daughters worked as button driller in one of the three button factories on North 2nd Street. Their brothers worked at waterfront trades. Many Elfreth's Alley residents were employed at shipyards or in other maritime trades during the 19th and 20th centuries. Image of Hog Island Shipyard courtesy of Pennsylvania State Archives. Settling In Many immigrants who resided on Elfreth's Alley stayed here only temporarily and often relocated their families in order to improve their living conditions. Some of the Irish living on the Alley rented their homes. Catharine Holland and her two daughters lived briefly in house #126. By 1910 the Hollands had moved away from the Alley. Other Irish families moved from house to house on the Alley. By 1910, the Menahans had moved from house #115 to #126. View of Elfreth's Alley in the early 1900s. Image courtesy of Temple University Libraries, Urban Archives, Philadelphia, PA Making a Community A few Irish familes came to the Alley and stayed. Three generations of the Stafford fmily lived in house 139 for over 35 years (until 1923). In 1900, Edward (whose wife had died) shared his home on the Alley with his widowed sister-in-law, his two adult sons, a daughter-in-law, and a grandson. Edward (who left Ireland as a young man) was 79 years old in 1900 and still working as a police officer. His siter-in-law worked as a housekeeper, his son Isaac was a night watchman, and his son Michael was a fireman. Michael's wife, Amelia ( the daughter of Italian immigrants who had moved to Philadelphia from Louisiana) stayed at home with her 10-month- old son who was named for his grandfather. In 1900 Irishman Patrick Cunniff, his wife (born in Pennsylvania), and six of their seven children lived in house #121. Patrick worked as a fire department hoseman, possibly just around the corner at Engine Company Number Eight (now Fireman's Hall Museum). He was on of twelve firemen who lived on the Alley between 1800 and 1920. Nineteen-year-old Florence worked as a cler; her 14 year-old sister, Clara, worked in a suspender factory. Vincent (the eldest boy) attended school, and three younger boys stayed at home with their mother. By 1920, Patrick and Catharine Cunniff and two of their sons had moved to house #113 and Vincent had moved into house #138 (now demolished) with his own family. This exhibit is also on view on Elfreth's Alley. Research and production was supported by a generous grant from the Tourism Cares for Tomorrow Foundation, in-kind design services from Alusiv, Inc., and with general operating support from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.
			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.