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Neighborhood of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Photo: Midnightdreary, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
North Philadelphia is a large area north of Philadelphia's Center City that includes many neighborhoods such as Northern Liberties, Kensington, Fishtown, Fairmount, the Spring Gardens, Templetown, Nicetown, and Tioga. Unfortunately, large swaths known as North Central are plagued by violence though they include some of the city's most interesting residential architecture.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
A former prison and National Historic Landmark, which once housed notorious criminals like bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone (the former tunneled out), and drew famous visitors like Charles Dickens and Alexis de Tocqueville. It was a progressive institution upon its founding, dedicated to reform, rather than punishment, and the principal new method used to enable the reform process (dubbed the Pennsylvania System) was to keep prisoners in separate confinement (it was then debated whether this would help lead to reform or to mental illness). Today it is open for guided tours by day, and by night around the month of October turns into what has got to be one of the country's most terrifying haunted houses! Children below the age of seven are not permitted to visit, and it's strongly recommended that no children under 13 attend the haunted house.
The Wagner Institute’s nineteenth century exhibit hall – a soaring three-story space – houses an extraordinary collection of natural history specimens including mounted birds and mammals, fossils, rocks and minerals, insects, shells, dinosaur bones, and the first American saber-toothed tiger, discovered on a museum-sponsored expedition to Florida in 1886. Gathered largely by founder William Wagner and Institute curators and faculty during the nineteenth century, the collections are displayed in cherry-wood and glass cabinets dating from the 1880s and maintain their original “systematic” scheme, providing a rare view of a Victorian science museum. Highlights include William Wagner’s personal mineral collection – one of the oldest in the country – and his fossil collection, representing many important European and American localities and collecting sites of the nineteenth century. The mounted skeletons, skulls and skins represent species from around the globe, including many that are now endangered. The extensive regional entomology collection is notable for its arrangement, which includes the original handwritten curator’s labels. Originally assembled to teach science, the specimens are arranged for study. The exhibit is one of the largest systematically arranged collections on display in the country and remains in active use as a key educational tool of the Institute’s free science programs. It also serves as a resource for scholarly research.
Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse opened its doors in East Fairmount Park in 1899. Funded by Richard and Sarah Smith, the site was dedicated to the memory of their adult son, Stanfield. Smith’s beautiful, 16,000-square-foot Playhouse was designed solely as a play space for children by one of Philadelphia’s most prominent late 19th-century architects, James H. Windrim. The playground is situated on its original historic landscape – 6½ acres of open fields, wooded terrain, and sloped hills – and is home to the century-old Ann Newman Giant Wooden Slide, a treasured play experience for generations of Philadelphia’s children, and other unique pieces of play equipment. Smith provides opportunities for unstructured creative play for children 10 and younger. There is free parking on site and Smith is also easily accessible by public transportation.
A small riverfront park where, in 1683, William Penn entered into a treaty of peace with Tamanend, the Lenape Indian chief. Penn Treaty Park is popular for its view of the Delaware River and Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and it hosts many events throughout the year. It is home to an Obelisk of the Treaty Ground erected in 1827, William Penn Statue unveiled 1982, and Bob Haozous' Penn Treaty sculpture placed in 1991. The park is also the northern start of the Delaware River Trail for walking or biking to South Philadelphia.
A bit of a hike from the other attractions in Independence National Historic Park is the house where Edgar Allen Poe, author of "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart," lived and wrote. Poe fans will find many activities to enjoy, including a video presentation of Poe's life, ranger-led tours, and perhaps an encounter with "Poe" himself.
formerly SurgarHouse Casino
The Electric Factory is one of the leading indoor music venues and is Philadelphia's most celebrated location for live music.
Offers fitness equipment such as bench presses, treadmills, let-workout machines, and others. It also offers an indoor track, an indoor racquetball court, and table tennis.
Offers recreational sports such as basketball, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, tennis (it offers 6 outdoors Tennis Courts), indoor golf range, and football. Equipment for all of the sports can be rented at the front office but only with a Temple ID card. Every Friday the Pavilion also hosts Net Night (only Badminton, Volleyball, Table Tennis, and Tennis is offered) from 7PM to 10PM, tournaments in those sports are sometimes held with prizes.
SAC
The center for all of Temple University student organizations. It offers a food court that contains various forms of dining choices from Italian pizza, Asian cuisine, and a Burger King. It also offers a Game Room where a Temple ID card is not necessarily needed. It offers table tennis, billiards, air hockey, foosball, and chess. You need to pay an hourly fee in order to rent the table tennis, billiards, and air hockey equipments. The SAC also has an underground movie theater (the "Reel" Cinema) and an underground night club ("The Underground").
A 10,200-seat multi-purpose venue. Home to all of the Temple University basketball, as well as many other events such as concerts, plays, famous guest speakers.
The diner which has been around since 1952 was featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives. If you're looking for a late night snack they have you covered, with pork belly empanadas or cilantro spiced fried calamari. After you are filled up, head over to the lounge and dance the night away.
Cicala
Southern Italian specialties made to exacting quality. Family atmosphere, including family-style Neapolitan Sunday dinners. Full wine list.
Upscale Italian cuisine (largely Northern Italian) in rustic surroundings. Full bar and wine list. Has a highly regarded (and less expensive) happy hour M-Sa 4-6PM and Su 3-5PM. Good for dates.
Flagship location for a small Philadelphia-area pizza chain. The pizza's distinctive thin-crust square pizza is generally considered excellent quality, especially given the price. Popular with locals for a casual bite out as well as for delivery. Beer bar and some wine.
South
Soul food with a modern twist. Full bar and wine list. Live jazz on Fridays and Saturdays. Get the fried chicken, of course, but then get everything else.
Upscale Italian restaurant featuring handmade pasta. Outdoor seating available (no tents, but some pretty powerful heaters). BYOB.
pronounced Bar Hyu-guh
Contemporary American brewpub with a Nordic-inspired twist. Industrial but cozy surroundings (as expected from anyplace with "hygge" in the name). Outdoor seating available in standard sidewalk tables (with heaters in cold months). House beer is made by the onsite Techne Brewery. Full bar includes signature cocktails and house-made amari. Weekend brunch is highly recommended (and concomitantly hard to get reservations for).
Modern Mexican. Full bar featuring tequila- and mezcal-based cocktails. Outdoor seating available, including colorfully-decorated streetside shelters. Weekend brunch.
Casual but somewhat upscale Southern and barbecue in a converted 19th-century firehouse. Full bar includes drafts, wine, and seasonal specialty cocktails with house-made syrups. Outdoor seating available on the sidewalk and in a walled garden to the side of the restaurant.
Casual seafood and drinks in the shadow of Eastern State Penitentiary from the same people as Fare across Fairmount. Plentiful outdoor seating. Happy hour M-F 5-7PM.
Sports bar/grill with classic American bar food. Outdoor seating available, including both covered and uncovered options. Popular with students and young professionals. Happy hour M-F 5-7PM. Kitchen closes daily at midnight.
Old-school sit-down Greek cuisine. Seafood, grilled dishes, lamb dishes (especially the meatballs) and medzes all highly recommended. Outdoor seating available, including a tent with heaters, but on a nice afternoon or evening the sidewalk seating is perfect for enjoying a post-meal cup of Greek coffee and watching the street life pass by. BYOB. It maintains a family link with an old restaurant in Thessaloniki, so the restaurant occasionally closes for a few weeks while the owners go back to Greece.
A perfect balance of restaurant, outdoor cafe and pub, spacious, lively, not too loud. All kinds of beer: Big Belgian bottles. Great food: pierogies, spring rolls, salads, wings, burgers, etc. It's a cut above your everyday bar food.
Coffee, tea, smoothies, and sandwiches, with a focus on soy milk and other Asian foods
This cafe has a pretty decent selection of coffees and teas, as well as a select of stuff to eat. They make sandwiches, salads, quiche, granola, bagels with a variety of spreads, and have some pretty good looking desserts too.
A fun, eclectic cafe in Northern liberties that serves a funky mix of Jewish and Southern food. It has tons of fun, delicious breakfast and brunch options, and the latkes are definitely worth getting. All the eggs they use are free-range, and they make an effort to use as much local produce as possible.
The first such school of its kind in Philadelphia, it is less than a block away from Eastern State Penitentiary. In 2008, the school earned a coveted "Best of Philly" Award. The Wine School offers wine tastings, wine courses, and private events.
Dive bar with psychedelic, comic, and horror-themed murals. Small but good selection of draft beers; wider selection of bottled and canned beers. The liquors behind the bar are only mostly for display. Does not serve food (other than instant ramen kept behind the counter to satisfy Pennsylvania's legal requirements), but you are welcome to bring food in from takeout restaurants nearby. Has a large backyard with seating; smoking is permitted in about half of the yard. Crowd is a mix of students, artists, and professionals who used to hang out with artists.
Taproom for Our Town Brewery in Lancaster. Industrial-chic decor and a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Has outdoor seating both in a courtyard in the back and on the street. Take-out food may be brought in and consumed with your beer.
Youngish hipster crowd in a gutted rowhouse. Always live on weekends with dancing upstairs.
Varied DJ nights all week, including nights for karaoke, indie dancing (tigerbeats), electronica, and 80s music. Cheap beer; hipster night spot.
Good crowd, usually mid 20s & up. Good music and sidewalk seating.
A college bar on Temple's campus. A regular haunt of Temple students and professors treating their (over 21) students to a beer. Prices are reasonable; surroundings are unmistakably collegiate, down to the university cafeteria-esque tables, chairs, and floor tiles.
It is a three-story, 22-room hotel with a computer work station. Each room comes with a coffee maker and wireless high speed Internet and satellite television. It also offers continental breakfast with waffles imprinted with a big T for Temple University.
A mid-century modern furniture store. The owner has been selling such furniture since 1990.
Contains shops such as Footlocker, Dollar Store, and various clothing stores. It also has many eateries such as Qdoba Mexican Grill, the Noshery Sandwich place, and the popular Koja Korean Japanese restaurant. It also has the Pearl theatre where you could go to watch the recent cinematic releases.
Sells Temple University gear (hoodies, shirts, keychains, pants, and shorts) as well as textbooks, school supplies, and snacks.
By mass transit
The Broad Street subway line has stations in North Philadelphia. For Templetown, Cecil B. Moore is the safer and more used stop.
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Philadelphia · International · PHL
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