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Southwark, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Southwark District
Former District
3rd at Queen St Philly.jpg
Corner of 3rd and Queen Streets
Country United States
State Pennsylvania
County Philadelphia
Coordinates 39°56′16″N 75°08′52″W / 39.93778°N 75.14778°W / 39.93778; -75.14778Coordinates: 39°56′16″N 75°08′52″W / 39.93778°N 75.14778°W / 39.93778; -75.14778
Timezone EST (UTC-5)
 - summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Area code 215
SouthwarkDist1854.png
Map of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania highlighting Southwark District prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854
Location of Southwark District in Pennsylvania
Map of USA PA.svg
Location of Pennsylvania in the United States
Southwark District
Southwark, Philadelphia is located in Philadelphia
Southwark, Philadelphia
Southwark, Philadelphia is located in Pennsylvania
Southwark, Philadelphia
Southwark, Philadelphia is located in the US
Southwark, Philadelphia
Location Bounded by Delaware, Washington Aves., 5th, Lombard, Front, and Catherine Sts., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Area 720 acres (290 ha)
Built 1703
Architect Multiple
NRHP Reference # 72001172
Added to NRHP May 19, 1972

Southwark was originally the Southwark District, a colonial era municipality in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Today, it is a neighborhood in the South Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Because of its location south of the early Philadelphia, the name was adopted in allusion to the borough of Southwark in the county of London, England, just south of the city of London.

Southwark is one of the oldest English settlements in the County of Philadelphia. It is actually the oldest district founded by settlers in Philadelphia, as a result of its inclusion in the former Swedish colony of New Sweden. Southwark was originally a tract of ground on the fast land of the Neck, lying between Passyunk and Wicaco. Due to the populations of the Swedish settlements of Wicaco and Moyamensing, Southwark grew earlier than other parts of the county apart from the city of Philadelphia.

The General Assembly created the district of Southwark on May 14, 1762, to facilitate cooperation with regards to street-building. In 1854, when it was incorporated into the city of Philadelphia by the Act of Consolidation, the borough comprised the area bounded on the north by South Street, on the west by Passyunk Avenue from 5th and South to 10th and Reed; the boundary then ran along Reed Street, down 7th, and along Mifflin Street to the river. Today, there are only a few traces of the name "Southwark" in this part of Philadelphia. . These include Southwark restaurant at 4th and Bainbridge, Southwark Paints further south on 4th, Southwark Development Corp., a public-housing project along Washington Avenue from 3rd to 5th, and even "Southwark" painted on a wall as far away as 23rd and Washington. (Southwark Paints no longer exists.)


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