 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Mantua, Philadelphia" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Mantua Avenue | |
|---|---|
 Town sign at N 34th St. and Mantua Ave. | |
  Mantua Avenue | |
| Coordinates:39°57′50″N75°11′38″W / 39.964°N 75.194°W /39.964; -75.194 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Philadelphia |
| City | Philadelphia |
| ZIP Code | 19104 |
| Area codes | 215, 267, and 445 |
Mantua is aneighborhood in theWest Philadelphia section ofPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania. It is located north of Spring Garden Street, east of 40th Street, south of Mantua Avenue, and west of 31st Street. The neighborhood's northern and western reaches are predominantly working-class andAfrican American,[1] although its southern border withPowelton Village has seen recentgentrification and an influx ofDrexel University andUniversity of Pennsylvania student renters.
Part of this neighborhood was purchased from theLenape Indian tribe in 1677 by William Warner. In 1692, a young Welsh carpenter, William Powel, opened a ferry over theSchuylkill River at the foot of the present Spring Garden Bridge.Lancaster Pike and Haverford Road were the first routes providing access from the west.[2]
Mantua was named in 1809 by JudgeRichard Peters, who designed a grid of lots with 36th St. and Haverford Ave. as the center. It was named after the city ofMantua inItaly.[3]
Powelton Village, the neighborhood just south of Mantua, was named for the family of William Powell, whose son purchased additional land. By the mid-1880s, Powelton Village was a fashionable area, becoming part of Philadelphia after theConsolidation Act of 1854.[4]
Prior to the 1940s, Mantua was a predominantly white,Lutheran neighborhood. However, these decades mark the time when Black families began moving into the area’s boundaries. During the 1950s the area hosted a bustling commercial district on Haverford Avenue.[citation needed]
In the 1960s, six majorPhiladelphia gangs maintained a major presence in a 10.5 block area of Mantua.[5] Between 1960 and 1969, Mantua recorded about 10% of total city gang killings. Mantua became one of the worst areas of the 16th precinct, and thePhiladelphia Police Department often assigned patrols in Mantua to officers as punishment.
Andrew Jenkins and the Mantua Community Planners began working with the city to build a recreation center in Mantua. However, gang violence continuously delayed these efforts. The neighborhood’s first recreation center finally opened on what is now 34th Street and Haverford Avenue. In addition to the playgrounds, ball courts, and offices featured at most recreation centers, this one also housed a free library, and holding a library card was a requirement for entrance to the play centers.
Despite the crime,Wrice's Young Great Society and Jenkins' Mantua Community Planners fought to incorporate urban renewal programs, such as the planting of trees and building of housing units. Mt. Vernon Manor, a collection of apartment buildings, was once such development project.
Designed as part of the multipurpose Mantua Community Center, the Mantua library branch opened July 9, 1979. The building also includes a Department of Recreation gymnasium, a community office, and a meeting room.
Like many industrialized cities in the 1980s, Philadelphia saw a rise of drug-related gang warfare. The use ofcrack cocaine, combined with the existingheroin market, caused many residents to flee.
Although the drug trade began winding down in the 1990s, the community was feeling its lasting effects. The number of residents in the community fluttered around 6,000 most of the decade, and several hundred vacant lots dotted the streets. The movie theaters, retail outlets, and galleries that resided in Mantua during the 1950s were replaced by small delis and grab-and-go beer stores.
In the late 1990s, many of the abandoned lots and buildings were bought, renovated, and put on the market for rent. The neighborhood saw an influx of college students fromDrexel University, among other institutions, move into the area in search of affordable housing.
In 1995, the Mantua library branch was renamed in honor of Charles L. Durham. Born in Mantua, Durham served on City Council from 1967 to 1974, and was appointed to the Common Pleas Court. He was a strong advocate for the community, and was deeply involved in the struggle for civil rights and was part of the first Black caucus on Council. The library was renovated four years later, in 1999, as part of theFree Library of Philadelphia "Changing Lives" campaign, which refurbished branches and ensured each branch had adequate Internet access.[6]
It is estimated that between 500 and 1000 college-aged students are living in Mantua. This growing number of students has brought renewed interest to the Mantua community from the expanding university system to the south, consisting mainly ofDrexel University and theUniversity of Pennsylvania.
