Fishtown is both one of the newest and at the same time one of the oldest neighborhoods adjacent to Center City Philadelphia. Its borders are the Delaware River, Frankford Avenue and York Street. The Delaware River border includes Penn Treaty Park, where history tells us that William Penn concluded his treaty with the Lenni Lenape tribe in 1683. In the last fifteen years, the neighborhood has seen a rise in new construction of townhouses and innovative condo conversions from warehouses and industrial buildings.
The new construction is nestled among century old row-houses of varying architectural styles and sizes ranging from tiny trinities to large three story structures. Along with new housing have come new businesses and many new pubs and restaurants. These include Johnny Brenda’s, Kraftwork, Ekta(Indian), Memphis Taproom and Ida Mae’s Bruncherie.
Walking along in the neighborhood, you will find a City of Philadelphia Recreation Department playground on Palmer just north of Girard, a Free Library of Philadelphia branch, several community gardens, as well as Penn Treaty Park, where families can picnic, participate in periodic festivals and special events, and just look at the river, or watch holiday fireworks just south of the area near the Ben Franklin Bridge.
One of Fishtown’s greatest assets is its accessibility to Center City by either car or public transportation, as well as its convenience because of proximity to I-95 to the airport, ballparks, and points north.
