Fishtown, Philadelphia

My interest in Fishtown is related to my genealogy research. In the 1850s–1870s three McAdoo families lived in the area. So far, I have been able to identify addresses on Union Street/Savery Street, and Belgrade Street. This information now provides me a starting point for tracking down missing vital statistics of family members.

One such information source may be the First Presbyterian Church in Kensington, which is in the immediate area. Hanover Street Burial Grounds and Palmer Cemetery are two local cemeteries, which also may be potential sources of information.

Fishtown is a section of Kensington sometimes referred to as Lower Kensington. It is part of the city’s 18th Ward. Its borders have been the source of controversy over the years. Wikipedia describes the area in this way—

Borders Disputed

Fishtown is actually the eastern most triangle of the larger surrounding Kensington District, created out of Northern Liberties Township in 1820. The Kensington District, when created, had a Northern border of Norris Street, an Eastern border of the Delaware River, a Southern border of the Cohocksink Creek, and a Western border of 6th Street. The Kensington District is not to be confused with the Kensington neighborhood of today.

There has never been an official designation of this area as "Fishtown." Locals who lived in the eastern part of the Kensington district, namely those in Philadelphia’s 18th Political Ward, referred to it as Lower Kensington, as seen in early buildings and churches, until the late 1800s. Fishtown stuck as the nickname because of the shipping and fishing industries along the Delaware River. By the 2nd and 3rd quarter of the 20th century, the area was no longer being called Kensington.

With the Eastern border locked as the Delaware River, the Southern border has become where Laurel Street, Frankford Avenue and Delaware Avenue meet. The Western border follows Laurel Street west to Front Street, then north on Front Street to Norris Street. The northern border is disputed by different peoples as either Norris Street, York Street, or Lehigh Avenue. There are three main reasons for this dispute.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishtown,_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania