Details
Title [Construction of the Frankford Elevated railroad tracks at Front and Arch Streets in Philadelphia, September 6, 1922] [graphic].
Publisher [Philadelphia]
Publisher PA. Philadelphia. 1922
Date [September 6, 1922]
Physical Description 1 photographic print : gelatin silver ; sheet 20 x25 cm (7.75 x 9.5 in.)
Description Scene showing predominantly African American construction workers laying down railroad tracks near a block of rowhouses at Front and Arch Streets in Philadelphia. The men are surrounded by piled planks, buckets, and construction debris. Many of the workers have stopped to pose, including a white man, possibly a foreman. In the left, two men continue to work and consult near steps by a curved railing. The half completed tracks, bridge platform, a billboard, factory buildings, and water tower are visible in the background. Constructed under the auspices of the City of Philadelphia's Department of City Transit (later Transit Operations and Planning Division) between 1915 and 1922, the Frankford Elevated Railway consisted of a two track structure six miles in length that extended north over the roadway of Front Street, Kensington Avenue and Frankford Avenue between Arch and Bridge Streets. Operated under lease to the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (later South Eastern Public Transportation Authority or SEPTA), the line opened November 5, 1922.
Notes Title supplied by cataloger.
Purchase 1989.
Description revised 2022.
Access points revised 2022.
Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Subject Frankford Elevated Railway.
Philadelphia (Pa.). Dept. of City Transit.
African American construction workers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
African American men -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Laborers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Railroad construction and maintenance -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Railroads, Elevated -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
African American laborers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Geographic subject Front Street (Philadelphia, Pa.) -- North -- at Arch Street.
Genre Gelatin silver prints -- 1920-1930.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| photos - unidentified - Construction [P.9260.419]
Accession number P.9260.419