Philadelphia's original street plan, as laid out by William Penn and his surveyor general, Thomas Holme, established a pattern of rectangular blocks called a grid system. The grid included four public squares that defined each of the city's sectors, as well as a central square that eventually became the site of City Hall. Numbered thoroughfares ran north and south, while east and west streets were named mainly for trees, such as Chestnut, Walnut, Locust, Spruce, and Pine streets. Large building lots freed residents from the problems of overcrowding experienced by other 17th-century cities and also encouraged more real estate development.
As Philadelphia grew in different directions, the grid system was extended to the city limits. Along these streets, developers constructed row houses in two-, three-, and occasionally, grand four-story models. These houses fronted on the street, but because of the size of the original lots, 18th-century landowners then added new alleys and courts behind them. There they built rental units, including the three-story tenements that became home to thousands of the city's poor Irish, Jewish, and black immigrants during the 19th century.
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Philadelphia Information info
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