The information in this article is kindly sponsored by the adoption agency in Kensington, PA from Adoption From The Heart. We hope you enjoy reading this article on the neighborhood of Kensington and learn something you may have not known before.
Kensington is a part of the larger city of Philadelphia and is located between the Lower Northeast portion of North Philadelphia. There are no official boundaries for Kensington, similar to the surrounding areas including Old Richmond, Fairhill, Port Richmond, Fishtown, Yorktown, West Kensington, and others.
History
Anthony Palm was an English tradesman from Barbados who arrived in Philadelphia in 1704. Upon his arrival, he established Kensington in the early 1730 and bought the Fairman Estate, which was located along the Delaware River in Northern Liberties Township. The estate was just 191.5 acres in size, significantly smaller than the current Kensington neighborhood. The name originated from the neighborhood of Kensington in London, England.
Palmer plotted out his town and sold acres to many of the shipbuilders and steelworkers who had outgrown their riverbank lots in what is now known as the Old City, Southwark, and Society Hill districts. He also sold to newly immigrated German fishermen. The historic portion of Kensington is now Fishtown because of the role it had during the 18th and 19th centuries as the dominant agricultural industry for fish.
Kensington has a long history of being one of Philadelphia’s working-class neighborhoods. Initially, jobs were centered on the surrounding waterfront and the operations of fishermen, shipbuilders, and boatbuilders. Kensington switched to iron and steel production in the early nineteenth century, being home to a number of factories, textile mills, and industrial equipment.
Historic Places
Because of Philadelphia’s vast historic background, Kensington is home to tons of historic places. A few to name are as follows:
- Clifton Mills
- The Columbia Works
- The Star Carpet Mills
- Harbisons’ Dairies
- Frankford Avenue Baptist Church
- The Decorating Plant of Gillinder & Sons’ Franklin Flint Glass Works
- Second Associate Presbyterian Church
- Weisbrod & Hess’ Loading Room, Condenser & Storage/Boiler & Wash House
For more information on surrounding areas of Kensington, check out the latest blog post on:
Our Local Office
If you are interested in learning more about the Philly area’s adoption process, Adoptions From The Heart is here to help. We provide a range of resources for prospective adoptive parents, pregnant women, and their babies. To know more, please contact our Kensington, Pennsylvania adoption agency.
