Married his high school sweetheart, divorced her. Some houses were still heated by coal and had cast-iron boot scrapers outside. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Specialties: Having the most diverse crowd of all the Grays Ferry "Watering Holes" and the only home for live music in Grays Ferry! One place where the residents of Grays Ferry sought solace was St. Gabriel’s Roman Catholic Church at 29th and Dickinson. Show hostility to Tim or I, two art fags. The years following World War II were an improvement from the bleakness of the Great Depression, but life for Grays Ferry residents was still basic. Grays Ferry is a 170 megawatt cogeneration facility (CHP) with a 120 megawatt combustion turbine and a 50 megawatt extraction/condensing steam turbine. Scope: population of Grays Ferry, selected other neighborhoods in Philadelphia, and entities that contain Grays Ferry The Grays Ferry community, one of several in which Savitz was a household word, is known in Philadelphia for hostility to homosexuals, according to police and gay activists. Patrick, like many men in Grays Ferry, took a job at the nearby DuPont plant. Being Catholic Irish, This hood couldnât have been congenial. Grays Ferry, also known as Gray's Ferry, is a neighborhood in South Philadelphia bounded (roughly) by 25th Street on the east, the Schuylkill River on the west, Vare Avenue on the south, and Grays Ferry Avenue on the north. Interactions between boys and girls were strictly controlled. (30) The newly-weds purchased a rowhouse on Oakford Street and started a family. Though I never, Amounted to crap as a painter, I’ve taught, Myself to write, sort of, instead of hocking, My life to a bank, just so I could be misled. The percentage of black families grew steadily through the decades, but Grays Ferry retained pockets of white, mostly Irish, residents â as well as its reputation for racial strife. For comments and suggestions, please contact info@phillyhistory.org. And muddled by stunted or puffed up typists. graysferryirishsociety.com links to network IP address 104.27.177.70. George Gray establishes an inn and ferry business on the west bank of the Schuylkill. She still fondly remembers her immigrant mother’s reaction when she heard people singing nostalgically about Ireland: “I never want to go back!”. Irish-Catholic whites brutally clashed with African-Americans living in the recently demolished Tasker Homes. Step railings had holders where the milkman left a bottle each day. We played jacks on the steps. “The kind of upbringing I received sustains me now.” Ken Powell, now a municipal court judge living in Chestnut Hill, agreed with his cousin. Are unforgivable are malice and betrayal. Although the houses were modest in size, they were almost always well-kept. City all rolled into one! Boys were usually relegated to the back bedroom, which was icy in winter. more Having the most diverse crowd of all the Grays Ferry "Watering Holes" and the only home for live music in Grays Ferry! More than 30% of the residents are under 18. See reviews, photos, directions, phone numbers and more for the best Italian Restaurants in Grays Ferry, PA. PARSONS, Albert Richard, Corporal, âLone Star Graysâ, also an artillery unit that fought at Sabine Pass, & with âParsonâs Brigade, CSA, b. “It was a poor time but there was such a feeling of unity,” remembered her daughter Nora Schneider. Historically, Grays Ferry was a working class Irish American neighborhood that also included somewhat poorer sections of African Americans. [i] Charles P. Dare, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore railroad guide (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fitzgibbon and Van Ness, c.1856), p.118-119. I was here, at the Irish consulate of Gray's Ferry, at the urging of a Philly.com reader named "N.D." Harvey Sumner, a die-hard Notre Dame fan who signs each of his emails: "GO IRISH!!!" Few Irish boys dared go to Confession at King of Peace. Because there were few public parks, kids still played on the streets, and fire hydrants gushed freely during the sweltering summer months. After their shifts, men would gather for drinks at Tom’s Café, cheek-by-jowl with the Grays Ferry Avenue railroad tracks. This once stable, Irish-Catholic community has been marred by racial tensions, crime and economic despair since the 1970âs. He just had to bolt. NEIGHBORS FOREVER. Green spaces were few, and there were no trees shading the streets. We were proud of the things we built. We built snow forts in winter. Color: White or Asphalt tees are 100% preshrunk ringspun cotton graysferryirishsociety.com uses n/a web technologies. Its unofficial boundaries were Grays Ferry Avenue and 32nd Street on the west, Moore Street on the south, and 25th Street on the east. Powell and his brother once did, and the parish priest told them to leave and never come back. “We went to church every day in October –the month of the Holy Rosary—and every day in May –the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary,” Powell continued. Grays Ferry Irish Society. The Delargey house was a typical Grays Ferry rowhome–most of the neighborhood’s housing stock was constructed between 1880 and 1910. “People make a big pot of soup and shared it with their neighbors. Italian Restaurants in Grays Ferry on YP.com. This was a time when there were no dryers, and you had to use a wringer. Discovered its trade in soiled underwear. The love of his life, though, was excreta. The massive Romanesque structure was constructed around 1900, its foundations dug and walls lofted by the young men of the community. Kenneth Powell Jr. to Steven Ujifusa, November 13, 2008. Interview with Kenneth Powell Jr., June 10, 2010. “It was a neighborhood of great joy, but also of great anxiety,” he said. In search of better housing, some African-Americans trickled into Grays Ferry, a predominantly poor, Irish-American neighborhood near the east banks of the Schuylkill River. [1] The section of this neighborhood west of 34th Street is also known as Forgotten Bottom. You didn’t eat meat on Friday and every Saturday you had to go to Confession.”, By the early 1970s, racial unrest and a heroin scourge shook Grays Ferry to its foundations. In the 1990s, a fight between white and black teenagers enflamed tensions and drew national attention. A heroin scourge ripped through the community in the 1970s, and scores of addicts died of overdoses in fetid back alleys. Eighty-one regional kollektory served in the church's first 50 years, with Point Breeze, Northern Liberties, and Nicetown predominating. It was a nice way to grow up.”, Yet dating someone from outside the neighborhood was not just taboo; it was dangerous. “You bought new clothes and planned big family celebrations and meals. Or said anything. “We had to make our own entertainment. Ten years later, she married Patrick Delargey, a wagon driver fresh from the trenches of World War I. Among them was Bond, a probation officer, who moved into her new home on Wednesday, July 24. A unique neighborhood bar decor & atmosphere: A Lil' Ireland, Olde City, Fairmount and U. Read Chicago Press And Tribune Newspaper Archives, Aug 30, 1859, p. 1 with family history and genealogy records from chicago, illinois 1859-1860. Everyone knew each other’s needs.”, Big Catholic families meant close quarters indoors, so young Nora and her friends made the streets their playground. “I resisted because I loved to sing. But as the nineteenth century progressed, so did the march of industry. A minor brawl in 1997 spiraled into intense racialized conflict. Anyone can see who's in the group and ⦠Being Catholic Irish, Still, I seriously doubt the neighbors did. White- 39 %. “he’d come back from Schuylkill with a black eye and no girl.”. Comments. Grays Ferry, also known as Gray's Ferry, is a neighborhood in South Philadelphia bounded (roughly) by 25th Street on the east, the Schuylkill River on the west, Vare Avenue on the south, and Grays Ferry Avenue on the north. “If a boy wanted to take a girl out from Schuylkill,” Schneider remembered. She also relied on the support of the community, which was full of friends and relations. “I had a great time growing up there,” recalled Tom Curley, now an artist and gallery director residing in Upper Darby. Toys were still mostly cobbled together from found objects. Grays Ferry, also known as Gray's Ferry, is a neighborhood in South Philadelphia bounded (roughly) by 25th Street on the east, the Schuylkill River on the west, Vare Avenue on the south, and Grays Ferry Avenue on the north. This list needs additional citations for verification. “Any holiday was a big deal,” remembered Tom Curley, whose mother Elizabeth had been May Queen in her home parish of St. Anthony’s. Racial violence, collapsing real estate values, and the loss of industry have taken a brutal toll on Grays Ferry. Its polychrome nave, resplendent with marble and stained glass, was a beautiful oasis in the heart of the stark, tree-less neighborhood. By 1900, Grays Ferry was a sprawling, working class neighborhood, home to a tight-knit immigrant Irish-American community. Many of the neighborhoodâs white residents ⦠See reviews, photos, directions, phone numbers and more for the best Pizza in Grays Ferry, PA. Nora McCarthy arrived from County Limerick, Ireland in 1909. There was no welfare or child assistance, so Nora Delargey cleaned houses and cooked meals at a nearby convent to make ends meet. As human, artist and writer were pathetic. He is the author of two collections of stories, Fake House (Seven Stories Press 2000) and Blood and Soap (Seven Stories Press... My austere block had a single, sick tree. For young Ken Powell, church was where he picked up his lifelong love of singing. A coal-fired furnace in the kitchen heated the entire house, but not well. Yet he was pressured by his mother and the St. Gabriel’s nuns to be an altar boy, which meant dropping choir. A narrow staircase led to three bedrooms on the second floor. Irrelevant, young artists and writers lie, But I didn’t know it then, so I missed all, Of Grays Ferry’s breadth and depth, which, Had I mingled in Grays Ferry, I might have. Skid-marked Fruit of the Loom to Fast Eddie. City all rolled⦠Grays Ferry is the only neighborhood in the 17th to have its own police detail â a squad of seven officers assigned by the city during the racial tension of the late 1990s. And although families looked out for each other, bullies and hooligans were constant menaces to Grays Ferry youth. They had three daughters (Nora, Mary, Elizabeth) and one son (Jack). A home telephone was still considered a luxury until the late 1940s. Brick streets and rowhouses replaced forests and fields. Others worked at Bond Bread, the Sun Oil storage facilities, or the slaughterhouses along the Schuylkill. Industrial decline and white flight surged through this neighborhood decades ago, and the ebb and tide left Dean's standing nearly alone on a clear-cut block. St. Aloysius was German. The first floor consisted of a parlor, dining room, and a kitchen in the rear. As a result, many third and fourth generation residents who could afford to move out did so. Interview with Nora Schneider, June 9, 2010. Eventually, Nora’s family received a small stipend from the Mothers’ Assistance Program: $40 a month. The neighborhoodâs St. Gabrielâs Church, once an ⦠Sweeping the steps, washing the windows, and polishing the doorknobs were weekly family rituals in Grays Ferry. graysferryirishsociety.com receives about 181 unique visitors per day, and it is ranked 6,168,163 in the world. The climax of the May festivities was a neighborhood procession, “reigned over by the May Queen, usually one of the most pious eighth grade girls.” Church was a strictly formal affair, and social life in Grays Ferry revolved around the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. Its unofficial boundaries were Grays Ferry Avenue and 32nd Street on the west, Moore Street on the south, and 25th Street on the east. Much later, told me he wasn’t really gay. 6. Find more data about graysferryirishsociety. The section of this neighborhood west of 34th Street is also known as Forgotten Bottom. A notable degree of racial tension has culminated there over the last few decades (and previously, going back to the 19th century). âThe G-wordâ Since way back in the day the streets of Grays Ferry in South Philly were filled with Irish pride. About. Lifetime resident Dave Renna remembered better times. Most of the men still worked at the DuPont paint plant, which spewed waste into the river and fumes into the air. Historic Photos of Grays Ferry has 2,076 members. New Activity. 1762 Southwark, from 5th to the waterfront between Washington and Lombard, is ⦠It was two bays wide, with steps leading up to the front door. Share. After a short time, he told me he ⦠“I sang in the church choir which required about two hours of rehearsal a week and two hours on Sunday,” he remembered. Even for families on a tight budget, white gloves and polished shoes were de rigeur at Mass. Show hostility to Tim or I, two art fags. In 1986, it ⦠This hardship is still felt in the present day. I finally succumbed and became an altar boy when a nun convinced me that smart boys should serve God at the altar.”, Churches in Grays Ferry were also rigidly segregated by ethnicity. Teen pregnancies were unthinkable. Kids made their own scooters and skateboards. Interview with Thomas Curley, June 8, 2010. If they did occur, the girls were packed off to a convent for the duration of their “shameful pregnancies.”, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore railroad guide, “One price and goods returnable”: Center City’s Department Stores. Demographics: Black- 56 %. If Grays Ferry starts to see new investment and residents, there may be socioeconomic tension, but there are reasons to think that it wonât have the same kind of racial overtones that have made Point Breezeâs comeback so divisive. Geography: Grays Ferry area is in South Philadelphia, 1/12 miles south and west of City Hall. King of Peace was Italian. In search of better housing, some African Americans trickled into Grays Ferry, a predominantly poor, Irish-American neighborhood near the east banks of the Schuylkill River. In 1986, it literally stank, for there were two, Huge lots filled with garbage, thanks to a. Twenty-day strike by Philly’s garbage men. Public. Grays Ferry has a Heat Recovery Steam Generator with duct firing capability and That year, I manned up and mainlined Celine’s, To reading further, but until I could finish all, One thousand-plus pages of these books, I. Didn’t leave the house. For a musical portrait of Gray’s Ferry, listen to “Tom’s Café” by neighborhood native James Curley (Tom Curley’s brother): http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/song_details/1030839?play_now=true. Nora Schneider’s nephews Kenneth J. Powell Jr. and Thomas Curley attended St. Gabriel’s both for church and parochial school. Comment. Few families owned cars, relying instead on buses and trolleys to visit relatives in other parts of the city. For 17 years, neighborhood boys would run, To swank Rittenhouse Square, to sell their. A few years ago Butch Sigler Johnston started this group. I wasn’t too gay, myself, for my prospects. © 2001-2020 City of Philadelphia. Other- 5%. Irish Ancestry by Neighborhood#29 Percentage of the total population. Like. A unique neighborhood bar decor & atmosphere: A Lil' Ireland, Olde City, Fairmount and U. The section of this neighborhood west of 34th Street is also known as Forgotten Bottom. Tragically, Patrick Delargey died in 1932, at the nadir of the Great Depression. To someone gay, unless heâs a priest. Since money was tight, they made toys out of whatever they found. Grays Ferry (Census tract 33) in contrast was 55.5 percent black and 42.1 percent white. Grays Ferry is now predominantly black, with an enclave of Irish and Italians. Show your true colors with our vintage tee! Everyone suffered in Grays Ferry, and. Linh Dinh was born in Saigon, Vietnam in 1963, came to the U.S. in 1975, and has also lived in Italy and England. As the same publication lamented, “the age of utility has shorn Gray’s Gardens of its beauties, and the ‘classic stream,’ which once echoed with festivity and mirth, now re-echo to the hoarse trumpet of the locomotive.” i The once verdant banks of the Schuylkill sprouted wharfs, tanneries, and factories. Grays Ferry -Philadelphia Grays Ferry is one of Veolia Energy's three Philadelphia, PA steam production facilities. The area now known as Grays Ferry was named after George Gray, who maintained a floating bridge across the Schuylkill in the mid-18th century. He kept shit in pizza boxes. “I have a quick wit, necessary to survive cut-up fights…You always knew where you were and constantly looked over your shoulder…I have achieved a lot but am still unabashedly a Grays Ferry boy.”, Their 87 year old aunt Nora Schneider now lives in the Northeast. One area devastated by the narcotic is the cityâs Grays Ferry section, a tightknit blue-collar neighborhood filled with good people but also one beset by addiction. 24 Jun 1848 (AL), d. ⦠St. John Neumann kids to piss, shit or throw up. They certainly didnât. He also operated a well-known pleasure garden popular with Philadelphians who, according to one guidebook, “sought a few hours’ relaxation from the cares of business; near enough to court the visits of the idler and pleasure-seeker, and abounding in facilities for rational enjoyment…”. HOME of the Grays Ferry Irish Society "Neighbors Forever" less From all these failed artists? House cleaning was still a weekly ritual. Why not just, Slink somewhere and paint? My mother got sick a few times and a neighbor would do her wash. Located in the Grays Ferry section of South Philadelphia, Deanâs Bar has served as a neighborhood cornerstone for drinks, stories, laughs, and friendship since 1933. âA little piece of Ireland in Grays Ferryâ Gabber (3rd from the left) and his mother, Grandmom Dean, behind the bar - 1949 s29th & Tasker Streets Philadelphia PA 19145 Still, I seriously doubt the neighbors did. St. Gabriel’s was strictly Irish. It took me a week, Any lived life will trail loose ends, but what. July 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message). This is a list of Irish American communities in the United States Pizza in Grays Ferry on YP.com. Many others lived in North Philadelphia, as far as 7.5 miles from church in Kensington and Richmond; (29) Grays Ferry, about 2.5 miles west of church; Southwark, and even from distant Southwest Philly. Racial relations have improved. As in Ireland, church festivals overflowed into the streets. H ILLIN OI S UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Large-scale Digitization Project, 2007. “We learned to use our minds and hands,” Schneider remembered. Into his mouth. One such place is Grays Ferry, located in South Philadelphia. It is bound by 25th Street on the east, the Schuylkill River on the west, Vare Avenue on the south, and Grays Ferry Avenue on the north. By 1900, Grays Ferry was a sprawling, working class neighborhood, home to a tight-knit immigrant Irish-American community. Nora McCarthy arrived from County Limerick, Ireland in 1909.