Philadelphia is thick with American firsts. Some—including the first zoo, first hospital, first public library, first university, first computer—are well known. Others are not and are here to be appreciated: Girl Scout cookies were originally baked by a commercial bakery here and “American Bandstand” was born in a West Philadelphia TV studio. This Used to Be Philadelphia goes deep inside the buildings, monuments, and familiar sights of the city to uncover its rich history, layer by layer. This book will introduce you to the city’s first residents, the Lenni Lenape, the tireless workers who made this “the Workshop of the World,” and the current residents who love all of these stories as told through the spaces they have filled. Learn how buildings from the 1876 World’s Fair, the first to be held in the U.S., are used today. Appreciate the city’s creative adaptive reuse projects, including a former technical school turned office space with a rooftop bar and the railroad headquarters that’s now artists’ studios. Take a colorful tour of the city’s bygone days with local sisters Natalie and Tricia Pompilio. You’ll never look at an old building in Philadelphia the same way again.

Establishing a community/ building an economy : beginnings to 1800 -- Community good/manufacturing city : 1800-1865 -- Industry triumphant/civic failure : 1865-1930 -- Economic decline/community turmoil : 1930-1980 -- Struggling toward the post-industrial city : 1980-2015

Philadelphia Neighborhoods, a compendium of historic views of the major residential sections of Philadelphia, presents a snapshot into the past when old neighborhoods were not so old and when currently established ones were as yet new construction. Through the medium of postcards, readers are invited back to an era before automobiles dominated the streets, before many city roads were paved, and when the local grocery store was not located in a mall. Using chapters divided into subsections that detail the various regions of North, South, Southwest, and West Philadelphia, as well as the "new" Northeast Philadelphia, the author chronicles the vibrant, diverse communities that have helped shape the city's rich history.

Answers various questions about Philadelphia's weather and climate, from the Poconos and Philadelphia to southern New Jersey and the Shore to Delaware. This book offers a history of the region's pivotal role in the development of weather science that goes back to colonial times and gives an account of what forecasters actually do on a daily basis.

A forgotten, and often bizarre, history of Philadelphia is unearthed in these quirky vignettes.

This book covers the 20 years that transformed Philadelphia into a city of neighborhoods, from Kingsessing to Wissahickon. At the turn of the 20th century, Philadelphia was the "workshop of the world," with builders toiling tirelessly to fill the staggering demand for housing. This golden age of construction resulted in whole new neighborhoods for the city's burgeoning population, transforming it into a place where immigrants could easily find jobs and a community to call their own. More than 200 vintage photos and postcards whisk readers back to the neighborhoods as they once were, exactly as our grandparents and great-grandparents knew them, before modern influences altered them beyond recognition. Arranged by neighborhood, this Philadelphia family album, a scrapbook for the city, is filled with rare vintage photographs and comprehensive information about the houses, the builders, the neighborhoods, and the people who lived in them.