Manayunk Then and Now: 100 years of photographic history
Manayunk Arts Festival is a sign of area revitalization amidst a changing neighborhood
The Manayunk Bridge and Canal, photographed Dec. 20,1918, shortly after the bridge construction was completed. And recently re-photographed on Jun 13, 2019.
COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER / TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILA/Thom Carroll / PhillyVoice
by Thom Carroll PhillyVoice Contributor
The name Manayunk translates literally as a "place to drink.”
It's a name which still seems accurate today for the trendy neighborhood situated between Wissahickon Valley Park and the banks of the Schuylkill River.
Manayunk, also once known as Flat Rock and then later as Manaiung, the Lenape word for river, has a history common to many parts of the country - which began with a boom of industrialization, specifically in the manufacturing and textile industry - and later diminished toward the end of the twentieth century.
To understand Manayunk’s history and resurgence, we need to first look back a few hundred years.
Early-on, the construction of the Manayunk Canal kickstarted the area’s industry, giving businesses the ability to harness water to power their factories. Upon completion of the canal, the local industry quickly began to grow and sustained itself as a vital manufacturing center of Philadelphia for many years.
But that didn’t last. With a changing economy and factory jobs on the decline, a lot of what made Manayunk a robust center for employment began to shrink. Factories went out of business and much of the main commercial corridor was shuttered.
But slowly, changes were beginning to emerge. Around the time the Manayunk Arts Festival was established in 1989, real estate developers were also beginning to make investments in the area. Restaurants and shops began to fill buildings along Main Street and old factories and warehouses along the canal were eventually converted into living spaces.
Some 30 years later, the Manaynuk Arts Festival features the work of hundreds of artists and draws around 200,000 attendees as the tri-state area’s largest outdoor juried arts festival. It will be held this weekend, from June 22-23 on Main Street.
Below are a series of images showing Manayunk’s history over the last 100 years, rephotographed in nearly-exact locations in June 2019.
COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER /TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILA.Dilapidated houses along the Manayunk Canal, June 24, 1924. Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceThe Manayunk Canal near Lock Street, June 7, 2019. COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER/TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILA.A parade on Main Street in Manayunk during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The exact date is unknown. Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceCyclists on Main Street in Manayunk, June 3, 2019. COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER/TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILA.The intersection of Main and Cotton Streets, Oct. 19, 1977. Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceThe intersection of Main and Cotton Streets, June 3, 2019. COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER/TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILA.The 100 block of Conarroe Street near Silverwood Street, Aug. 13, 1950. Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceThe 100 block of Conarroe Street, near Silverwood Street, June 7, 2019. COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER/TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILA.A retailing wall collapsed between homes on Manayunk Ave. and Lauriston St. in Manayunk, PA. The photo from July 26, 1927, shows the scene behind the houses from 4055 to 4067 Manayunk Ave. The wall was rebuilt but collapsed again in April of 1957. Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceThe backyard of homes on Manayunk Ave. in Manayunk, PA, where the retaining wall, shown at right, collapsed in 1927 and again in 1957. COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER/TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILA.George Trimbur, 12, of Manayunk, PA, prepares to ride his bike down Dupont Street, Sept. 24, 1969. Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceManayunk resident Joyce Coey of Dupont Street, and granddaughter Danica, pose for a photo on June 11, 2019, in the location where her childhood acquaintance George Trimbur was photographed with his bike in 1969. COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER/TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILA.Boys are shown playing marbles near the Reading Railroad tracks on Cresson St. between Grape and Levering Streets. When photographed on Nov. 22, 1928, the Norristown, Reading and Pottsville express trains, in addition to local trains, used the tracks. The section was included in a $4,500,000 grade-crossing elimination program creating the elevated tracks used today. Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceCresson St. between Grape and Levering Streets showing the elevated rail line which services SEPTA Regional Rail trains, June 3, 2019. COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER/TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILA.St. John the Baptist Church and the newly-completed park between Cotton, Rector, Silverwood and Cresson Streets in Manayunk, PA. Photograph date unknown. Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceManayunk's Pretzel Park with St. John the Baptist Church in the background, June 3, 2019. COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER/TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILA.Stairs leading from 4577 Silverwood Street and Krams Avenue in Manayunk PA, Oct. 19, 1977. Thom Carroll/PhillyVoiceA panoramic photo of stairs leading from 4577 Silverwood St. to Krams Avenue in Manayunk PA, June 11, 2019.