{"id":197700,"date":"2026-05-20T10:46:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/197700\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T10:46:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:46:26","slug":"west-phillys-black-bottom-gone-from-maps-but-not-from-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/197700\/","title":{"rendered":"West Philly\u2019s Black Bottom: Gone from maps but not from memory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Opened in 1795, Lancaster Avenue<\/a> was the nation\u2019s first turnpike<\/a>, a passageway for agricultural goods to get into the city. While plenty of farm products did travel along the highway, its impact on moving people was far more consequential.<\/p>\n

In Powelton Village, the avenue cuts diagonally through, bounded by Spring Garden Street, Market Street, 31st Street and 40th Street. But beneath it lies a buried history, one that no longer appears on maps.<\/p>\n

Beneath the corridor<\/p>\n

Before the turnpike, Lancaster Avenue marked the northern edge of a community known as Black Bottom<\/a> that once stretched from here south to Sansom Street, and from 32nd to 40th streets. Through the mid-20th century, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, and the city\u2019s Redevelopment Authority<\/a> cleared the neighborhood<\/a> to make way for expansion, displacing 5,000 residents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Community Education Center at 3500 Lancaster, where a recent archaeological dig<\/a> unearthed artifacts from Black Bottom. (Hanbit Kwon\/for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

The Black Bottom name has disappeared from maps but not from memory.\u00a0 Black Bottom Tribe<\/a> \u2013 formed by former residents and their descendants \u2013 have spent decades pushing for historical markers on the land, and businesses along Lancaster work to keep that history alive. The owners of the Plant and People<\/a> plant shop and caf\u00e9 and The Silk Tent<\/a> international boutique collaborate with the group to commemorate what once stood here.<\/p>\n

\"\"Lancaster Avenue, Haverford Avenue, and 40th Street converge at the historic site of the 1965 Freedom Now Rally. (Hanbit Kwon\/for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

On August 3rd 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King spoke here during his \u201cFreedom Now\u201d tour<\/a>.\u00a0 Last year, local businesses La Pearl Beauty Emporium and The Silk Tent marked the anniversary with the first Freedom Now Fest, backed by the Lancaster Avenue 21st Century Business Association<\/a>, also known as LA21.<\/p>\n

Rather than hosting the event in January on MLK Day, \u201cwe came up with the idea of putting it toward the summer, where more people could participate, and we associated it with the [MLK] statue,\u201d Silk Tent owner Rashida Watson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Silk Tent owner Rashida Watson with Freedom Now Fest merch. (Hanbit Kwon\/for Billy Penn)\"\"The Ultra Silk Gallery, adjoining The Silk Tent, features a curated collection of textiles and cultural artifacts. (Hanbit Kwon\/for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

The corridor opens up<\/p>\n

Nate McIntyre, owner of Bodyrock Bootcamp at 3858 Lancaster for 20+ years, watched the corridor grow. He describes the neighborhood as a streetcar suburb that never fully shed its identity, oscillating between the longtime West Philly residents and the college population. \u201cYou can tell when a kid\u2019s walking down the street and they\u2019re just purposely keeping their head down so they don\u2019t make any connections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Dutchess with Nate McIntyre. \u201cShe knows when you need a break and comes right over to you!\u201d one student reported joyfully. (Hanbit Kwon\/for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

But lately that\u2019s been shifting. New restaurants near 38th Street have drawn people deeper into the neighborhood, which McIntyre sees as doing more to bridge the distance than any institutional efforts. \u201cKeeping the heart of West Philadelphia coming into this block is probably what does a better job of getting these kids assimilated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His own gym runs on a similar philosophy. \u201cMy whole thing has been back to basics,\u201d McIntyre explained. \u201cI love the lo-fi, the simplicity. I used to play sports and I just hated the pressure. I try to make this so it\u2019s for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right next door to the Bodyrock Bootcamp, Yasmeen Kenya recently opened a wellness boutique. Born and raised in West Philly, Yasmeen is something rare on a corridor in transition: a second generation resident, choosing to stay.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Yasmeen Kenya (right) pictured with her daughter Amber. (Hanbit Kwon\/for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

Together with Bodyrock and Plant and People, she hosts Wellness Sundays, a weekly collaboration offering rotating workshops and discounts across the corridor.<\/p>\n

Upper Lancaster Avenue: Where the blocks breathe<\/p>\n

Plant and People, founded by mother-daughter duo Cherron Perry-Thomas and Amma Thomas, opened at 3925 Lancaster Ave with a specific gap in mind. \u201cA lot of the nicer plant stores are in the suburbs,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cYou don\u2019t really have too many in Philadelphia, and especially not in historically Black neighborhoods, owned by Black people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are houseplants, soil, and gardening supplies. There\u2019s a caf\u00e9. There\u2019s also a section called Philly Homegrown, which features a rotating collection of local vendors who pay for shelf space but keep all their sales.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cherron Perry-Thomas and Amma Thomas at Plant and People (Hanbit Kwon\/for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

On weeknights, the space is open to community use: arts and crafts, tarot, reproductive justice. Last year, a grant-funded wellness series for teenage boys brought in a therapist, yoga, sound baths, and conversations about the tools needed to navigate daily stress.\u00a0 When Plant and People first opened, people would hesitate at the door, unsure whether a place like this was for them. That\u2019s changed. The children on the block now wave.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Martin Luther King mural spans the exterior. Perry-Thomas is from Memphis and the family has made the MLK history of this corridor a part of what they do. \u201cEven though we\u2019re not from here,\u201d Thomas said, \u201cwe really want to highlight that. We\u2019re glad to be in a space where so many important things happened in Philadelphia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A reproduction of the MLK speech mural, created after the original was blocked by new development. (Hanbit Kwon\/for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

Walk Lancaster Avenue Without Missing a Beat<\/p>\n

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Triangle<\/a> at 40th and Lancaster is a respectful starting place. One block off Lancaster onto Powelton Avenue, Baring Street, or Hamilton Street brings the Victorian houses up close.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many different hidden gems here,\u201d McIntyre mused. \u201cMany of the spaces used to be old punk rock venues. You\u2019ve got really cool stories that have been inside of this place for a long, long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The historic 1895 Hawthorne Hall<\/a> with its sweeping brick facade and terra-cotta accents, now hosts local shops. (Hanbit Kwon\/for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. Opened in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[87755,79593,28130,69,71,70,87756,877],"class_list":["post-197700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-black-bottom","tag-city-guide","tag-lancaster-avenue","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-powelton-village","tag-west-philadelphia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}