Walking the Eraserhood: 11th and Callowhill Streets

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“Walking the Eraserhood” represents an ongoing street-level exploration of the Callowhill district and surrounding environs, a sort of virtual walking tour of the neighborhood.

Here we can stand directly under what Philadelphians call “The Trestle” as it makes the transition from stone viaduct to iron girders. In the evening, visitors can also visit the infamous inn bearing the same name.

Copyright © 2009-2013, Bob Bruhin. All rights reserved.


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Positively Philadelphia: Our City’s Small, Hidden Streets « CBS Philly

 

Positively Philadelphia: Our City’s Small, Hidden Streets « CBS Philly

By Lauren Lipton

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — There are so many treasures hidden in plain sight in Philadelphia that often you walk by and don’t even notice.

The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia offers walking tours of neighborhoods and neighborhood architecture all over the area, pointing out things you probably would have missed on your own.

“I think it’s neat if you’re a Philadelphia resident to take a tour of a neighborhood you don’t live in or might not know,” says Holly Keith of the Preservation Alliance.   For example, she says, “We have a tour of the so-called ‘Eraserhood,’ which I think is really interesting — the Callowhill neighborhood.”

Positively Philadelphia: Our City’s Small, Hidden Streets « CBS Philly.

Walking the Eraserhood: 1100 Block of Wood Street

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“Walking the Eraserhood” represents an ongoing street-level exploration of the Callowhill district and surrounding environs, a sort of virtual walking tour of the neighborhood.

Standing and 12th and Wood we can see the former Smaltz building along the 1100 block of Wood, currently clothed in modern skin. Walking east from here, we can also pass through one of the massive stone tunnels under the Reading Viaduct. It is believed this is the tunnel David Lynch refers to in his anecdote about carrying a nail-studded board as protection while he lived in this neighborhood. The textures of the inside of the tunnel may well serve as the original model for textures Lynch used in the “man in the planet” sequence in Eraserhead. One can then continue south to stand at 11th and Wood at the foot of the Frank C. Maurone Company building, currently bearing the banner of Khmer Art Gallery. Standing here at 11th and Wood, it is also a good idea to look back to the west, to appreciate how the Reading Viaduct comes in from the crossing at 11th and Callowhill and points toward Reading Terminal.

Copyright © 2009-2013, Bob Bruhin. All rights reserved.


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The Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in the Eraserhood

The Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in The EraserhoodThe Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in The EraserhoodThe Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in The EraserhoodThe Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in The EraserhoodThe Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in The EraserhoodThe Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in The Eraserhood
The Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in The EraserhoodThe Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in The EraserhoodThe Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in The EraserhoodThe Berwyn Center PARK(ing) in The Eraserhood

Via Flickr:
"The Mission of The Berwyn Center is to cultivate community and to more efficiently and effectively address community needs within the North Philadelphia area through self-sustained programs, while serving as an example of a successful social enterprise for other grass-roots, non-profit, and community organizations.

"The Berwyn Center was founded in August of 2012 by a few dedicated case managers. Our goal is to be a part of creating a healthier and happier Philadelphia for everyone."

www.berwyncenter.blogspot.com/

Don’t let the casual beauty of their PARK(ing) day exhibit fool you. These are four serious young women with a very serious (and beautiful) mission. I’m hoping we see them again in around the Eraserhood, and in other recovering North Philly neighborhoods.

Philadelphia Churches: Plight & Potential Tickets, Philadelphia – Eventbrite

 

Philadelphia Churches: Plight & Potential Tickets, Philadelphia - Eventbrite

This project will include a two-day workshop focusing on the plight and potential of urban religious properties.  Churches have long been a focus of interest among preservationists.  Visual and social anchors of their neighborhood, these structures present special challenges and opportunities, both for congregations that wish to remain in them and as potential adaptive reuse projects.

Philadelphia Churches: Plight & Potential Tickets, Philadelphia – Eventbrite.

How a skywriting art project deals with running out of fuel :: Cover :: Philadelphia City Paper

Tasked by the Asian Arts Initiative with creating a project in their neighborhood of Chinatown North (aka Callowhill, aka the Eraserhood, aka Trestletown), the lack of places for neighborhood groups to get together inspired Kyu to look up. “I started to think of the sky as the only public space that this neighborhood had, and symbolically thinking of the sky as a space that everybody shares.”

How a skywriting art project deals with running out of fuel :: Cover :: Philadelphia City Paper.

Walking the Eraserhood: 12th and Callowhill Streets

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“Walking the Eraserhood” represents an ongoing street-level exploration of the Callowhill district and surrounding environs, a sort of virtual walking tour of the neighborhood.

Standing at street level here, we can get a very different perspective on the sites we just viewed from the Viaduct. The elevated portion of the City Branch comes in to the northwest, crosses 12th Street due north, and gracefully curves to the south, to meet with the main line due east of here, in the middle of the 1100 block of Callowhill. The northwest corner is occupied by the former rail yard, bordered to the north by the stone bulk of the Viaduct and to the west, across 13th street, by the Terminal Commerce Building. (Some have suggested piles of earth in this rail yard, as it appeared in the late 1960’s, provided the model for the “rough hillocks” Henry Spencer climbs in the beginning if David Lynch’s Eraserhead.) We can also appreciate the sheer bulk of the Wolf Building from here, and even look west down Callowhill to see the entrance to Underground Arts, a performance venue in a deep sub-basement of the Wolf.

Copyright © 2009-2013, Bob Bruhin. All rights reserved.


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