US2011 - Elfreth’s Alley

Elfreth's Alley, popularly known as "the nation’s oldest residential street", allows visitor to step back into America’s past through its historic cobblestones.

 

 

Located in the heart of Old City Philadelphia, this National Historic Landmark Alley is a block-long street that opened in 1702 with thirty-two buildings built between the 1720s and 1830s.

 

 

While a modern city has sprung up around it, the Alley preserves three centuries of evolution through its old-fashioned flower boxes, shutters, Flemish bond brickwork and other architectural details.

 

 

Also in the Alley is the Elfreth’s Alley Museum, which tells several unique stories about early Philadelphia.

 

 

Built in 1755, it is tiny by modern standards, but were considered average size in their hey day. By average, it meant eight families (roughly 27 people) sharing the home, a situation not uncommon back then.

 

 

Of the thirty-two houses, the Museum that occupies 2 houses is the only one opened to the public. The other thirty houses remain private homes where Philadelphia families have lived in the same space for the past 300 years.

 

 

But hopefully, only one family occupies each house, and not eight like they use to be!!