HOW SWEDE IT IS March 2018
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Jump Start You’re Invited
Don’t wait until fall to begin looking at high schools, get acquainted with Penn Charter this spring.
mondays 4/30, 5/7 and 5/14 • 8:30 am to 12:30 pm Tour the campus and shadow a ninth grade student for three classes. Gather information about academics, arts and athletics. End your visit at lunch with Director of Middle and Upper School Admissions Beth Johnson.
Please call the Upper School Admissions Office at 215-844-3460 ext. 103 with questions or to RSVP. 3000 West School House Lane Philadelphia, PA 19144 215.844.3460 ext. 103
www.penncharter.com
02 March 2018
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Here’s What’s Inside // March 2018
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SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW YOUR PANCAKES? Donna Pancari shares three recipes for pancake lovers, inspired by Philadelphia’s early Swedish, German and Danish settlers. A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT Eleanor Ingersoll interviews Reverend Patricia Cashman, the new rector at Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church. FOLLOWING THE FLAG Jim Murphy searches for a connection between the Swedish and Philadelphia city flags, and learns about New Sweden, too. EXULTANT FILMS Piers Marchant reviews films that use expectation, doubt and unexpected triumph to put their audience through the emotional wringer. SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS This 1687 map depicts rural landowners’ names and lots, including some of the settlements established by Swedish emigrants before William Penn’s arrival. SWEDE SPOTS Amy Grant and Peter Ross provide a handy list of historical sites, museums and outdoor spaces for engaging with our Swedish colonial heritage.
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COLONIAL SWEDES ON THE DELAWARE A look back at the Swedes, the first white settlers to successfully colonize the Delaware Valley and a major presence during the colonial period.
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THE COUNTRY CHURCH OF WICCACO Michael Schreiber examines the story behind our neighborhood’s oldest structure and its visible links to the Swedes who settled here over three centuries ago. THE LEGEND OF ST. LUCIA Amy Shelanski and Amy Grant write about a Swedish twist on an annual celebration of a 3rd-century Roman martyr. AGGRESSIVELY CUTE, THE SJUPP STORY Duncan Spencer tells us about Swedish zoologist Carolus Linnaeus and his mischievous pet raccoon. THE GIRL WITH THE SWEDISH QUESTION Amy Shelanski discusses mystery crime novels and TV series produced in Sweden that seem to be at odds with its low crime rate. SUMMER CAMP LIKE A SWEDE Katie Lockwood provides the latest news on local nature-based camps, where your child can get a taste of a Scandinavian-style summer camp. MASON-DIXON SURVEY Jim Murphy explores the dangers and difficulties involved in developing the famous Mason-Dixon line. BUILDER OF U.S. CAPITOL BUILDING BURIED IN QUEEN VILLAGE Terry Buckalew describes the life of Ignatius Beck, a common man forced by a prejudiced state of affairs to uncommon levels of accomplishment and action. MOVIES FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES Hilary Young reveals some great local theatres offering kid-friendly movie options.
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Contributors All opinions are of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Queen Village Neighbors Association. TERRY BUCKALEW Terry Buckalew is a local historian who has conducted extensive research on the Bethel Burying Ground. He can be reached for questions or comments at tebuckalew@gmail.com or bethelburyinggroundproject.com. AMY GRANT Amy Grant is a web developer and graphic designer. She serves on the board of the Historic Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Preservation Corporation. You can read her history stories at www.southwarkhistory.org. AMANDA HALL Amanda Hall is a photographer specializing in environmental portraiture, creative corporate photography and urban landscapes. Her work can be found at www.amandahallstudios.com. ELEANOR INGERSOLL Eleanor Ingersoll is QVNA’s president and the chair of the Schools and Youth Activities Committee. She is also a member of the QVNA Magazine Editorial Board. KATIE LOCKWOOD Katie Lockwood is a pediatrician and blogger who resides in Queen Village with her husband and two children. All opinions are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. PIERS MARCHANT Piers Marchant is a film critic and writer. Find more confounding amusements and diversions at his blog, sweetsmellosuccess.tumblr.com, or read his further 142-character rants and ravings at @kafkaesque83. JIM MURPHY Jim Murphy is a freelance copywriter and certified tour guide – who
focuses on Philadelphia history. He also writes a consumers' blog for Old Pine Community Center. DONNA PANCARI Donna Pancari is a ninth-grade English teacher. Along with her husband Kevin Parker, she edits the local food blog Farm To Philly, and gardens at the Southwark Queen Village Community Garden. PETER ROSS Peter Ross is a realtor with Plumer & Associates. He previously served on the QVNA Board and QVK9. He is currently a member of the QVNA Magazine Editorial Board. MICHAEL SCHREIBER Michael Schreiber is a writer living in Queen Village. Many of his articles on the history of Philadelphia and Early America appear on his website, philahistory.org. AMY SHELANSKI Amy Shelanski is a real estate agent who has resided in Queen Village for over a decade. She previously served on the QVNA Board and is currently on the Zoning Committee and Magazine Editorial Board. DUNCAN SPENCER Duncan Spencer is the chair of the Friends of Weccacoe. He has lived in Queen Village since 1992 and works in the film industry as a set builder and is a residential and business landlord on Fabric Row. HILARY YOUNG Hilary Young is a Queen Village mom and owner of Hilary Young Creative, a content and marketing service for small businesses.
On the cover: The Kalmar Nyckel is a replica of the tall ship that brought settlers from Sweden to the Delaware Valley in 1638. Completed in 1998, she is anchored in the Christina River in Wilmington, DE. This majestic ship often visits Philadelphia in warmer months as part of Sail Philadelphia or the Tall Ships Festival.
Show Your Support For Our Neighborhood Good neighbors make great neighborhoods. With your help, QVNA can support, create, and maintain cleaner sidewalks, better schools, neighborhood networks, beautiful parks and contribute to special projects and respond to neighbors when they have emergency needs. Make an Annual Contribution: ☐ $40 Individual ☐ $60 Family ☐ $120 Sponsor ☐ $250 Benefactor Please send a check payable to: QVNA P.O. Box 63763 Philadelphia, PA 19147
06 March 2018
QUEEN VILLAGE NEIGHBORS ASSOCIATION
office // 415 Queen Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147 mail // P.O. Box 63763, Philadelphia, PA 19147 phone // 215.339.0975 email // info@qvna.org • web // www.qvna.org SERVING RESIDENTS, BUILDING COMMUNITY
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Submission Deadlines May 2018 Issue Advertising: April 15, 2018 Editorial: April 10, 2018
EDITORIAL BOARD Amy Grant Eleanor Ingersoll Lauren Leonard Jim Murphy Peter Ross Amy Shelanski Duncan Spencer
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QVNA Magazine Volume 4, No. 2, is published bi-monthly (January, March, May, July, September, November) by Queen Village Neighbors Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Federal ID# 23-2025152). All contributions are tax-deductible.
March 2018 07
So You Think You Know Your Pancakes? BY DONNA PANCARI These three recipes are for pancake lovers, for sure, but also for those who might not be. Find pancakes a little too filling? Give pannkakor a try. Don’t want to stand at the skillet dishing out individual portions? Bake up a dutch baby. And if you just really want a donut? Ebelskivers are for you. For all the recipes below, I highly recommend you try them with Stone Ground Hard Wheat Flour from Bucks County’s Castle Valley Mill. They’ve sifted out some of the bigger bits of bran, so the result is a lovely nutty taste without the sometimes-heavy texture of whole wheat. Dutch Baby or German Pancake If you’ve got a 9 or 10-inch cast iron skillet, you’re halfway to your first dutch baby. By far the easiest of the three, a dutch baby will still impress everyone when it puffs up in cooking and then deflates into a delicious soft pancake with pools of melted butter on top. I don’t think we’ll ever bother with traditional pancakes at home again. 2 eggs ½ cup flour ½ cup milk ½ teaspoon sugar ½ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons butter 1. Heat oven to 425. Add eggs, flour, milk, sugar and salt to
blender and blend until smooth.
2. When oven reaches temperature, add butter to cast
iron skillet and place in oven until butter melts. Carefully remove skillet, pour in batter and return pan to oven.
3. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until dutch baby puffs and lifts
from sides and turns lightly golden brown. (13 minutes is perfect in our oven.) Serve with maple syrup or fruit compote.
Pannkakor or Swedish Pancakes These are far more like crepes than pancakes, and to my surprise were much easier to make even in my cast iron pan. Recipes varied, so I adapted one here that had some butter melted in the batter to help with sticking. 3 tablespoons butter, plus more for cooking 3 eggs 1 cup flour 1 tablespoon sugar 1 ½ cups milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Pinch salt 1. Melt butter and cool slightly before adding to all other
ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth.
2. Heat non-stick pan over medium heat. Add a small pat of
butter and swirl to coat or use a silicone brush to spread.
3. Pour ⅓ cup batter into pan and tip pan around until all
surface is covered. Allow pancake to cook for about 2 minutes until edges begin to release. Flip pancake with spatula and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more butter to pan when necessary. Serve with fruit compote, whipped cream or powdered sugar.
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Swedish Pancakes
Ebelskivers or Danish Pancakes You’ll need a special pan for this one, but considering the results are much more like a warm filled donut than a pancake, you might just want to spring for it. I’ve suggested jam below as an easy filling, but I like them best with a filling of cinnamon sugar and nuts chopped fine and mixed with a little melted butter. 1 cup flour ½ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 1 ¼ teaspoons sugar 2 eggs, separated 1 cup milk 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for cooking Jam for filling Skewers or chopsticks for turning 1. Melt butter and cool slightly. 2. In one bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and
sugar. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and melted butter. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture.
3. Beat egg whites in mixer on high until stiff peaks form.
Carefully fold whites into egg yolk and flour mixture in stages until combined.
4. Heat ebelskiver pan on medium. Put a dab of butter (about
⅛ teaspoon) into each well. When butter is melted and beginning to bubble, pour 1 tablespoon batter into each well. Add ½ teaspoon jam filling, and top with 1 tablespoon more batter.
5. When batter begins to brown and separate from sides
(about 3 minutes), use skewers to tip each ebelskiver over and cook another 3 minutes until crisp and golden.
6. Remove ebelskivers to plate, add more butter and repeat
with remaining batter.
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St. Philip Neri Parish
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Holy Week Schedule
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Palm Sunday Masses
4:30 vigil & 11:00 a.m. at St. Philip Neri Church (SPN) 8:30 a.m. at St. Stanislaus Church (SS)
Monday-Wednesday Masses 7:30 a.m. - SS
Holy Thursday
9:00 a.m. Morning Prayer - SPN 7:30 p.m. Mass of the Lord’s Supper - SPN
Good Friday
9:00 a.m. Morning Prayer - SPN 4.00 p.m. Veneration of the Cross - SPN 7:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross - SPN
Holy Saturday
9:00 a.m. Morning Prayer - SPN 11:30 a.m. Blessing of Food - SS
Columbus Blvd. & Christian Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 215-389-1513 www.old-swedes.org
Easter
8:00 Vigil - SPN 8:30 a.m. - SS 11:00 a.m. - SPN WWW.QUEENVILLAGECATHOLIC.COM
March 2018 09
A River Runs Through It BY ELEANOR INGERSOLL
Reverend Patricia Cashman in front of Gloria Dei Church.
A model of the Fogel Grip, one of the ships that brought Swedes to America in 1638, hangs in the center aisle of the church.
Photography by Amanda Hall Studios
Reverend Patricia Cashman doesn’t actively search out the presence of water. Yet it seems to have found her at each one of her major stops in life, including now, as the rector of Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church overlooking the Delaware River. This theme of living next to water fits like a puzzle piece into her calling. “There is a deeper spiritual energy guiding us, it will come forth naturally to arrange conflict and challenge [us] into a great life,” says Cashman. She didn’t start out in the church, instead her path took a nonconventional flow from motherhood to healthcare to counseling to priesthood. Reverend Cashman, a mother of three, earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Widener in 1983, after which she became a psychiatric nurse at the Philadelphia Psychiatric Center. She also did a stint at the SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) Center here in Philadelphia and became a certified Bereavement Counselor. But that didn’t fulfill a nagging feeling that she had to do more. 10 March 2018
It was fulfilling to help the families in need, devastated by loss, “but the yearning did not go away, and I realized the yearning was a calling to become a priest.” That was 1986. And it would be 10 more years before the calling became a reality. In 1995, Cashman earned a Masters in Divinity at The Lutheran Seminary in Mount Airy, all while raising a family and working full time. In 1996 she was ordained an Episcopal Priest. In 1999, she joined Emmanuel Resurrection Episcopal Church in the Holmesburg section of Philadelphia as the first woman rector. “It was a dream job,” Reverend Cashman explains. There was money for many community ministries, such as children’s after school programming and she was even able to start a nonprofit for the church, The Cedar Tree. “It was a dream come true,” she explains, “the location to reach out into a vibrant city facing challenges. And there was money for programming to balance the challenges. It felt like my purpose
realized.” But by 2001, the grants and aid had dried up, and the Twin Towers had come down. “The church couldn’t keep me full time and thus began my walkabout.” A ‘Walkabout’ is an Aboriginal (native Australian) term associated with a period of wandering to inform a rite of passage to the next stage of life. For Cashman, the events of September 11, 2001 set her off on her journey, both physical and spiritual. “Post ‘the Towers,’ I went on a spiritual odyssey, a walkabout. It was such a radical thing that had happened, I felt I needed to be radical, too.” From 2003-2016, Cashman allowed the ebbs and flows of her walkabout to determine her course. In 2003 she went to the Episcopal Monastic Community of the Holy Spirit on the Upper West Side of New York. In 2005, she moved further up the Hudson River, serving with the Order of St. Helena’s convents in New Windsor as well as Augusta, Georgia, on the Savannah River. In 2010 she left St. Helena's to work with the Lamb Institute in Tegucigalpa, Honduras to serve the capital city’s most vulnerable. Reverend Cashman returned later that year and in 2011, became the priest of Ascension Episcopal Church on Lake Ontario in Rochester, NY, where she hosted refugees from Thailand and Nepal and African countries. The next stop was Burlington, Iowa, where she was the Rector at Christ Episcopal Church along the Mississippi River from 2013-2015. When Cashman returned to the Philadelphia area in 2016, she was hoping for a full-time religious post, but none was available. So, she became recertified and worked as a Nurse Navigator at NHS Community Mental Health organization. In her free time and on weekends, she served at Holy Trinity in Lansdale, then at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Norwood. It was while at St. Stephen’s that she saw an advertisement for the rector position at Gloria Dei. “I thought I was set, nursing and leading the ministry at St. Stephen’s. But I saw the advertisement and I felt I should just let them know I’m here.” That feeling set in motion Cashman’s appointment at Gloria Dei. “I think after all that I have seen, heard and felt, I find hoping and believing in a divine purpose is what makes life worth living, and I’m so happy to be sharing the journey with Queen Village and the people at Gloria Dei, which has so many resources.” While she may be physically settled, Cashman’s mind is still on an odyssey of sorts; in her hopes for the next stage of service to Gloria Dei. “Alongside prosperity, there is still a need for a sanctuary for healing. I want to focus on people’s needs. It is vital for me, being a Pastor to the congregation at Gloria Dei. I’d like this to become the center of healing for our neighborhood, and I’m wondering who is here to help me do it?” If you think you might be one of those people, just call Reverend Cashman. She’ll boil some water for a cup of tea and a conversation. March 2018 11
Following The Flag Are Philly's city colors modeled after Sweden's? BY JIM MURPHY Looking back, I made a mistake. I volunteered to write a story about Philadelphia's city flag and its connection to early Swedish settlers. Why not? It sounded easy, if not all that interesting. I was wrong on both counts. I spent days doing research online, visited the Swedish American Historical Museum on Pattison Avenue, went to City Hall, even spoke with exuberant Brenda Exon, also known as "the Philly Pride Lady" or "the Philly Flag Lady." Now I'm much better informed about the people who settled New Sweden, fights between the Dutch and Swedes, and why Sweden was so important to Philadelphia and our founder, William Penn. And yes, our city flag, which most of us know very little about, is believed (but not definitively yet proven) to commemorate Sweden's colonization of Philadelphia. It's currently being researched.
always aware the big bully – England – could come along at any time and eat their lunch. Eventually, it did. New Sweden attracted these interesting personalities: Johan Printz, the new Swedish Governor in 1643, was described as weighing 400 pounds and drinking three horns at every meal, furious and passionate, "difficult of access, and sending home messengers, who brought him intelligence, 'bloody and bruised.' " Peter Stuyvesant, the Director of New Amsterdam, "stumped about on a silver leg," boldly destroyed a Swedish fort, blockaded the river and forced the Swedes to withdraw. Johan Classon Rysingh, told to use only the mildest measures against the Dutch, disregarded those instructions and took possession of the Dutch's Fort Casimir. Outraged Stuyvesant retaliated with seven armed ships and 700 men, forced the Swedish commander to surrender, then besieged Fort Christina near Wilmington. "Thus fell New Sweden," says a 1908 paper titled "Dutch and Swedish Settlements on the Delaware." Interesting Oddities: • A magazine article titled, "Two Swedish Pastors Describe Philadelphia 1700 and 1702," says "... here there are fanatics almost without number. Because there is freedom of conscience, here they have gathered together, of every opinion and belief."
Flag artwork courtesy of Vince Facchiano, Champion Flags, Inc. (ChampionFlags.com)
Here’s what you’ll find in Philadelphia’s City Flag: Colors: Azure (sky blue) and golden yellow Seal: Two female allegorical figures flank the shield: Left figure: Symbolizes Peace with an olive wreath on her head; plus Hope with the anchor in her hand; Right figure: Symbolizes Plenty or Prosperity. Above Seal: Scales of Justice Inside Seal: A plough (or plow) represents agriculture, and a sailing ship symbolizes the city's port and maritime commercial trade. Below Seal: "Philadelphia Maneto," which translates to: Let Brotherly Love Continue. The Swedes played a big role in the development of William Penn's Philadelphia. When he was unable to buy the land he wanted where Chester is today, he built a 1280-acre city between two rivers. He bought much of that land from the Swanson brothers of Wiccaco. For many years in the 1600s, though, the Swedes and Dutch jockeyed for position along the Delaware River – without breaking into outright hostilities. But like two young boys who enjoyed sparring, they were
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• The Swedes most important legacy may be the log cabin. No, it's not American. When the Swedes came to New Sweden, Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden. And Finnish Swedes here built log cabins, similar to those they lived in at home. Practically all the buildings in New Sweden were made of logs. Local residents who moved west took the log cabin idea with them. The rest is history. • Philly sports teams have worn Swedish colors – or "Philly Colors" several times. The Eagles wore blue and yellow in 1933, their first NFL season, and again in 2007 at a home game against the Detroit Lions to celebrate the club's 75th anniversary. The 1938 Phillies took the field in Swedish blue and yellow versions of their uniforms in honor of New Sweden's 300th anniversary. Now, back to the key question: Does the city flag definitely carry the colors of the Swedish flag? Brenda Eton, an energetic, enthusiastic proponent of Philadelphia's flag, thinks it does, and is trying to prove it. When she heard some people wanted to redo and redesign the flag, she was aghast. "This is an historic flag – the FIRST City Flag in the nation." Brenda, who helped start a non-profit corporation called Partners for Civic Pride, promotes the flag wherever and whenever she can. The flag talks about peace, hope, justice and prosperity. "It's a flag of unity for everyone in Philadelphia, "she says. "When people learn that, they embrace it totally."
Exultant Films BY PIERS MARCHANT By the time you read this, the Eagles will have been world champs for more than a month already – which is still difficult to fully process – so things will likely have settled down a bit on that topic. But as I sit at my desk, on the day after the parade, the city still seems to have a faint midnight-green glow. As far as scream-and-thrash excitement goes, nothing else is quite at the level of sports, but filmmakers have long used similar principles of expectation, doubt, and unexpected triumph to put their audience through the emotional wringer. Herewith, a sampling of films – not all of them sports-related – that can make you want to spring out of your chair and hug the nearest person (or pet) in your living room. And to spare everyone the inevitable, I have taken the “Rocky” films out of the running, here. If you’re a Philadelphian and you haven’t even watched the first (and best) of these films before, I simply can’t help you.
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Breaking Away (1979): Peter Yates’ sweetly unassuming film, about a cycling-obsessed teen (Dennis Christopher) in love with all things Italian, and his fellow townie friends (Dennis Quaid, Jackie Earle Haley, Daniel Stern) competing in a big bike race against the snooty, entitled frat boys of the local university, has everything you want in an uplifting sports flick. Including the fact that, despite the emotional climax of the race itself, it isn’t really a sports flick, but a warmly funny family drama about class, identity, and coming to terms with your own self-expectations. Excitement Level: 7.5. One of the nice things about the film is the way it doesn’t try too hard to manufacture drama. The bike race matters, but only in context of the characters’ lives.
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The Natural (1984): Generally, I don’t go in for those baseballas-life movies (“Field of Dreams” has always felt like a preposterous reach), but Barry Levinson’s movie, about an aging ball player (Robert Redford), having undergone a tragedy that derailed his early career, and coming up to the majors in time for a massively important pennant race, transcends my usual disdain. I am tempted to blame it on Bernard Malamud, the brilliant writer on whose novel the film is based (though it has an entirely different ending), but some of it certainly is the way Levinson plays with archetypes – the evil, capitalist owner; the sweetly innocent ball boy; the conflicted hero – to have the film emotionally matter much more than it probably should. Excitement Level: 10. I mean, if you haven’t seen the last at-bat of the film yet, prepare yourself. So endearing was that moment the soundtrack has become synonymous with against-all-odds success.
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3 The Matrix (1999): People rightfully associate the film with the Wachowski siblings’ technical breakthroughs – including “bullet time,” a technique that quickly became ubiquitous in action flicks and commercials – but the moment near the end (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT), in which Neo (Keanu Reeves) finally gains access to the code and realizes his full potential remains one of the more risibly uplifting moments in action movie history. This is what happens when you pit a seemingly unstoppable force (cough, PATRIOTS, cough) against a bedraggled, clearly undermanned hero (BIRDS), and the outcome subverts the projected narrative. Excitement Level: 9.5. Bonus points for taking Reeves’ trademark genial cluelessness and somehow turning it into a selling point of the hopelessness of the character’s folly – right up until it isn’t. 4
Sense & Sensibility (1995): They can’t all be action/sports flicks, after all. Ang Lee has made a fascinating career of making films about emotional suppression, and his adaptation of the Jane Austen classic, which stars Emma Thompson (who wrote the screenplay) as the morosely responsible older sister, and Kate Winslet as her impetuous young sibling, as they contend with romance and financial ruination in 18th century England, is as fine an example of his pet theme as he’s ever made. The moment very near the end, in which one of our protagonists learns a truth that will forever change her life, remains one of the more reliable tear-spilling moments in modern cinematic history for me. Excitement Level: 8.5. It’s not a world championship against Tom Brady, his mirthless coach, and their team of hateful corporate death clones, but it’s still pretty affecting.
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Swedish Settlements This detail from the 1687 Mapp of ye improved part of Pensilvania in America, divided into countyes, townships, and lotts depicts rural landholders' names and lots in Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks Counties. This map also includes the following Swedish settlements that predate William Penn's 1682 arrival in Pennsylvania: • Finland, Finlandia, or Chamassungh, known today as the borough of Marcus Hook, was settled around 1642 • Upland or Uppland, known today as the city of Chester, was settled around 1642 • Printztorp, known today as the west side of Chester, was originally settled around 1643 and renamed after Governor Johan Printz in 1652 • Tequirassy, known today as the borough of Eddystone, was settled in 1643 • Tenakonk or Tinicum, known today as Tinicum Island, was settled in 1643 • Provins, Druweeÿland, or Manaiping, known today as Province Island in Southwest Philadelphia, was settled in 1643 • Minquas or Minqua's Island, now part of Southwest Philadelphia, was settled in 1644 • Kingsessing, a neighborhood in Southwest Philadelphia, was established in 1644/45 • Mölndal, known today as the borough of Yeadon, was settled in 1645 • Torne, known today as West Philadelphia, was settled in 1647 • Ammansland, known today as the borough of Darby, was settled in 1654
Map Credit: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
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A Swedish church was established in Wiccaco in 1677 and began accepting burials that year. The brick edifice that stands today in Queen Village was consecrated in 1700. Descendants of early Swedish landowners including the Swanson, Rambo, Bankson, and Snowden families - are interred in the churchyard.
Swede Spots BY AMY GRANT AND PETER ROSS Do you want to explore the Delaware Valley's Swedish colonial heritage? If so, visit these locations. Unless otherwise indicated, these sites are publicly accessible or can be toured via special request. Want to learn more? If so, reach out to Consulate of Sweden in Philadelphia by calling (610) 812-9134 or writing to philadelphia@consulateofsweden.org The consul promotes cultural awareness, goodwill, and business and investment between Sweden and Philadelphia, Harrisburg and the rest of Pennsylvania.
Lower Swedish Cabin
Pennsylvania American Swedish Historical Museum 1900 Pattison Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19145 (215) 389-1776 http://www.americanswedish.org Founded in 1926, the museum is the oldest Swedish museum in the United States. Architect John Nydén, a Swedish-American from Chicago, designed the building to reflect both Swedish and American architectural elements. The museum’s interior features twelve exhibition galleries with rotating exhibits. Bartram’s Garden 5400 Lindbergh Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19143 (215) 729-5281 https://bartramsgarden.org When John Bartram purchased this property in 1728, it contained an old stone cottage dating from an early Swedish settlement. Although he expanded the building in subsequent years, remnants of the cottage remain in the present kitchen, as evidenced by a fireplace and other artifacts. Boelson Cottage 2110 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Philadelphia PA 19131 Built sometime between 1678 and 1684, this 17th century Dutch/ Swedish style cottage is the oldest extant structure in Fairmount Park. Although the building currently serves as an office for the Friends of Philadelphia Parks, the grounds are still accessible. Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church 916 S. Swanson Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147 (215) 389-1513 http://www.old-swedes.com
16 March 2018
Morton Homestead
Consecrated in 1700, Gloria Dei is the the oldest church in Pennsylvania and second oldest Swedish church in the United States. The sanctuary houses a number of artifacts, including a 1731 marble baptismal font. The churchyard dates back to 1677 and features several recently restored 18th century markers. Governor Printz Park 101 Taylor Avenue, Essington, PA 19029 (610) 521-3530 Johan Printz, the third governor of the colony of New Sweden, established this location as its capital in 1643. Stone foundations from “the Printzhof,” a two-story log structure that served as the governor’s home, remain on the property. Plans are currently underway to create a New Sweden Theme Park on this site. Lower Swedish Cabin 9 Creek Road, Drexel Hill, PA 19026 (610) 237-8064 https://swedishcabin.info This historic log cabin was built between 1638 and 1655 by Swedish immigrants who were part of the New Sweden colony. It stands relatively unaltered from its original construction and may be one of the oldest log cabins in the United States. The cabin is open for tours on Sundays, May through October. Morton Homestead 100 Lincoln Avenue, Prospect Park, PA 19076 (610) 583-7221 http://norwoodpahistorical.org The homestead was founded in 1654 by Morton Mortenson, a Finnish immigrant, when the area was part of the New Sweden colony. The original structure dates back to 1698 and is one of the few surviving examples of 17th century Swedish log structures in the Delaware Valley.
Mouns Jones House
Kalmar Nyckel
Mouns Jones House 31 Old Philadelphia Pike, Douglassville, PA 19518 (610) 385-4762 http://www.historicpreservationtrust.org
Consecrated in 1699, Holy Trinity is the oldest Swedish church in the United States. There reportedly are over 15,000 burials in its churchyard.
Built in 1716 by Swedish settler Mouns Jones, this structure may be one of the earliest remaining buildings in Berks County. The building was recently restored by the Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County. It is open to the public periodically during the year as part of the Morlatton Village historic site.
Kalmar Nyckel Foundation Museum and Shipyard 1124 E. 7th Street, Wilmington, DE 19801 (302) 429-7447 http://kalmarnyckel.org
Delaware Block House 1 Naamans Rd, Claymont, DE 19703 The Block House was constructed circa 1654 by Johan Risingh, the last governor of the colony of New Sweden. It was intended for defense against local Indian tribes and was later captured by the British Army during the American Revolution. It is the only house remaining of the original settlement on Naaman's Creek. Fort Christina 1110 E. 7th Street, Wilmington, DE 19801 This site marks the approximate location where Swedish colonists from the ships Kalmar Nyckel and Fogel Grip landed on a natural wharf of rocks in 1638. It was the first Swedish settlement in America and the first permanent non-native settlement in Delaware. Hendrickson House 606 N. Church Street, Wilmington, DE 19801 (302) 652-5629 http://www.oldswedes.org Swedish farmer Andrew Hendrickson built this house in Chester, Pennsylvania during the early 18th century. In 1958, the house was moved to Wilmington, Delaware and placed on the Holy Trinity Church property. It is one of the oldest surviving Swedish-American homes in the United States. Holy Trinity (Old Swedes) Church 606 N. Church Street, Wilmington, DE 19801 (302) 652-5629 http://www.oldswedes.org Holy Trinity is one of three churches with similar architecture built by Swedish communities during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Completed in 1998, this ship is a full-scale and faithful re-creation of Peter Minuit’s original flagship that founded the colony of New Sweden on the Delaware. The “good will ambassador” for the state of Delaware sails daily from April to November, voyaging over 3,000 nautical miles each year. New Sweden Centre 1124 E 7th Street, Wilmington, DE 19801 (302) 429-0464 http://www.colonialnewsweden.org This “museum without walls” showcases the Delaware Valley’s Colonial history with a special emphasis on New Sweden. Reenactors use costumes and artifacts to engage the public with tales about Swedish sailors, the Swedish Governor’s Guards and Governor Johan Printz. New Jersey C. A. Nothnagle Log House 406 Swedesboro Road, Gibbstown, NJ 08027 (856) 423-0916 The Nothnagle log house was built sometime between 1638 and 1643 by Finnish settlers in the New Sweden colony. The house features a number of artifacts, including 1590’s Scandinavian ironware around the fireplace. Although privately owned, the house is available to tour by appointment. Mortonson-Schorn Log Cabin 1208 Kings Highway, Swedesboro, NJ 08085 (856) 467-1227 Built by Morton Mortonson in the 1600s, this structure is one of the oldest original log cabins of early Swedish-Finnish architecture in the United States. Before and during the Civil War, it was used as a station for the Underground Railroad. The cabin was moved to the Trinity Episcopal Church property in 1989.
March 2018 17
Colonial Swedes On The Delaware 1638
1654
1644
After a 4-month voyage from Gothenburg, the Kalmar Nyckel arrives in the Delaware. Fort Christina is built at present Wilmington.
New Governor Johan Rising captures Fort Casimir, restoring Swedish control. Rising introduces reforms to protect Swedish settlers’ property rights.
A Swedish settlement is established at Kingsessing and the first gristmill is built on Mill (now Cobbs) Creek.
1642
1651
The first Swedish settlements in “Pennsylvania” were likely established this year at Techoherassi, Upland and Finland.
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1638
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1648
1640
Kalmar Nyckel, on its second voyage, brings the first families to New Sweden, including Sven Gunnarsson and Peter Rambo.
18 March 2018
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1658
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1646
The Dutch are persuaded to grant self-government to the Swedes in the area north of the Christina River.
1668
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1678
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1655
The first Swedish log church is built on Tinicum Island.
In September, Dutch soldiers invade New Sweden. The Swedes surrender the colony and decide to stay in America, pledging allegiance to the Dutch.
1643
Johan Printz, the first royal governor of New Sweden, arrives and builds a manor house and a fort on Tinicum Island.
1656
The Dutch build Fort Casimir at present New Castle. The Christina River becomes the de facto boundary between New Sweden and the Dutch.
1652
Printz seizes a plantation in Upland, claiming that the owners practiced witchcraft. Angered Swedes move to Fort Casimir to live under Dutch rule.
1660
The Dutch governor asks the Swedes to supply soldiers in his war against the Indians. Swedes refuse, citing their non-aggression policy with the Indians.
1664
Peter Rambo, Sven Gunnarsson, and others receive land patents from the Dutch and move from Kingsessing to Passyunk, Wiccaco and Moyamensing. The English seize the American colony from the Dutch.
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1688
1684
1681
Former New Sweden is granted to William Penn, who secures English patent for Pennsylvania.
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1698
Holy Trinity Church is dedicated at present Wilmington to replace a log church previously used for worship.
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1695
1708
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The church at Tinicum is abandoned and part of the congregation begins worshipping at the church in Wiccaco.
1682/83
Swedes are required to be naturalized as English subjects. Sven Gunnarsson’s sons surrender 300 acres for the City of Philadelphia.
1701
Andreas Rudman negotiates an agreement with William Penn, setting aside 10,000 acres near Manatawny Creek for future Swedish settlement.
Swedish settler Anders Bengtsson sells one of his Passyunk plantations to church wardens at Wiccaco.
1718
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1728
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1700
1688
1677
A new log church is dedicated on land given by the family of Sven Gunnarsson. Pastor Jacobus Fabritius serves as minister.
1699
William Penn sets aside 5,000 acres in present Upper Merion Township for future Swedish settlement. Many Swedes sell their land and move to West Jersey.
Gloria Dei Church is dedicated at Wiccaco and replaces the old log church.
1698
Peter Rambo’s son and grandson become the first settlers of the Swedes' tract at Matsunk in present Upper Merion Township.
1704
Side porches added to Gloria Dei Church. Settlement begins at new Swedish tract at Manatawny (present Douglassville, Berks County).
This is an abridged version of a timeline created by historian Dr. Peter Stebbins Craig for the Swedish Colonial Society. The full version was originally published in Swedish Colonial News, Volume 2, Number 5 (Fall 2001).
March 2018 19
The Country Church Of Wiccaco BY MICHAEL SCHREIBER What is the most distinctive building in Queen Village? Gloria Dei, commonly called Old Swedes’ Church, has a just claim to the title. The enchantingly pretty church is our neighborhood’s oldest structure. The building and its churchyard provide a visible link with the early settlers who came to New Sweden over three centuries ago. Gloria Dei stands on ground donated by the First Family of Queen Village — the Swansons. The progenitors of the family in America, Sven and Brigetta Gunnarsson, sailed on the Kalmar Nyckel with two small children, arriving in New Sweden in 1640. Brigetta was pregnant when she boarded the ship in Gothenburg, and gave birth to their son Olle while still at sea. The Swedish Crown sought to obtain settlers for its American colony by making use of men who had been rounded up for alleged crimes – such as poaching or desertion from the army. Sven Gunnarsson was one of these cast-offs from the mother country. He arrived in the New World in servitude, laboring for close to five years on a tobacco plantation in what is now the state of Delaware. Around 1645, soon after becoming a free man, Gunnarsson moved with his family to Kingsessing, today a neighborhood in southwest Philadelphia. He operated the newly built gristmill on Cobbs Creek — the first in the Delaware Valley — and became known as “Sven the Miller.” Within a decade, New Sweden came to an end after Dutch forces defeated the Swedes in several skirmishes on the Delaware. Governor Peter Stuyvesant took over administration of the colony, ruling it from New Amsterdam (now New York City). But even with the addition of new settlers from the Netherlands—and soon from the British Isles — for a number of years Swedes and Finns remained the majority of the population. (Finland at that time was incorporated into the Swedish state.) In 1664, Sven and his three adult sons—Sven, Olle, and Anders — received a patent from Stuyvesant’s successor for a large tract of land that extended west from the banks of the Delaware. Only months later, the Dutch were forced to yield their colony to the English, but the English governor confirmed the patent in 1671. The property Gunnarsson and his sons received formed a significant portion of land that had originally been “sold” by a sachem of the Lenape people to the Dutch West Indies Company in 1646: “A piece of land called by their people Wiqquachkoingh [Wiccaco], located on the South River of New Netherland. … The land extends from the south end of a marsh (running between the thicket and the forest) … to a small stream, forming there a round and rather high point nearly opposite the south point of Schutter’s Island [later known as Windmill Island and Smith’s Island], and inland five or six miles.” Sven Gunnarsson and his sons, who took the last name Svensson (later Anglicized to “Swanson”), established their homesteads on high ground close to where the small Wiccaco Creek flowed
20 March 2018
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church in Queen Village. Photography by Amanda Hall Studios
into the Delaware. The Lenape people had used the land for centuries as a camp. After the death of Brigetta in 1671, Sven Gunnarsson resided with the family of his youngest son, Anders, in a house that lay several dozen yards north of the creek (the stream now flows in the sewers beneath Christian Street). The family of the eldest son, Sven, lived further south, close to where Washington Avenue is today. In May 1675, the English Governor Lovelace authorized the Swedish settlers living above Darby Creek to construct a new church in their vicinity, which would be located at Wiccaco. Sven Gunnarsson’s children granted a plot of land to the north of Sven’s house for the purpose. Their father did not sign the grant; he was approaching 70 and might have been infirm, since he died a few years later. The church building, according to several accounts, was fortified in order to withstand any attacks from Native American warriors. It was probably constructed of logs, which at a certain point were covered with wooden siding. The church was consecrated on Trinity Sunday, June 5, 1677, and the congregation was entrusted to a minister named Jacob Fabritius, born in Silesia (now in Poland), who mostly preached in a dialect of low Dutch (also called low German). Fabritius was well educated, but considered a “turbulent” fellow, subject to violent outbursts. The Lutheran elders in New York City wrote about him in 1670: “He is very fond of wine and brandy and knows how to curse and swear, too. In his apparel he is like a soldier, red from head to feet. He married a woman here with five children and has dressed them all in red.” Four years later, his wife, Annetje (Anna), complained in a New York court that Fabritius had forced her “the whole winter to sleep in the garret under the roof of the house, which truly is a very hard thing to happen to an old woman, and all this for a drunken and constant profaner of God’s name, a deviant Lutheran preacher.” The court ordered Fabritius to hand over the key to the house to his wife, and in the future “not to presume to molest
her in any way.” But the husband and wife soon reconciled and moved to what is now Delaware. Fabritius was embroiled in several more court suits there, including on charges that he had acted as the ringleader of a group of rioters. However, he settled down once he became established at Wiccaco, and preached there for close to 15 years – even though he was blind for most of that period and often complained of not having enough money. During his early years at Wiccaco, the minister lived upriver at Shackamaxon (now the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia), and like many of his parishioners, had to travel to the church by canoe. Fabritius retired due to old age and ailments in 1693 (he died three years later), and for the next few years the Wiccaco congregation had no minister—despite their entreaties to the Lutheran authorities in Sweden to send one. Finally, in 1696, King Carl XI commanded the archbishop in Stockholm to send two clergymen to his country’s former colony. The new ministers, Eric Biörck and Andreas Rudman, both 28 years old, had studied at seminary together, and this was to be their first major assignment. After traveling to England, they set out from Plymouth on March 23, 1697, for the three-month journey across the Atlantic. For the use of their new parishioners, they carried a chest of Bibles, hymnals, and prayer books—though many of the pages were still unbound. The ship endured at least five heavy storms along the way, and was compelled to drift for days with its sails torn and its masts broken. The ministers finally disembarked in Maryland on June 24. Four days later, they met with the vice governor, William Markham, who resided, in Biörck’s words, in “a pretty little city, Philadelphia, built and inhabited by those weeds, the Quakers.” Rudman later noted that Philadelphia was no more than the length of “two musket shots” north of the church at Wiccaco. The city had over 3000 inhabitants at the time and had been carved out of the forest on land that was purchased from the Swanson brothers. A couple years later, Rudman described Philadelphia again in a letter he sent to Sweden: “If anyone were to see Philadelphia who had not been there [before], he would be astonished beyond measure [to learn] that it was founded less than twenty years ago. Even Uppsala, etc., would have to yield place to it. All the houses are built of brick, three or four hundred of them, and in every house a shop, or Gatbodh [a house with a shopfront], so that whatever one wants at any time he can have, for money.” But he also expressed reservations about the people from England who had settled in Philadelphia and the surrounding area: “When the English arrived, they did not all come emptyhanded. Some were wealthy capitalists, who usurped property the Swedes held, especially along the water, cleared the land and made it bald, and crowded the Swedes, who had neither the will nor the understanding to strive with them. Therefore, they sold their precious land along the water and had to go up into the country. For the most part, they were cheated.” The ministers decided that Biörck would take charge of the church at Christina (today’s Wilmington, Del.), while Rudman would officiate at Wiccaco. He preached for the first time in Wiccaco’s wooden church on July 4, 1697. Immediately, it became apparent that the church buildings required extensive repairs and were also too tiny for the size of
their congregations. About 1200 people were listed as members of the two churches, with 529 at Wiccaco alone. Rudman wrote to one of his professors in Sweden, “The churches are old and decrepit. Therefore we, with the help of the Lord, will exert ourselves to build new ones.” While Biörck began right away to hire workmen for his new church at Christina—which was to be located in the churchyard not far from the old one—Rudman discovered that the issue was more controversial in his district. Parishioners who lived in Kingsessing and other areas along the Schuylkill wanted the new church to be built nearer to their homes. People who lived along the Delaware insisted that it remain at Wiccaco. Rudman was exasperated by the dispute—which delayed construction for close to a year—and at one point threatened to go back to Sweden. Finally, the congregation agreed to leave the decision to the ministers, who decided that the new building would be built next to the old one at Wiccaco. A number of parishioners helped with tasks during the construction of both churches. But the major work was performed by a group of top Philadelphia craftsmen, mainly trained in England. They included mason Joseph Yard, John Smart for much of the carpentry, and master carpenter John Harrison (who likely apprenticed at the Carpenters’ Company in London) for the finishing and interior work. Yard and Harrison brought their sons as assistants, and Yard used the services of a free black man, Dick, on both churches “as he knew best how to prepare and carry the mortar.” Yard began laying the foundations at Christina in May 1698, and foundation work at Wiccaco began the following October. As he and the other craftsmen completed a task on one church, they moved on to the other. Who designed the two churches? It is doubtful that any single person served as the architect. In that period, master carpenters engaged in construction work generally carried out their own designs. Despite its smaller size, Gloria Dei resembles in several respects some of Sir Christopher Wren’s churches, such as St. James Piccadilly (1684), and the memory of similar buildings in England probably influenced carpenter John Harrison or mason Joseph Yard when they sketched out their plans for the churches along the Delaware. It took just a year to complete the church at Christina, which was consecrated on Trinity Sunday, June 4, 1699. The church at Wiccaco was consecrated one year later — June 2, 1700. A large crowd of people came from the city of Philadelphia and from farms up and down the river to attend the Wiccaco ceremony, join in the songs, and share the afternoon banquet. It’s possible William Penn was present, since he was residing in Pennsylvania at the time. Eric Biörck gave the morning sermon, first in Swedish and later (on request) in English, and the Anglican minister of Christ Church in Philadelphia spoke at noon. Biörck christened the new church Guds Ära Hus, (the House of God’s Glory) or Gloria Dei. A few years later, rooms were constructed on the north and south sides of the church, and a cupola was added later for its bell. Over the centuries, many additional generations have been buried in the churchyard — some with visible gravestones, but most without. Visiting this shrine today, it’s still easy to imagine it as the country church at Wiccaco, surrounded by river, woods, and fields, when “the pretty little city” of Philadelphia lay two musket shots to the north. March 2018 21 21
The Legend Of St. Lucia BY AMY SHELANSKI AND AMY GRANT
This artistic rendering of a young woman portraying Lucia appeared on the cover of the Finnish paper Allers Familj-Journal in 1927.
How did a nice Italian girl who was born in 283 in Sicily wind up in Sweden with candles on her head? St. Lucia was a devout Christian who went against her widowed mother’s wishes to marry. Fearing for her fatherless daughter, Lucia’s mother arranged a marriage with a wealthy young man. Lucia refused, knowing from the time she was five years old that she was destined for martyrdom and sainthood. During what is known as “The Great Persecution,” the Roman emperor Diocletian issued a series of edicts rescinding the legal rights of Christians, forcing them to adhere to Roman practices. Forbidden to assemble for worship, those who refused to comply were threatened with death by fire. Fearing the wrath of the Roman Empire, many Christians took refuge in the system of underground tombs called catacombs. According to legend, Lucia donned a candle-lit wreath to bring food and aid to "light her way and leave her hands free to carry as much food as possible" to those in hiding. 22 March 2018
Lucia’s spurned fiancé denounced her to the authorities, who ordered her to burn a sacrifice in honor of the Roman Emperor. Legend says that when Lucia refused, they sentenced her to be defiled in a brothel. When the guards came for her, they were unable to move her, even with a team of oxen. They tried to burn her, but she would not burn. She was then tortured, and is said to have died in 304. So how did Lucia inspire a Swedish celebration? Before Christianization became complete around the 12th century, the Swedes practiced forms of Norse religion. The pre-Christian holiday of Yule, or jól, was the most important holiday in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Originally the observance of the winter solstice and rebirth of the sun, it brought about many practices that remain in the Advent and Christmas celebrations today. The Yule season was a time for feasting, drinking, gift-giving, and gatherings, but also the season of awareness and fear of the forces of the dark.
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In the old Julian calendar, December 13 was the winter solstice. Pagan rituals to ward off darkness were common. As Christianity spread north, Christian missionaries brought the story of St. Lucia with them. The story of the martyred young woman who wore a crown of candles to light the darkness must have had a powerful appeal to the Swedes and other Nordic peoples during their long dark winters. In earlier centuries, the Norse celebrated the winter solstice with large bonfires to scare off evil spirits and alter the course of the sun. After converting to Christianity sometime around 1000, the Norse incorporated the legend of St. Lucia into their celebration. The modern festival of light combines elements of both pagan and Christian traditions. Today, it marks the beginning of the Christmas season in Scandinavia, and it is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year. The Lucia celebrations include traditional foods - ginger snaps (pepparkakor) and sweet, saffron-flavored buns (lussekatter) shaped like curled-up cats with raisin eyes. You eat them with glögg (hot mulled wine) or coffee. Here in Queen Village, we honor the life of Lucia at Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church. This beloved event has been going strong for over 80 years, and weaves together a number of Swedish holiday traditions into a colorful musical pageant. At Gloria Dei, young men and women of the congregation pay homage to Lucia’s fabled trip to the catacombs. Small children are dressed as either 'Stjärngossar' (star boys) or girls (tärnor') – like Lucia but without the candles. The heart of the celebration is Lucia herself, a young woman in white with a red sash, wearing an evergreen wreath with seven candles on her head. All the participants sing songs in Swedish culminating with “Sankta Lucia,” which is roughly translated as: Night walks with a heavy step Round yard and hearth, As the sun departs from earth, Shadows are brooding. There in our dark house, Walking with lit candles, Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia! Night walks grand, yet silent, Now hear its gentle wings, In every room so hushed, Whispering like wings. Look, at our threshold stands, White-clad with light in her hair, Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia! Darkness shall take flight soon, From earth's valleys. So she speaks Wonderful words to us: A new day will rise again From the rosy sky… Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!
Mike Duffy 215. 886. 6111 | Oreland, Pa 215. 725. 3637 | Philadelphia, Pa Certified Arborist PD-1766A 215. 572. 6937 | Fax www.libertytreecare.com
March 2018 23
Aggressively Cute, The Sjupp Story BY DUNCAN SPENCER
Linnaeus's raccoon, Sjupp, [photograph]. With kind permission from the Linnean Society of London.
Carolus Linnaeus is considered the father of modern taxonomy. To remember Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, say: King Philip Came Over From Germany Sick. Or in Australia: Keep Ponds Clean Or Frogs Get Spacko. Linnaeus created a system for classifying and naming nature. The basis of this system is still used by scientists around the world. The adage is "God Created, Linnaeus Classified." Linnaeus was born in Sweden in 1707 and never came to Philadelphia.
24 March 2018
However, one of Philadelphia's most important and perhaps most overlooked exports did go to Sweden and was presented to Carolus Linnaeus. I’m speaking of course of Sjupp the raccoon. Sjuup himself was originally classified in 1747 by Linnaeus as Ursus cauda elongata or "the long-tailed bear." By his tenth edition of Systema Naturae, he was revised to Ursus lotor, or "the washing bear," then later procyon lotor or "before the dog (hand) washer." While science has not made it completely clear who he was, we do know that Sjuup came
from New Sweden – which, for the purposes of this article, you may think of as Philly. Being a world renowned Swedish scientist has its perks; people send you things, things from the New World. Sometimes even shiny, big-eyed creatures with little black hands with almost opposable thumbs, and mischief in their hearts. Sjupp was given to Linnaeus as a gift from crown prince Adolf Fredrik – known to Swedish school children as the “king who ate himself to death” after he died in 1771 from eating too many helpings of Swedish pudding. Linnaeus, who loved the mischievous little creature, installed him in his walled gardens and took him on as a household pet. While early Swedish and Dutch settlers battled it out in a 30mile stretch of the Delaware River known as New Sweden for what was considered one of America’s major early commodities – raccoon fur – Sjupp was moving from a small zoo in the Royal Gardens of Stockholm to Linnaeus' manor in Uppsala Sweden. Linnaeus reveled in Sjupp's exploits and laughed as he ripped apart clothing, cupboards and landscaping in pursuit of snacks. According to Linnaeus, "What he liked best were eggs, almonds, raisins, sugared cakes, sugar and fruit of every kind ... if a student came in who happened to have raisins or almonds on him, he at once attacked his pocket and fought until he had captured the spoil. On the other hand, he could not bear anything with vinegar on it, or sauerkraut, or raw or boiled fish." Note: Due to their omnivorous diet, procyonids have lost some of the adaptations for flesh-eating found in their carnivorous relatives. While they do have carnassial or shearing teeth, these are poorly developed in most species, especially in raccoons. Alas, Linnaeus loved Sjupp in the way only a scientist can. One day in 1747, the always-curious Sjupp climbed out of his walled garden home only to be mauled to death by dogs on the other side. Through his tears, Linnaeus, ever the scientist, managed to throw Sjupp's mangled body up on the slab, dissect the remains, and publish a detailed description of his friend's insides, to complement his already published description of his friend's outsides. Pehr Kalm, a Swede and a Linnaeus representative sent to the New World to “gather riches” reported that raccoons, their skins at least, were an important part of the early North American economy. “The hatters chase their skins, and make
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hats out of their hair, which are next in goodliness to beavers ... The tail is worn around the neck in winter and therefore is likewise valuable,” Kalm reports in his “Travels into North America" (1772). Interestingly, Kalm spent his winters of this expedition in the town of Raccoon, which is today known as Swedesboro. I’m not smiling – it’s true. Now onto the gold, raccoon gold Not much happened in the raccoon world for 230 years after Sjuup's death in 1747. Then in January 1977, pay dirt. Based on a 1963 American children’s book, “Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era,” the Nippon Animation Company released "Rascal the Raccoon,” a 52-episode Anime cartoon series that told the story of a young boy and his ever-present animal sidekick Rascal. The show was so popular amongst Japanese children that the country began importing an estimated 1,500 of these aggressively cute creatures to Japanese shores every year. (Look up "Raccoons Gone Wild," "Raccoons Take Big Bite Out of Crops," "Rascal's Raccoon Invasion," "How the Children’s Cartoon Destroyed Japanese Agriculture," "Pet Raccoons in Japan; It Happened," "Reproductive Characteristics of the Feral Raccoon," "5 Reasons Not to Get a Pet Raccoon.") The show featured early work by Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, who is responsible for some of the greatest Anime films ever made: "Princess Mononoke," "Spirited Away," "Howl’s Moving Castle" (ask a kid if you don’t know what any of these words mean). Rascal the Raccoon was the beginning of the Anime, and Anime is everything. Do you see where I’m going with this? What Pehr Kalm missed? It’s not the raccoon or its skin that held the value, it’s raccooness. When Linnaeus described Sjupp he made him the 'Type specimen' for his species. He made Sjupp into Raccooness. And Raccoonness is cuteness; aggressive, unbridled, raw cuteness. Sjupp was cuteness at the id level. Dangerously adorable. And I’m willing to go one step further and say that Rascal the Raccoon softened the ground for and foreshadowed the popularity of franchises such as Hello Kitty and Pokémon, which took the world by storm several decades later. And further still, I'm claiming that the Pokémon character Pikachu is a Raccoon (Sjupp= Rascal= Pikachu). Sjupp, is the godfather of cuteness of Anime. He is why your daughter's backpack, and your son's lunch box look the way they do.
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March 2018 25
The Girl With The Swedish Question BY AMY SHELANSKI I conducted a very informal and highly inaccurate poll to see how many people in Queen Village are, as I am, addicted to Swedish detective/mystery novels and television series. There are at least twenty of us and I imagine there are many more Queen Villagers hiding in the shadows, drawing great comfort from the fact that we broke from Sweden, the land of hideous crime.
"Dreams from Snow," an episode of Maria Wern, features the death of a high-school student wearing a Lucia gown.
As far as I know, the Lucia Pageant at Old Swedes’ has never had the Lucia girl disappear mysteriously right before the procession. It seems to happen in Sweden, and like most Swedish crimes, it’s gruesome, convoluted, nefarious and repulsive. Swedish writers go all out in describing in detail the most heinous crimes, and it’s amazing how many there are in a country that is supposed to be so perfect. So why are these books, movies and TV series so popular all over the world? I have no idea, but here, in Queen Village, once a Swedish settlement, I think it’s to remind ourselves that thank goodness we’re not Sweden! And, no offense, but are Philly cops prepared to solve the kind of crime that seems to be rampant in Sweden? Who will rescue them from being tied down in a sawmill at the very last minute, or locked in a burning barn, or staring down a shotgun barrel held by a crazed farmer? These aren’t things that happen here, but would they be commonplace if we’d stayed Swedish? Most of you have read “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy. That’s the tip of the Swedish crime iceberg. Did the author know who killed Olaf Palme? Is that why he died? There are many Swedish writers who create some of the most bizarre crimes – along with some of the most broken detectives – who solve the crimes, but always at an enormous emotional cost. My favorite is Henning Mankell and his creation Wallender. I’ve read all the books and seen the BBC versions of them (which made no sense, since they made them British.) The Swedes made two versions. That’s how popular they are. I bet there are many people here who have read Mankell and seen the TV shows. So the question in my mind is whether the popularity here is part of a Swedish influence in the New World, specifically here in Queen Village. Did the British take over because there was so much weird crime under the Swedes? Is there something nefarious lurking under the nice Queen Village façade? The pull of Swedish crime fiction and television is huge. There is a large appetite for creepy mysteries and brilliant police. Other countries produce very popular novels and TV. The French series Spiral (Engrenage) is hyper-crazy, but the crimes are normal, if vicious – drugs, arms, etc. Swedish crime is bizarre. Here are blurbs from episodes of popular shows.
From Maria Wern (she’s a cop on the island of Gotland, a Swedish resort off the east coast):
• “It’s Christmastime when Gotland is struck by unspeakable
tragedy - a high-school girl is found dead in the middle of a country road wearing a white Lucia gown.” • “The charred body of a suffocated medium lies in the gutted remains of her office after a fire.” From Irene Huss (she’s a cop near Gothenburg on the west coast):
• “A dismembered corpse washes up on the shore outside
Gothenburg and the only lead is a striking tattoo on the victim's torso.” • “One nurse lies dead and another vanishes after their hospital is hit by a blackout. The only witness claims to have seen a nurse who died 60 years ago doing her rounds.” There don’t seem to be many crimes like this in Queen Village these days, but who knows what would have happened if we’d remained Swedish? Also, it’s so much fun to watch the television series and get to hear and learn Swedish. English and Swedish are both in the Germanic language group, so how difficult can it be to understand? However, I do think the Swedes tend to mumble. We don’t seem to have retained any Swedish words or phrases in Queen Village. We both say “hello” for “hello,” although the Swedes pronounce it more like “aloha.” And of course we can practice our Swedish in the little bit of Sweden that remains nearby, IKEA! So a Swedish tradition remains strong in Queen Village. Keep on reading and watching those tortuous Swedish mysteries. Tack för att du läser! (Thanks for reading!) Hej då för nu!
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26 March 2018
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Summer Camp Like A Swede BY KATIE LOCKWOOD Scandinavian parents believe that fresh air cures all. Despite the cold, dark winters, you will find Swedish children playing outdoors and infants napping bundled in their strollers. Meanwhile, it seems that American children spend less and less time outdoors, due to decreased recess time at schools, more screen time, safety concerns and overscheduling. Summer is a great time, though, to have children climbing trees, splashing in water, and observing nature. There are many local options for nature-based camps, where your child can get a taste of a Scandinavian-style summer camp. So get some sandals, put on sunscreen, and send your kids outdoors. Play Arts
Philadelphia, PA Ease into summer with this June camp, which allows city kids to explore local businesses, including urban farming at Greensgrow Farms. Riverbend Environmental Education Center
Gladwyne, PA Like the Swedes, these campers aren’t afraid to get dirty while learning about nature. Whether romping in rivers, caring for barn animals, or taking adventure trips, your child will foster their curiosity with nature. Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
Philadelphia, PA While the littles learn about wineberries, older children will take trips to the Pine Barrens or go white water rafting. Miquon Day Camp
Conshohocken, PA With a slogan of “summertime the way it used to be,” you know the Swedes would approve. Magical, unplugged days are filled by jumping with frogs in the creek, climbing in a treehouse, and hiding in a bamboo forest. Morris Arboretum
Philadelphia, PA Local Philadelphia teachers give summer STEM lessons in a lush arboretum. Seaport Summer Camp
Philadelphia, PA Let your little Pippi Longstocking take a kayak out on the river and have swashbuckling adventures aboard ships.
R.ChobeRt Painting Residential | Commercial | Interior | Exterior www.rchobertpainting.com Michael Chobert
Creating Beauty Since 1967
215-389-7788 Fax 215-755-6655 rchobertpainting@aol.com 641 Reed Street, Phila. PA 19147
Tall Pines
Monroe Township, NJ Children are bused from Queen Village to 66 acres with sports fields, pools, a ceramics studio, theatre, minigolf, zip-line, archery and more in NJ. The facility is nut-free, celiac-friendly, and has vegetarian options, and since they provide lunch, there is no need to pack your Swedish meatballs or gravlax. Durango Farm
Exton, PA Horses are often used as a symbol of Sweden, so why not learn hands-on experience in breaking and training young horses, preparing for horse showing, building jumper courses and riding. The Philadelphia School
Philadelphia, PA The “Firekeepers” camp July 9-13th for 5th-8th graders gives kids a Scandinavian experience without traveling farther than the Poconos – with four days of camping in Rickett’s Glen. In addition to hiking, there are lessons in water-purifying, shelterbuilding, and fire-making. The Waldorf School Summer: Garten Camp
Philadelphia, PA Waldorf may have started in Germany, but a camp with storytelling, crafts, and forest exploration should please everyone from Sweden to Queen Village. Maxwell’s Summer Sports Camp
Philadelphia, PA City kids can enjoy nature locally while learning sports and playing games at Starr Garden.
Old Pine Street Church Established 1768
Where History, Faith, Message, Music & Fellowship intersect at 412 Pine Street Sunday Worship 10:30am 215-925-8051 www.oldpine.org
March 2018 27
Mason-Dixon Survey BY JIM MURPHY FAST FACTS Name: Mason-Dixon Survey Marker Location: Front & South Sts., Phila. Number of People in the Survey Entourage: 115 Average Weight of the Limestone Markers: 500 lbs. Number of Stones Shipped from England: 400 Miles Surveyed: 233 west between Pennsylvania and Maryland and 83 miles south between Maryland and Delaware. Claim to Fame: The survey definitively marked the Pennsylvania-Maryland border as being 15 miles south of the southernmost building in Philadelphia (on Cedar, now South Street), and ended their long dispute. Marker Dedicated: Friday, August 30, 2013
Imagine how difficult it would be to hack your way through 233 miles of wilderness to accurately determine a crucial border. Then think how much harder it would've been to do so in the 1760s, without precise modern equipment and a Global Positioning System. Now you know how extraordinary a task it was for astronomer Charles Mason and surveyor Jeremiah Dixon to develop the Mason-Dixon Line. Their work defined the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland. After the Missouri Compromise, it also became the boundary between the North and South. A lot of importance rode on the accuracy of their remarkable work. Pennsylvania and Maryland had battled over their border ever since King Charles II gave William Penn the colony in 1682. The problem: a 12-mile circle around the city of New Castle made the stated boundaries and location of the 40th parallel and Maryland's northern border unclear and inaccurate. If Lord Baltimore got his way, Philadelphia would be "one of the prettiest towns in Maryland," something William Penn could not accept. Penn also desperately wanted a port on the Chesapeake and offered to buy land to get it. Efforts to settle the dispute for 80 years were unsuccessful. In part, says Walter B. Scaife in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, this was due to deliberate delays by Lord Baltimore. After signing papers in 1732 agreeing that the northern border of Maryland" was 15 miles south of the most southerly part of Philadelphia," Baltimore changed his position. Disaster resulted during the long stalemate. Neither colony received taxes from businesses or residents in the 4,000 square miles of disputed territory, and hostilities along the border were common. In 1734 a local war erupted, with Maryland's militia entering Pennsylvania on at least two occasions.
28 March 2018
In 1763, Mason and Dixon arrived in Philadelphia from England and set to work. Packing what was then state-of-the-art equipment, including a six-foot telescope carried on a mattress, a Hadley quadrant, plus links, chains and reference books, the team of about 115 people set out to cut vistas 30-feet wide. BBC News says it included "axe-men to cut down trees, pack mule drivers to get the trees out of the way as well as cows for milk, chain carriers, instrument bearers and tent bearers. It was like a small army moving through the woods." Interesting Oddities: • The official report on their work never mentioned the names Mason or Dixon, so they themselves never heard of the MasonDixon Line. • Both men died and are buried in unmarked graves. Mason is in the Christ Church Burial Ground. • Mason and Dixon were the first to measure a degree of latitude in North America. Dixon also tested the reliability of chronometers in measuring longitude. • The house on South Street where Mason and Dixon started their survey would now be in the middle of I-95. • Stones sent from England were placed every mile on the line. "Crownstones" that had the Penn and Calvert coats of arms on opposite sides were placed every five miles. The survey was monumental. "At the time all Mason and Dixon had in front of them was wilderness," says David S. Thaler, a trustee of the Maryland Historical Society. "The map they produced is one of the most important historical documents we have here in America. It's almost the equivalent of the Declaration of Independence." "I would suggest it is probably the second most famous line on the surface of the earth after the equator," researcher Jonathan Peacock told BBC News.
Builder Of U.S. Capitol Building Buried In Queen Village BY TERRY BUCKALEW day he would return to his wife and children.
Enslaved African-Americans in chains pass the U.S. Capitol Building circa 1815.
Buried in the Bethel Burying Ground on the 400 block of Queen Street are the human remains of a remarkable person. Ignatius Beck was born to an enslaved black woman on the plantation of Joseph Beck in Bowie, Maryland, in 1774. As soon as he was old enough, he was forced to toil at cutting trees, pulling stumps, tilling the rocky soil and planting and harvesting the yearly crops. A first-hand account by a free black man reported that “The slaves at Bowie” worked sunrise to sunset and frequently “were flogged until unconscious” with a rawhide whip. The overseers did not believe that blacks were human. They were denied participation in religious services, and were not allowed to learn to read or write. At age 19, he was “rented” out by Joseph Beck for $70 a year to the United States government as a laborer used by contractors erecting the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. More than 400 enslaved black men, half the entire workforce, constructed the Capitol. They dug trenches for the foundations, hauled large sandstone blocks, baked bricks and sawed lumber, all in 100-degree heat and suffocating humidity that “wilted” the Irish laborers. The men suffered from small pox, malaria, cholera and dysentery and received only the most rudimentary medical treatment. The laborers lived in tents through snow and rain while building the “Temple of Liberty.” In 1799, at age 25, Mr. Beck was freed from bondage by his slaver. The young man moved to Philadelphia, married and started raising a family while working at jobs available to him, such as rope making and chimney cleaning. The family moved from South 2nd Street to South 5th Street, while Mr. Beck became a valued member of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church at 6th and Lombard Streets. He eventually became the church’s sexton and gravedigger at the very same burying ground that would hold his remains. Always struggling financially and willing to work hard to support his family, he was approached with an offer he apparently could not turn down. A seemingly respectable and well-to-do local white man offered him employment. Mr. Beck was to accompany him as his manservant to North Carolina for a short period, for which he would be well paid. Financial circumstances dictating the decision, he agreed to the terms and looked forward to the
The men approached the border shared by Virginia and North Carolina on horseback, where they stopped at an inn for the night. The next morning being Sunday, Mr. Beck attended religious services near the inn. When he returned, he found his employer gone. He was thrown into chains immediately, and told he was now a slave belonging to the innkeeper. A prisoner again in a hostile land, Beck played the role of a subservient slave who was not a threat to escape. All the while, he was inquiring quietly about local individuals who could help a fugitive escape the area. Two years after his kidnapping, he took off and hid in the cellar of a local family sympathetic to his plight. As the slave catchers and their braying hounds closed in, he had to move. The white family had their oldest son escort him with forged papers stating that Mr. Beck belonged to the young man. After the pair traveled a hundred miles, Mr. Beck was given another set of forged papers saying he was a free man. He quickly completed his journey home to Philadelphia. On the way back, he made note of all the safe houses that gave him shelter. This was the beginning of a route that would become known as the Underground Railroad. Thirty-five years later, Mr. Beck would be described by a national abolitionist newspaper as one of several pioneers in the forefront of establishing the Underground Railroad and maintaining it through its early decades. Husband and father had been away two years before returning home in the middle of the War of 1812. Philadelphians were anxious over the looming threat of invasion by the British. Many of them still remembered the dreadful occupation of the city by British troops during the Revolutionary War. Militias were formed in the city, but African-Americans were denied arms to fight. In 1812, the Engineer Corps of the U.S. Army requested assistance erecting breastworks on the west side of the Schuylkill River near Gray’s Ferry to defend against English ships sailing up the river. The response of the African-American community was robust. Ignatius Beck was one of the thousands of “Black Warriors” who volunteered without hesitation. Where bitterness and hopelessness could have taken over, he instead chose to defend his city and his country. In the next several years, he would lose his wife Agnes to a complicated childbirth, where the child also did not survive. Both were buried at Bethel Burying Ground. He continued to raise his two sons and daughter – all while working and providing for the needs of men, women and children escaping from the bonds of slavery. He also organized the Free Produce Society that lobbied merchants to boycott selling anything made from slave labor – labor he knew all too well. In addition, he was a founding member of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee in 1837. It worked intensely to aid fugitives and help enslaved men, women and children orchestrate escapes from slave states. Mr. Beck died October 14, 1849, at age 75 of tuberculosis, and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground with other members of his family. At the time of his death, he lived on Barclay Street, now Delancey Street, near Sixth and Spruce Street.
March 2018 29
Movies For Kids Of All Ages BY HILARY YOUNG The experience of going to the movies changes greatly once you have kids. Either it’s impossible to make it to a movie for date night (Netflix and your couch can be way more convenient and cost-effective!), or it’s a challenge to find a theatre that has kid-friendly movie options. The good news is that there are some great theatres here in Philadelphia, including one here in Queen Village, that can accommodate kids of all ages.
The South Street Cinema screens an eclectic mix of films, including classics featuring the Three Stooges.
Bill Arrowood, Assistant Director of the South Street Headhouse District, photographed in the South Street Cinema.
Photo by Luke Smith, Temple News
The Roxy The Roxy is a non-profit theatre operated by the Philadelphia Film Society at 2023 Sansom St. As an independent theatre whose goal is to foster community through film, it’s no surprise that it’s the only theatre in town that reserves a special movie day for new parents. Every Wednesday, the Roxy hosts new parents and their children at a matinee. No one will bat an eye if you have to breastfeed during the movie, and no one will shush you if your little one gets fussy. They even lower the volume for these Wednesday matinees, so the little ones won’t be harmed by the booming sounds of the theatre. I took my daughter to a matinee with some other moms when she was just 10 weeks old, and it was glorious! South Street Cinema Another independent theatre located in our own backyard, the South Street Cinema, 327 South St., can seat up to 40
people in the screening room. It has an eclectic mix of films, and includes many kid-friendly classics parents will love as well. In February, the theatre screened Groundhog Day and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. Every month, it releases a full calendar of films at www.facebook.com/southstreetcinema to make it easier for you to plan which classics from your childhood you want to experience with your children. Planetarium at the Franklin Institute While you might not consider this when you think about your movie options in Philly, the Planetarium at the Franklin Institute, 220 N. 20th St., offers some very cool and educational movies that are great for older kids. With lengths maxing out around 30 minutes, it’s the perfect afternoon activity for kids who have trouble sitting still, leaving you plenty of time to explore the rest of the museum with the family.
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Our Award-Winning Magazine is distributed to 3400 households and businesses in Queen Village. We offer 11 different sizes for full-color artwork plus classified ads. To learn more, visit qvna.org/advertising
Kathy, Patrick and the Conway Team
March/April 2018
www.conwayteam.com
A Little Bit of Everything Happy Spring Happy Easter
Happy Passover
NEW
Some Queen Village History
246 Delancey St - Society Hill Circa 1767! A Lovely rehab full of Wonderful Natural Light, 3 BR, 2.5 BA, Original Fin Wd Flrs T/O, Fp’s, Fab Kit & Garden. $1,100,000
1110 Lombard St #13
SOLDS
Washington Sq West Private Entrance, 1000 Sq Ft, 2 Bedrooms, Bi Level, Hardwood Floors, Exposed Brick, Fp & Private Garden. $389,000
908 S 11th St 4 BR, 2.5 BA, Hrwd Flrs T/O, Cooks Kitchen, Roof Deck w/ Center City Views & 10 Year Tax Abatement. $699,000
Historic Acme Piano Building 201 Queen St #4 2700 Sq Ft, 3 BR, 2 BA, Beau Hrwd Flrs T/O, Exposed brick, Balcony, Elevator, Common Roof Deck, 1 car Garage + Meredith Catchment.
115 Pemberton St
4 Bedrooms + Den/Office, Hardwood Floors, 2.5 Baths and
Queen Village! A Wonderful rehab! Details & Character, Hrwd Flrs T/O, 3 BR, 2.5 BA, 3 Fp’s, Great Kitchen, Light
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840 S American St “B”
$1,300,000
(possibly 2 car), Extra Lg EIK with a nice side and rear garden, 2 bdrms + a den & 1.5 baths. Tucked away off the Street. $449,900
219 Montrose St Queen Village!
Charming 3 BR + Den, 2 Baths, Original Wood Floors T/O, Details & Character, Large Rooms & High Ceilings. $399,000
708-10 Fulton St A nice 2 story double property on a great Bella Vista Block. 2 BR, 1.5 BA, lots of exposed brick, great light & lovely side garden. Red $425,000
Original Floors T/O, Fp, Fin Bsmt & Lg Garden. $600,000
927 S 2nd St Shot Tower Place 2 Car Parking. Corner Property, 2600 Sq Ft, 4 BR, 2.5 Ba, Hrwd Flrs, Bsmt, Fp, Garden & Deck.
$849,900
1029 S Randolph St
212 Catharine St
WOW – 6 unit bldg or could be a Fab Mansion Home. 145 deep x 20 wide, 5112 sq. ft, 45 ft Grdn. Details & character t/o + Meredith Catchment.
$1,300,000
RENTALS
243 Fitzwater St
610 Pine St - Society Hill
QV! Super House! 2200 Sq Ft, 3 BR + Den. 2.5 BA, Hrwd Flrs , Fin Bsmt, Garden Deck & in the Great Upcoming Nebinger School District. Red $425,000
704-06-08-10 S 4th St A Wonderful Investment Opp! 4 Lg Buildings, 68 Ft Frontage, 2 run thru to Leithgow St. In the exploding 4th St corridor. Commercial 1st Fl & Apts above $4,300,000
608 S Front St
922 S 2nd St
wide running Street to Street with 2 car
Why pay condo fees when you can buy this nice single family dwelling? 3 story, 2 BR, 1.5
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938 S Front St
6 Queen St Independence Court 2900 Sq Ft, 3 BR + Den, 3.5 Ba, Hrwd Flrs T/O, Gas Fp, Custom Kitchen, Deck + 1 Car Garage Parking. $775,000
and could be a great deal. Extra large with 2 car garage, corner property. Historically
. $350,000
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yard. $299,000
222 Fitzwater St Elegant Total Rehab! 4000 Sq Ft, 5 BR, 4 BA, Hrwd Flrs, Fp’s, Incredible Kit & Baths, Deck & Lovely Large Garden.
$1,200,000
For Sale
730 S Front St Queen Village! REALLY! A Trophy House. Corner Property 4000 Sq Ft, 5 BR, 4.5 BA, Den/Media Room, Fp, Elevator, Hrwd Flrs, Garden, Pool & 2 Car Garage Parking. $6500
781 S 2nd St “The Castle in Candle Count” One of a Kind - A Designers Home. Furnished. Unique & Very, Very Special. Must See to Appreciate. 2 BR, 1.5 BA, Details & Character, Garden & Parking.
130 Spruce St 19A
766 S 2nd St
620 S Front St
Pennslanding Square 1000 Sq Ft, 1 Huge BR, Hrwd Flrs, Private Garden + Indoor
Queen Village! Nice 2 BR Bi Level w/ Eat in Kitchen, Hrwd Wd, Central Air, & Deck
-like BR, Fireplace, Washer, Dryer, CA & Deck w/ City Views. With Parking $1600 or W/O Parking $1400
Parking. $2200
$1500
$1600
$4000 for Furnished
913 S 2nd St
Extra Wide Queen Village Home! 2194 Sq Ft. Lot Size 18x67, 5 BR, 1.5 BA, Details, Character, Garden & Deck. $625,000
90% of Our Business comes from Friends telling Friends!
HISTORY
DID YOU KNOW We lost over 300 Beautiful Certified Homes to the Construction of I-95 on the East Side of Front St to Columbus Blvd From Washington Ave to Lombard St - WHAT A CRIME! When I-95 was being constructed 20 Applications were Filed in the City of Philadelphia for a Permit to Install Billboards along the entire section of We Fought & Defeated all Queen Village. East side of Front St from Washington Ave to Lombard St.
WE HAVE NO BILLBOARDS.
Stop the Ramps - Did you know 3 Ramps were Proposed along the East Side of Front St from Washington Ave to Lombard St - 2 Entrances and 1 Exit - OMG - We Fought & Won. WE HAVE NO RAMPS. From 1976 to 1986 - QVNA ran a Very Successful Job Referral Program and was Instrumental in getting over 100 of our Residents a Job WHAT A GREAT IDEA.
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You can’t hide these cuties from your landlord. Time to buy a house (and adopt a pet!) I’M DONATING 1% OF ALL MY COMMISSIONS IN 2018 TO PAWS. LET’S FIND YOUR NEW HOME!
Amy Shelanski,
LOCALLY SOURCED REALTOR ® | Invested in, living in, and working for Queen
Village and Greater Philadelphia. Linking clients to their homes, their communities and to their neighbors.
c. 215.983.1414 | o. 215.625.3650 | ashelanski@spaceandcompany.com amy.searchphillylistings.com | 2200 Walnut Street, Phila, PA 19103