Watch ONLINE via ZOOM from the safety and comfort of your home. A link with instructions will be provided two hours prior to this virtual lecture. 

Parkside: The Evolution of a Grand Victorian Vision 

presented by Sean Solomon

This lecture will discuss the grand vision of the the builder and brewer Frederick Poth and his young architect Henry Flower for the Parkside development built in 1897. 

Designed in a style that departed significantly from the traditional Philadelphia row house, the intention was to create a distinctly German cultural impression on the city-scape, with Flemish-revival architectural flourishes. As quickly as this neighborhood rose from the vestiges of the 1876 Centennial landscape, it rapidly changed demographically by 1920 into a mostly Russian-Jewish community, and then again in 1960s into a predominately African American community. Extensive decay by the 1980s was reversed starting in the '90s by beautiful building restorations that retained the neighborhood's affordability.

By 2010, the grassroots preservation movement was able to secure local historical district status setting the stage for enhanced preservation efforts. Today, the neighborhood grapples with the uncertainty of rapid economic development and the threat of gentrification.

Sean Solomon graduated from the University of Delaware with BS in Geography. A strong interest in Urban studies led to discovering the Parkside Neighborhood in 1991. He purchased an abandoned row house on Viola Street in 1998 that was slated for demolition. While restoring his home, he worked as an activist to save many more houses in the neighborhood from the wrecking ball. He is the recipient of the Preservation Alliance’s John Gallery Community Action award and has also received a Philadelphia historical Commission Plaque sponsored by the Preservation Alliance and the Parkside Preservation Corporation.

$15 | General Admission

$10 | Alliance Member 

Students with ID, residents of the neighborhoods being presented, or individuals with financial difficulties free with email to vcheng@preservationalliance.com