In Francisville

Saint Joseph's Hospital had a long and distinguished history, opening its doors at 16th & Girard in 1849 and saving countless lives over the years. The hospital ultimately shuttered in 2016, serving as another example of a community hospital that couldn't survive in the modern health care system in the

In the spring, we asked you to take a look at 909 Corinthian Ave., noting that MM Partners purchased the five-story building in 2018 and renovated it into 22 apartments. We also shared some of the history of the property, noting that it dated back over a hundred years and was originally constructed as nurse

Last Chance Lounge was a corner bar which had a nice run at 1800 W. Girard Ave., though it closed its door permanently a few years back. Looking through some old permits, we see that the building was used as a tavern and tap house for a very long while, at least since

In the early 1980s, the Philadelphia Housing Authority took over several blocks of Francisville via eminent domain, bulldozed over a hundred row homes, and constructed a collection of one-story homes which were offered for sale as workforce housing. Interestingly, despite the fact that the homes were rather small, they were located on sizable lots,

We found ourselves on the 1600 block of Brown Street the other day, diverted there thanks to some street closures in Francisville. As we were making our way down the block, we noticed some vacant lots right in the middle of the north side of the street which we didn't

About a month ago, we asked you to direct your gaze to 1723 Francis St., a sizable and handsome building at the intersection of Francis and Perkiomen Streets. As we told you then, the building was once known as the Tilden Home For Aged Couples, and was used for senior housing as

The property at 1811-13 Ridge Ave. has been sitting vacant for at least the last twenty-five years. This was not an unusual sight for most of those years, as Francisville was in a severely depressed state, with the Ridge Avenue corridor beset by blight and vacancy. Of course, it's old

The five-story building at 909 Corinthian Ave. dates back to 1911, and was originally constructed as housing for nurses. Those nurses worked across the street, at Lankenau Hospital, at least until the hospital moved to the Main Line in 1953. Unrelated to the building, it's remarkable to consider that two hospitals

The building at 1723 Francis St. sits in the middle of Francisville, at the intersection of Francis and Perkiomen Streets, where Francis Street curiously and dangerously switches directions from one-way moving northeast to one-way moving southwest. Why this continues to be the case and how there are not numerous head-on collisions

About a year and a half ago, we drew your gaze to the 1700 block of Cambridge Street. On this block, and also on the 1700 block of Ridge, developers built about two dozen twin homes about twenty years ago, at a time that virtually no other construction was happening in Francisville.