# America's Oldest Residential Street - Elfreth's Alley



## SeaBreeze (Jul 28, 2017)

All about Elfreth's Alley in Philadelphia, America's oldest residential street.  http://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/07/elfreths-alley-americas-oldest.html




> In Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood near the Delaware River,  close to Interstate 95, is a historic cobblestoned street lined with  thirty two houses built in the Georgian and Federal styles. These houses  with their old-fashioned flower boxes, shutters, and Flemish bond  brickwork, provide visitors a glimpse of how Philadelphia was in the  early 18th century.
> Elfreth's Alley is named after Jeremiah  Elfreth, a blacksmith and land speculator, who built and rented out many  of the alley's homes. Often the homes were rented to fellow artisans  such as shipwrights, silver and pewter smiths, glassblowers, shoemakers,  wagon builders and carpenters. These people were the backbone of  colonial Philadelphia.
> 
> Elfreth's Alley didn’t originally appear in William Penn’s blueprints  for Philadelphia. Penn wanted to build Philadelphia more like an  English rural town with wide streets, gardens and orchards. But the  demand for land in proximity to the Delaware River erased Penn’s dream  of a bucolic country town.
> ...


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## Warrigal (Jul 28, 2017)

Absolutely charming.


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## terry123 (Jul 28, 2017)

Love it!


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## Meanderer (Jul 31, 2017)

SeaBreeze said:


> All about Elfreth's Alley in Philadelphia, America's oldest residential street.  http://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/07/elfreths-alley-americas-oldest.html


Here's an older picture of the same view. Notice the two drain pipes in upper left.


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## jujube (Jul 31, 2017)

How cool!


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## Meanderer (Aug 1, 2017)

Benjamin Franklin at Elfreth's Alley


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