Frankford Boundary Marker - Philadelphia, PA
N 40° 01.218 W 075° 05.051
18T E 492816 N 4430013
Once upon a time there was a town called Frankford, since swallowed up by Philadelphia. In 1922, for posterity sake, the local historical society erected a 6-foot, decorative, granite marker to recall the original boundaries of this erstwhile town.
Waymark Code: WMC8F6
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 08/08/2011
Views: 5
I stumbled upon this historic marker after dropping off some records at Frankford High School form my junior high school where I work. The stone post is in the middle of the road, in a triangular swatch of land which I suspect was made just for this marker; it is in no mans land. The marker is in very nice shape. Surprisingly, the locals have not yet destroyed it; perhaps that is on an upcoming agenda. When you visit, come when it is daytime, NEVER at night, NEVER! Park on the side of the street as close as possible and obey the traffic signals.
The marker was erected by the Frankford Historical Society. I went to their website and came up still wanting information. Eventually, I located a book published in 1942 which actually references this old, gray post. The book is about all the original towns which today are unincorporated and make up the outer suburbs of Philadelphia.
When Frankford was incorporated as a borough in Oxford township (1800), it was bounded on the northwest by what is now Leiper Street, on the east and south by Little Tacony Creek, and on the west by Frankford Creek, from the mouth of the Little Tacony to the line of Leiper Street. Little tacony or Tackawanna Creek, or Dark Run, crossed Frankford Avenue of the line of Pratt Street, just below the Elevated Terminal, flowed along Pratt and Valley Streets to Torresdale Avenue, following the line to about Lewis Street, and emptying into the Frankford Creek just below the P.R.R. Bridge. In 1831 an addition to the district was made on land to the northwest of Leiper Street, the line running along Harrison and Horrocks Streets, and then to a point on the creek, below Wyoming Avenue; and in 1853 the part of Whitehall borough lying between Torresdale Avenue and Frankford Creek, and below what is no Whitehall Commons, was added to Frankford Borough. The present 23d ward extends slightly beyond the limits of old Frankford and Whitehall.
In 1922 the Historical Society of Frankford set up a marker to commemorate the old boundary, at Leiper and Harrison Streets (where they are crossed by Oxford Avenue). This lies opposite the Frankford High School, which is outside the old borough line. The historical society maintains a museum and library at 1507 Orthodox Street.
page 110-111, Old Towns and Districts of Philadelphia by William Bucks Campbell, A.M., 1942
The text of the marker reads:
Frankford
1800 - 1831
70 Feet Southward
From This Stone Was
The First Corner
In the Northwest
Boundary of The
Old Borough Line
Of Frankford
Act Of
Consolidation
February 2, 1854
Placed by The
Historical Society
Of Frankford
The reverse simply reads:
Frankford
1922