2005.03.15
Re: facadism
This past Sunday afternoon (when this thread started), I was having spot portions of my home's back facade repointed--lots of little mortar pieces fell out this past winter due to much moist weather and more than occasional extreme temperature changes from day to day. On Saturday the workmen were doing my Haitian neighbor's back wall across the driveway, and I got them to do mine, so they came back Sunday. These workmen have "day jobs" and they do these smaller jobs "cheaper" on the weekends. Anyway, after the work, the guy whose scaffolding it was, another Haitian and friend to my neighbor and someone I chatted with out back on a hot night this past July, told me about all the work they're doing around South Street and Bainbridge Street near Graduate Hospital. He said, "They are buying the homes from the Black people, then they take all the inside out, make it all new inside, then the White people buy the homes for $600,000 and $700,000 dollars."
In the summertime, I got a real kick out of telling these three Haitian guys about all the Philadelphia streets that were first "Indian" trails. These guys could really relate because they actually know Philadelphia's streets pretty well--I think they were all taxi drivers when they first came here. Finally, the "scaffolding" guy asked, "When was all this?" I said, "Like more than 300 years ago." Then he said, "Oh my God, that's old!" And then they all laughed, and we kind of nodded our heads in wonderment.
2004.03.15
Re: Burial Practices of Native Americans: Production of A Kind Architecture
I live in one of the valleys that is part of Philadelphia's Tacony Creek Watershed,1 specifically the valley created by (the quondam) Rock Creek (which is today a large sewer tunnel under the couple mile length of Ashdale Street since the early 1940s). The mouth of Rock Creek at Tacony Creek is today a large tunnel (not at all unlike the ancient Roman main sewer tunnel that is still to be seen along the east bank of the Tiber). It is recorded that Native Americans once lived ("camped") around the confluence of Tacony and Rock Creeks--the name Tacony is derived from the Lenni-Lenape tekene which means wooded place. The highest point of elevation (less that 1/4 mile from the point of the two creeks) is today the intersection of Rising Sun Avenue and Tabor Road, where the (once rural) community of Olney was established a little over 150 years ago. Rising Sun Avenue appears to be built upon an age old "Indian" trail, and Tabor Road goes back (at least) to the first half of 1776. Since 1998 I've been wondering if Rock Creek Valley adjacent Tacony Creek and Rising Sun and Tabor was once Native American burial ground.
1. I moved to the quondam Ury Estate in 2006.
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