During the mid 20th century, the 52nd street served as a fundamental center for exchange of cultural media and entertainment amongst the African American community, gaining the nickname “Black Main Street” as the streets were lively with jazz clubs, performance venues and movie theaters, one of which was Belmont Theatre. Moreover, the community on 52nd Street was strongly community-oriented and financially secure, serving as the center hub of entertainment in Philadelphia. As there were major fluctuations of inhabitants with the region due to the constructions and renovations of the public transportation (SEPTA) station located on 52nd and Market, numerous smaller businesses were forced to leave and many lost their jobs. This resulted in an increase of crime rates during the late 20th century.
Currently, despite the majority of the region being a predominantly African American demographic, less than half of the businesses are Black-owned. Yet, the neighbourhood is still a very active area, with 52nd Street being one of SEPTA’s busiest subway stations with an average passenger rate of 6,500 people per weekday, according to Bruce Katz of The Philadelphia Citizen.
The legend in the right bottom corner of the images above explains how the intensity of the color represents a higher proportion of the African American population inhabiting the area. A light beige color represents 0% percentage of inhabitants, while the dark orange-brown color represents a great majority of inhabitants (close to 100%).
From the visual comparison in the demographics, it is evident that the region where the Belmont Theatre was located was mainly dominated by African American communities, though there were some fluctuations between 2000-2020. However, it must be noted that this website does not provide much data before 2000 which may account for the sudden fluctuations present in 2000.
Video Timelapse of Visual Transformations in Building Styles During Train Ride from 52nd to 46th Street (Video Credits to Elliot)
As can be seen in the video, the buildings in the beginning of the video are relatively shorter and narrower; most of the houses are cramped together and small street shops / tents can be noticed. As the video progresses, the houses are visibly much wider than the rectangular, narrow houses in the beginning. The roads also appear to grow wider as the video progresses. The growth in width and sizes of the buildings and roads can be a visual indicator of an increase in wealth and income. Furthermore, there is an increase in greenery (trees, grass) as the video progresses. The drastic change in the perceivable wealth of the neighbourhoods through their appearances in this short 1:27 clip indicates the great wealth disparity between the neighbourhoods despite being in close proximity with each other.
Total Household Changes in N 52nd St & Filbert St (2010 vs. 2020)
In the graphic representation above in the region of 52nd and Filbert Street during 2010-2020, there were no major changes in households, except slight increases in the areas already inhabited in 2010.
Field Notes:
Citations
Brightbill, George M. 1915. Belmont Theatre, 52nd Street below Market, Philadelphia, Pa. [Graphic]., The Library Company of Philadelphia, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/digitool:97446/print?clip=rft_id%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fdigital.librarycompany.org%252Fislandora%252Fobject%252Fdigitool%25253A97446%252Fdatastream%252FJP2%252Fview%253Ftoken%253D2d1f96095e349026c4dd4d8c9d39df057ff14b74eefbb2d43d2c762ca4556c37%26svc.region%3D0%252C0%252C777%252C1200%26dimensions%3D1200%252C780.
Katz, Bruce. “The Equity Test: A Plan for West Philadelphia’s 52nd Street Corridor.” The Philadelphia Citizen, 1 Dec. 2022, thephiladelphiacitizen.org/the-equity-test/.
“Social Explorer.” Social Explorer, www.socialexplorer.com/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.