The Drexel Colony in West Philadelphia
West of the Schuylkill River
Anthony J. Drexel established a “Drexel Colony” in West Philadelphia when he purchased a home on the city block bounded by 38th, 39th, Walnut, and Locust Streets in 1856.
By moving west of the Schuylkill River, Anthony made it clear he did not wish to live near Philadelphia’s most fashionable set, whose social center swiftly became the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood in the early 1850s. Horsecar omnibus lines were established in West Philadelphia only in 1854, and row home developments were built in the area over the next several decades.
Visit the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia to discover more about the history of West Philadelphia.
The new residence built for Anthony and his family, an Italianate-style mansion, would have certainly stood out when it was completed around 1858. Anthony and Ellen lived in Rittenhouse prior to moving to West Philadelphia; the freedom to move away from fashionable society confirms the family’s secure social status.
As Anthony and Ellen’s children reached adulthood and married, Anthony Drexel bought up several adjacent plots for new homes. Frances Drexel and James W. Paul, Jr., George W. C. and Mary S. Irick Drexel, and Anthony Jr. and Margarita Armstrong Drexel all maintained residences on the block.
The permanent Drexel connection to West Philadelphia remains at the Woodlands historic gardens and cemetery, where Francis M. Drexel established a family mausoleum and adjacent plot.