Philadelphia Real Estate: Marconi Plaza

Marconi Plaza is a neighborhood located in South Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An Italian-American enclave, Marconi Plaza is comprised of two main halves, East and West, which are divided in the middle by Broad Street. The neighborhood is accessible via the Oregon Avenue Station of the Broad Street Subway. The Plaza itself, from which the neighborhood dervies it's namesake, is a 19 acre park that spans the east and west side of Broad Street at Oregon Avenue.

History

The plaza was originally designed in 1914 - 1916 and was built as the grand entrance for the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition, leading visitors south along a tree lined Southern boulevard to the exhibition grounds that started at Packer Avenue. The neighborhood held the common name of Oregon Plaza until October 18, 1937 when it was officially named Marconi Plaza in honor of the Nobel Prize Laureate Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the “Radio.”

The original design of the Plaza had details of a European terrace. The east and west plaza reflected the same winding pathways leading to a raised stepped terrace surrounded by stone railings and entrance sculptures of large urns with two small pools of water facing Broad Street at the center point, which at that time was cut away from the curbline of half circles both on the east and west.

Over the years many of the fine details have been erased including the indented curbline. On the site of the two small reflecting pools, which have been filled in are two statues that were erected to support the immigrant Italian community and respond to Anti-Italianism. A statue of Guglielmo Marconi was erected on the east Plaza though the efforts of the Marconi Memorial Association headed by Dr. Frank P. DiDio. The statue was dedicated on April 25, 1980, to commemorate the 106th anniversary of the birthday of the world famous Italian scientist and inventor.

A statue of Christopher Columbus was erected on the west plaza in 1973. This Statue was relocated from Belmont Avenue in Fairmount Park where it originally stood for 97 years having been erected on October 12, 1876 by the Viti Brothers. This began an annual tradition for the colony of mostly Italian Americans in South Philadelphia to march each year on Columbus Day to the statue in Fairmount Park. The 6 mile journey was found to be too exhausting and in 1920 the celebration changed locations. The statue was moved a 22 foot high pedestal at Belmont Avenue which was the end point of the annual October 12th parade.

Boundaries

The boundaries of Marconi Plaza are:

Western Half Eastern Half
Broad to 16th, Shunk to Moyamensing
Broad to 18th, Moyamensing to Packer 12th to Broad, Porter to Oregon
11th to Broad, Oregon to Bigler
10th to Broad, Bigler to Pattison

Source of Article:

Wikipedia. (2008). Marconi Plaza, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Retrieved May 30, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marconi_Plaza%2C_Philadelphia%2C_Pennsylvania

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