The peaceful Schuylkill River was once a bustling aquatic highway of commercial marine activity. Turtle Rock lighthouse was built in the late 1800s to keep traffic away from the river banks and Fairmount Water Works. Over a decade later the first all-female athletic club on the river built their clubhouse around the beacon, preserving the lighthouse for future admiration and intrigue. Contributor Maria Gorshin illuminates this present day curiosity of Boathouse Row

Design Philadelphia’s 10th year kicked off Wednesday night. With more than 130 events, the festival has come a long way since 2005. Marsha Gorshin takes a look back at their humble beginnings and the impact Design Philadelphia has made along the way

The Mural Arts Program is giving the vintage exterior signs of Cunningham Piano Company in Germantown a little polishing up. Maria Gorshin has the story on the project and some background on this world-renowned local pearl

The first recreation building in the nation was the first skating club and later the first all-female rowing club. Maria Gorshin has the story–and Theresa Stigale the photos–in advance of the Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing Club’s 150 birthday celebration for Boathouse 14

Maria Gorshin has the story of a counter-intuitive–and well-conceived–proposal to revive the Divine Lorraine. Turn it into a columbarium for the storage, display, and visitation of funerary ashes and mementos of the lives of loved ones, says designer Jason Lempieri of the firm RethinkTANK.

It’s handball’s royal cousin, tennis’ prestigious ancestor, and a distant relative of Egyptian fertility rites. It’s Court Tennis, Center City’s most historic, under-the-radar sport. We visit the Racquet Club of Philadelphia for a closer look

A look at the past–and possible future–of the Hale Building, often called Philadelphia’s most bizarre skyscraper

Figuring out whether tiny Irving Street is public or private has pitted neighbor against neighbor