Historic preservation champion Oscar Beisert explains the cultural value of protecting Philly’s industrial heritage and why we should save “Church Row”

The Shetzline family once owned large parcels of farmland throughout Point Breeze and later developed their estate for the shallow canyons of row houses we see today. One conspicuous building, now a laundromat at the corner of 18th and Moore, may be the last remaining home of the South Philly Sweed’s old homestead. The Shadow follows the trail of obscurity

A demolition notice mistakenly placed on the doors of 19th Street Baptist Church in Point Breeze sent the preservation and planning community in hot pursuit of answers this week. Michael Bixler reports

Like many of the city’s historic resting places, Lebanon Cemetery in South Philadelphia eventually gave way to urban expansion. Though, shortly before the African-American burial ground was developed for what is now Point Breeze and Girard Estates, a firestorm of sensational headlines erupted in the late 1800’s after a grave robber was apprehended while allegedly stealing corpses for Jefferson Medical College. Contributor Erin McLeary has the lurid details

With the Land Bank finally open for business, urban gardeners and farmers hope for legal protection against the City’s “Revoke Clause.” Hidden City contributor and Kensington farmer Nic Esposito digs deep into the issue

On the west side of South Philly, the 25th Street Elevated rail viaduct clearly defines it the boundaries of the Grays Ferry and Point Breeze neighborhoods. Over a dozen trains, including oil trains like the one that derailed over the Schuylkill River recently, rumble its weathering 86-year-old bones every day. Chris Dougherty goes back a century to find the Elevated’s origins in the heyday of the rail industry—and civic reform

In ever changing Point Breeze, a temporary art installation looks to its past in a vacant lot. Joseph Poteracki chats with Maria Möller about The House That Was Here

The youth and neighborhood development project Urban Roots will help transform Ralph Brooks, Jr. Park, a place that has come to represent the neighborhood’s struggles with violence. Jessie Fox has the story and photographs