Item Info

Creation Date: 4/8/1952
Media Type: Photographic Negatives
Source: Print and Picture Collection
Notes:

Image taken by Philadelphia Evening Bulletin photographer Charles T. Higgins.  Notes on the negative's envelope read:  "Apr. 8, 1952, aerial views, proposed Logan Circle tunnel connecting expressway"

This April 8, 1952, image shows an aerial view of the Logan Square area of Philadelphia, at the time of a proposed tunnel, to connect the Schuylkill Expressway (via Vine Street, seen running vertically through this photograph) with the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.  The project spanned decades, resulting in its present route in the 1970s.

Besides Logan Circle and the diagonally-running Benjamin Franklin Parkway, there are many indentifiable landmarks and buildings in this image.  At the top are the Schuylkill River, the Callowhill Street Bridge (replaced in 1965 by the Spring Garden Street Bridge), and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (upper right corner).  Looking clockwise around Logan Circle, one can see the Franklin Institute, the Parkway Central branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Family Court, the domed Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, and the Academy of Natural Sciences. 

Geocode Latitude: Geocode Longitude:-75.170960
Geocode Latitude:39.958033

Creator Name: Higgins, Charles - Photographer