I feel so lucky to live in a City where I am within walking distance from wonderful shopping districts with a genuine historical significance. Of course there’s the 9th Street (Italian) Market, Jeweler’s Row, and the Reading Terminal Market. But one of my favorite areas is Fabric Row is located on Fourth Street below South Street. Even though I don’t sew much, I love window shopping on this colorful street. There’s always something to see.
According to the Philadelphia History Museum’s web site, Philadelphia’s bustling fabric row on South Fourth Street ran through the heart of a Jewish immigrant neighborhood. Peddlers hawked dry goods from pushcarts and sidewalk stands. Successful vendors opened family-run shops. Dressmakers, shoppers, and tailors flocked to this area of the Queen Village neighborhood to purchase fabrics and notions for their customers and families.
There aren’t as many fabric stores on Fourth Street as there used to be. Times change. People are not sewing as much as they used to. (Although home sewing has moved into a new phase.) New businesses are popping up among the fabric stores including independent fashion stores, shops selling hand made goods and the wonderful Kawaii Kitty Cafe. It is still a thriving, vibrant area.
Visit Fabric Row the next time you visit Philadelphia. In the meantime, here are some more pictures I took on walk down Fabric Row when the weather was much warmer!
To learn more about Fabric Row at Hidden City Philadelphia, the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia and the Fabric Row web site.
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