Are you afflicted with Confused-by-Kensington-itis? Do you find yourself asking "What is Kensington"? We hear this question from buyers, sellers, and Philadelphians from all over and we hear it OFTEN. Not many people can decide on the boundaries, exactly which part of Kensington they're visiting, or if they should just pretend it's Fishtown or Northern Liberties.
Even Kensingtonians themselves are not always sure where exactly they are.
Old Kensington, New Kensington, East Kensington, West Kensington, Kensington South, Port Fishington. There's so much Kensington out there that we decided it was time. Time for what? Kensington for Dummies.
Kensington is a section of Lower Northeast Philadelphia with the boundaries of Lehigh Avenue to the North, North 6th Street and Germantown Avenue to the West, York Street, Norris Street, and Frankford Avenue to the South and East (that sounds confusing but we'll break it down for you below). It's safe to refer to this entire area as Kensington if anyone asks. Remember to K.I.S.S. - Kensington is Simple, Stupid!
Kensington was a manufacturing center in the 18-and-early-1900's and was a hub for the textile industry.
Kensington can be broken up into 3 main areas: West Kensington, Old Kensington, and East or New Kensington.
Now let's start West and go from there:
West Kensington covers a significant chunk of land at 3.72 miles around. Think Lehigh Avenue to Cecil B. Moore Avenue, and N. 6th and Germantown Avenue to Frankford Avenue. The West is generally residential these days, but you can still see the many factories of its early years, that have recently been converted to stylish lofts for local artists -- our favorite woodworking genius has set up shop there.
View West Kensington in a larger map
Ready to move on to the rest of Kensington? Let that sink in and check in with us tomorrow for Part II.
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