Germantown and Chelten

I read recently that the Germantown and Chelten Avenue shopping area was Philadelphia's second largest commercial shopping district after Center City during the middle of the 20th Century. Our family shopped their all the time. We always referred to that shopping area as up on the avenue.

I walked up the avenue all the time as a kid and teenager. It was about a 20 minute walk and we did it all the time. There were many stores including Rowell's, Allen's, Woolworth's, Sears, and so many others. We did a lot of food shopping at the Penn Fruit and there were several small record stores I frequented. There were some smaller clothes stores and shoe shops. In the later 1960's there were a couple of head shops that also sold some records. Of course there was the public library nearby too. 

Sometimes I would walk up Greene Street to Chelten Ave but most of the time I would walk a block over to Germantown Avenue and take that up to Chelten. 

The first suburban shopping mall in the area was Cedarbrook Mall that opened sometime in the mid 60's and was located up on Cheltenham Avenue which was about a 20 minute drive by car or a little longer on the H bus. When we were really adventuresome we would take the train or trolley down to Center City to do some shopping. 

Overall we were lucky to have a viable and extensive shopping area within walking distance where we grew up. Lots of movie theaters too. The photo above is from the early 1970's. Becky and I went up the avenue a lot in the mid to late 70's although it was starting to go downhill somewhat.

Last year we drove down through Germantown and Chelten from Katie's Mt Airy home on our way to the new brewery down at Wayne Junction. I purposefully wanted to see "the avenue" and it was very crowded but the stores were nearly all urban independent businesses. I was happy to see and here that there are signs of a resurgence in the area.

The article in Hidden City Philadelphia.