What would you call the area north of Cecil B Moore Avenue, south of Lehigh Avenue, west of Front Street and east of 6th Street?
For years, residents have called it Norris Square, Kensington, South Kensington and even Olde Kensington. Now, a local developer is throwing a new name into the ring: Stonewall Heights.
“A lot of people like the name,” Paul Janaitis said. “It’s not meant to offend anybody. I don’t understand why people are taking it as an offense.”
Janaitis has lived in the neighborhood for 12 years. He also happens to own a building company with a familiar name: Stonewall Contracting. The name itself doesn’t have any real symbolism, aside from some well-placed wordplay, he said. But naming the neighborhood after his business didn’t seem like a stretch.
“I put out a [monthly] newspaper that’s called the Stonewall Heights Review,” he said. “I live in the area, am friends with local businesses in the area. I would guess there’s already at least half a dozen names for the area.”
But some residents and neighbors are not happy with the name change.
“It is pretty galling for somebody to attempt to give a fancy new name to these tight-knit communities,” Jessica Noon, South Kensington Community Partners board member, told Philly Mag.
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“It’s so infuriating and bewildering. I can’t imagine how anyone thought this was a good idea. There’s not even a connection between the name and the history of the neighborhood.”
Noon isn’t alone. At least one of Janaitis’ realtors has received threatening phone calls after Janaitis started posting Stonewall Heights signs throughout the area.
The messages say things like “You better take these signs down,” “Who do you think you are?” and “This isn’t your neighborhood,” Janaitis said.
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Philadelphia might be a city of neighborhoods, but those neighborhoods are not always clearly or legally defined.
Consider University City District, the area bordering the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and 30th Street Station. It was created 20 years ago as part of a bigger redevelopment plan to drive business, attract visitors and highlight some of the city’s most notable institutions.
But before Penn and Drexel expanded their campuses, portions of West Philadelphia - framed by 33rd and 40th streets to the east and west and Powelton and University avenues to the north and south - was called Black Bottom. That neighborhood was established in the late 1800s by primarily southern blacks fleeing Jim Crow laws. The community was displaced by Penn’s expansion and other urban renewal plans. Eventually, Black Bottom ended and University City was created.
And then there’s the neighborhood just east of Kensington. Most people would agree it’s called Fishtown, but where does Fishtown end and Port Richmond begin? That line is so confusing that some people have jokingly adopted the name Port Fishington.
Historian Rich Boardman has identified at least 685 neighborhoods in Philadelphia since 1778, according to Philly.com. For instance, Mt. Airy used to be called Beggarstown
“The city has no role in determining names. We don’t have neighborhood boundaries. It’s up to the neighborhood to name it whatever they want it to be,” Paul Chrystie, spokesman for the Department of Planning and Development, said.
