Immigrants have been arriving through the Port of Philadelphia since 1682. In the years between 1717 to 1749, Philadelphia saw mass migrations of Germans and Scot-Irish. Though it took seven weeks to make the Trans-Atlantic trip, nearly 70,000 Germans and 150,000 Scot-Irish alone immigrated to the city through the Port of Philadelphia before the Revolutionary War. Most were indentured servants and had to work off the cost of their passage to America.
The largest immigration years were after 1815 and at that time New York City was considered the Chief Port for immigration while Philadelphia came in 4th.
Before docking in Philadelphia and in order to prevent disease there was a "quarantine hospital" built a few miles South of the city where local medical inspections were done on those who wanted to enter the city.
By 1820, there were two distinct ship lines that carried large numbers of Irish and English immigrants from Liverpool to Philadelphia. The cost for passage in the steerage compartment was approximately 5 pounds per traveller. Steerage berths were 6 by 6 feet and held four passengers.
After the Great Potato Famine in 1847, 60,000 immigrants came through the Port of Philadelphia from Ireland. Several more thousands came through New York City because it was impossible to dock in Philadelphia because in the winter months there could be up to 5 feet patches of ice in the Delaware River.
By 1854, Philadelphia was known as the 3rd largest port for immigration to this country. The immigration season was April thu October and the Trans-Atlantic trip took about a month.
Between 1855 and 1864, 50,000 more immigrants entered through Philadelphia and in the city 3 out of every 10 people who lived here were known as "foreign-born" Most of those were either of German or Irish descent.
The Irish were poorer than the Germans and were employed in positions such as weaving, carting and day labor. Most lived in areas known as Southwark, Moyamensing and Gray's Ferry. The Germans were more skilled and held positions as construction workers, tailors, shoemakers and bakers and most lived in Northern Liberties.
In 1870, there were about 100,000 Irish and 50,000 German immigrants living in Philadelphia and this made up most of the total population of the city. In earlier times, the population was mostly made up of those of English or Scottish descent.
As the population increased so did the need for housing. Therefore large tracts of row houses sprung up in areas such as North, South and West Philadelphia whereas Germantown became more middle class.
Most of those in skilled trades were of German or British descent. The Irish still held unskilled positions in factories, as servants and farmers. Many Germans in the late 19th century began to move into places such as Kensington and NorthEast Philadelphia.
By 1873, immigration into the Port of Philadelphia was so great that the American Ship Line with support from the Pennsylvania Railroad opened its first ever immigration center at Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia where it completed its own medical inspections.
The American Ship Lines had 3 sailings a week from Liverpool to Philadelphia and in the year 1882 alone, 17,342 passengers arrived from Liverpool. The line had four ships that travelled "via" Liverpool and Queenstown to Philadelphia. They were called Kensington, Southwark, Haverford and Merion. The Merion is the ship that carried our Cafferty and Boland ancestors to America.
All in all, the ship brought in around 20,000 immigrants each year between 1880 and 1910 from England/Ireland.
The years between 1910 and 1914 created the height of Southern and Eastern European Immigration to the Philadelphia Port. The city saw a huge influx of Jewish, Polish and Italian immigrants and the Port of Philadelphia was still considered the 3rd largest port in the country following New York and Boston.
The area surrounding the port was filled with warehouses, factories, sugar refineries, freight depots and grain elevators. Philadelphia in itself was leading the entire nation in the production of locomotives, streetcars, saws, hosiery, hats, leather goods and cigars and was second in the production of drugs and chemicals. It also had a large affordable housing market and along with plenty of employment.
After World War I, the government changed the immigration laws which curtailed the influx of immigrants that arrived in the country. By 1923, immigration really trickled down though in the years that followed, the city experienced an increase in the Asian and Cuban populations.
Today, the Washington Avenue Immigration Center is nothing more than a historical memory.
(information taken on the writings of the following authors; Fredric M. Miller, Morris J. Vogel and Allen F. Davis)
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