Cornerspotter is a Curbed Philly feature in which we show you a historical photo of the city and you tell us where the photo was taken. The prize? Your name here along with our promise to spot you for a soft pretzel. Send your guesses to our tipline: philly@curbed.com
We promised you a tough one this week, and even with the additional hint, only two people got close. The muddy, fenced pathway you see is now a paved intersection at Faunce and Dorcas streets. What's so interesting about much of Northeast Philadelphia is how dramatically it's changed—and yet how hidebound it's perceived of by the rest of the city. It's a curious contrast.
Our grand-prize winner this week is Charles Carroll, who is actually not a Northeast native but a transplant from New York's Upper West Side. Carroll used to work for Goldman Properties, where he was responsible for construction on 13th Street and maintenance of a real estate portfolio that included the Divine Lorraine. He was also the controller for Core Construction Management. He explains how he arrived at his correct answer (though we would have accepted Faunce Street as well):
Several years ago I worked for the Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania. I was in charge of their real estate. We had an abandoned church on Tabor Road in Olney. It's a famous church—St Albans—founded by Archibald Campbell Knowles. In his history of that church I learned that Tabor Road was once a cow path. That got him to the general area, and when we provided our hint—Greek-derived Biblical street name; not far from Northeast High—Carroll excluded Rhawn, Elgin and Castor, which led him to Dorcas. "I still cannot believe that in 1950 that area was so rural," Carroll says.
Thanks for playing, Charles!