The small houses at the intersection of Carpenter and Front Streets are some of the earliest surviving Philadelphia row houses outside of Society Hill.  These 18th century homes, originally occupied by the Swedish residents of the Southwark settlement, were originally only a stone’s throw from the docks.  These two-and-a-half story homes were constructed for middle class workers and artisans.  The earliest of these famous Philadelphia “trinity houses” typically had only one room per floor.  This led to very cramped living conditions for a family.  There was no escape from kitchen odors, and a privy located in the rear courtyard made matters worse.  Crowding was exacerbated if a business was located on the ground floor or if they family took in borders. 

Today, after decades of neglect and abuse, many of these modest workers houses have been restored to their original appearance by new residents of Queen Village.  However, these houses are now completely divorced from their original context, cut off from the river by I-95.  The construction of this highway in the 1960s, in addition to mowing down many industrial structures, destroyed hundreds of similar worker dwellings.  In the past decade, expensive new construction has sprouted up in the vacant lots.   Some of these new row houses are respectful of the area’s historic context and scale, while others might as well be in a typical suburban housing development.  No matter, all of these builders are attempting to capitalize on the resurgence of an area that once was among the most economically valuable parts of town.