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Fairmount is a neighborhood in the North Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The name "Fairmount" itself derives from the prominent hill on which the Philadelphia Museum of Art now sits, and where William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, originally intended to build his own manor house. Later, the name was applied to the street originally called Hickory Lane that runs from the foot of Fairmount hill through the heart of the neighborhood. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Art Museum Area" or the “Museum District” for its proximity to and association with the Art Museum of Philadelphia and other nearby museums. Definitions of the boundaries of Fairmount vary. The broadest definition of the boundaries of the neighborhood place it roughly between Vine Street to the south, Girard Avenue to the north, the Schuylkill River to the west, and Broad Street to the east. This definition places the neighborhood in Lower North Philadelphia, encompassing the neighborhoods of Spring Garden, Franklintown, and Francisville. Some definitions also include the area of Girard College which lies north of Girard Avenue. A more intimate definition of the neighborhood, and the one most commonly used, places the boundaries at Fairmount Avenue to the south, Poplar Street to the north, the Schuylkill River to the west, and Corinthian or 19th Streets to the east. A handful of European settlers farmed the area in the 17th century, 18th century and early 19th century, when Fairmount was still outside Philadelphia's city limits. Prominent city families established countryseats there as well, including Bush Hill, White Hall, and Lemon Hill, the last of which still stands overlooking the Schuylkill. Fairmount was originally in Penn Township, which was subsequently divided, putting the future neighborhood in the newly created Spring Garden District until 1854 when it was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia. During the American Revolution, British soldiers occupying Philadelphia built defensive works starting on the hill of Fairmount and continuing several miles along a line just south of present-day Fairmount Avenue to the Delaware River. Their purpose was to prevent American troops under George Washington from attacking them from the north - the only side of the city not protected by water. Signs of urban expansion appeared in the early 19th century, when three large, innovative, and internationally recognized institutions were located in the district. The first of these was the Fairmount Water Works and Dam at the foot of Fairmount hill. Beginning in 1822, the Water Works used waterpower to pump water from the Schuylkill River into reservoirs on the top of Fairmount hill, from where it flowed by gravity into city homes and businesses. Later the elevated reservoir complex would serve as the site of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. An engineering wonder, it was also an architectural and scenic attraction. Its buildings are among the earliest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. Protection of the municipal drinking water that the Water Works pumped was the impetus for the purchase of lands along the Schuylkill that later became Fairmount Park, one of the world's largest municipal park systems. Charles Dickens listed the Water Works as one of the two things he particularly wanted to see while in Philadelphia. The other site that interested Dickens was Eastern State Penitentiary, less than half a mile away on Fairmount Avenue. The prison opened in 1829, the first prison in the country built specifically with the intention of reforming rather than simply punishing criminals. The prison's hub-and-spoke layout was also a first, and became the model for hundreds of prisons around the world (it was often called the "Pennsylvania Model"). Its unique system of solitary confinement for all prisoners did not, however. Intended to provide prisoners relief from the overcrowding and squalor of other prisons and give them time to reflect on their crimes, it led instead to intense despair and sometimes insanity among the inmates and was roundly condemned by Dickens when he visited. In 1831, these two innovative institutions were joined by a third: Girard College. This school was founded in accordance with the will of Stephen Girard, possibly the wealthiest man in America at the time of his death. Himself an orphan, he wanted to create a model institution for educating poor orphaned white boys at a time when universal public education did not yet exist. The executor of Girard's estate was another prominent and wealthy Philadelphian, Nicholas Biddle, former US Secretary of the Treasury, who commissioned the building of Founders Hall in honor of Girard. The Hall is the first example of true Greek Revival architecture in the United States and is, like both the Water Works and Eastern State Penitentiary, a National Historic Landmark. In 1968 Girard College entered the nation's awareness again when the United States Supreme Court altered Girard's will by striking the words "poor, male, white, orphan" and set a major precedent for equal access to education for all Americans. These three institutions were built when Fairmount was still a rural suburban district of Philadelphia. Beginning in the 1830s, the city itself began to grow beyond its original boundaries, and a mixture of homes and factories sprang up on the district's southern fringes. The Baldwin Locomotive Works, the nation's largest maker of locomotive engines, was located on the southeastern edge of the future Fairmount neighborhood and was a major factor in development of the neighborhood south of Fairmount Avenue in the 1840s, 50s, and 60s. The Fairmount Water Works still remains and sits behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It has been converted and now houses the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center for environmental education and a fine restaurant overlooking the Schuylkill River. Close by is Boat House Row where 15 rowing clubs store their racing shells. Many of these club houses are over a century old and they serve as the rowing center in this part of the United States. Several major rowing regattas, including the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta, Stotesbury Cup Regatta, and the Navy Day Regatta are held here. Hundreds of joggers, bikers, strollers, and picnickers use the scenic banks of the Schuylkill River for recreation and enjoyment. Atop one of the bluffs overlooking the river is the historic Lemon Hill Mansion. Across the river is the Philadelphia Zoo, the nation’s oldest zoo which opened in 1874. Eastern State Penitentiary located on Fairmount Avenue has become another main draw for the neighborhood. Tours of this historic 1829 facility, now abandoned, are offered. It is also annually converted into a massive haunted house during the Halloween season and because of its resemblance to the Bastille, it has become the focus of Philadelphia’s Bastille Day celebration in July. The local restaurants join the Penitentiary in this fun event. Actors reenact the storming of the Bastille. The crowds on the street outside the Penitentiary exchange taunts with a costumed Marie Antoinette. After her shout of "Let them eat cake!" a shower of Tastykakes, a local Philadelphia brand of cupcake, is dropped onto the crowds. She finally surrenders and is “executed” by a mock guillotine. The Fairmount neighborhood is also known as the “Art Museum Area” or “Museum District” with the Philadelphia Museum of Art serving as the focal point of this designation. Built in 1928, it houses one of the finest art collections in the nation and its design resembles the Greek Parthenon. The top of its steps offers the most scenic and impressive view of the Philadelphia skyline and has served as the background of several motion pictures. Its famous Rocky Steps were immortalized in the 1976 Academy Award winning film for Best Picture, Rocky. Lines of tourists wait daily at the base of the steps to have their pictures taken next to the famous bronze statue that appeared in the “Rocky III” movie. A large underground expansion designed by Frank Gehry is currently being undertaken. Its art deco annex, the Perelman Building, is across the street. While the Philadelphia Museum of Art may be the most famous, other notable museums are located along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a broad 1.5 mile tree and flag-lined avenue that connects City Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. These include the Barnes Museum, Rodin Museum, Franklin Institute, and Academy of Natural Sciences. Besides these museums, the Philadelphia’s Central Library, Moore College of Art, and the impressive Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, the mother church of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia built in 1864 are located along the Parkway. The design of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway was based upon the famous Champs-Élysées in Paris and owing to its ability to hold vast amounts of people, the Parkway is also where most of Philadelphia’s large outdoor events, parades, concerts, and races are held with the art museum serving as the background. The neighborhood of Fairmount contains many diverse restaurants, coffee shops, and bars especially along Fairmount Avenue. Fairmount Avenue is the dividing line between Fairmount and the Spring Garden neighborhoods. Spring Garden has many large houses built for the managers of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, other professionals, and brewery owners which date back to the 1840s. Green Street is particularly impressive and recalls the area’s past and proud industrial legacy. Fairmount’s homes were generally smaller row or town houses and the residents were generally working class. Here row houses were interspersed with lumber yards, coal yards, lime yards, iron foundries, bakeries, dry goods stores, as well as several wagon works and stables. Many of these were built in the second half of the 19th century to support small factories and later the large breweries that located there in the late 19th century and reached their zenith in the early 20th century. One of these breweries with its many ancillary buildings has been painstakingly preserved and turned into fashionable condominiums. Of architectural note is the 2500 block of Aspen Street’s “Centennial Block” built in 1876. Irish and German immigrants and their descendants made up the most significant part of the population of early Fairmount. In 1839, St. Francis Xavier Church (and its elementary school in 1922) was built to serve Catholics in the community, while a variety of Protestant churches, particularly on the eastern end of the neighborhood, served a variety of denominations. St Francis Xavier Church and school continues to serve the community located at 24th and Green Streets, its spire being clearly visible from the steps of the Art Museum. Early in the 20th century, Polish and Ukrainian immigrants moved into the neighborhood where they became a significant presence in its northernmost sections. St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, serves those communities today. St. Hedwigs, a Roman Catholic Church for Polish Catholics, closed in 2005 and was demolished in February 2007. Fairmount continues to be one of Philadelphia’s most desirable neighborhoods. The neighborhood is predominantly white but is undergoing gentrification as younger professional families, graduate students and singles - including many gay and lesbian households – have moved into the neighborhood, attracted by its location adjacent to Center City (downtown Philadelphia), the Art Museum, nearby Fairmount Park, good public transportation, and dining options. Long-time families make up an important but shrinking part of the neighborhood's population, and the tone of the neighborhood is increasingly that of a more cosmopolitan, downtown district.