Then and Now: Market Street west of 11th Street, Philadelphia

1965-2010

Originally located at the corner of 5th and South Streets, the N. Snellenberg & Co. department store moved to Market East at the turn of the 20th century. At its height, the Snellenberg's department store occupied a full block of Market Street between 11th and 12th Streets, across from Reading Terminal.

Snellenberg's was one of the earliest of Market East's large department stores to collapse, going out of business in 1963. Although the Community College of Philadelphia opened in 1965 in the mens department annex at 34 South 11th Street, the Market Street buildings remained vacant. To cut down on maintenance costs, the Girard Estate, which has owned the property since the early 19th century, removed all but the bottom two stories of the six-story buildings, unifying their facades under a modernist exterior.

Source: Warner, Susan. "What's in store in Center City?" Philadelphia Inquirer. 26 Apr. 1999: F01.
Original photo: Carollo, R. "Historic Commission-2648-1." 1965. Philadelphia City Archives. PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 10 May 2010. http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/MediaStream.ashx?mediaId=106691.