Victorian vistas like this one on the 4200 block of Osage Avenue will be safeguarded going forward. (Photo by Tony West)

The Philadelphia Historical Commission (PHC) unanimously approved the creation of the Southeast Spruce Hill Historic District on July 12. The boundaries of this district run generally from Spruce St. to 39th St. to Woodland Ave. to 43rd St. It will encompass three smaller districts that already exist there in addition to more than 500 surrounding houses that share a distinctive Victorian architecture.

Historic Districts define and protect the external look of period “contributing” buildings, blocking demolition except when in dangerous condition and requiring outside repairs or additions to preserve the original appearance as much as possible. They do not impact building interiors.

Most of Spruce Hill has long been in the West Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic District. This federal designation gives the neighborhood noteriety but no protection. The Spruce Hill Community Association began to push for a city historic district with enforcement power 37 years ago, but was repeatedly blocked by opposition from property owners who feared it would increase maintenance costs. That concern has been less widespread since SHCA, counseled by University City Historical Society, launched its latest bid in 2021. Many real estate developers have opposed it for decades.

The size of the proposed district was daunting, ranging up to Market St. and west to 46th St., including hundreds of buildings to be individually logged and studied. But Constant Springs, a preservation team which had just won the PHC nomination for the Powelton Village Historic District, helped lead the project. PHC’s small staff was ill equipped to handle so much volume at once. The team split it into four quadrants to be submitted separately, with the Southeast part of the proposed district the first to go. This community was informed over two years in open public meetings and notices to all property owners.

There’s no disputing the historic importance of Spruce Hill, which lies amid one of the largest intact Victorian residential cityscapes in the United States. Live testimony from residents at three commission meetings largely urged its protection. But an attorney representing large rental property owners argued that it was unprecedented and misleading to advocate an HD for the whole community yet apply for just one piece this time. This “preordains” a vote on the other three, confuses property owners and deprives them of due rights, he said. He urged the process to start over again or at least to continue review and debate.

The commission didn’t agree. To make things clearer, though, it renamed the Southeast Quadrant as a freestanding historic district. SHCA will now begin working on a proposal for other parts of the overall proposal.