Origins of Little Lebanon in South Philadelphia

Michael G. Farrow, Ph.D.

April 1, 2010

Origins of Immigration

During the time of the Ottomans, the inhabitants of Lebanon agitated, more and more, for some sort of autonomy to run their own affairs. As the Ottoman Empire weakened over its 500 year span, it finally allowed the Lebanese some autonomy in the late 18^th century and more during the early to mid 19^th century. 

The inhabitants, with this autonomy, however, were more restricted in their movement throughout the Empire, being confined now, to the area of the autonomy, i.e., Lebanon. Hence, trading and other means of earning a livelihood became increasingly difficult. There was no religious persecution in the Ottoman Empire like that found in Europe during that time as long as the religious groups paid their taxes and obeyed the laws. But, by the 1870s, the poverty caused by the restriction of movement (the inability to move elsewhere to gain employment or to sell goods or to gain an education), coupled with the exposure the people had to Western ways and thought via the missionaries of the American Protestant College (later, the American University of Beirut, AUB) and their temporary work at the U.S. Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, produced a desire to emigrate to the US (and elsewhere, viz., Brazil, Australia, Canada, and the East Coast of Africa) to make money and then go back home and live a much better life. Unlike other immigrants to America, they were not fleeing religious persecution, nor were they leaving, intending to stay in the USA. (4)

What those immigrants left behind  was a quiet, relatively peaceful life of small villages in an area of Lebanon known for over 1500 years as the Holy Valley (Qadisha Valley; Qadisha is an Aramaic word meaning “holy”) because of its many churches, monasteries, and hermit caves. The valley is drained by the River Ali, which lies at the bottom of a deep gorge, and whose origins are high in the famous cedars of Lebanon.

  

They left a simple village way of life where the men would get up at dawn to fetch kindling in the forests and the woman would begin the preparation of making kibbee, the national dish (similar to a meatloaf) in which the soaked bulgar wheat had to be pulverized in a mortar and pestle. The constant pounding from the many households echoed throughout the village. When they embarked to the New World, they embarked from the Port of Beirut or the port of Tripoli in Northern Lebanon.

Some came via Italy, others via France or England. Prior to the establishment of Ellis Island in 1892, immigrants could land in any US port. In Philadelphia, immigrants landed at the Lazaretto, a dock and station located in Tinicum, PA, south of the city. The Lazaretto was first developed as the Philadelphia Quarantine Hospital in response to the devastating yellow fever of 1893, but in the latter 19^th century, served as the quarantine station for arriving immigrants. The building dates from 1799. A photo of the Lazaretto in 1890, among its last years as a functioning US entry point shows the well tended walkway and lattice work.

In Philadelphia the immigrants beheld a bustling city full of commerce and strange ways. They arrived even before the great tower of Philadelphia’s city hall was completed in 1900.

We can also assume that, like other groups of Lebanese immigrants, the first one from a particular Village sent word and monies back extolling the city in the US where he worked, and others joined him, eventually forming a bonding unit of like peoples who would support each other until each became independent (4). Over time, however, it became apparent to these early immigrants, that making money and trips back and forth to Lebanon, was not what they ultimately wanted. They changed their mind and decided to settle in the US and began bringing over their spouses or marrying within their established community in the US. A few, in those early days, however, went outside of their community seeking marriage, while others did bring their Lebanese spouses from the “old country”.

Settling in Philadelphia 1865-1900

The Lebanese immigrants to Philadelphia tended to settle close to each other in that portion of the city known as South Philadelphia or Moyamensing area (known for the 1839 prison built in the neighborhood). This portion of South Philadelphia was first established in the 1850s for immigrants of the Irish potato famine. Many of the row homes were built in this neighborhood at the time. The Irish were supplanted by the Italians and South Philadelphia became a very large Italian immigrant portion of the city, stretching over many, many city blocks, from the Delaware River and First Street to beyond 15^th street and from Fitzwater south to the Navy Yard and Oregon Avenue. Little Lebanon, about 6 square blocks, was established within this larger framework.

It has also been suggested that, as the immigrants settled in New York City, and quickly occupied all the “peddler” sites, they sought out other cities where their competition would not be so great. Some Lebanese went North to Boston, or Geneva, NY, but others followed the Pennsylvania Railroad and went South to Philadelphia and further followed the rail line towards Detroit, via Altoona, Johnstown, Greensburg, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, and Detroit.