Reading Company History

The abandoned former Reading Railroad outbound passenger station at 9th and Spring Garden Streets is an important landmark of Philadelphia’s railroad history. The railroad line that it serviced until 1984 had once been the right of way for Philadelphia’s first operating railroad, the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown (PG&N), which ran in the bed of 9th Street. The PG&N, affectionately known to its riders as the “Pidgeon,” had its downtown stop at 9th and Green Streets, one block away. Below Spring Garden Street its line extended down the bed of 9th Street to connect with Philadelphia’s first chartered railroad, the Northern Liberties and Penn Township Railroad, incorporated in April 1829, portions of which remain in the bed of Willow Street. This now-derelict station is at the epicenter of the rail line’s history and could be part of the neighborhood’s bright future.
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