Pennsport is bounded by Passyunk Square to the west, the Delaware River to the east, the Queen Village neighborhood to the north, and the Whitman neighborhood to the south. The Pennsport Redevelopment Area Plan of 1968 listed the border streets as Washington Avenue on the north, Snyder Avenue on the south, and Fourth Street on the west.
According to the Genealogy of Philadelphia County Subdivisions, Pennsport was originally part of Moyamensing Township. Most of the area north of present-day Mifflin Street was included in the Southwark District from 1794 until the consolidation of Philadelphia in 1854. At that point, it was mostly contained in the First Ward. The First and Second Wards ran east of Passyunk Avenue and were divided by Wharton Street. The southern boundary of the First Ward initially spanned south to the river, but it was stopped at Mifflin Street in 1898. The Washington Avenue Immigration Station was an immigrant processing facility located at the end of Washington Avenue at Pier 53 on the Delaware River, from 1873 to 1915. The first United States naval yard was located in what is now Pennsport at Federal Street on the Delaware River. The naval yard was established 1801 and was active until 1875, when it moved to League Island, where the Philadelphia Navy Yard business campus is currently located. Prior to its establishment as the official naval yard of the United States, it was the private shipyard of famous shipbuilder Joshua Humphreys, who designed the original six frigates of the United States Navy. The frigate, which was not one of those six original frigates, was built at the site. It is also the site where Benjamin Franklin erected the "Association Battery" or "Grand Battery", earthwork defenses with artillery, during King George's War in 1748. Furness High School and the former Abigail Vare School are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Historic rowhouse synagogue Congregation Shivtei Yeshuron-Ezras Israel was featured in the Hidden City Philadelphia 2013 Festival.
Education
The School District of Philadelphia operates public schools serving Pennsport. For grades K-8, Vare-Washington School serves area residents. The school was previously named Abigail Vare School and had occupied a building in Pennsport. In October 2013 the Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted to close Washington School in Dickinson Square West. Abigail Vare School moved from its previous building to the former Washington building, at 1198 South 5th Street. Furness High School serves area residents.
William "Wild Bill" Guarnere - William J. Guarnere was a United States Army soldier who fought in World War II as a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division. Guarnere wrote Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story with long-time friend Edward "Babe" Heffron and journalist Robyn Post in 2007. Guarnere was portrayed in the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Frank John Hughes.
The bronze statues of William “Wild Bill” Guarnere and Edward “Babe” Heffron are located at a park on show the pair as they looked before they left their South Philly neighborhood to fight in Europe during World War II.
