The area was first settled as part of James Logan’s plantation around the 1730s. Logan was an influential secretary to William Penn. Early residential settlement of Logan dates to the 1910s with large homes built for the middle class.
Around the turn of the century the neighborhood began to see an industrial impact with the building of factories. Both Mrs. Smith’s Pies at 5th and Lindley Avenue and the Fleer Baseball Gum factory at 10th and Lindley are both notable.
In 1928 urbanization continued with the opening of the Broad Street. In 1952 a number of smaller existing medical institutions in the area combined to form Albert Einstein Medical Center.
1960 – Present
By the 1960s the demographics of the neighborhood began to change from predominantly white middle class to working class. Around the same time there was an influx of Korean immigrants to the neighborhood. The neighborhood began a process of deindustrialization, leaving many early-twentieth-century factory buildings vacant.
The Logan commercial district enjoyed robust thriving businesses until an infamous “sinking homes” disaster drove many residents away. Logan saw the demolition of much of its building stock in the 1980s, resulting in large expanses of vacant land.
Today the population of Logan continues to decrease. It is a predominantly middle working class neighborhood. It is considered an urban neighborhood were the influence of the Korean population can still be seen along the commercial corridors.
Logan is located in Upper North Philadelphia it is bounded by Wingohocking Street to the south, Onley Avenue to the north, N. Broad to the east and 16th Street to the west.