Tacony is taken from a Lenni Lenape word, Taokanick, meaning “forest” or wildnerness. Swedish, Finnish, and other European settlers built settlements there as early as 1676, and the area has been home to Irish, Italian, and African-Americans over the years.
Tacony is known for being the home of Disston and Sons Keystone Saw Works. The Disston family built a small industrial village so that workers could live close to the factory. This factory, like many others in the area, moved freight via regional rail and river transportation.
Today, many of the factories that attracted residents are no longer in use, and there has been a renewed effort to bring businesses and better city services to the neighborhood. Tacony, like many neighborhoods in Northeast Philadelphia, will receive investment in green infrastructure, connectivity, and community development through district and city plans.
the Kensington and Tacony rail line in 1954
Tacony and other Northeast neighborhoods were industrial areas
Tacony Music Hall’s restoration in the 1990s was led by Louis Iatarola
