Know Your Neighborhood (& city):  For 12 years, Philadelphia held the title of “National Cleanest Town.”

Shocking but true. From 1947 to 1959, that title was bestowed upon Philly by the National Clean Up and Paint Up Bureau.

One look at the city’s streets today lets you know that distinction is no longer applicable. The trash and litter are so prevalent — albeit worse in some neighborhoods than others — that the moniker of “Philthadelphia” is commonly used. A good portion of fault can be traced to one simple fact:  Philadelphia is the only major city in the United States without a street sweeping program.

That wasn’t always the case, however. The idea that a city should mandate sanitation was conceived here and though Philadelphia wasn’t the first to implement organized municipal street cleaning, the city did have it for decades.

What happened?

Philadelphia modeled its first Street Cleaning Bureau after New York, which established the nation's first municipal street cleaning department in 1890. Unlike NYC, however, Philly’s street cleaners were hired by independent contractors, many of whom were also political bosses in Philadelphia’s Republican Party machine.

By 1900, Philadelphia had a population of over a million, and the sheer amount of waste generated demanded new kinds of services.

At that time horses were the main source of transport over ground and tons of horse manure accumulated on streets around the city. Across the country, a women-led movement for better public health led to multiple “sanitation parades” (1st photo) across the U.S. Though it was considered inappropriate for women to be involved in politics in this era, trash was considered an “extension of the household,” — like temperance and the prevention of cruelty to children and animals — so it was an acceptable issue for women to get involved.

The public activism and organizing of women in Philadelphia led to the city holding clean up weeks for more than 50 years and the honor of "national cleanest town" for 12 years straight.
In 1922, the city established the Department of Public Works, which oversaw the Street Cleaning Bureau, employing about 5,000 street cleaners, trash cart drivers and laborers.

Philadelphia's Cleanup Week in 1913 was the largest effort in the nation.  In 1914, 500 vacant lots were cleared and 140,000 cubic feet of rubbish was collected citywide.

In 1938, the city developed the Clean Block Program. Program participants were identified as “Block Captains,” who were responsible for encouraging residents of their designated block to maintain beautification and sanitation efforts (6th photo). The Philadelphia Streets Department was formed in 1952, with outreach efforts to teaching residents the proper ways to put trash out on the curb and reminding people to use public trash cans.

Street sweeping and other city cleanliness initiatives and services began to disappear by the 1970s. By the early 2000s, the Streets Department had gotten rid of a street sweeping unit. Complaints from residents not wanting to move their parked cars to alternate locations during street sweeping days combined with budget cuts ended street cleaning.

Thus we have Philthadelphia (or “Filthydelphia”), though the nickname may date to the 1930s. Only recently has there been talk street cleaning returning via pilot programs that would not require moving cars.

1914

1914 - street squeege

1917 mechanical street sweeper

1918 PTC sprinkler car

Wilshire power sweepers are tested 
out by city workers to clean Broad Street on May 25, 1949.

"cleaning down the block"