About ManayunkLiFE.com

Visitors from all over the Philadelphia area are drawn to Manayunk for the upscale culture, wonderful atmosphere, window shopping, great restaurants, and of course, the nightlife. ManayunkLiFE.com is the localized online consumer resource for Manayunk. The site offers residents and visitors valuable features such as a daily updated guide to nightlife, restaurant information, parking guides, weekend party photo gallery, and the interactive Manayunk Maps locator.

The site has been created to provide local businesses limitless opportunities to market themselves to the community, while offering residents and visitors a comprehensive resource to everything Manayunk has to offer.

Businesses are able to promote themselves through the site via Internet media solutions provided by ScreamMedia. Creation and submission of advertisements to our AreaLinc(TM) display technology has never been easier. To Join go to the Contact Us link.

ManayunkLiFE.com aims to embrace and promote the Manayunk community and everything it has to offer. In the future we will continue to improve and add new functionality and resources. If you have suggestions for what would be a great addition to the site, submit them to us by going to the Contact Us link.

ManayunkLiFE.com is wholly-owned and operated by ScreamMedia, Inc. ScreamMedia is an innovative provider of web development and advertising technology solutions. It also maintains operations for several subsidiary Internet companies.

Manayunk History

Manayunk is neighborhood in the northwestern section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Located on the banks of the Schuylkill River, it contains the first canal begun in the United States (although not the first completed due to budget problems). The name comes from the language of the Delaware Indians name for the Schuylkill River, which literally translates "our place for drinking". Manayunk's zip code is 19127.

Manayunk was originally a community in Roxborough Township, Philadelphia County situated near the Schuylkill, south of the Wissahickon. The town started out as Flat Rock in 1810, the name coming from a peculiar flat rock lying on the lower side of the bridge, which was subsequently called Flat Rock Bridge. The Bridge was part of the Flat Rock Turnpike connecting Roxborough Township with Merion Township.

The settlement had its origin from the construction of the dam, canal and locks there by the Schuylkill Navigation Company. These works were finished about the end of the year 1818, and, the water-power being extensive, the Navigation Company sought for lessees of the power for use in mills and factories. Capt. John Towers was the second person who bought a water right and erected an oil-mill. After that purchases of water-power and the erection of mills and factories increased greatly, and the place became important as a manufacturing village. Manayunk at the time was populated by a mix of German, Irish and Polish immigrants as well as a sizable African American population.

After a time the inhabitants became dissatisfied with the name Flat Rock, and held meetings on the subject. On one such an occasion, in 1824, it was resolved to adopt for the place one of the names of the River Schuylkill, and from that time the village was known as Manayunk. The borough of Manayunk was incorporated June 11, 1840.

The borough would only last for 14 years though. In 1854 Manayunk as well as the rest of the boroughs, townships, and districts making up Philadelphia County were disbanded and merged into the City of Philadelphia, through the Act of Consolidation, 1854. Even though it was no longer a separate entity the community maintained its small-town charm and became one of the neighborhoods of the city, continuing to be one of the manufacturing centers of the city for the next 100 years.

In the 1980s, Manayunk suffered from the decline of manufacturing jobs and had many empty storefronts along Main Street, its primary commercial street. In the 1990s, Manayunk's rebirth could be attributed to the opening of several upscale restaurants on Main Street. These restaurants were backed by developers who promoted Manayunk as a place to visit. Manayunk retained its small-town charm with its small 2- and 3-story rowhomes, cobblestone paving, and hilly streets. Many people who visited decided to stay and renovate the small rowhomes characteristic of the area. Demand for housing in the area has lead to the converting of the former mills into loft apartments, and upscale shops started replacing the empty storefronts and mom-and-pop stores. In 2004, a new condominium tower was built on part of Venice Island, and in 2005 there are plans to build more condominium towers to replace the closed soap and paper factories.

Manayunk Wall
The "Manayunk Wall" is an inclined street, comprising all of Levering Avenue and a few blocks of Lyceum Avenue, that is a part of the USPRO Championship, an annual one day bicycle race. The race begins at Main Street in Manayunk and most years ends at Pechin Street in Roxborough.

Transportation
The SEPTA R6 Norristown regional rail line runs through Manayunk, partly along an elevated structure above Cresson Street. The Manayunk train station is located on this elevated section. The other end of the R6 line used to have a stop in Manayunk before the line was cut back to its current terminus in Cynwyd. This line used the landmark Manayunk bridge, a concrete railroad viaduct which spans the Schuylkill River. This Manayunk bridge is an iconic symbol of Manayunk.