In 1895 and again in 1901, Mrs. Pleasant, in her last interview with Sam P Davis stated she was born free at 9 Barley Street in Philadelphia, PA. Some have questioned this claim because there is no Barley Street in Philadelphia. The key here is, there is no Barley street, now. However, there was a Barley Street just south of Pine between 10th-12th Streets. It was renamed in 1858 and again in 1898. This can be confirmed via this link to the Philadelphia Historic Streets Index. In the 1847 Philadelphia African American census, fifty eight people of color resided on Barley Street. Data is available here. Abolitionist Harriet A. Jacobs mentions the street in her memoir, INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL. She stayed in the home of home of Reverend Jeremiah Durham, who recorded living at 6 Barley Street as early as 1837. How long the alley had been referred to as Barley is hard to pinpoint. In the 1838 Census of Philadelphia’s African Americans, outer portions of Barley (beyond 15th street) are called “Ohio”. But the name “Barley” does also appear in the 1838 Census for alleyways below 12th street. Link to 1838 Black Metropolis Map and 1838 Census Finding Aid. Later posts will demonstrate that a family within Mrs Pleasant’s San Francisco orbit, the Park/Howard clan, lived for a time on Barley Street in the 1846.
Below is an 1875 map showing the remaining portion of the street that would go away entirely in 1898. Scroll down for photos of it today, now known as Waverly Place.
Barley Street in Philadelphia today is called Waverly Place.
Photos: R J Jamison (C)