The countdown to 2026 is on, and there’s no shortage of ways to celebrate the end of one year and the start of another. From New Year’s Eve dinner specials to adults-only celebrations and family-friendly gatherings, here’s how to ring in the new year in and around Media.
New Year’s Eve Events for Adults
Ship Bottom Brewery will host a “keg drop” to usher in the new year.
Now in its third year, the Swarthmore location of the brewery will usher in the new year with a keg drop. Festivities kick off around 3 p.m. and there will be live music from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., followed by a DJ from 9 p.m. until midnight, as well as food trucks.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 3 p.m.-midnight 💵 Pay as you go 📍Ship Bottom Brewery, 5 Park Ave., Swarthmore
Ring in the new year by listening to local Grateful Dead tribute band Jawn of the Dead perform at Shere-E-Punjab. Tickets are for the standing-room-only show. Separate reservations are needed for dinner.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-12:30 a.m. 💵 $40 📍Shere-E-Punjab, 210 W. State St., Media
Springfield Country Club is hosting its annual New Year’s Eve bash.
There will be à la carte dining throughout the night, and starting at 9:30 p.m., DJ Josh Jamz will be spinning tunes. Families are welcome, but children must be accompanied by an adult 21 or older.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 9:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. 💵 Pay as you go 📍State Street Pub, 37 E. State St., Media
Families with preschool and elementary age kids can listen to music and a story, craft a disco ball, and count down to noon at this event. Registration is required.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. 💵 Free 📍Media-Upper Providence Free Library, 1 E. Front St., Media
Helen Kate Furness Free Library will ring in the new year by showcasing several traditions from around the world, including making a Japanese craft and eating a snack that’s meant to bring luck for the year ahead. Registration is required.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, noon-1 p.m. 💵 Free 📍Helen Kate Furness Free Library, 100 N. Providence Rd., Wallingford
Watch the ball drop from over 100 feet above Spasso Italian Grill in the borough as 2025 turns to 2026. There will be a DJ performing near Jackson and State Streets, as well.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. 💵 Free 📍Spasso Italian Grill, 1 W. State St., Media
The restaurant at the Inn at Swarthmore will serve a special prix fixe menu for New Year’s Eve that gives comfort food a spice-forward twist. The three-course menu includes starter options like roasted cauliflower soup, cider-braised pork belly, fennel-crusted yellowfin tuna, and truffle mushroom arancini. Entrée options include filet mignon, sea bass, stuffed pork loin, and winter squash gnocchi. The meal will be capped with a poached pear tart or gingerbread truffles. Dinner will be served from 4 to 9 p.m., and the bar will be open until midnight.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 4-9 p.m. 💵 $75 📍Inn at Swarthmore, 12 S. Chester Rd., Swarthmore
The Wallingford BYOB is offering a five-course meal for New Year’s Eve that includes a first course soup; a salad, tuna tartare, or foie gras second course; scallops for the third course; entrées like pork belly, Scottish salmon, and filet and shrimp; and a dessert of hazelnut chocolate mousse. A half-dozen oysters are also available to add to the meal for $21.
On New Year’s Day, White Dog Cafe is again hosting its Pajama Brunch, which encourages attendees to wear their PJs to the restaurant, where an à la carte menu will be available. Reservations are encouraged.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
The countdown to 2026 is on, and there’s no shortage of ways to celebrate the end of one year and the start of another. From New Year’s Eve dinner specials to adults-only celebrations and family-friendly gatherings, here are some waysto ring in the new year in and around Cherry Hill.
New Year’s Eve Events for Adults
Andy Cooney is performing for two nights in Cherry Hill.
The New York performer, known for his Irish musical renditions, will bring his band to the DoubleTree by Hilton Cherry Hill for two nights ahead of the new year. Packages with overnight accommodations are available and include dinner, a champagne toast, and breakfast.
⏰ Tuesday, Dec. 30, and Wednesday, Dec. 31, times vary 💵 $185-$282 📍2349 Marlton Pike West, Cherry Hill
This year, Vera will transform into a winter wonderland, complete with twinkling lights and snowflakes to ring in the new year. There will be a photo booth, ice sculptures, and a champagne toast at midnight.
The salon and spa geared toward kids is hosting a morning glam event, where kids can get their hair, makeup, or nails done. There will also be crafts, games, and dancing, followed by a balloon drop at noon.
Hot Wheelz is throwing several themed parties on New Year’s Eve, starting with its Bluey Year’s Eve Celebration. Taking place from 10 a.m. to noon, it includes a meet-and-greet with the character, ICEEs, and a scavenger hunt. At 12:30 p.m., Before Bedtime with Mickey and Minnie gets underway, featuring the popular Disney characters. Attendees are encouraged to wear their pajamas. At 4 p.m., New Year’s Eve Glow 2026 Countdown begins, complete with pizza, neon lights, and glow necklaces. And at 7:30 p.m., the final party of the night kicks off. Skate Into 2026 Skate Party includes pizza, a DJ, and attendees are encouraged to wear festive threads.
Bowling alley Lucky Strike is offering three ways to celebrate the end of 2025 and the start of 2026. Packages include two hours of daytime bowling, a two-hour “Sunset Bash” in the evening, or a four-hour “Ball Drop Premium” package, with options for food and a champagne or cider toast.
Hop aboard this historic vessel for views of the annual fireworks display. There are two shows: one at 6 p.m. geared toward families with little ones, and the midnight fireworks.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. 💵 $10-$125 📍100 Clinton St., Camden
Try your luck at casino-style games, listen to live music from Neo Kyma, plus tunes from DJ Makis, and hit the dance floor at this family-friendly party that’s open to the community.
The à la carte menu for New Year’s Eve includes starters like prawns, burrata, potato croquette, and oysters, while entrées include Dover sole, herb-crusted lamb, lobster risotto, and filet mignon.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, last seating at 8 p.m. 💵 Prices vary 📍300 E. Evesham Rd., Cherry Hill
The Italian restaurant has a special menu for New Year’s Eve that includes jumbo lump crab cakes, penne vodka, chicken, veal, or eggplant parmigiana, a rib eye steak, and Asiago gnocchi. The children’s menu has a cheese pizza, chicken fingers, penne with butter, ravioli, and chicken parmigiana.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, last seating at 8:15 p.m. 💵 Prices vary 📍1491 Brace Rd., Cherry Hill
The Old World Italian eatery is serving a three-course prix fixe dinner on New Year’s Eve of a starter, entrée, and dessert for $95 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Diners can also choose to order à la carte. Entrées include Chilean sea bass, filet mignon, and seafood risotto. Signature drinks, wines, and bottles of bubbly will also be available.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, open until 9:30 p.m. 💵 Prices vary 📍211 Berlin Rd., Cherry Hill
The Mediterranean restaurant will have a prix fixe menu and a DJ to ring in 2026.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, open until 1 a.m. 💵 Prices vary 📍 2000 Route 38 #1160, Cherry Hill
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Out of the 50 largest metropolitan areas, the Philadelphia region is where minimum-wage earners must work the most hours to afford rent.
Two workers who make Pennsylvania’s $7.25 minimum hourly wage would each have to work 96 hours per week to afford the Philadelphia metropolitan area’s median asking rent of $1,739 in November, according to an analysis by Realtor.com.
Only five of the top 50 metros have rents that are affordable without overtime for a household in which two workers make the minimum wage. In all five metros, the minimum wage is above the federal floor of $7.25, and the median rent is lower than the median across the 50 metros.
The most affordable metro is Buffalo, N.Y., where two workers making the state’s minimum wage of $15.50 would need to work only 30 hours per week each to afford the region’s median asking rent of $1,176 in November.
Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com, noted that demand for workers often pushes the lowest actual starting wages above mandated minimums. But in areas with high costs of living, even wages driven higher by market forces or increases to the state minimum don’t close “the affordability gap.”
“It’s a clear signal that housing costs continue to pose a massive hurdle for those at the bottom of the pay scale,” Berner said in a statement.
Rents were considered affordable if they were no more than 30% of renters’ income.
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Nationwide, rents have moderated in recent years. But in November, the median rent across the top 50 metros was still 17% higher than just before the pandemic in November 2019.
Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, pointed out that some states’ minimum wages are scheduled to increase in the new year, which “will help to improve affordability for the most burdened households.”
“While the challenge remains immense, particularly in high-cost areas, the number of metros where two minimum-wage earners can afford a typical rental without working overtime will grow in 2026, a positive sign,” she said in a statement.
Two metros are set to join these ranks next year: Detroit, where the minimum wage is scheduled to increase from $10.56 to $13.73; and Jacksonville, Fla., where the minimum wage will increase from $13 to $15.
The number of hours people need to work will drop most in Florida metros. Two minimum-wage workers living together in Tampa would each need to work 45 hours per week in 2026 to afford the median asking rent. That’s down seven hours from this year.
With First Day hikes surging in popularity, Pennsylvania and New Jersey are rolling out a full slate of outings to welcome 2026 — from daybreak rambles to sunset treks, and nearly every hour in between for those easing into the new year.
Many of the guided hikes require advance registration and fill quickly.
The Jan. 1 hikes are offered through the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Some are guided by rangers, others by volunteers.
Another option: Join the Friends of Ridley Creek State Park in Media, Delaware County, for a 3.5-mile loop featuring creek views and a stop at historic hilltop Russell Cemetery.
Or, for a spectacular bird’s-eye view of the Pinelands at daybreak, you can tackle a 2.5-mile round trip, starting at 6 a.m., to Apple Pie Hill in Wharton State Forest, where hikers climb the 79 steps of the fire tower at sunrise. The only drawback: The hike has become so popular that the DEP holds a lottery at 1 p.m. on Dec. 31 to select participants.
Apple Pie Hill Tower offers a dramatic view of the Pinelands.
First Day Hikes began in Massachusetts in 1992, and went nationwide in 2012 under an effort by the National Association of State Park Directors.
Ian Kindle, environmental education regional program coordinator for DCNR’s Bureau of State Parks, said the hikes in Pennsylvania started not long after that. But, he said, they have become increasingly popular since the pandemic, when many people took to the outdoors.
“I think people have really taken to the idea of making getting outdoors on the first day of the year a tradition.” Kindle said. “I know that some of the first ones I led at Delaware Canal State Park, we could have 100, 150, and upward of 200 people, which is a challenge to lead.”
Last New Year’s Day, 2,488 people — and 224 dogs — participatedin Pennsylvania. They gathered for 74 hikes at 47 state parks and one state forest, accumulating 6,478 miles.
Cheryl and Gary Moore, of Bucks County, ride their horses over the Schofield Ford covered bridge in Tyler State Park in Newtown, Bucks County in this 2021 file photo.
The two most attended hikes were at Beltzville State Park in Carbon County in the Poconos (175 people) and Tyler State Park in Bucks County (170 people).
This year, DCNR has organized 60 free guided hikes in 49 state parks and three forest districts, choosing to make the walks more focused.
Kindle said an “almost full moon” hike is set for Delaware Canal State Park in Yardley, Bucks County, at 4 p.m. He noted a two-mile hike around Militia Hill at Fort Washington State Park in Montgomery County.
The hikes include: walks at 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m. through historic Revolutionary-era Batsto Village in Wharton State Forest; a more rigorous six-mile hike at Brendan T. Byrne State Forest on the Cranberry Trail that includes Pinelands cedar swamps and Pakim Pond; and a two-mile hike at Washington Crossing State Park in Mercer County where you can learn about the famed feat by the Continental Army that routed the Hessians at Trenton.
Haverford College senior Jackson Juzang earlier this year had been talking to a school administrator about the need for more resources to support student journalism.
The administrator, Chris Mills, Haverford’s associate vice president for college communications, asked if there was a network of student newspaper journalists in the region that Haverford could join and seek support from.
There wasn’t.
“So I decided to create one,” said Juzang, 22, an English major from Pittsburgh who serves as associate editor of the Clerk, Haverford’s student newspaper.
Jackson Juzang explains why he started the Philadelphia Student Press Association.
He established the Philadelphia Student Press Association as a nonprofit and created a board with student editors from 11 college news organizations around the region, including Temple, Drexel, Villanova, St. Joseph’s, La Salle, Rowan, Rutgers-Camden, Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, Haverford, and Eastern.
With the slogan “Rooted in Philly, Reporting for All,” the group — which collectively represents about 400 student journalists — is seeking funding from organizations to support student journalism at a time when college budgets are tight and the news industry faces challenges, including rising print costs and lower readership. The association already has held workshops with more planned next year, and its 21-member board meets monthly and discusses common issues and problems and brainstorms solutions.
“We have so many people coming from different regions, but we are united in the sense that we are all here for the same reason,” said Claire Herquet, an editor at the La Salle Collegian.
At a recent meeting, members talked about artificial intelligence and what to do if an editor suspects a student writer used it, Herquet said. There were two instances over the past semester when she read an article submission and thought the terminology and phrasing didn’t sound like the writer, she said.
“If I didn’t have PSPA, I wouldn’t have people to lean on,” said Herquet, 21, a junior communications major from Camden. “It would just be me versus the problem.”
Herquet manages communications for the association. She has been reaching out to foundations about obtaining grant funding for the association. Some college newsrooms are better funded than others and can give writers and editors stipends.
She’s hopeful that uniting the newsrooms will result in better experiences for students and more funding.
La Salle’s publication is only digital; there is no print version. Costs are minimal, but funding would cover professional workshops for students and costs, such as travel, associated with their reporting.
The Whit, Rowan University’s student news site, prints a newspaper once a week and receives financial support via student government, but print costs are rising, said junior Katie Thorn, who serves as managing editor.
“We’re trying to figure out with the budget we have if it is possible and what we are going to have to sacrifice to keep our paper printing,” Thorn said.
Thorn, who is serving as treasurer for the association, said it’s been helpful to learn that other student organizations are facing the same challenges.
“Journalism as a whole is such a scary world right now,” said Thorn, 20, a journalism major from Mantua, Gloucester County, “and you’re kind of throwing yourself into the fire. Am I going to find a job? Where does my future lie? Having people who support you and uplift you is a great thing.”
Haverford’s student newspaper has received funding via the president’s office and is able to pay its writers, Juzang said. In January, the Clerk will publish its first print edition.
But the Clerk would like resources for deeper reporting and investigative work and mentorship, he said.
Juzang, who hopes to pursue a graduate degree in communication management next year at the University of Southern California, said he’s invested thousands of dollars of his own money to get the association started. He currently works as a research/editorial intern for NBC Sports.
He said the association also has received support from the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
Juzang said he would like to help schools, including Widener and Lincoln, that used to have student news sites revive them. He also has begun talking to student journalists in other metro areas, including Washington, Boston, New York, and Baltimore, about starting an association for their university newsrooms, he said.
Mills, the Haverford communications administrator, was pleased to see Juzang take that conversation the two had last March and create a mechanism for student journalists to share their experiences and learn from each other.
“It’s really important for the students to share resources and knowledge and wisdom,” he said. “For those of us who value student journalism, it’s great to see them prioritizing this and making the time to do it.”
Friends, family, and celebrities take stock of the year on social media with carousels of photos noting the year’s highlights.
Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Pakistani education advocate, is no different.
In a brief post shared with her 3.7 million Instagram followers, Yousafzai shared seven photos and looked back fondly on her travels to Egypt, Greece, Tanzania, and Ireland.
She celebrated sampling pastries across Europe during her Finding My Way book tour and “seeing a long-held dream of building a school become reality in the north of Pakistan.”
But tucked in the seven-photo carousel of the 28-year-old — slide five to be precise — is a photo of her wearing a Kelly Green Philadelphia Eagles T-shirt as she’s getting ready to eat some Popeyes.
There’s no confirmation regarding when or where the photo was taken. But we do know Yousafzai was in Philadelphia promoting her new memoir in October, with Eagles superfan Kylie Kelce moderating the conversation.
Yousafzai, who didn’t think she’d been to any American football games when she spoke to The Inquirer ahead of her visit, said she was open to seeing the Birds in real life.
Could Kelce’s fandom have spread to Yousafzai, who prefers cricket?
The Inquirer tried to get some answers from the spokesperson handling the book tour stop. Did Kelce get the Eagles-curious Yousafzai to give the Birds a chance? Was the T-shirt a gift from the event? Alas, it’s a Sunday smack-dab in the middle of the holiday season, so we did not immediately hear back, though we’ll certainly report back if we do.
Still, a potential fandom is not out of left field. Yousafzai is no stranger to Eagles country.
Two years after the Taliban boarded her school bus and shot her in the head for advocating for girls’ rights to an education, the National Constitution Center awarded Yousafzai its 2014 Liberty Medal. She spent the day in Philly, attending the Forbes Under 30 Summit and meeting local students. During her visit, she was welcomed with open arms.
Back in September 1873, the New York Herald announced that the Hudson River School painter Jasper Francis Cropsey had a new painting. Autumn in the Ramapo Valley, Erie Railway, which would be open to public viewing for “only a day or two longer” at the Wall Street office of Charles Day, the article said.
The painting was commissioned by investor James McHenry, who, with Day, was director of Erie Railway. McHenry, who had been a director of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway before that, had his eye set on the Erie Railway, which was founded in 1832.
In 1872, in what is best described as a corporate coup, McHenry ousted the railroad magnate Jay Gould and took full control over Erie Railway. In celebration, he commissioned the Cropsey painting, which, after those few days on Wall Street, made its way to McHenry’s home in London and remained in private collections, away from the public eye since.
Until now.
In 2024, philanthropists J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox, who live in Bucks County, bought the painting and brought it back to the United States. It is on view at the Brandywine Museum of Art, some 150 miles away from the original setting of the painting, where flatlands west of the Hudson River meet steep hills near the town of Sloatsburg, N.Y.
Here, it can be seen by an American audience for the first time in 152 years.
The Foxes and American art
J. Jeffrey Fox has built a successful career in finance and education and his wife, Ann Marie, has worked with several nonprofits, often focusing on children with special needs. Together, in 2024, they made a $20 million gift to endow the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School at Pennsylvania State University.
The couple, said Jeffrey Fox, have always been interested in American history.
“We used to collect art as souvenirs. We would go to estate sales and garage sales and sometimes buy a piece of art,” he said. “It wasn’t a collection that was of any significance. So once we got a little bit more money, we wanted to buy one painting that’ll be the centerpiece for the rest of our collection.”
They bought Frederick Childe Hassam’s The Cove, Isles of Shoals (1901) at an auction in 2015.
The discerning eye in the couple has always been Ann Marie’s. She spent 15 years volunteering at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, and when the couple lived in Annapolis, Md., she took classes under Matt Herban, a retired professor of art from Ohio State University.
After that first Hassam, the couple wanted a Cropsey. But not just any Cropsey.
“We went to the National Gallery and they had a fabulous Cropsey [Autumn — On the Hudson River (1860)]. It just took our breath away. And we were like, ‘Wow, how could we ever get something that good.’ That’s why it took us this long,” said Ann Marie.
“We were very picky. Every artist has great days, and every artist has OK days. We wanted Cropsey on a great day,” her husband said.
Finding Cropsey on a great day
Last year, the Foxes’ art adviser came to know from a friend in Europe that Autumn in the Ramapo Valley was coming up for auction in London in September. Believing that the painting was best sold to an American buyer, this friend approached the adviser before the painting went under the hammer.
The Foxes had 48 hours to make a decision to buy, never having seen the painting, aided only by a high-quality photograph and a condition report.
Cropsey’s catalog raisonné, put together by the Newington Cropsey Foundation in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., says the painting left the country in September 1873. Documents said the painting has been in an undisclosed buyer’s family since the 1950s.
James McHenry’s carte-de-visite,
1861.
McHenry died in 1891 and “we don’t really know what happened from 1891 to the mid-’50s, but we do know that it never left England,” Jeffrey said. “And we don’t think it was ever shown in England. There are no records that we were able to find.”
Ann Marie said yes, and the couple wrote up a letter of intent.
“We were a bit concerned,” said Jeffrey. Another Cropsey — Richmond Hill in summer of 1862, also owned by McHenry — that came up in an auction in 2013 was deemed a “national treasure” by the U.K. and was not allowed to leave the country.
The clearance for Autumn in Ramapo to leave England took a little over three months.
“The English let that out of England because it was an American artist, and an American scene,” Jeffrey said.
The couple bought the painting in January 2025. Once the artwork arrived in the United States, a restorer found it to be in exceptional condition, exactly as advertised. In March, the conservator finished assessing the painting, and the Foxes traveled to New York to see it in real life.
“It just displayed so much grandeur. I thought it was wonderful,” Anne Marie said. “The autumn colors … just stunning. And the size of it is amazing. The first thing I said when I saw it was, ‘It can’t come to my house. It’s going to tear down my wall.”
Including the frame, the artwork measures 4.75 feet by 7.16 feet.
“Our house isn’t that big, we probably couldn’t get through the door,” Jeffrey said.
The couple couldn’t ship it to their foundation office, either. “We needed a museum that would be willing to show it and buy into the story, because it’s a phenomenal story,” Jeffrey said.
The “Cropsey, Wyeth, and the American Landscape Tradition” exhibition runs through May 31 at the Brandywine Museum of Art.
The painting and the painter
It’s easy to miss the “Erie Railway” part in Autumn in the Ramapo Valley, Erie Railway. Cropsey paints an idyllic fall scene with the Ramapo Valley bathed in yellow, red, and, orange foliage. Bits of green peep out, the sky is clear and a light blue, a waterfall flows gently on the left, the Ramapo River sits still.
The smoke-billowing train chugs through the valley in the distance, but in the center of the painting. Black rails of the railway bridge run parallel to the river and disappear into the leaves.
The setting of the painting falls between what is New York’s Orange and Rockland County, on the western side of the Hudson River, and north of Suffern.
“This painting … really helps in telling a fuller story of the history of American art, and particularly, this brief moment, in the third quarter of the 19th century, when huge sums were being spent on huge paintings,” said William L. Coleman, curator at the Wyeth Foundation and director of the Andrew & Betsy Wyeth Study Center.
“This is part of a larger story with artists like Frederic Church, Albert Bierstadt, and Thomas Moran.”
Jasper Francis Cropsey by Napoleon Sarony, circa 1870.
Cropsey, an architect who had designed several railway stations himself, was part of a line of artists who “engaged with the new fortunes being made from the transportation industry, making images of new railroads traveling through the landscapes,” Coleman said.
The artists enjoyed generous patronage and lived well. Cropsey lived in a mansion he built, called Aladdin, less than 10 miles away from the site of the painting. Here he built himself a studio that doubled as a gallery and art marketplace.
The Philadelphia story
Cropsey’s patron James McHenry was born in Ireland in 1817 and was raised in Philadelphia. He moved back to England, living primarily in London, where he made a fortune raising money and investing it in developing railways in America.
His sister remained in Philadelphia until her death.
Jeffrey Fox calls McHenry “notorious,” adding that he often worked against other equally infamous “robber barons” like Cornelius Vanderbilt and Gould.
“He paid $25,000 on a Bierstadt painting in 1865, so he was quite an art collector himself,” Jeffrey said. McHenry, who already owned Richmond Hill in Summerof 1862, perhaps had gotten acquainted with Cropsey when the artist visited England in 1856.
Cropsey had already made a name for himself painting Starrucca Viaduct, Pennsylvania (1865) —where, too, a distant train almost merges into the green slopes of the mountain behind it — when McHenry wanted an artist to commemorate his pushing Gould out of the Erie Railroad directorship in 1873.
“He had already gotten a national reputation for painting part of this exact railroad, and so James McHenry went to the railroad guy,” said Coleman, “and commissioned Autumn in Ramapo.”
Artists like Bierstadt and Sanford Robinson Gifford were also working on similar railroad commissions at the time.
“Most of their stock and trade are images that make use of the aesthetic value of the sublime, the power of the natural world against the small scale of human existence. So they give us that feeling of awe, of wonder,” Coleman said.
Landscape paintings, he said, “tell stories about belonging, about ownership, about your place in a wider society. … And they often risk being underestimated. These are pleasant, old pictures that we see on calendars and postage stamps, but they have a lot to tell us about how we became the nation we are today.”
The model train at Brandywine Museum’s holiday showcase in 2018.
An irrelevant cost
At Brandywine, Cropsey’s train speaks to the museum’s beloved holiday train display, posing questions of tradition and modernity as the nation enters its 250th year.
It will stay at the museum through May and then travel to the Dixon Museum in Memphis, Tenn. Then it heads to the Seed Art Museum in Louisville, Ky.;, Rockwell Museum in Corning, N.Y,; University of Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, Ga.; and the Newington Cropsey Foundation.
The Foxes wanted this piece of American history to be witnessed by Americans.
What they paid for it, Jeffrey Fox said, is irrelevant.
“If you put a value to it, that’s what you’re going to talk about, as opposed to the painting,” he said. “We’re a foundation and at the end of the day, we’re not going to sell it. So it doesn’t matter what we paid.”
“Cropsey, Wyeth, and the American Landscape Tradition,” continues through May 31 at the Brandywine Museum of Art, U.S. Route 1 at Hoffmans Mill Road in Chadds Ford, Chester County. Information: brandywine.org or 610-388-2700.
This article has been updated with the correct year of James McHenry gaining control of the Erie Railway. It was 1872.
It’s one of the paradoxes of Philadelphia’s 21st-century residential building boom. The more rowhouses and apartments that get built here, the more they look alike.
The streets of Fishtown and Graduate Hospital and Spruce Hill are now awash in interchangeable blocky structures, all dressed in the same dreary gray clothing, their aluminum panels shrink-wrapped around the exterior like a sheet of graph paper.
Instead of providing the kind of fine details that enlivened earlier generations of buildings, their architects try to distract us with patches of color and cheap trim.
The look is derisively known as fast-casual architecture, McUrbanism, or developer modern. No one likes these buildings, not even, I suspect, the architects who stamp the drawings. But because they are cheap and easy to build, the no-frills grids have emerged as a developer standard across America.
As bad as they might look in newer cities, their flat, lifeless facades are especially jarring in Philadelphia, where even humble rowhouses are animated by varied textures of brick and recessed windows.
While there’s little chance that developers will start building them like they used to, a few Philadelphia architects have thrown a curve into the works. The arch, which traces its origins to Roman times, is making a comeback.
Once you start looking around the city, you can’t help but see contemporary arches and rounded corners everywhere: on metal-clad rowhouses and brick-faced apartment buildings, in restaurant dining rooms and hotel lobbies.
This small apartment building at Second and Race Streets in Old City breaks up the usual grid with arched windows on the ground floor and irregularly spaced windows. Morrissey Design created the facade.
The rise of the arch
To be clear, today’s arches bear only a faint familial resemblance to their brawny predecessors, which come in all sizes and architectural styles, and typically have a large keystone at the apex. Those old masonry arches were workhorses that helped buildings stand up.
But as construction methods advanced in the early 20th century, arches ceased to have a structural purpose. The changes coincided with the rise of modernism, which largely eschewed the form in favor of straight lines, at least until the 1960s, when architects such as Louis Kahn and Robert Venturi — both Philadelphians — began sneaking them back into architecture.
Arches started reappearing on Philadelphia buildings about a decade ago, after Bright Common’s Jeremy Avellino marked the entrance to his Kensington Yards project with an exaggerated arc that seems to be descended from the famous Chestnut Hill house that Venturi designed for his mother. Even though the gesture was also a nod to the arched windows on the 19th-century townhouse next door, Avellino intentionally emphasized his building’s contemporary look by cladding it in metal. He considers his arches as nothing more than a “geometric memory.”
The new-wave arches come from a different place. Although they certainly help architects break free from the oppressive grid, arches help their contemporary designs blend in better with their neighbors.
The design for this three-story apartment building at 1716 Frankford Ave. uses shallow, industrial-style arches to enliven the facade. The project, which was designed by Gnome Architects for developer Roland Kassis, was expected to break ground in December.
Eschewing look-alikes
It’s no accident that arches began to proliferate just as brick was enjoying a revival as a building material in Philadelphia. Roland Kassis, a Fishtown developer who is responsible for several buildings with arches on Frankford Avenue and Front Street, says he first began using brick for building facades as a reaction against the poor quality of fast casual architecture.
Even though brick took more time and expertise to install, and ultimately cost slightly more than other materials, he felt it was worth it because it set his projects apart from the competition and signaled quality to potential renters. Later, he added arches.
Most of Kassis’ buildings that feature arches have been designed by Gnome Architects. They include a new mid-rise apartment building and a small hotel that are now under construction on Frankford Avenue.
While Gnome’s use of the arches is a way of paying homage to Fishtown’s industrial past, the firm’s most interesting design is less referential. Located at 17 Girard Ave., the skinny, mixed-used building features brick-framed oval windows that float up the facade like elongated soap bubbles. It functions as a sort of urban lighthouse at the entrance to Fishtown.
Gnome’s new three-unit apartment building at 17 Girard Ave. in Fishtown is an exuberant counterpoint to the straight lines of Philadelphia’s traditional brick facades.
Several other Philadelphia architects have embraced arches in their work for developers, including Digsau, KJO Architecture, and Morrissey Design. What unites their aesthetic is a strong interest in craft. They’re not just pasting factory-made brick panels onto facades; they’re hiring skilled workers from Philadelphia’sbricklayers unionto lay the blocks on site, one at a time.
That kind of craftwork isn’t something architects usually learn in school. To ensure that he gets the arches right, Gnome’s Gabriel Deck signed up for the International Masonry Institute’s training camp, where he tried his hand at using a trowel and spreading mortar. Digsau’s Mark Sanderson, who used a variety of arch types for Wilmington’s Cooper apartments, jokes that “we have the institute on speed dial.”
The institute’s regional director, Casey Weisdock, says she’s noticed an uptick in both the use of brick and modern interpretations of the arch. She attributes brick’s newfound popularity to the Biophilic design movement, which believes natural construction materials are better for people’s health and can improve their moods.
“A brick has a human quality,” she says. “A block fits right into your hand.”
This massive apartment building on Lancaster Avenue, ANOVA uCity Square, typifies the plodding, graph paper-inspired architecture that is sweeping America. It was designed by Lessard Design on the site of the former University City High School, which is now home to life science complex called uCity.
Digsau has a long history of incorporating wood and brick into its projects, yet the firm started adding arches into the mix only a few years ago. Like other architects, Sanderson, one of Digsau’s founders, says he was frustrated that design is increasingly dictated by financial models that result in the mass production of look-alike apartment buildings. Arches were a way of breaking out of that rut.
The rebellion against straight lines and slick facades has spread to other big cities, and now even big corporate architects who specialize in skyscrapers are playing with bricks and arches. Pelli Clarke Pelli, which is responsible for designing many of the crystalline towers along the Schuylkill, just dropped a ring of soaring arches into Boston’s newly renovated South Station. (Of course, staying true to type, the firm’s tower, located on top of the station, is still a blue glass ice sculpture.)
Pelli Clarke Pelli inserted these almost parabolic arches into Boston’s newly refurbished South Station.
The urge for curves extends into interior design. Furniture showrooms overflow with tub chairs and sofas with curved backs. Virtually every surface at Enswell, an upscale Center City cocktail lounge designed by Stokes Architecture & Design, bends and flows in some way. The firm is responsible for several rounded counters in Philadelphia’s cafes and was part of the team that created Borromini’s interior arches.
“You hear the words ‘comfy and cozy’ used a lot these days,” and the arch is one way to achieve that, says architect Brian Phillips, the founding principal at ISA. Interestingly, it’s hard to find arches in any of the firm’s work, which relies on textured materials, strategic cutaways, and complex geometry to animate its work. ISA did, however, introduce an arch and some curves for the Frankie’s Summer Club pop-up at the former University of the Arts building.
The fashion for arches and curves has also spread to interior design. Stephen Starr’s new Borromini restaurant on Rittenhouse Square — collaboratively designed by Keith McNally, Ian McPheely, and Stokes Architecture & Design — includes a curved banquette and dramatic, tiled arches in the main dining room.
While the arches have allowed architects to fight back against the deadening sameness of Developer Modern, the new style risks becoming its own cliche.
So far, those Philadelphia architects who include arches in their work haven’t embraced the literal historicism of Robert Stern, but neither have they come up with anything as groundbreaking as the exaggerated and ironic forms introduced by Venturi and his partner, Denise Scott Brown. In some cases, the use of arches seems arbitrary — merely decorative, to use the modernist critique. And arches aren’t always well integrated into the composition.
The most satisfying of Philadelphia’s new-wave brick buildings has plenty of curves, but no arches. Bloc24, a small condo building on 24th Street between South and Bainbridge, is a bravura essay in different styles of brickwork.
A curving screen made from bull-nose bricks, laid on the diagonal, sweeps across the facade. Because it protrudes several feet from the surface, it functions as a giant bay window. While it’s a stretch, you could consider the stylish, curved cut-out at the entrance a sideways arch.
While Bloc24, by Moto Designshop, has no arches, it is a bravura essay in brick styles and features plenty of curves. The new condo building is located on 24th Street, between South and Bainbridge.The brickwork on Moto Designshop’s Bloc 24, at 24th and South, is anything but flat.
Bloc24 was designed by Moto Designshop, the firm responsible for the intricate brick chapel at St. Joseph’s University. Moto has made intricate brickwork its signature, and, unlike those designs that use brick as a veneer, every detail of Bloc24 is integrated into the overall concept.
Perhaps the most out-of-the-box use of the arch can be found at Avellino’s Mi Casa houses, a group of rowhouses in tropical colors that he designed as affordable housing for Xiente (formerly the Norris Square Community Alliance). Because the sites are scattered around the neighborhood, often on very narrow lots, he was unable to replicate the standard, double window pattern found on most Philadelphia rowhouses. Instead, he used single arched windows, placed asymmetrically to energize the facades.
There isn’t a single brick in sight, evidence that the arch has come full circle.
Arched windows define this tropical pink house, part of group of affordable houses built on infill sites in the Norris Square neighborhood. Bright Common’s Jeremy Avellino used the arches to energize the narrow facades.
Think you know your news? There’s only one way to find out. Welcome back to our weekly News Quiz — a quick way to see if your reading habits are sinking in and to put your local news knowledge to the test.
Question 1 of 10
In Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film, Disclosure Day, which filmed in parts of New Jersey earlier this year, Emily Blunt’s character has this occupation:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The trailer shows Blunt as a meteorologist who shudders as she experiences some sort of encounter live on air. It includes all the other good stuff: crop circles, deer who are absolutely shook by whatever extraterrestrial activity they’re dealing with, car chases, you know the deal.
Question 2 of 10
A performance artist from Baltimore stood nearly naked, in socks and boxers, outside the Liberty Bell last week with a sign that said:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The man, who goes by Ham, said he’s been doing the underwear in cold cities routine for about two years and recently added the sign, “engagement ring savings fund,” as a way to combat people repeatedly asking him his motives.
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During her first interview on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show, Taylor Swift referenced a photo from 2001, at age 11, performing at this local spot:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
“You know when you are like 11 and you have that one outfit that you just know … goes so hard … when you just put this on and it’s like I’m sorry. I’m unstoppable today,” the Berks County native said about her American flag Limited Too shirt and red duster. She rocked that outfit while performing the National Anthem at a Sixers game.
Question 4 of 10
A new South Philly crime drama, Not for Nothing, recently debuted on the big screen and Amazon Prime. The brothers who conceptualized and wrote the show owned a music venue on Ninth Street called:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Back in 2006, when they first opened a live music venue on Ninth Street, Connie’s Ric Rac, Frankie and Joe Tartaglia — and their best friend and business partner, Peter Pelullo — would sit for hours after closing, spitballing script ideas. The brothers wanted to tell a South Philly story that captured the neighborhood they knew and that could make their dreams real.
Question 5 of 10
Late actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner got his start in this Pennsylvania theater as an apprentice at age 17:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Reiner apprenticed at the Bucks County Playhouse in 1964, the same year Liza Minelli appeared at the Playhouse and Arthur Godfrey was in Our Town.
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Question 6 of 10
An Eagles fan went viral after his self-defeating joke on Facebook prompted a police wellness check. Where does the fan live?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Jake Beckman is an Eagles fan living in St. Louis. When the Eagles won the Super Bowl last season, he and his wife made the 14-hour drive to attend the parade.
Question 7 of 10
Which book was the most checked-out print title of the year across all of Philly’s library branches?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The most checked-out print book of the year across all Philly’s library branches — in any genre — was Liz Moore’s 2024 The God of the Woods, a propulsive thriller about a girl who goes missing from a summer camp in 1975, eerily mirroring the disappearance of her brother from the same place 14 years earlier. Moore is based in South Philly.
Question 8 of 10
South Philly author Liz Moore’s “The God of the Woods” has been ordered for a TV series adaptation by which streamer?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Netflix announced it has ordered a series adaptation of “The God of the Woods,” a multigenerational mystery drama set in the Adirondacks. Moore will serve as a co-showrunner, writer, and executive producer, Netflix said. It marks the author’s second book that has been adapted for TV.
Question 9 of 10
Comedian Jake Shane said he had the best meal of his life at this Philly spot:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
“The best meal I’ve ever had in my life at Her Place in Philly,” Shane told his TikTok fans. Her Place earned one Michelin star this year.
Question 10 of 10
Why did this former Eagles fan sue the team?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Jalen Hurts gave diehard Eagles fan Paul Hamilton a touchdown ball in MetLife Stadium in December 2022. Then team, NFL, and security officials accosted the Eagles fan, according to a lawsuit.
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This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Philadelphia Mummers Parade, that colorful, boisterous procession that has come to define New Year’s Day in the city.
The festivities kick off at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 1, as more than 10,000 performers take to the streets for a daylong celebration USA Today readers recently hailed as the nation’s best holiday parade.
From parking to road closures to how to go about watching, here’s everything you need to know ahead of time.
Kasey McCullough kisses her son Finn, 5, after his appearance with Bill McIntyre’s Shooting Stars during their performance in the Fancy Brigade Finale at the Convention Center Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, part of the Philadelphia Mummers New Year’s Day parade. Their theme is “Legends of the Secret Scrolls.” Finn’s dad, Jim McCullough also performed, his 40th year with the Mummers. They are from Washington Twp.Washington Township, N.J.
Mummers Parade route
The mile-and-a-half route begins at City Hall, before heading south down Broad Street to Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia.
How to watch the 2026 Mummers Parade
Watch the Mummers Parade in person
The parade is free to attend. Those hoping for a more intimate experience, however, have a few options:
Reserved bleacher seats located near the judging stand just west of City Hall are available for $25 at visitphilly.com.
Additionally, tickets to the Fancy Brigade Finale — held at 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. inside the Convention Center — range from $28 to $43. Tickets are available at visitphilly.com or during business hours at the Independence Visitor Center.
Watch the Mummers Parade from home
The parade will be broadcast from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on:
Cable/Satellite: On Channel 2 (MeTV2) or Channel 69 (WFMZ). Available on Comcast, Fios, DirecTV, Dish Network, Service Electric, Astound, and Blue Ridge Cable.
Mobile: On the WFMZ+ Streaming app, available through your Apple or Android devices.
Members of the Saints wench brigade step to the judges’ stand during the 124th Mummers Parade on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025.
What is the Mummers Parade?
In short, it’s the longest continuously running folk parade in the country. Some 10,000 elaborately dressed performers take part in the celebration each year, part of dozens of groups spread across several divisions.
Fancies: Painted faces and elaboratecostumes.
Comics: Satirical comedy skits aimed at public figures, institutions, and current events.
Wench Brigades: Known for traditional Mummers costumes, including dresses, bloomers, and bonnets.
Fancy Brigades: Theatrical performances. (The Fancy Brigade Finale takes place on New Year’s Day with a pair of ticketed performances at the Convention Center at 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.)
String Bands: Marching musicians playing an assortment of string and reed instruments.
Mummers Parade performers
Fancy Division
Golden Sunrise
Wench Brigade Division
Froggy Carr
Pirates
Americans
Cara Liom
MGK
O’Malley
Oregon
Saints
Riverfront
Bryson
Comic Division
Mother Club: Landi Comics NYA
Philadelphia Pranking Authority
Mayfair Mummers
Barrels Brigade
The Jacks
Mother Club: Rich Porco’s Murray Comic Club
Holy Rollers NYB
Vaudevillains NYB
Trama NYB
Wild Rovers NYB
Mollywoppers NYB
Merry Makers NYB
Misfits NYB
Fitzwater NYB
Funny Bonez NYB
Top Hat NYB
Fiasco NYB
Golden Slipper NYB
B. Love Strutters
Madhatters NYB
Tankie’s Angels NYB
The Leftovers NYB
Finnegan NYB
Mother Club: Goodtimers NYA
SouthSide Shooters NYA
Jokers Wild NYB
Hog Island NYA
Pinelands Mummers NYB
Happy Tappers NYB
Two Street Stompers NYB
Gormley NYB
Jesters NYB
Lobster Club NYB
South Philly Strutters NYB
Jolly Jolly Comics NYB
String Band Division
Duffy String Band
Durning String Band
Quaker City String Band
Fralinger String Band
Uptown String Band
Avalon String Band
South Philadelphia String Band
Aqua String Band
Greater Kensington String Band
Woodland String Band
Polish American String Band
Ferko String Band
Hegeman String Band
Jersey String Band
Members of Froggy Carr chant as they strut to Market Street during the 124th Philadelphia Mummers Parade on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025.
Mummers Parade-day hacks
Navigating the heavily attended event can require a bit of planning, with entire Reddit threads devoted to parade-day tips — including the best places to park and how to access elusive public restrooms throughout the day.
A few things to keep in mind: The parade is accessible through SEPTA Regional Rail, bus, subway, and trolley lines. And though parking is free because of the holiday, it’s expected to be scarce.
While the heart of the action takes place near City Hall and Dilworth Park, performance areas will also be located along the parade route — at Broad Street at Sansom, Pine, and Carpenter Streets.
Starting at 11 a.m., meanwhile, parade attendees can gather at the staging area for the string bands to watch the performers prepare. (The staging areas are located at Market Street between 17th and 21st Streets and JFK Boulevard between 17th and 20th Streets.)
Also good to remember? Dress warm, bring a lawn chair (they’re permitted), and pace yourself — it has the potential to be a very long day.
Ferko String Band tenor sax players Renee Duffy of Deptford (left) and Tom Garrity of Berlin take a break from the parade as they ride in the bands truck on South Broad Street during the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025.
Mummers Parade road closures and parking restrictions
Friday, Dec. 26, 2025
No parking from 6 p.m. on Dec. 26 through 6 p.m. on Jan. 2, on the east curb lane of 15th Street from JFK Boulevard to South Penn Square.
Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025
No parking from 6 p.m. on Dec. 27 through 7 a.m. on Jan. 2, on the west side of 15th Street from Arch Street to Ranstead Street. Street and sidewalk vendors will also not be permitted to park in this area.
Monday, Dec. 29, 2025
15th Street will be closed to southbound traffic at JFK Boulevard. Closure begins at 8 a.m. on Dec. 29 and runs through 7 a.m. Jan. 2.
Market Street eastbound will be closed to traffic at 16th Street from 8 a.m. on Dec. 29 through 7 a.m. on Jan. 2.
Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025
No parking on the following streets from 4 a.m. on Dec. 30 through 6 p.m. on Jan. 1:
Market Street from 15th Street to 21st Street (both sides)
JFK Boulevard from Juniper Street to 20th Street (both sides)
15th Street will be closed to southbound traffic at JFK Boulevard. Closure begins at 7 a.m. on Dec. 30 and runs through 7 a.m. Jan. 2.
Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025
Market Street will be closed to vehicle traffic from 15th Street to 21st Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 31. Market Street will reopen at 3 p.m. and traffic will be permitted to travel eastbound on Market Street to 15th Street and continue southbound on 15th Street.
Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026
The following streets will be closed to vehicle traffic beginning at 3 a.m. on Jan. 1 through the parade’s conclusion:
15th Street from Arch Street to Chestnut Street
Market Street from 15th Street to 21st Street
These streets will be closed to vehicle traffic beginning at 6 a.m. on Jan. 1 through the conclusion of the parade:
Benjamin Franklin Parkway from 16th Street to 20th Street
North Broad Street from Cherry Street to JFK Boulevard
16th Street from Chestnut Street to Race Street
17th Street from Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Ludlow Street
18th Street from Ludlow Street to Race Street
19th Street from Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Chestnut Street
1500 block of Ranstead Street
1300 block of Carpenter Street
1000 block of South 13th Street
Chestnut Street from 15th Street to 18th Street (north side)
Cherry Street from 15th Street to 17th Street
Arch Street from 15th Street to 17th Street
Washington Avenue from 12th Street to 18th Street
Broad Street will be closed to vehicle traffic from South Penn Square to Washington Avenue on Thursday, Jan. 1, beginning at 7 a.m. through the conclusion of the parade.
Vehicle traffic will not be permitted to cross Broad Street during the parade.
Additional Parking Restrictions
No parking from 2 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 1 (on both sides of street unless otherwise noted):
Broad Street from Cherry Street to Ellsworth Street
Juniper Street from JFK Boulevard to East Penn Square
South/East Penn Square from 15th Street to Juniper Street
Benjamin Franklin Parkway from 16th Street to 20th Street
Logan Circle (north side)
16th Street from Chestnut Street to Race Street
17th Street from Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Ludlow Street
18th Street from Ludlow Street to Race Street
19th Street from Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Chestnut Street
1500 block of Ranstead Street
1300 block of Carpenter Street
1000 block of South 13th Street
Chestnut Street from 15th Street to 18th Street (north side)
Cherry Street from 15th Street to 17th Street
Arch Street from 15th Street to 17th Street
Washington Avenue from 12th Street to 18th Street
SEPTA detours
SEPTA hasn’t updated their schedule for the parade yet, but bus detours, alerts, and information can be found on SEPTA’s website.
Inspired by traditions brought to Philly by Swedish, Finnish, Irish, German, English, and African immigrants, the annual event has grown to feature thousands of costumed performers competing in a colorful, unique, and family-friendly daylong affair.
Despite past funding issues and occasional controversy, the Mummers Parade today stands as one of the city’s quintessential events, celebrated by locals and embraced by Philly royalty; former Eagle Jason Kelce memorably donned a traditional Mummers outfit for the team’s Super Bowl parade in 2018, and actor Kevin Bacon, along with brother Michael, has helped fundraise for the event.
