As the arctic chill descends upon Philadelphia again, we here at HSP have a touch of island fever—not Antigua, Cayman, or Bahama, but  Petty’s, Hog, and Soupy.  This week HSP helps kick off the city-wide Philagrafika 2010 festival with a unique art installation about the tiny yet contentious island in the Delaware River known as Petty’s Island . As this week’s City Paper notes,  “It’s a place littered with well-known and colorful characters [including]William Penn, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez…and even the pirate’s pirate himself, Ol’ Blackbeard.”  Created by artist Duke Riley, the exhibition at HSP explores this little-known history of Petty’s Island, and “reclaims” the island on behalf of one those colorful characters, Ralston Laird. An Irish immigrant, Laird settled on the island in the 1850s and declared himself king.  Items from Riley’s project–including artifacts excavated from the island and decorative plates with images of Laird descendants–will be on display along with original documents and maps from HSP’s collection that Riley used for inspiration from January 29 through April 9. We’re hosting a reception for Riley’s installation this Thursday, February 4th. Click here for a full calendar of events, including more Philagrafika and Petty’s Island-related programs.

Duke Riley’s memorial to King Laird atop a CITGO tank on Petty’s Island (2009)

Two essays on PhilaPlace also wade into the little known histories of the Delaware River islands. Brand new this week is Chris Dougherty’s From Wetland to Urban Land: A Social and Environmental History of Philadelphia’s Tidal Islands. Dougherty writes:

Despite their marginal quality for most of the 18th century, these “drowned lands” [of the Delaware River] took on greater significance as Philadelphia developed into a densely populated industrial and maritime center… Residences were strewn indiscriminately among the industries and workers in the yards or subsidiary industries were rarely out of earshot of the pulse and clamor of shipbuilding on the Delaware.

From Hog Island’s shipyards to Smith Island’s saloon, Dougherty examines the marshy islands’ industrial transformations and the people who worked, lived, and played there.  And of course he doesn’t overlook the lore of the origins of our beloved hoagie—arguably Hog Island’s most enduring legacy…

In Soupy Island: Fresh Air and Hot Soup at a Delaware River Playground, Amanda Zellner digs into the historical record of the Sanitarium Association of Philadelphia to tell the story of “Soupy Island,” a summer refuge for city kids founded in 1877 on Windmill Island and later relocated to the shores of Red Bank, New Jersey. Zellner writes, “Year after year, the Sanitarium’s steamboats transported thousands of children [to Soupy Island]… The steamboats left from several locations over the years, including ports near Port Richmond and Queen Village.”  In 1889, the Sanitarium Association reported that 103,516 people visited the resort and “board members proudly boasted about a system so efficient that 1,000 people could be served a pint of soup and three crackers in 30 minutes.” Here’s one of Soupy Island’s happy campers in 1939:

Both Dougherty’s and Zellner’s essays also feature a slew of amazing historical photographs like these drawn from the Philadelphia Record Photo Morgue collection.  Here’s a  sampling (click on each image to enlarge):

Construction of the Petty’s Island Bridge, ca. 1935.

Brush cut for survey line, Hog Island, 1917.

Shipway# 1 from river front, Hog Island, 1917.

Coast Guard loads six-ton “superbomb”on to a ship at Hog Island, 1945.

Workers in the snow at Hog Island’s  Wharf Road Sewer and Water treatment, 1917.

“River view of the Sanitarium Park, with the landing on the left.”  From the Annual Report of the Sanitarium Association of Philadelphia, 1894.

Children aboard steamship, “The Elizabeth Monroe Smith,” headed down the Delaware River to the Sanitarium (Soupy Island) in Red Bank, NJ. 1939.

“Waiting for lunch.”  Children at sanitarium playground stand in line outside the kitchen to wait for lunch, 1898.

Boys in swim trunks at Soupy Island Sanitarium, 1939.

Boy  posing with a lifesaver from the steamship Elizabeth Monroe Smith, en route to Soupy Island, 1939.