Portuguese community in Philadelphia (Allentown, Scranton: insurance, neighborhood, calculation)

[wanderer34]

Hello all!!! Just pondering in my head about this subject because as far as the late 2000s, I do recall seeing a Portuguese presence in Philadelphia in places such as Olney, Crescentville, Lawndale, and Oxford Circle. This was a very interesting demographic, especially coming from NYC, and in particular Brooklyn, where there really isn't a Portuguese community. I'm not talking about Brazilians, as I'm very familiar with them and have patronized Brazilian stores and restaurants and it's what makes Philadelphia a pleasant living experience, but I'm referring about the Portuguese who used to live in Philadelphia.

I do recall stumbling on an article from the Portuguese Club of Philadelphia proclaiming that in 1980, that there were over 10,000 people of Portuguese descent in the city out of 1.6 million people, mostly in Olney along 5th St from Roosevelt Blvd to Tabor Ave, so much that the strip was labeled "Little Portugal" from the 1970s until the 2000s. That would've made the Portuguese approximately 0.7% of the city's population at the time. And I do recall seeing some signs in Portuguese on 5th and Tabor as far as the late 2000s. There was also a Portuguese restaurant that was located on Tabor and Adams called Taste of Portugal and even met the owner Mr. Martins, but during the early 2010s, the restaurant closed down and nowadays, an insurance company now takes it's place.

I'm still curious if there's still growing Portuguese enclaves in Philadelphia, and yes, I'm familiar that most of the Portuguese is at the Northeast, mainly in Oxford Circle and Rhawnhurst, but are there any suburbs in the greater Philadelphia area where they're located at??? Also what about areas such as the Lehigh Valley, the Poconos, and NE PA??? I'm just wondering because this is one demographic that I believe can make Philadelphia a better city, just look at Newark, NJ!!!

[N.Y.C.H]

As someone who is Portuguese and currently living in Philly (I live in Manayunk) I have not ran into many others in Philadelphia.

I am originally from Bethlehem, PA in the Lehigh Valley, and we have a sizable Portuguese community, with the city having a Portuguese day parade every year in June. Most of the Portuguese community was located on the south side of the city, which is where the Portuguese American club is located, but have spread out throughout the Lehigh Valley since then.

I know there are some pockets of Portuguese in South Jersey, but I agree, the Ironbound in Newark is a great example.

[wanderer34]

I can only hope that the Portuguese community grows if not in Philadelphia, the rest of PA. I’ve heard of Brazilians moving into Philadelphia plus the metro area (Riverside, Delian, Cinnaminson, Edgewater Park, and Beverly NJ comes to mind as well as Phoenixville and Spring City, PA) and while Brazilians and the Portuguese aren’t the same, they’re interrelated.

I’d hate to see the Portuguese community vanish in Philadelphia and PA. I believe it’s an interesting community and while not the biggest community in Philadelphia (they made up 1% in Philadelphia in 1980 at one point), there’s really no online references citing those facts plus other tidbits about the Portuguese community, such as the original Little Portugal on 5th Street between Tabor Rd and the Blvd.

It’s almost like they came to Philadelphia in the 1960’s and packed up in the 2000’s when the Portuguese should’ve built up their areas the way the Italians and the Polish built up South Philly and Port Richmond, respectively. I can only hope the 2020 Census shows some Portuguese communities not just in Greater Philadelphia, but growing communities in the Lehigh Valley, Berks County, the Poconos, and NE PA. Those seem to be areas where the Portuguese community are moving to and I hope I’m right about this one!

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

I can only hope that the Portuguese community grows if not in Philadelphia, the rest of PA. I’ve heard of Brazilians moving into Philadelphia plus the metro area (Riverside, Delian, Cinnaminson, Edgewater Park, and Beverly NJ comes to mind as well as Phoenixville and Spring City, PA) and while Brazilians and the Portuguese aren’t the same, they’re interrelated.

I’d hate to see the Portuguese community vanish in Philadelphia and PA. I believe it’s an interesting community and while not the biggest community in Philadelphia (they made up 1% in Philadelphia in 1980 at one point), there’s really no online references citing those facts plus other tidbits about the Portuguese community, such as the original Little Portugal on 5th Street between Tabor Rd and the Blvd.

It’s almost like they came to Philadelphia in the 1960’s and packed up in the 2000’s when the Portuguese should’ve built up their areas the way the Italians and the Polish built up South Philly and Port Richmond, respectively. I can only hope the 2020 Census shows some Portuguese communities not just in Greater Philadelphia, but growing communities in the Lehigh Valley, Berks County, the Poconos, and NE PA. Those seem to be areas where the Portuguese community are moving to and I hope I’m right about this one!

Recent census surveys suggest that the Portuguese population in both Philadelphia proper and the Delaware Valley is around 0.2%. Even if that figure was closer to 1% in the city 40 years ago, that’s far from the figure necessary to achieve a critical mass and form ethnic enclaves like Italians, Poles, and other immigrant groups.

The highest estimates in suburban areas are still very small (no more than ~2%) and with a high margin of error that often exceeds the estimate itself.

[wanderer34]

Usually, when there’s a small, but significant group of people settling in a particular area, there’s usually growth associated with that. For example, the Portuguese settled in the Ironbound in Newark, NJ. Before the 1960’s the Portuguese was a much smaller portion of the population in the East Ward, however after the Carnation Revolution, the numbers of Portuguese drastically grew to the point where there was up to 30K people of Portuguese descent within the city of Newark alone around 1995 (https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/06/a...ited%20States.; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hist...rk,_New_Jersey).

Nowadays, recent estimates show that the Portuguese population is a third of that mark, to about 10K people, as many Portuguese moved from Newark and into other NJ communities such as Harrison, Kearny, North Arlington, Lyndhurst, Linden, Rahway, Carteret, Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Long Branch, Eatontown, and Toms River. NJ also hosts the largest Portuguese population in the Mid Atlantic outside of New England and California.

Other communities where the Portuguese settled in large numbers are Elizabeth, NJ, Allentown, PA, Bethlehem, PA, Scranton, PA, Yonkers, NY, Mineola, NY, Bridgeport, CT, Waterbury, CT, Hartford, CT, , as well as MA and RI.

I’m still hopeful that some of the Portuguese from NJ and New England have moved to PA. My rough estimates would be that NJ has over 100K Portuguese, NY has about 60K, and PA has up to 35K to 50K if my calculations are right. And I’m hopeful that the Portuguese communities in Philadelphia and PA can salvage important information about their communities rather than just throwing it away and becoming “regular Americans”.

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

Usually, when there’s a small, but significant group of people settling in a particular area, there’s usually growth associated with that. For example, the Portuguese settled in the Ironbound in Newark, NJ. Before the 1960’s the Portuguese was a much smaller portion of the population in the East Ward, however after the Carnation Revolution, the numbers of Portuguese drastically grew to the point where there was up to 30K people of Portuguese descent within the city of Newark alone around 1995 (https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/06/a...ited%20States.; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hist...rk,_New_Jersey).

I am actually surprised the numbers are so low there these days as it's definitely one of the top places I associate with the Portuguese community. I guess it's not surprising as the first generation born in the US gets older and move from the landing spot of their parents/grand parents.



I have always thought that Philadelphia and by extension the Delaware Valley really lacked Portuguese speakers and specially Brazilians. Really all South Americans.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

Usually, when there’s a small, but significant group of people settling in a particular area, there’s usually growth associated with that.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. A peak population of ~10,000/0.7% is definitely small, but I don’t think it can be considered significant.

Originally Posted by wanderer34

Other communities where the Portuguese settled in large numbers are Elizabeth, NJ, Allentown, PA, Bethlehem, PA, Scranton, PA, Yonkers, NY, Mineola, NY, Bridgeport, CT, Waterbury, CT, Hartford, CT, , as well as MA and RI.

Can you show me the figures for Allentown, Bethlehem, and Scranton? Unless you’re speaking of “large” in very relative terms, I don’t think that’s supported by recent Census surveys.

Originally Posted by wanderer34

I’m still hopeful that some of the Portuguese from NJ and New England have moved to PA. My rough estimates would be that NJ has over 100K Portuguese, NY has about 60K, and PA has up to 35K to 50K if my calculations are right.

What calculations are those? Census surveys suggest Pennsylvania has around 20,000 people of Portuguese ancestry.

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

I am actually surprised the numbers are so low there these days as it's definitely one of the top places I associate with the Portuguese community. I guess it's not surprising as the first generation born in the US gets older and move from the landing spot of their parents/grand parents.

I have always thought that Philadelphia and by extension the Delaware Valley really lacked Portuguese speakers and specially Brazilians. Really all South Americans.

I remembered there being a Portuguese neighborhood around Castor Gardens and ate at a Portuguese restaurant there. Brazilians also live in Castor Gardens, and other parts of the Northeast, and have a more noticeable (but still very modest overall) presence in other areas of the Delaware Valley.

As I recall, wanderer has a wealth of knowledge about the Brazilian community as well.

[Mayvenne]

We used to live in NJ and would go to the Ironbound section of Newark a few times a year for Portuguese (and Spanish ) restaurants. Also South River and Perth Amboy..
We were wondering if there are any Portuguese (or Spanish) restaurants around Philly or even Delaware for that matter. Someone is craving paella. Any suggestions?

[bigfish1]

Tio Pepe in the Northeast is really good.

[wanderer34]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...520-story.html

Here's a link from 1987 to substantiate my claims for 10,000 Portuguese descended people in Philadelphia!