Weird block number question

[adam917]

Is there any particular reason that both the 200- & 700-blocks south of Market have 'continuous' numbering, as opposed to starting over from the next hundred once Locust Street is reached (for the 200-block) & why the 700-block actually runs for a few 'blocks' (Bainbridge to Catherine)? Were the streets in between once smaller than they currently are? Has anyone else noticed or wondered about this or am I just wrong on this one? What exactly is supposed to count as the beginning of a new block?

[radiocolin]

I believe Locust St is not considered a major street. It intersects the park in several places, it doesn't exist in several places, and it's not a street from the Schuylkill to 40th.

[hammersklavier]

Locust Street was not in the original City Plan, and the block numbering scheme in the city is based off that plan.

Similarly, intersecting streets in the 700 block are most likely converted alleys. It's a remnant of how the city was built up prior to the Industrial Revolution.

[radiocolin]

You can see an example of what Fitzwater St was here: Bainbridge St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Google Maps