Olive Street

By Norman Cain, August 13, 2020 — I couldn’t have been more than maybe about 3 or 4 years old when I lived on Olive Street, in West Philadelphia. I believe Olive Street starts way around Fishtown somewhere. It was always a long narrow street, no more than a block [wide]/ The last vestiges of Olive Street may be around 48th between Addison and Fairmount and West Philadelphia. But I can remember that. It was so beautiful, it was like being in a dream or vision. And Olive Street, I mean it was so pretty, and it was like the springtime of the year and so I must have been about 3 or 4 years old because my parents told me that there were two other locations where we lived before we moved to Olive Street.
The street was full of memories — It was like a village. It was … about 2 blocks away from where Drexel University had their football field at the time. We used to … go over a little later on Sundays and play football in the field. But I believe for gentrification, that Drexel is going to take that particular area over because when I go over there now the street is all fixed in, and they’re just letting the neighborhood go down.
But even with that, when I look through that fence … I can see where everybody’s house was and it’s just like I’m right there [with] the things that have transpired once I lived there. It was a thing like I was young and the street was just so beautiful. now it’s older and I guess I don’t want to be morbid.
I guess I’m in the autumn of my life or something like that. It just gives me chills.