January 10, 2024. No snow yet in the Delaware Valley. The weather has been warmer than normal. On January 9, there was a storm with rain and high winds—the most severe since Hurricane Sandy in November, 2012.

The high tide rushing from the northern Delaware brought skeletal dead trees to the beach at Washington Avenue Pier. There is another storm predicted for later in January, and it's possible that this same debris will be carried by another high tide away from Philadelphia and downriver, clearing the beach once again.

driftwood timbers on the beach

When the Delaware watefront was re-imagined in 2014, it was decided to keep as many of the existing plants and trees as possible. Some of those trees, such as the White Mulberry, were not native to this region. They are the largest trees and have been here the longest. They show the effects of the high winds and a few of them have fallen, but they endure.

Mulberry tree branches bent by the wind

The Park at this time of year has a palette of three colors: raw umber, burnt sienna, and bluish-gray. Astronomical winter ends the end of February. The palette will slowly get brighter with pinks and greens and yellows, and the birds will return as the sun starts moving northward.

 

The tides on the Delaware usually vary by six feet. During the January 9 storm, high tide was at ten and a half feet, covering the depth gauge.

tide gauge at eight feet


In the works. A tentative date of early 2025 has been set for the opening of an immigration museum in the privately-owned space adjacent to the original site of the Immigration Station which was originally located at the corner of Columbus Boulevard and Washington Avenue. Silverstein Properties, a New-York-based group, is the developer.

The entire project, called the Wharton Street Piers, will consist of condos and three resaturants, and is still in the planning stages.

Watch this space.

rain garden

historical marker at intersetcion of Washington Avneue and Columbus Boulevard

The Pier 53 Project— is a historical study of the immigrants who arrived at the Pier from 1876 to the 1920's—their stories as well as the stories told by their descendants. Each account is part of a mosaic that contributes to the history of Philadelphia and its waterfront, and ultimately to the history of immigration in the United States.

Here's the link to the Pier 53 Project page on this site. Pier 53 Project

All photos by Susan McAninley.