The former Furnished Room District - roughly defined between Broad and Chinatown, and Market and Vine - was once the site of a very unique nightlife scene. Bars, supper clubs, and small hotels dotted the streets of Center City's industrial zone. Between factories and warehouses, in the shadow of the Reading Viaduct, in older row homes were the businesses that entertained the district's employees.Construction of the Pennsylvania Convention Center and the Vine Street Expressway was responsible for the demolition of most of the more reputable businesses. Some of the seedier theaters and bookstores remained into the 90's, the most recent being demolished for the expansion of the PCC.
The Moonglo Hotel and Supper Club is shown here in 1961. On the northwest corner of Race and Juniper, it is currently the site of a surface parking lot.
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