Center City is the 2nd most populous downtown area in the United States, yet anyone who lives in Philadelphia knows it’s not officially called “Downtown.”
Since Center City includes other distinct localities, such as Chinatown, Old City and others, it encompasses more than what Americans traditionally consider to be a “downtown” — usually a center for business, city government and cultural activities.
So having a different name makes sense. But that still doesn’t answer where it comes from.
Center City is likely a derivative of "Centre Square" which comes from William Penn’s original plan for Philadelphia, laid out as a grid with 5 public squares. (see image of map)
However, since the end of the 19th century, news articles and want ads used "center city", "central city" and "center of city" interchangeably. For the next half century, any of the three would suffice. Each term seemed to be the most popular for a few years, only to be overtaken by another.
We know one thing for sure: “Center City” would win out. In 1940, “Center City” appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer less than 200 times compared with more than 1,200 for “Central City.” In 1947 the Center City Residents’ Association was formed, making the moniker somewhat official. By 1960 the score would flip to more than 3,400 impressions of “Center City” and less than 900 for “Central City.” By 1980, “Center City” would appear more than 10,000 times and “Central City” just over 500 listings.
“Center City” had prevailed.
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