Panama St. at Iseminger St., Philadelphia

In Albums: Philadelphia city

A tiny cobblestone alley with brick streets, with old brick rowhouses, and a paved side-street going to the right

Jul 4th, 2011, by Alex Zorach

This photo shows Panama St. at Iseminger St. in Philadelphia, PA. Both of these streets are tiny alleys; Panama is a full city block long, whereas Iseminger is less than a full block in length, accessible only from Panama and Cypress, another alley in the interior of this city block. These alleys were clearly built for horses, not cars, and they are difficult to navigate even in a tiny compact car.

This region, just south of center city Philly, is adorably beautiful, but extraordinarily confusing. Off of these marked alleys or "streets" are various courts, such as Lantern square, which are official street addresses but are not public. Some of these houses are built along public streets but have no entrance on the street.