The Last Writes: An Iconic North Philadelphia Graffiti Wall Succumbs to Development.

I've been driving by this wall for the past 8 months or so and finally snapped some extra colorful pictures. Let me tell you, these pieces are truly amazing. The precision and styles of a majority of them are astounding and I highly recommend taking a trip over to the wall while you still can.

Here is a short excerpt from a recent article written by Jeff Deeney in the Philadelphia Weekly. The graffiti wall at Fifth and Cecil B. Moore is an underground icon, a "permission wall" where property owners give grafitti writers free reign to display their talent. The wall itself is really three continuous walls: a half-block of Fifth north of Cecil B. Moore, the entire block of Cecil B. between Fifth and Germantown, and a half-block of Germantown north of Cecil B. It's been painted continually since the 80's, changing constantly as one mural piece eventually gets swallowed by another.

That's about to change. The property was recently sold to a developer who plans to build townhouses on the site. I can only hope that something goes wrong and that this wall stays around forever. I drive by it at least 5 times a week and it's more enjoyable everytime, especially when that new piece goes up.