Lackawanna North Bank
The Lackawanna North Bank district of Metropolis encompasses neighborhoods known as "Little Italy", "Stewartsboro", "Little Moscow", and "Mint Ridge". It also contains the northern terminals of the Weston-Timpkins Bridge, the Hite Bridge, and the critically important Harrison Street Bridge and (subway) Tunnel.
History
The area of Pennsylvania now known as the "Lackawanna North Bank District" became part of Metropolis exactly five years after the official founding of Metropolis as a city: 1871.
In 1859, an older gentleman of wealth bought a large parcel of land west of the city -- a hilly area on the north banks of the Lackawanna, often used by the Lenape as a source of mint plants. Gofannon Rappacini claimed that his family's fortune came from trade in cotton and indigo down in South Carolina. The last survivor of his line, nearly blind, chair-bound, he told the borough that he wished to spend his remaining years in comfortable reclusion. His small family staff would build and minister all necessary details. Upon his death, these staff members would be released from indentures, free to return to their native lands or to join the American population as they pleased.
Mr. Rappacini was reported deceased in 1870. Records listed neither heirs nor even frequent companions. His land escheated to the state of Pennsylvania, which in turn sold it to Metropolis in the first quarter of 1871. The city fathers briefly considered adding half of this large region to existing LeMastre Park -- but at the time, the existing park was far larger than suited the city's needs. One younger scion of a leading family surveyed the property over the course of the summer of 1871. Upon his recommendation, the estate was arbitrarily divided into four uneven quadrants.
- To the northwest: "Borghi"
(the neighborhood region known since the end of the 19th centurey as "Little Italy") - To the northeast, bordering in LeMastre Park: Mint Ridge, keeping the name once given to the full estate
- In the central west, south of Borghi: "Stewartsboro", expected to be a hub for fish canneries
(now a sub-neighborhood of Little Italy on all but the most obscure municipal records) - To the southeast, including most of the southern bend in the Lackawanna River: "Graham"
(the neighborhood region known since the 1920s as "Little Moscow")
The city's expectation for this region was to send all Mediterranean-originating immigrants to settle in this new area. The results were mixed: many families of Greek heritage, for example, did congregate in Mint Ridge. Meanwhile, newcomers from Italy, Sicily, the Balkan peninsula, and the northern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea were likely to settle for several generations in the North Bank District, with residents and shops in the hills and major factory work along that coastline.
This region remains the most culturally insular area of Metropolis, as far as permanent residency is concerned. One block of Little Italy will spurn any attempted renters who are not descended from Friulian-speaking Udinese; the next block to the north, on the same street, demand all renters' references to include a distant relation on Sardinia. Anyone can, of course, shop anywhere. Likewise, anyone can work on the staff of any locally-owned business. Residents of Little Moscow or Mint Ridge may be seen waiting tables in Little Italy or working at a garment factory in Stewartsboro, while residents of Little Italy may well run the cash register at a kahvehane in Little Moscow.
These private requirements can be the dismay of the greater city, as well as of newcomers to Metropolis.
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