Photo Story | Philadelphia’s Most Instagrammed Graffiti

Pier 18 used to be a critical point at Port Richmond Yards, the Reading Railroad landing spot, in Philadelphia. The 500-foot-long pier that jets out onto the Delaware River is an artifact of Pennsylvania’s once booming coal industry. Pier 18 was used to ship out fossil fuel that had been transported by railroad. In 1976, following the coal industry’s decline, the pier was sold to Conrail, a Consolidated Rail Corporation founded the same year. Conrail abandoned the space in 1991. Though abandoned, the pier was not forgotten.

Today, the space is known as Graffiti Pier and is one of the most “Instagrammed” places in all of Philadelphia. While there is technically no trespassing allowed on the property, the police rarely canvas the area and the pier is an open secret to all Philadelphians and urban explorers looking for a break from the sprawling city. When visiting the site, you’re likely to run into other people exploring the grounds, taking pictures, or even just sitting at the edge of the pier for a nice picnic.

The entire concrete structure is covered head to toe in graffiti from local artists. There are a few trees on the pier, some of which have giant nails hammered into the trunks for visitors and artists to use as stepstools to climb higher onto the concrete structures and explore the pier from a different viewpoint.

According to a Philly Curbed article published December 2017, there are no immediate plans for construction. However, the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) intends to incorporate the waterfront’s industrial history and the existing graffiti to fashion a sort of graffiti museum or other public art monument according to Emma Fried-Cassorla, the director of communications at the DRWC.