Explore Other Cultures in Ethnic Enclaves

America is a place where people can experience different cultures.

Indianapolis, Indiana, is home to one of the largest groups of Chin people outside of Myanmar. Photo courtesy of David Evison/Dreamstime

During the 18th-century Colonial period in the United States, a small number of immigrants came from Italy, and some of them settled in South Philadelphia. They were then followed by a much larger influx of Italians who arrived during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Those migrants brought with them cultural and culinary influences that added numerous touches of “the old country” to that neighborhood.

In the 1880s, a curbside market sprang up to cater to the food preferences of the increasing Italian population. The South Ninth Street Italian Market evolved into the largest continuous outdoor arcade in the country, and it continues to operate today.