One of the oldest streets in the country, Germantown Avenue is home to the richest and poorest of Philadelphians. The sometimes-cobblestoned boulevard begins in Northern Liberties near Third and Girard and snakes its way through North Philly, Germantown, Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill, and serves as a microcosm of America. At the bottom of the Avenue in Northern Liberties, the average price of a home in 2002 was $43,000, with 24 percent of the properties there cited for code violations by the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections. Compare that with life at the top of the Avenue in Chestnut Hill, where the average home price last year was $260,000, with less than 8 percent being cited for code violations. The economic disparity is obvious as you travel north on Germantown Avenue, beginning with the abandoned buildings and spartan storefront businesses with hand-lettered signs in Northern Liberties and North Philly, and ending with the quaint antique shops and bustling outdoor cafés that dot the Avenue in Chestnut Hill.

The one constant on the Avenue is churches -- 54 to be exact, or 6.35 per mile. From the modest Faith Love Outreach Church at 1624 Germantown Ave. in Northern Liberties to the massive Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill at 8855 Germantown Ave., there's a house of worship for every denomination and income bracket.

One of the most famous battles of the Revolutionary War was fought here, with cannonballs flying back and forth across the Avenue between the British and George Washington's ragtag group of volunteers. Washington himself lived for a time at the Deshler-Morris House, 5442 Germantown Ave., when yellow fever struck the capital city of Philadelphia. Germantown, originally part of German Township, was still a few hours' ride from the city, and a safe haven for George, Martha and their children. Washington's cabinet also met here, turning the Deshler-Morris House into a forum for hot debates between the new president and Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Henry Knox. —Daryl Gale