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5003 Penn Street Update

John E. Findeisen

John E. Findeisen

We rarely have this much interest in a run down house as we have had in 5003 Penn St.  Our previous posts here.  The latest news developed over the weekend when Laura and Nikki Kaftan emailed with some information.  They were doing genealogy and googled an address from an obituary and found our post.  They forwarded a picture to me of the house as it originally looked.

The obituary was for John Findeisen who was manager of American Fork and Hoe Company which was located at Ashland Street and the Frankford Creek.  He died in 1913.  John Findeisen obituary

Below is a slide show of the original house and some current shots of what it looks like today.  There have been major changes.  Not many of those old porches survive 100 years.  There were major changes to the upper floor in the front and on the side.

However, it looks like the original shutters were still somewhere inside.  You can see them in one of the pictures.

I have to admire Frank J Rocchino for taking on this project.  Thanks to Debbie Klak of the Historical Society of Frankford for her input.