Author: Gil

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History Shmistory

It is almost hidden in plain sight googlemap
on a busy street in Frankford. The Historical Society of Frankford is opposite the Frankford Friends school. These two venerable institutions form a vortex of learning and culture in a neighborhood rarely associated with either.

We visited the Historical Society (HSF) last week and took a tour with Debbie Klak, the current president. While the HSF has no public programs during January and February, work still goes on.

We met Harry Silcox, the prominent local historian, doing some research on the Edwin Forrest Home for Retired Actors and also Jack McCarthy the society’s archivist. We discussed the new organization of a Center for Northeast Philadelphia History which HSF is coordinating. A flock of volunteers came in while we were there and I could not tell you what they were doing except to say that they were very busy.

The building is larger that it first appears. Using parts of 3 floors, it is filled with both documents and artifacts from the 17th century through the present day. It would takes days to do justice to a review of the exhibits but some of our favorites were related to Benjamin Franklin, the Marquis de Lafayette, Hessian soldiers during the revolution, Lydia Darragh and Frankford during the Revolutionary War, the Civil War period in Frankford and of course the Lenape indians. It was something like the Antique Road Show of Frankford.

The document collection is extensive with literally thousands and books, records and maps to offer the researcher hours of new avenues to peruse. Genealogists looking for new routes to search, if your have ancestors in the Northeast, you may find that missing link right here.

Every institution goes through cycles of growth and rest. The Historical Society of Frankford is moving into the 21st century in a growth mode. With the influx of new folks coming into Frankford and the increasing interest in local history throughout the Northeast, things are definitely looking up.

It was a great tour for us and open house will resume for the public on the first Sunday in March at 1:00 PM. Meanwhile have a look at our slide show of some of the pictures from our tour on flickr.com.

[where: 1507 orthodox st. Philadelphia, pa 19124]

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Crime in Frankford

Another tragic incident reported on Philly.com:

A pregnant woman was shot dead in the city’s Frankford section overnight, police said, but doctors at Temple University Hospital were able to save her child.

The expectant young mother was killed by a single shotgun blast to her back shortly after 1 a.m. on the 4600 block of Griscom Street (Google map), police said.

Read the entire story here.

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Bricks


You may have noticed that there are a lot of bricks in Frankford. There are so many brick structures that you almost lose sight of them. it was the building material of choice for quite a long time. We are looking at these buildings now many years after they were built and the majority of them have seen better days. Brick structures are tough but they do need periodical maintenance – brick pointing and cleaning to keep them standing and looking good.

If you have been down to Society Hill you can see the beauty of old brick buildings that have been restored. That trend is steadily moving up in our direction. Just drive downtown under the el and you will start to see old brick buildings restored to like new condition.

I was walking up Frankford Avenue last week from Church Street and came to the former Mozaic (fondly missed) building. I then took the “Road less traveled” and turned up Gillingham (Google map). It was a nice sunny day and in about 10 steps I thought I was on one of the back lanes in London or Belfast or maybe even Coalisland. This street shows you the Frankford of the future today.

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Crime in Frankford

Reported today on Philly.com

NE woman robbed, burned

A 45-year-old woman was treated for burns she received when three robbers bound her with duct tape in the basement of her home, at Granite and Jackson streets (Google map), in the Northeast, yesterday, and burned her repeatedly with a heated spoon.

At least one of the robbers had a gun, police said. The thieves stole $200 cash and a laptop computer. The unidentified victim called police and was taken to Frankford Hospital-Frankford where she was treated for burns of the left calf and ankle.

Read the story here.

And from the Daily News:

A domestic argument turned deadly yesterday in Frankford when a man allegedly shot and wounded his ex-girlfriend before turning the gun on himself.

Police said that the 26-year-old woman was in critical condition at Temple University Hospital. The ex-boyfriend, also 26, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cops said the woman was walking from Horrocks Street to Haworth Street Google map), near Oxford Avenue, about 10 a.m., when the man came up behind her and shot her three or four times.

Read the entire story here.