Newly released, “Frankford Heroes, 2nd Edition”, written by Bob Smiley and Richard Johnson, takes us from a small 17th Century village in Philadelphia county to a 21st Century neighborhood in the city of Philadelphia, PA. Frankford has a long history of proud military service. This new edition has the stories 190 brave men and women, 147 of them would not return from war.
If you buy the book directly from us, we pay the shipping. Click on this link, https://frankfordgazette.com/books-for-sale/ and you can order online and us Paypal, credit or debit cards as well as mailing us a check. Anyone who buys a print edition of this book, please email gil@frankfordgazette.com or text 215-847-5506 to get your free ebook. The ebook has even more information about the Veterans, resources and links.
Through Tuesday evening, May 26, we will donate 10% of monies raised to St. Mark’s Church and Court St. Francis de Sales #2617 of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas for their Matthew 25 Food Cupboard. Thank you!
Jim says: I’d love to do a background post on the Old Mill building that’s part of Matt Papajohn’s complex that has an entrance on Orchard St. The building, however, backs up to Waln Street.
Does anyone have any information?”
Hexamer General Surveys
264
Borie & Mackie Spring Mills
Borie, M. J. & Mackie
Orchard St, Waln St, and Culvert St
Frankford /Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HGSv4%2E0264
1127
Spring Mills & Providence Cotton Mill
Borie & Mackie
Waln St, Orchard St, and Unity St
Frankford / Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HGSv12%2E1127
792
1874
Spring Mills
Borie & Mackie
Waln St, Orchard St, and Unity St (NW corner)
Frankford /Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HGSv9%2E0792
But the real question you should be thinking is who own it before Borie & Makie?
Why was it called Spring Mills (as they did not manufacture springs)?
J.M.
Well done Joe! I would guess they called it Spring Mills because it ran right next to a spring that fed into the Frankford Creek.
Actually, I found this after I already posted:
http://www.workshopoftheworld.com/frankford/spring.html
1768-1862 Friends schoolhouse (demolished)
1862- Spring Mills / Borie & Makie (umbrella & parasol sticks, cotton yarn)
1889- Montgomery Ford (umbrella sticks)
1894- David M. Hess (chemical works)
1895-1945 Wallace Wilson Hosiery Co. (infants hosiery)
c. 1920- Malcolm Mills (yarn)
1946-2004 H. Riehl & Son (textile machinery)
2004- Pappajohn Woodworking (custom woodworking) & misc tenants.
4355 Orchard Street, Philadelphia PA 19124
(east side between Church Street and Unity Street, property extends back to Waln Street; originally Waln Hill at Unity Street)
About the name, there was a spring, but it more likely fed into the Little Tacony Creek down where Torresdale Avenue is today.
I often have some minor disagreement with various historical accounts, and I disagree with the “1768 Friends schoolhouse,” as use above.
The first school did not belong to “The Friends.”
The following account is accurate and supported by my research:
“The Frankford Academy had its beginnings in 1768 when William Ashbridge, Rudolph Neff and Isaiah Worrell, as trustees of a fund raised by the people of Frankford for the erection of a school, purchased a piece of ground at Wain and Spring Streets, upon which a school, afterwards known as the Spring House School, was erected.
In 1799 the property was transferred to the Friends Society, the sum of $337 being paid to those not belonging to the Friends, representing the proportion of their interest.
This money was applied toward the purchase of a lot on Paul’s Lane, on the site where the Rehoboth Methodist Episcopal Church was later erected.
A building was erected in which school was held on the second floor. It was chartered in 1800 as the Frankford Academy.
The building was used also for a town hall and a portion of it as a jail.
In 1808 the title to the property was transferred to the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church, as has already been stated. The church continued to support it until 1830, when it was sold to Robert and Samuel Huckel, who, in turn, sold it to the society afterward organized as the Rehoboth Church.”
“The Presbyterian church of Frankford, 1770-1920”
http://www.archive.org/details/presbyterianchur00some
J.M.
Awe man, that’s a shame. I was looking to uncover new info, it looks like that mill is already known. I need to find another building that has a recorded history that no one else has reported on.
How about Hood Bros. on Orchard Street right across from the Pappajohn mill? Good Luck!