Author: Jim

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Why Is No One Dying In Frankford?

According to the PPD crime map, over the last 30 days(10/16/09 to 11/15/09), there have been 6 homicides in Northeast Philadelphia.  2 in the 7th district, 2 in the second, and with last night’s news of a shooting in Holmseburg(reported as Mayfair), and previous homicide in Tacony, 2 in the 15th district.

I actually started this post preparing to take a shot at the rest of the Northeast who always looks down on Frankford.  But now I’m just really curious.  Has it been better policing with existing resources?  Has it just been luck?  Has Frankford actually gotten better?  We are down by at least 50% of last years total if I recall correctly.

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Quiz Time, Some Rich Dude One Hundred Years Ago Named This House, What Did He Call It?

During my initial visit with Debbie Klak at the HSofF on Veteran’s Day, we spent a fair  amount of time talking about the wealthy families of Frankford.  I’m really interested on getting the back stories that go along with the mansions that are still standing.  And she would say something like “[so and so] family lived over in the [some house location], it was called [estate name]”.  And she did this twice before I stopped her to get clarification and realized that THE RICH PEOPLE WERE NAMING THEIR HOUSES.  Being firmly entrenched in the proletariat, I find this so amusing.  It’s just like the Vanderbilts and Biltmore.  Frankford has Biltmores.

So lets play a game, I have a few houses that were named, let’s start with one that is a recent home of the week back in August that was owned by Henry Blum who owned a jacquard mill in Kensington.  What name did this dude give his house?  Here’s a hint, his last name(Blum) is in the name.

Leiper 4651b small

UPDATE: Through googling and chance, it appears that this fellow’s first name is NOT Henry, it’s Herman.

The information in this post was compiled with the help of Debbie Klak, current member and former president of the Historical Society of Frankford.  Sources include the archives of the historical society and her recollections.

HSF collects, preserves and presents the history of Northeast Philadelphia and the region. Recognizing the neighborhood of Frankford as the historic and geographic gateway to the region, HSF documents and interprets the history of the people, places, events and traditions of the greater Northeast Philadelphia area and serves as an advocate for the preservation of the region’s historic resources. Through its collections and programs HSF provides opportunities for its members, the surrounding community, and the general public to explore and appreciate the history of Northeast Philadelphia and its place in the world.

Check out other posts in our series here.

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Frankford’s Million Dollar High School

Below is a photo taken of the then newly built Frankford High School from one of the many archived news articles at the Historical Society of Frankford.  I would wager the article is from 1916 since we know they began construction in 1915.  A fact I didn’t know was that the school was built as an annex to Central High School.

frankford's-million-dollar-high-school

Below Is the trowel used for the laying of the cornerstone currently located at the HSofF.

frankford-high-school-cornerstone-trowel

The inscription reads:

CORNER STONE LAYING

FRANKFORD HIGH SCHOOL

STONE LAID BY FRANKLIN SMEDLEY

FEBRUARY 27TH 1915

But check out the note reading “trowel made by Henry Disston and Sons.”  The Disston Saw Works was a plant over to east by the Delaware River in Tacony.  In fact Henry Disston built the houses in Tacony for his workers pretty much all by himself. Check out this article from former Lincoln High School principle Dr Harry Silcox about Disston and the Tacony he built. I think it’s very telling that while Frankford was at it’s industrial zeneth, Henry Disston and Sons was still the choice to make the ceremonial trowel.  In fact, we at the Gazette hold him in such high esteem that we headed over the Hidden City exhibit over at his saw works a few months ago.

And who was this Franklin Smedley who was honored by laying the stone?  Well save his story for later.  Check out other posts in our series here.

[link] Historical Society of Frankford

The information in this post was compiled with the help of Debbie Klak, current member and former president of the Historical Society of Frankford.

HSF collects, preserves and presents the history of Northeast Philadelphia and the region. Recognizing the neighborhood of Frankford as the historic and geographic gateway to the region, HSF documents and interprets the history of the people, places, events and traditions of the greater Northeast Philadelphia area and serves as an advocate for the preservation of the region’s historic resources. Through its collections and programs HSF provides opportunities for its members, the surrounding community, and the general public to explore and appreciate the history of Northeast Philadelphia and its place in the world.

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Historical Society of Frankford Presents: Capt. Allen’s Model Boat For The Marquis De Lafayette

We’re very pleased to give a shot at a (hopefully) recurring feature on the FG.  I dunno what we’re gonna call it yet, but pretty much I asked Debbie Klak, former president of and current member of the Historical Society of Frankford, to help us make it rain history.  And I mean MAKE IT RAIN.  So I’m gonna head over to the society every once in a while and we’re gonna compile some nuggets of Frankford’s loooooonnng history.  I’m not even gonna bother trying pull a cohesive narrative together.  We’re just gonna give this a try in a stream of consciousness kinda way.  I was over there today and spent a couple hours with her and and came away with way too much to type.  As of right now, we’re gonna try to concentrate on tying history into the buildings that are still standing and how Frankford fit into the growing nation.

So with that in mind, here’s the first thing I gotsta show yous.

capt-allen's-ship

This model boat was built by Frankford’s own Captain John Allen.  The only slice of Captain Allen I could find on the net was an FU he threw a general courtesy of The New York Times but check out the note card that comes along with the boat:

capt-allen's-ship-notes

Catch that “General Lafayette” bit?  That’s THE Lafayette, the Marquis De Lafayette.  His Wikipedia page is so bad ass it has sub sections.  This dude spear headed the Franco-American alliance during the Revolutionary War.  A quick copy/paste from Wikipedia yeilds:

In the American Revolution, Lafayette served in the Continental Army under George Washington. Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, he still managed to organize a successful retreat. He served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. In the middle of the war, he returned to France to negotiate an increased French commitment. On his return, he blocked troops led by Cornwallis at Yorktown while the armies of Washington and Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, prepared for battle against the British.

That dude was a serious baller.  His parade through Frankford was part of his final tour of these new United States that he took during his last visit to our country where he received a hero’s welcome by the people.  According to Wikipedia’s timelines he arrived in Staten Island on the August 15th and ended up in Wilmington DE on the 6th of October so I’m guessing he passed through here on his way.  This boat is 185 years old.  That’s pretty cool.

[link] Historical Society Of Frankford

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Culture Alert: Artist Tom Judd This Friday At The Dye Works

tomJUDDPhiladelphia based artist Tom Judd is having an open reception this Friday at the Globe Dye Works from 6 PM to 9 PM.  According to Mr Judd’s biography, he’s done a lot stuff around Philadelphia.  From murals on the street to walls for local restaurants.  Some of his stuff has been added to the Philadelphia Museum Art’s permanent collection.  I hope we get something like Tijuana Weekend.

But if for nothing else, you gotta swing by just check out the Dye Works complex.  The last art show, Globe Dye Works: Layers, was a spectacular sight to see in Frankford.  Check out some pics from it here.

[link] http://gloomyhappy.wpengine.com/tag/globe-dye-works/

[link] http://tomjuddart.com/

[link] http://globedyeworks.com/