Pics from Friday’s Tom Judd art exhibition at the Globe Dye Works.
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.
Frankford Home of the Week
We’re still on the West side of Frankford Avenue, this week in the 5400 block of Large Street. This is a nice example of how these row homes can really stand out. Well maintained and decorated for the season.
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.
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.
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.
Below Is the trowel used for the laying of the cornerstone currently located at the HSofF.
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.
