Tag: joe menkevich

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1606 Church Street

1606 Church Street

It stands out like a sore thumb if you are coming up Church Street but I think it was originally built with its face toward Frankford Avenue.  Debbie Klak from the Historical Society of Frankford says it dates from the neighborhood of 1726.

When I look at a very old building I really don’t know what I’m looking for except a massive chimney and I don’t see it on this one.  A building of that age would have had it more or less in the center of the structure.  Maybe we can get inside and do some detective work.

As a result of this discussion, Joe Menkevich sent me some material.  I had not seen this map before.  Picture Frankford in 1802 when the town was pretty much lined up along the Kings Highway.  Thomas Jefferson was the President.

Frankford 1802

The road at the bottom that says from Germantown is Hunting Park Avenue where the Walgreens is today.  Go north and find the 6M.  That is about where Paul Street crosses Frankford Avenue and Oxford Avenue begins.

You would look for the oldest houses where there was development on this map.  Along the main street and south rather then north.

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Fisher’s Lane Bridge and the Rowland Estate

It has been quite a week here at Gazette headquarters.  The question about the oldest house in Frankford set off a flurry of emails that got me a ton of leads.  It will take a while to sort it all out but Fisher’s Lane has to rank up there as one of the most intriguing places in Frankford.

4501 Fishers Lane

Joe Menkevich has a lot of research on the Lane and the history of the area.  He passed on this picture that he took of the former Rowland residence which dates to 1793 or so.

Below right is a picture of the cornerstone of the Fisher’s Lane bridge.  As you can see by the date, it is certainly old.  Joe believes that the original 1759 bridge was rebuilt and the cornerstone was then reset in the new bridge.

Cornerstone of Fishers Lane Bridge

Below is a beautiful picture of the bridge itself taken by Fred Moore in infrared.

Fishers Lane Bridge by Fred Moore

You can get some interesting views of the bridge in this series of  pictures by Fred Moore done in infrared.

Have a look at the Historic Buildings and Places in the Northeast Survey and Database compiled by Historical Society of Frankford Center for Northeast Philadelphia History here.  You will find the Rowland House and the Fishers Lane bridge.

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Ghosts of Northeast Catholic High School for Boys

Joe Menkevich

From Joe Menkevich

Northeast Catholic High School Crew Team & The Ghost

The older one becomes, the more things one will witness  – strange mysterious beautiful unexplainable wonderful things.

For many years I thought to take a few pictures of some of the facades & windows of buildings along Frankford Avenue. Today I have.

This is the second floor of what was once a dining room inside Horn & Hardart Restaurant. (near Margaret Street)

Old Horn and Hardart second floor window

The reflections upon the window glass brought back the memories of rattling dishes and the smell of the food – the pies and the coffee and the pies!   I remember taking the EL from North Catholic and waiting for my brother to finish his shift as a bus-boy.   A loud crash from the dropping of a whole load of dishes – and there was my brother standing there frozen like a statue with one dish left in his hand.

The old waitresses began gathering around scolding – trying to make him feel guilt & embarrassment. There he stood with that one last dish.

He shrugged his shoulders and threw it into the broken pile, took off his apron and said:  “Now all of you can clean it up – I quit! Are you happy now?”

Some say the Spirit of North Catholic will never die.

It was in building next to Roxy’s Army & Navy Store. [4500 block of Frankford Avenue: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frankfordgazette/2042191622/ ]   Memories of wet t-shirts, the smell of sweat, the working out, & the camaraderie inside while looking at the dyslexic writing on a window: WERC CN

As an alumni of Northeast Catholic High, I knew where the Crew Team used to work out in the late 1960’s. I know because I was there.

But after I took the photo, it appeared as if a strange face was looking back at me.   Is it the face of a young man?   I had to take a closer look.

Some say “the Spirit of North Catholic will never die.”

Take a look and decide – is it just a smudge or something more?

Perhaps it’s just an illusion – perhaps it’s something more.   The strange silhouette reflected on the glass serves to prove – ghosts, spirits & memories will never die as long as we keep them alive.

© 2011 – Joseph J. Menkevich all rights reserved.

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Dr. Harry Silcox

Harry Silcox passed away one year ago today.  I met Harry a few years ago at the Historical Society of Frankford one night.  I found that we had a relationship going back to my childhood in Bridesburg.  I knew his Aunt, uncle and cousin as neighbors on our block which was on Mercer Street.

We talked about that and his rescue of the Sliker collection of glass negatives dating back to the 19th century.  The Sliker studio was also on our block I knew Mr. sliker’s grandson while I was growing up and went into the studio often.  That was probably the beginning of my interest in photography.

Joe Menkevich has written some notes on this icon of local history.  You can read the pdf here.