“Philadelphia used to have a lot of industry”: Farewell to the Tidewater Grain Elevator, Part II December 24, 2007
Posted by crd2 in Uncategorized.Tags: implosion, Industrial Archaeology, Philadelphia, tidewater grain
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“Philadelphia used to have a lot of industry”: Farewell to the Girard Point (Tidewater) Grain Elevator December 20, 2007
Posted by crd2 in Pennsylvania Railroad, Philadelphia, built environment.Tags: Girard Point Grain Elevator, grain elevator, Industrial Archaeology, reinforced concrete, Tidewater Grain Elevator, urban exploration
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“Philadelphia used to have a lot of industry. Not so much anymore.” –Harry Hagin, site superintendent, Camden Iron and Metal, 12/19/07
At 7AM on Sunday, demolition charges will echo throughout the refineries and tank farms of South Philadelphia as scrap dealers Camden Iron and Metal implode the headhouse of the last of Philadelphia’s great grain elevators, the Tidewater Grain Elevator at Girard Point. This will leave only the former Reading Company/Tidewater Company elevator at 20th and Shamokin St. to witness to the city’s history as a grain entrepot.
Switch and Signal December 9, 2007
Posted by crd2 in Bridges, Infrastructure, Philadelphia, built environment.add a comment
Nature is slowly enveloping the various components of this switch and signal apparatus on the eastern approach of the Grays Ferry Swing Bridge. Portions of the electro-mechanical device alerted the bridge tender that a train was present and the bridge could not be moved. Conversely if the bridge was open, trackmen could throw this switch and bar trains from moving across the bridge.The now-defunct Bethlehem Steel did brisk business in railroad “safety” switches in the early part of the 20th century. US Switch and Signal was (and is) also a major producer of railroad gates and signals.
On the surface of these components are raised company names, trademarks and operating instuctions (”depress here to apply padlock”) — creating a strange island of legibility amid the underbrush. While we understand or can conjecture the function of some parts, with others we lack the lived experience to gather meaning. And so this old century’s bit of modernity is being swallowed up both physically and conceptually.
Confederates, Catholics, Muslims and Masons: The Mount Moriah Cemetery Tour December 1, 2007
Posted by crd2 in rural cemetery movement.Tags: Southwest Philadelphia, urban exploration
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Mount Moriah Cemetery, in the Kingsessing section, is arguably Philadelphia’s most democratic burial ground. The undiscriminating plot is home to many Masons, U.S. Navy sailors, Civil War Yankees, North Carolinian cavalrymen, Philadelphia Muslims, ethnic Catholics, the young, the old, the powerful, the meek. Though its in rougher shape than any other of Philadelphia’s rural cemeteries, being unkempt it’s surprisingly rustic: more woodland than the Woodlands.
