© Philadelphia Yearbook (1917)
Frankford Arsenal, 1816
5301 Tacony Street, Philadelphia PA 19137
(main entrance from Bridge Street)
© Barbara M. Auwarter and
Joyce Halley, Workshop of the World (Oliver
Evans Press, 1990).
Frankford Arsenal
supplemented the Schuylkill Arsenal early in the
nineteenth century and continued in its function until
very recently. The Arsenal played an important role not
only in Philadelphia, but in the nation as well, serving
as the home of such important innovations as a variety of
early cartridge systems for breech-loading weapons, the
Maynard priming system, the Frankford friction primer,
and the recoilless rifle of World War II.
Activated in May, 1816, the Arsenal covered at that time
some 20 acres on Frankford Creek near its junction with
the Delaware River, sufficiently far from the more
densely populated sections of the city to be safe for the
storing of gunpowder. Within the tract, domestic quarters
and warehouse buildings were erected around an open
space, which was kept largely undeveloped over the entire
life of the complex, and was used as a parade ground.
While initially the primary role of the Arsenal had been
to serve as a storage depot and repair shop of military
weapons and ammunition, by the early 1840s it had assumed
a more prominent role in munitions development, starting
with the testing and proofing of various weapons and
gunpowder. Expansion to the east along Frankford Creek
toward the Delaware River was dictated by the rapid
subdivision of the dry land to the north and west into
city building lots to supply housing for an increasingly
industrialized community.
Major Philip V. Hagner was put in charge of the Arsenal
in 1851, and presided over the development of the first
steam-powered plant there, the purpose of which was to
manufacture percussion caps in a single operation. A
percussion cap factory was erected in the middle of a
tract adjoining the original tract to the east, which was
purchased in 1849. Hagner installed the inventor of the
cap machine, George Wright, as shop foreman; Wright's
machine was exhibited in 1854 at the Franklin Institute
and judged the best in the world.
Not only was ordnance manufactured on site, but also
machines to produce ordnance as well. By 1861, machinery
was being run day and night, as the Arsenal prepared for
war. After the outbreak of the Civil War, the Arsenal
manufactured percussion caps, paper fuses for detonating
explosives, and other munitions. Under Major T.T.S.
Laidley, and following an 1862 fire which destroyed much
of the Cap Factory, structural measures became a concern
that could limit damage in case of explosion; these
design ideas were incorporated in the range of buildings
known as the Laidley Laboratories. Captain Stephen
Vincent Benet became commanding officer in 1864, and
presided over the construction of the "ultimate
nineteenth century construction effort, a 'Rolling Mill'
to work copper and brass for caps and cartridges".
1
Designed in
industrial Italianate style by John Fraser, it was
completed in 1866, the year after the war ended. Because
of the drop in production after the war, the Rolling Mill
was used only for storage for twenty years.
2
With the lessening of the need for intense production,
scientific experimentation increased. In the 1890s, the
depot function was greatly reduced, and "the installation
concentrated on becoming the nation's center for powder
chemistry". 3
Testing was
conducted in the newly erected Proof House with an
associated 109-foot shooting gallery. Eventually the
proving of the smokeless powders being tested required
longer ranges than possible at the Arsenal, and this work
was moved to the Sandy Hook Proving Ground in New
Jersey.
In the first years of the twentieth century, and through
World War I, Frankford Arsenal produced mainly small arms
ammunition—a new cartridge factory facility was
installed in the old Rolling Mill. In 1940, Frankford
Arsenal was the only producer of military ammunition in
the United States. It took a leadership role in World War
II, not only producing but training employees of private
industries in the basics of mass production of military
ammunition. Possibly the most startling piece of research
and development to come out of its research laboratories
in this period was the recoilless rifle. At the end of
the war, ammunition production in private industry was
discontinued, and again Frankford Arsenal was the sole
producer of military ammunition in the United States.
As part of the planned reorganization of the Army, the
Arsenal's areas of responsibility were transferred to
other installations. In 1977, when Frankford Arsenal shut
down its production lines forever, the Arsenal covered
110 acres on which 246 buildings stood. Archaeological
investigations carried out in 1978 uncovered remains of
the original 1817 barracks (torn down in 1891) in the
middle of the parade ground. Today the "Arsenal Business
Center" is being rehabbed and the buildings occupied by
private companies.
1 John Milner Associates,
Inc., Historical and Archaeological Survey of Frankford
Arsenal, Philadelphia, PA, (manuscript, 1979), p. 33.
2 About 1,000 employees
were discharged; only Maynard's center-fire cartridges
continued to be made.
3 John Milner Associates,
Inc., p. 50.
Update May
2007 (by
Torben Jenk):
Renovations began in 1983 for
the "Arsenal Business Center" offering 2.4 million square
feet of "industrial/office/flex" space in over a hundred
different buildings on 86 acres. Spaces are available for
lease or purchase. Current tenants include Casani Candy
(wholesale confectioners), Profile Limo, Smith &
Soloman [Truck] Driver Training School and a catering
operation. Unusual tenants include two publicly
financed/privately managed "charter" schools, an opera
company and Hollywood productions. Franklin Towne Charter
School, started in 1999, has 978 high school students in
grades 9-12 with plans to serve students in K-8th grade.
Maritime Academy Charter School opened in 2003 and
teaches grades 5-12. These schools are clustered by the
gated entrance to the Arsenal and the students, in their
uniforms, evoke an earlier time at the Arsenal. The Opera
Company of Philadelphia uses a 14,000 square foot
building as their scene shop; in adjacent buildings they
store their inventory for twenty five full productions
(these sets are leased to other opera companies). Parts
of the movies Philadelphia, Twelve Monkeys and Fallen
have been filmed here.
See
also:
Historic American Engineering
Record, many items, search for
'Frankford Arsenal.'