73rd Street & Island Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19142
© John Mayer,
Workshop of the
World (Oliver Evans Press, 1990).
In 1895 Joseph Fels acquired
the rights to a new soap-making process that "fixed a
naphtha or benzine solvent" into the laundry soap. Fels
Naptha became a standard in the laundry room as a
reliable and economical cleaning product. The
international success of Fels Naptha encouraged Joseph
Fels to relocate to Southwest Philadelphia and a larger
industrial site. 1
There is little documentation for this large mill complex
located on a water-powered mill-seat on Cobbs Creek.
Originally the location of the John L. Passmore mill, the
Fels Company was a large manufacturer of soap during the
early twentieth century. 2
The factory
employed as many as 657 workers through the 1930s.
3
The mill complex is currently being demolished/renovated
for use as condominiums and warehouses.
1 Dale Phalen,
Samuel
Fels of Philadelphia, (Philadelphia, 1969), pp.
7-16.
2 Philip Scranton and
Walter Licht, Work
Sights: Industrial Philadelphia, 1890-1950
(Philadelphia,
1986), see p. 102 for illustration of the soap
manufacturing process at Fels and Company.
3 Pennsylvania State
Department of Labor and Industry, Industrial
Directories of Pennsylvania: 2nd, 3rd, &
7th,
(Harrisburg, 1916, 1919, and 1931).
Update May
2007 (by
Joel Spivak):
Demolished. A BP gas station and an Advanced Auto Parts
store were built on this site.