Auto salvage and repair shops occupy many of the ground floor spaces in the former mills in Frankford, like here at Tremont Mills. Note how one third of the stone rubble mill was removed when Wingohocking Street was widened. The Frankford Creek, channelized in concrete, runs just west of Tremont Mills, where planners envisage a 25 foot wide recreational trail, linking southeast to the East Coast Greenway along the Delaware River and northwest to the Schuylkill River in Conshohocken. Bicycle repairs might provide additional opportunities to the auto mechanics in Frankford. (© Torben Jenk, 2007).
FRANKFORD
© Barbara M. Auwarter and
Joyce Halley, Workshop of the World (Oliver
Evans Press, 1990).
The intersection of the Great
Frankford Road, formerly a well traveled Indian trail
from Philadelphia to New York (now Frankford Avenue, the
first legally designated road in Pennsylvania) and a fast
running creek, the Quessionominck (now Frankford Creek)
flowing to the Delaware River, provided an ideal
environment for the early development of a major
industrial settlement, Frankford, the first stage coach
stop north of Philadelphia. 1
Frankford
encouraged individual homeownership by forming the first
savings and loan in the United States for the purpose of
issuing mortgages; there is little evidence of
traditional millhousing where mill owners built and owned
housing for workers. 2
From the
beginning of Frankford's early industrial tradition and
continuing well into the twentieth century, mills and
houses were built cheek to jowl, resulting in the curious
sight today of restored early residences beside and in
front of mills as small as a house or as large as a city
block.
Following the transient Dutch trappers and traders, the
Swedes, who reputedly arrived in the 1640s, had by 1660 a
water powered grist mill operating by the navigable
Frankford Creek. 3
This was the very
same mill which Revolutionary War heroine, Lydia Darragh,
visited after walking from her Philadelphia home which
was occupied by British forces. On the pretext of having
a sack of flour ground, she alerted the American forces
in the Village of Frankford of an impending attack on
Washington at Whitemarsh, thus foiling the ambush.
4
Unfortunately,
the grist mill has been gone since 1854, razed by
"progressive" Victorian industrialists. However, the
spirit of the old mill remains alive in local legend.
Local inhabitants attest to hearing harness bells and a
shouting teamster, apparently attempting to prevent a
heavily laden wagon with a shifting load from careening
down the eighteenth century lumber road on the steep
incline to the mill race.
From this grist mill nucleus, water power mills spread
rapidly along the Frankford, Little Tacony, and Dark Run
Creeks. 5
Tanning, which
was banned from Philadelphia along with other dirty
industries, 6
was begun in
Frankford by Captain Samuel Finney in 1701.
7
After Finney,
many others entered the tanning business.
8
During the
eighteenth century, skilled workmen who had emigrated
from England to improve their economic status, quickly
recognized and exploited the water power possibilities of
the area. At least nine dams were situated on the
streams, and because of these dams and nearby markets,
Frankford developed many types of mills. While the
textile industry was prominent, many other industries
flourished, including umbrella and parasol sticks,
chemicals, gunpowder, military supplies, and milled
lumber. 9
During the Revolutionary War, Paul Revere came to the
powder mill in Frankford to observe gun powder production
methods. In January 1776 the Continental Congress
contracted Captain Oswald Eve to manufacture gun powder
for the Colonies at $8.00 per hundred weight. Due to his
clandestine dealing with the British, his mill on
Frankford Creek was confiscated. 10
Nearby, in 1807,
Captain Stephen Decatur, father of the famous naval hero,
erected three mills: a saw mill, a grist mill, and a
powder mill. 11
Frankford was mentioned as one of three sites for
ordnance during the War of 1812 and construction was
begun on an Arsenal in 1816. 12
The first textile mill in the Borough of Frankford was
erected by Samuel Martin, who manufactured woolen
blankets. He was quite unsuccessful until the War of 1812
during which he received a large government contract.
Shortly after the war the mill burned and Martin returned
to his native England. 13
About 1820, Samuel Pilling built one of the first mills
for the block printing of calico. Since it was a unique
process to the area, workmen were brought in from
England, one example of the immigration waves arriving in
Frankford to work the mills. In 1821, Jeremiah Horrocks
started the first dye house in the Philadelphia area.
James Brook, in his machine shop, built the first
locomotive in 1834. An iron works that produced
springs for vehicles was established by William and
Harvey Rowland and was quite successful. The first mill
to be run by steam power in Frankford was set up by
Richard and John Garsed to manufacture textiles in
1843. 14
From the middle of the nineteenth century until the Wall
Street crash of 1929, a large number of mills, mostly
textile and textile related industries were opened in
Frankford, by now incorporated into the City of
Philadelphia. For example, there were forty major
manufacturers in 1869, 15
employing many
skilled laborers, e.g., coach painters, stonecutters,
express men, blacksmiths, carpet weavers, sandpaper
makers, machinists, glass blowers, shirt makers, shovel
makers, calico printers, drovers, spinners and drawers,
carpenters, stick makers, engineers, wheelwrights,
cabinet makers, tin workers, bookkeepers, and
truckers. 16
This figure does
not include the shops of the small trades.
17
The Depression following the Stock Market crash of 1929
heavily impacted the textile industry in Frankford. The
long, slow partial attempt at recovery ended after World
War II. Most companies were finally liquidated in the
1950s. During the succeeding three decades, many mill
buildings remained vacant. However, a noticeable surge in
the economy began in the mid 1980s and by 1987, all of
Frankford's mills were occupied and, except for normal
turnover, remain so in 1989.
1 Guernsey A.
Hallowell, For
a Greater Frankford / Historical and Industrial
Celebration, (Philadelphia, 1912), p. 8.
2 The Comly Rich House
(1826), at 4276 Orchard Street (listed on the
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1960) was the
first house in the United States to receive a mortgage
(1831) from the first savings and loan in the United
States, the Oxford Provident Building Society, founded
1831. See "1831-1981, 150th Anniversary," The
Lamplighter, Issue No. 1, Winter 1981, p. 1, of the Third
Federal Savings and Loan Association of Philadelphia.
3 Howard Lee Barnes,
Curator, The Historical Society of Frankford, "History of
Frankford" (Documentary - Video Tape), 1988, Segment I,
on file at the Historical Society of Frankford.
4 The
Free Quaker Meeting House/1783, Philadelphia Junior League.
5 Hallowell, p. 60; see
also Philadelphia's
Tradition of Neighborhoods,
Frankford, Philadelphia Area Cultural
Consortium, undated.
6 John F. Watson,
Annals
of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania, In the Olden
Time,
Vol. 1, (Philadelphia, 1899), p. 96.
7 Hallowell, p. 60.
8 Northeast High School
Students, a Compilation, The
Old Northeast, (Philadelphia, 1968), not
paginated.
9 Northeast High School
Students.
10 Hallowell, p. 13; see
also, Orphan's Court Sale / Buckius' Estate (Notice)
January 10, 1848.
11 Northeast High School
Students.
12 The Frankford Arsenal
produced 232 million rounds of ammunition during World
War I and 1.4 billion rounds during World War II.
See Philadelphia's
Tradition of Neighborhoods, n.p., on file at the
Historical Society of Frankford.
13 Northeast High School
Students.
14 Northeast High School
Students.
15 Hallowell, p. 62.
16 Rehoboth United
Methodist Church Archives, 1834 Cornerstone, revised and
reset 1869.
17 Hallowell, p. 63-4.
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to
Howard Lee Barnes, Curator of the Historical Society of
Frankford, who assisted in the preparation of this
chapter. Special thanks also to Michael Parrington and
Helene Schenck, who prepared the section on the Frankford
Arsenal.
Resources:
Frankford
bibliography