© Irving Kosmin, Workshop of
the World (Oliver Evans Press, 1990).
The Far Northeast is the part
of Philadelphia which extends in a northeasterly
direction from the bulk of the city and lies between
Pennypack Creek and the Bucks County border along the
Poquessing Creek.
At the time of the founding of Philadelphia, this area
was inhabited by the Lenni Lenape tribe of Indians, who
hunted, fished, and grew their crops in the vicinity of
the Pennypack Creek and other tributaries of the Delaware
River. Swedish settlers were the first Europeans to farm
the area in 1645. They were followed by the English
immigrants of Penn's period. The latter traveled from the
city to farm the rich agricultural land.
Industry in northeastern Philadelphia County began in the
home. Women spun and dyed cloth and made candles and
soap. Men built their own homes and barns, made their own
tools and furniture, and tanned their own animal skins.
As the population increased, several blacksmith shops,
tailor shops, cobblers, and carpentry shops appeared and
a number of mills were built to grind grain. The mills
were powered from the streams but they could not operate
during dry weather when too little water was available in
the creeks. Many of the farm implements were made by
local artisans in their small shops and factories. By
1830, threshing machines were introduced to cope with the
ever-increasing grain harvests.
With the advent of steam power and the import of western
flour and feed, the old mills and factories were
successively abandoned. The buildings began to
deteriorate and finally, were evacuated and torn down
when the land for Pennypack Park was purchased in 1905.
The park lies on both sides of Pennypack Creek which runs
from the Montgomery County line to where it empties into
the Delaware River. 1
One of the mills in the park was the Pennypack Print
Works, established in 1830, but rebuilt and converted
partially to steam power in 1875. Owned by Andreas Hartel
& Co. at this time, it produced printed calico
cotton. 2
In 1854, northeastern Philadelphia County became part of
the City of Philadelphia as a result of the Consolidation
Act of 1854 when the County and City of Philadelphia
became the city as we know it today. The northeast
Philadelphia County Townships of Lower Dublin, Moreland,
Delaware, and Byberry no longer exist but their names
live on. 3
The years 1830-1870 of Philadelphia's early industrial
era, and the period 1870-1930 when Philadelphia was known
as the "Workshop of the World," did not figure to a large
degree in the growth of the Far Northeast. Instead,
adjacent areas to the southwest along the Delaware (such
as Tacony, Frankford, Kensington,) experienced huge
industrial growth as chronicled in other parts of this
book.
The Far Northeast was devoted to mainly institutional, as
well as to agricultural, and some residential, use until
World War II (1941-46). The building of Roosevelt
Boulevard (1926-1930) was a great catalyst for growth in
both the upper reaches of the Near Northeast as well as
the entire Far Northeast. A tremendous housing boom took
place in this area during the post-war period.
Indeed, rowhouses, twins, and single houses are
still being built on the remaining lots.
Industrial growth did occur in the Far Northeast when the
Budd Company built a large complex in the Somerton
section in 1942. Nabisco and the Yale & Towne Company
also built large facilities along the Roosevelt Boulevard
during the post-war period.
The Far Northeast continues to grow with a diversity
unmatched by any other area of the city. This district
occupies an area of 25 square miles (about one-fifth of
the city) and had a population of 163,371 in the U.S.
Census of 1980. The census of 1990 should again reflect a
significant increase. 4
Most of the present industry is now located in several
industrial parks. The Philadelphia Industrial Park, the
Red Lion Industrial Park, and the Byberry Industrial Park
are the largest in the area and are located in the
general vicinity of the Northeast Philadelphia Airport.
Some manufacturing is performed in these complexes,
principally sheet metal components, printing and
bookbinding, electronic and clothing
manufacturing.
1 Johanna Freuh
Gaupp, Fox
Chase—300 Years of Memories, (Philadelphia, 1976),
manuscript available at the Library, Robert W. Ryerss
Museum, Burholme Park, Philadelphia.
2 Hexamer General
Insurance Surveys, Nos. 931-932.
3 "A Magical History Tour
of Northeast Philadelphia," (Philadelphia, 1976-77),
manuscript available at George Washington High School,
Philadelphia.
4 "Planning in
Philadelphia," Philadelphia Planning Commission,
(Philadelphia, 1988), p. 11.
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to
John R. Bowie, who helped organize the information in
this chapter. Thanks to Roy Goodman, Reference Librarian,
The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia. Special
thanks to Harold E. Spaulding, researcher extraordinaire,
for his work on all three sites.
Resources:
Northeast Philadelphia
bibliography