Loss: I.P. Morris Machine Shop #2

I.P. Morris Machine Shop #2, Philadelphia, 2006-2007. by The Preservator.

Meet an old friend of mine, the I.P. Morris Machine Shop #2.  Since the early 20th century, this building sat along Richmond Street, facing the Delaware River in the Fishtown neigborhood of Philadelphia. Its early history was spent as a manufacturing facility, creating iron machine parts for the internationally renowned William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company.

Fishtown was a major manufacturing area well into the 20th century.  There, along the Delaware River, Cramp grew into an industrial powerhouse over the course of a century. During the Second World War, Cramp's operations peaked, ultimately employing about 15,000 people (largely Fishtown/Kensington residents) on its 65-acre campus. Cramp shut its doors in 1946.

The long decline of industrial Philadelphia has meant that many large manufacturing facilities remain untouched, while others are demolished. The I.P. Morris Machine Shop #2 was the last vestige of Cramp's once enormous presence in Fishtown. This year, after years of planning, the Machine Shop is being demolished to make way for a new ramp for I-95 intended to handle traffic for the new Sugarhouse Casino a few blocks south.

In 1994 the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission had deemed the building eligible for listing in the State/National Registers of Historic Places. I always liked its raised monitor windows and the railroad tracks leading into the bays suggesting its industrial past. This is all that remained as of Wednesday:

via www.95revive.com

Want more? Peep this:
95 Revive: Cramp Building Coming Down
PlanPhilly: Cramp Shipyard Demo Proceeds
PlanPhilly: How One Shipbuilder Impacted Philadelphia and the World

Old Fulton Street

 Three historic buildings on Brooklyn's Old Fulton Street are facing the possibility of demolition. Numbers 11, 13 and 15 Old Fulton Street were built in the late 1830s when this was a busy commercial district around the Fulton Ferry landing at the river's edge. They predate the Brooklyn Bridge by nearly 50 years.

The three properties have been under vacate orders for months because their rear wall is in danger of collapse.
One reason the buildings are unstable is because they are built on poor fill, and the ground has settled over time. Another reason appears to be owner neglect. The good news: the owners recently removed tons of debris to lighten the loads within the buildings, and are now in negotiations with the city to avoid demolition.

The Fulton Ferry Historic District was designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1977. It's a small district and with these three buildings lost, it would certainly lose some integrity. With the increased development of DUMBO and Brooklyn Bridge Park this area is seeing much more attention and it would be great to see these buildings restored. The neglect these buildings have suffered is a shame. It would be sadder still to lose them altogether.

 Photo via National Park Service

Above you can see what the north side of Old Fulton Street looked like in 1974 when the Fulton Ferry National Register district was designated. The buildings at 11-15 Old Fulton are to the right of the gap in the buildings.

For more info:
Brooklyn Paper, "Historic Building Could Be Destroyed on Old Fulton Street"
DumboNYC.Com "Update on 11-15 Old Fulton Street Demolition"
Fulton Ferry Landing Association "11-15 Old Fulton Update"

All color photos by The Preservator.