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| Temple University Libraries, Urban Archives, circa 1899 |
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| Temple University Libraries, Urban Archives, circa 1899 |
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| Temple University Libraries, Urban Archives, circa 1899 |
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| Library of Congress - Circa 1900 |
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| Circa 1920s |
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| Circa 1899 |
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| Philadelphia Geo Maps 1895 |
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| Philadelphia Geo Maps 1910 |
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| Philadelphia Geo Maps 1942 |
Doing some research
and magnification of old photos I started to look for the name of the architect
of old Pennsylvania Railroad R.R. Ferries Terminal building built around 1899
or so it would seem to me. I also searched
for some interior photos hoping for some grand lost architectural gem from the
so-called Gilded Age at the turn of the Twentieth Century.
Looking further at
the photos of what I thought was some lost cast iron façade of a lost grand
building, I decided that cast iron may be involved, but more likely a lumber
and tin covered façade, facing to a bunch of old piers and docks may be the
likely answer to the old ferry terminal.
Maybe it was a
temporary measure. Maybe the envisioned
new building never got built. I do not know at this time without further
research. I am guessing that the
Hollywood like temporary sets of the Columbian Exposition, the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, was the
inspiration of the ferry terminal in transition and in connection with the
widening of Delaware Avenue along with other port improvements never got past a
quick façade stage of transitional building. More research needed.
Below the photos
above for your inspection are three port maps 1895, 1910 and 1942 to show how four ferry docks eventually got reshaped into five docks and maybe the reason
for a temporary façade in the late 1890s.
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