NOMINATION OF HISTORIC BUILDING, STRUCTURE, SITE, OR OBJECT PHILADELPHIA REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PHILADELPHIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION SUBMIT ALL ATTACHED MATERIALS ON PAPER AND IN ELECTRONIC FORM ON CD (MS WORD FORMAT)

1. ADDRESS OF HISTORIC RESOURCE (must comply with an Office of Property Assessment address) Street address: 909-31 Noble Street Postal code: 19123 Councilmanic District: 1

2. NAME OF HISTORIC RESOURCE

Historic Name: Armour & Company’s Stock Depot Other Name: Armour & Co.

3. TYPE OF HISTORIC RESOURCE X Building Structure Site Object

4. PROPERTY INFORMATION Condition: excellent good fair poor ruins Occupancy: occupied vacant under construction unknown Current use: Warehouse

5. BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION Please attach a plot plan and written description of the boundary. SEE ATTACHED SHEET.

6. DESCRIPTION SEE ATTACHED SHEET. Please attach a description of the historic resource and supplement with current photographs.

7. SIGNIFICANCE Please attach the Statement of Significance. [See Attached Sheet] Period of Significance (from year to year): from 1906-1969 Date(s) of construction and/or alteration: c. 1906 Architect, engineer, and/or designer: Robert C. Clark Builder, contractor, and/or artisan: Unknown Original owner: J. Ogden Armour Other significant persons: NA CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION: The historic resource satisfies the following criteria for designation (check all that apply): X (a) Has significant character, interest or value as part of the development, heritage or cultural characteristics of the City, Commonwealth or Nation or is associated with the life of a person significant in the past; or, (b) Is associated with an event of importance to the history of the City, Commonwealth or Nation; or X (c) Reflects the environment in an era characterized by a distinctive architectural style; or, X (d) Embodies distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style or engineering specimen; or, (e) Is the work of a designer, architect, landscape architect or designer, or engineer whose work has significantly influenced the historical, architectural, economic, social, or cultural development of the City, Commonwealth or Nation; or, (f) Contains elements of design, detail, materials or craftsmanship which represent a significant innovation; or, (g) Is part of or related to a square, park or other distinctive area which should be preserved according to an historic, cultural or architectural motif; or, (h) Owing to its unique location or singular physical characteristic, represents an established and familiar visual feature of the neighborhood, community or City; or, (i) Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in pre-history or history; or X (j) Exemplifies the cultural, political, economic, social or historical heritage of the community.

8. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Please attach a bibliography. SEE ATTACHED SHEET.

9. NOMINATOR

Name with Title Oscar Beisert, Author Email [email protected] Organization Keeping Society of Philadelphia, LLC Date 11 July 2017 Street Address 1315 Walnut Street, Suite 320 Telephone (717) 602-5002 City, State, and Postal Code: Philadelphia, PA 19107 Nominators are not the property owners.

PHC USE ONLY Date of Receipt: July 11, 2017 Correct-Complete Incorrect-Incomplete Date: September 18, 2017 Date of Notice Issuance: September 18, 2017 Property Owner at Time of Notice Name: NCL Realty LP Address: 401 N. 10th Street City: Philadelphia State: PA Postal Code: 19123 Date(s) Reviewed by the Committee on Historic Designation:______Date(s) Reviewed by the Historical Commission:______Date of Final Action:______Designated Rejected 4/11/13

Nomination

for the

Philadelphia Register of Historic Places

Looking northwest. Source: Oscar Beisert.

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot 909-31 Noble Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 1

5. BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

The boundary for the subject designation is delineated in red. Please note that only the yellow portion of the space within the delineation is subject to the standards of the proposed designation. The areas in pink and white may be subject to design review, but shall not be subject to any additional restrictions. Source: Philadelphia Water.

BEGINNING at a point on the Northerly side of Noble Street at the distance of 40 feet 4-1/8 inches Eastwardly from the Easterly side of 10th Street thence extending Northwardly parallel with Percy Street the distance of 100 feet to a point; thence extending Eastwardly parallel with Noble Street, the distance of 54 feet to a point on the Westerly side of a former alley 5 feet wide, thence extending Northwardly along the said Westerly side of the former alley, parallel with Percy Street, the distance of 59 feet 3-5/8 inches to a point on the Southerly side of Hamilton Street, thence extending Eastwardly along the Southerly side of Hamilton Street and crossing the Northerly end of the said former alley, the distance of 132 feet 2 inches to a point, thence extending Southwardly partly passing through the center of a party wall of the building erected on this lot and the building erected on the lot adjoining to the East 89 feet 2-3/8 inches to a point, thence extending Eastwardly partly passing through the center of a party wall of the building erected on this lot and the building erected on the lot adjoining to the North 20 feet 4 inches to a point, thence extending Southwardly partly passing through the center of a party wall of the building erected on this lot and the building erected on the lot adjoining to the East 69 feet 10 inches to a point on the Northerly side of Noble Street, thence Westwardly along the said Northerly side of Noble Street the distance of 206 feet 5-7/8 inches to the first mentioned point and place of beginning.

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 2

6. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Conceived in 1900 and eventually realized in 1906, Armour & Company’s Stock Depot at 909-31 Noble Street is a rectangular-shaped four-story building of reinforced concrete and masonry construction designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style showing influences of the Chicago School, or Commercial style. The building is finely constructed of warm yellow Roman brick in a well-balanced composition at the primary elevation.

South Elevation

South elevation. Courtesy Oscar Beisert.

With a row of five loading bays anchored by arched openings, the primary elevation on Noble Street features classically inspired architectural details and rigorous symmetry. Its width being slightly greater than its height, the masonry façade is divided into three vertical bays. The center bay features three levels of seven rectangular window openings above three ground level loading docks. These three openings each contain a metal, overhead door and are divided by two cast iron columns; an entry door with cast stone surround is to the west of the three center docks. At ground level, the two outer bays each contain a loading bay with metal, overhead doors, both taller than the center bay openings and each is capped by an arch with an articulated keystone; at the two levels above each arch are double rectangular windows.

The brick elevation is wrapped horizontally at three points: an entablature at the brick cornice line with corbeling in lightly profiled dentils; at the center point by a cast stone belt course with dentils that meets the top of the keystones; and at the point of alignment of the sills of the center bay windows and the spring-points of the outer bay arches. Above the center belt course, the three bays are divided by brick pilasters. Two downspouts are located at each pilaster, falling from scuppers in the cornice corbeling that indicates that the brick entablature is a parapet for a flat roof beyond. All openings above ground level except for the two arches have hidden lintels, slender sills, and are currently infilled with scored plywood.

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 3

At the central loading bay, there is a sign above the openings that reads “Center City Grocery & Produce.” At the inner corners of the opening, on either side, are two rounded granite plinths that may serve as decorative bumpers for any vehicular traffic. Extending out from the building at the east arch are train tracks; they appear briefly above the concrete paving but are delineated by two parallel, curving cracks in the pavement that extend to the complex across Noble Street. The two cast iron columns are painted gray and feature stylized capitals and plinths in a Rational style that stand in contrast to the classicism of the remainder of the façade.

South elevation details. Courtesy Oscar Beisert

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 4

West Elevation The west elevation of the building consists of exposed red brick with a roofline form that expresses a long span truss system at the interior of the building. There are only a few window openings at this elevation, in addition to the ghosts of painted signs and adjacent structures. A painted sign for Lipoff’s Center City Grocery Co. remains. Adjacent to the east elevation is a parking lot surrounded by a tall, chain link fence. A gantry appears beyond a thatch of vegetation at the northwest corner of the site indicating the direct proximity of the elevated Reading Viaduct.

West elevation. Source: Cyclomedia, 2017.

North Elevation The north elevation of the building meets the public right of way at Hamilton Street and features yellow brick with the same corbeled cornice entablature as at the primary elevation. Window openings at the lower level have been infilled with CMU bricks and a slurry coat of paint serves as a wainscot of sorts. Aligned with the lower belt course at the primary façade is the bottom of an opening that extends to the corbeled cornice; this opening is nearly the width of the building and has been infilled with CMU bricks. Dividing the elevation is a downspout that falls from a scupper at a stepped parapet. At the east side of this elevation is a one-story, brick addition.

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 5

North elevation along Hamilton Street. Source: Oscar Beisert.

East Elevation The east elevation contains a one-story addition to the north in painted stucco, and the red brick side to the main volume. There are a few rectangular openings matching those in form and dimension as at the west elevation. At the lower level toward the south is a canopy over an elevated dock. This elevation faces a surface lot that is contained by a tall chain link fence.

East elevation. Source: Cyclomedia, 2017. .

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 6

7. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The former meatpacking plant of Armour & Company, Philadelphia at 909-931 Noble Street is a significant resource that merits designation by the Philadelphia Historical Commission and inclusion on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. The building satisfies the following criteria: (a) Has significant character, interest, or value as part of the development, heritage or cultural characteristics of the City, Commonwealth, or Nation or is associated with the life of a person significant in the past;

(c) Reflects the environment in an era characterized by a distinctive architectural style; or,

(d) Embodies distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style or engineering specimen; and

(j) Exemplifies the cultural, political, economic, social or historical heritage of the community. CRITERIA A and J At the time of its construction in 1906, Armour & Company’s Stock Depot at 909-31 Noble Street was the largest facility of its kind in Philadelphia. Its functions included cold storage, enabling meatpackers to create their products in greater number and variety The subject building represents the cultural, political, economic, social and historical heritage of these industries. Armour & Company was perhaps the most eminent firm of its kind in United States at the turn of the twentieth century, and the subject building was constructed as part of a larger national movement to develop purpose-built Stock Depots in cities and commercial hubs across the country. Armour & Company's Stock Depot, one of forty-five Advertisement for Armour & Company’s meatpacking plants in the city of Philadelphia, was Anhydrous Ammonia with reference to all of its among Armour & Company’s largest plants. In 1910, the Stock Depots, including the subject property. company owned and operated facilities in over fifty cities Source: Hathi Trust. with the largest facilities in Chicago and the smallest in Middletown, New York.1 Only nine of these facilities were larger than the subject building. The subject building is a local representative of the enlargement and nationalization of this specific company and the larger meat packing industry.

Armour & Company, the World’s Largest Meat Packing Plant, Chicago. Source: cardboardamerica, Flickr.

1 Walsh, Margaret. The Rise of the Midwestern Meat Packing Industry. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1982, p. 71-88. Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 7

Historic Context: Armour & Company Founded in 1867, the Armour brothers, principally led by Philip Danforth Armour (1832-1901), established Armour & Company, which became one of the largest and most eminent meatpacking firms in the countr. Headquartered in Chicago, Armour & Company played a vital role in making that city the center of the American meatpacking industry.2

Industrialized meatpacking was birthed in mid-nineteenth century Chicago with the advent of ice-cooled railcars, enabling manufacturers in the Midwest to ship dressed beef (partially butchered animals rather than livestock) longer distances throughout the country. Thus, the previously local, seasonal business of meatpacking became a national, year-round one. 3 Maximizing the ice-cooled railcar required the application of the principles of vertical integration. Vertical integration dictated that manufacturers, in order to remain profitable, should own and operate every building and piece of equipment necessary (including the railcars) to the process of transforming a herd of livestock into meat being sold throughout the country.4

By the early twentieth century, the nation’s largest meatpackers–then headquartered in Chicago’s Union Stock Yards–had established branch Advertisement for Armour & houses throughout the country. The meatpacking industry thrived in the Company’s Extract of Beef. Source: Google Books. Midwest in particular due to its proximity to the Great Plains region, where a great deal of the nation’s livestock was raised. In addition, Chicago established its reputation as a meatpacking center during the Civil War as major contracts to supply meat to Union troops were granted to Chicago area meatpackers.5 And because the industry became so core to Chicago’s economy during the mid- to late- nineteenth century, its largest meatpacking plants became tourist attractions.6 However, as we know, most cities had a local meat packing industry. At these branch houses, dressed beef was butchered, packaged, and distributed to local grocers. And in addition to producing and selling meats, these companies–Armour & Company included–produced and sold animal-derived products such as soap, glue, and fertilizer.7

Atlas of the City of Philadelphia, Complete in One Volume, 1901, Plate 7. Source: Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network.

2 American Experience: Chicago, City of the Century, “People and Events: Phillip Danforth Armour (1832-1901).” Accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/chicago/peopleevents/p_armour.html. 3 Walsh, Margaret. The Rise of the Midwestern Meat Packing Industry. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1982, p. 71-88. 4 Ibid, p. 71-88. 5 Ibid., p. 55-70. 6 American Experience: Chicago, City of the Century... 7 American Experience: Chicago, City of the Century… Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 8

Historic Context: Armour & Company, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia In July of 1900, Armour & Company expressed its intention to build a "large cold storage building" by architect George H. Kemerly in the vicinity of 9th and Hamilton Streets.8 In anticipation, the company began acquiring parcels. Its first three acquisitions were:

1) Gordon Chambers to J. Ogden Armour on June 7, 1900 for $23,500 9 2) George and Frederick Bleg to J. Ogden Armour on June 11, 1900 for $5,000 10 3) James J. Quigley and wife Elizabeth to J. Ogden Armour on June 11, 1900 for $8,00011

Soon after these acquisitions, the company cleared the above listed parcels of its two- and three- story brick row houses—located at 918, 920, 922, 924, and 926 Hamilton Street as well as 919, 921, 923, and 925 Noble Street, and submitted for building permits. 12 The Philadelphia Inquirer announced the following in September 1900:

Plans were submitted to the Bureau of Building Inspection yesterday for a large refrigerating warehouse which Armour & Co. will have built on Noble Street, west of Tenth. It will be a four-story structure with a basement, and it will have a frontage of 75.2- 1/4 feet and a depth of 150.-1/2 feet. Brick, stone and steel will be used in construction. Contractors are now taking sub-bids for the week.13 Despite the progress made in 1900, construction of the plant did not begin until 1906, after the purchase of an additional parcel (Ridge Avenue Building and Loan Association to J. Ogden Armour on 12 April 1906 for $1).14 During this time, Armour & Company were a party to a major conflict within the meatpacking industry. As early as 1895, the nation’s three largest meatpackers–Armour & Company, Swift & Company, and Nelson Morris & Company–were blamed for driving up the prices of meat by controlling the entirety of the market. The three companies had invested about $20 million in retail space within local markets, $15 to $20 million in branch houses, and $10 million in refrigerated railcars.15 These packers established a monopoly on the industry with the formation the National Packing Company in 1902. This agglomeration prompted a federal investigation, which led to the 1905 indictment of the three companies and each’s executive officers. Armour & Company’s owner and president, J. Ogden Armour, was among the group of executives indicted.16 Nevertheless, the company continued to expand. In 1906, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the following on the renewed progress at 909-31 Noble Street:

When completed, the plant will be the largest in Philadelphia and one of the largest in the East. The building will be four stories high with a basement, and it will cover an area of 95 x 159 feet. It will be of reinforced concrete, and will contain the most modern

8 “The Latest News in Real Estate,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 2 July 1900. 9 Recorded on 7 June 1900 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. V. No. 160 p. 243. 10 Recorded on 11 June 1900 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. V. No. 160 p. 227. 11 Recorded on 11 June 1900 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. V. No. 141 p. 364. 12 “The Latest News in Real Estate,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 6 September 1906. 13 “The Latest In Real Estate,” The Philadelphia Inquirer. (Philadelphia: 19 September 1900), p. 9. 14 Deed: Recorded on 12 April 1906 in Philadelphia Deed Book W. S. V. No. 700 p. 204.; and “The Latest News of Real Estate,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 18 August 1906. 15 “Extortion in Beef Forced by the Trust, Living Made Costly by the High Prices Exacted by Chicago Houses,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 15 April 1895. 16 “Beef Inquiry Ends with 27 Indictments, Federal Grand Jury Winds Up Investigation with Sweeping Charges,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 2 July 1905. Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 9

apparatus for the smoking of meat and the manufacture of local sausage. The building will cost, when completed, about $250,000, and will be erected on ground owned by the Armour Company, which has an assessed valuation for the current year of $17,200.17

In September 1906, ...Ice And Refrigeration.. announced the following in its pages:

Philadelphia. Armour & Co., it is reported, have decided to build a branch abattoir in West Philadelphia, and will built a four-story cold storage warehouse for meats at Ninth and Noble.18

Definitive progress was made on September 5, 1906 with the issuance of Permit No. 6349, allowing J. Ogden Armour of 205 La Salle Street, Chicago, to construct a four story warehouse at 909-31-25 Noble Street in Philadelphia. This version of the “warehouse” was designed by Robert C. Clark, who was to become Armour & Company’s chief architect. The American Architect and Building News and Cold Storage and Ice Trade Journal also published news of this development.19 In October 1906, Armour & Company contracted the Larsen-Baker Ice Machine Co., Omaha, Nebraska to install two 40-ton refrigerating machines in the subject building.20 In mid- to late-1907 advertisements for employees and salesmen indicate that the building was in use.21

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia: 18 August 1907), p. 17.

Despite having several other facilities in Philadelphia, the subject building served as Armour & Company’s primary regional facility, being referred to as the Stock Depot, as well as a meatpacking/processing plant and distribution center. The facility would be used for this purpose from the time of its construction in 1906 to 1969.

Left: The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia: 28 September 1915), p. 11. Right: The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia: 9 February 1916), p. 8.

17 “New Cold Storage Plant, Chicago Packers Will Add to Trade of City,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 18 August 1906. 18 “Philadelphia.” ...Ice..and Reridgeration.. (September 1906), p. 116. 19 “Building News,” The American Architect and Building News (Boston: 8 September 1906, p. VI.; and “Philadelphia.” Refrigerating World (1906), vol. 32, p. 45. 20 “Philadelphia.” ..Ice .. and ..Reridgeration.. (October 1906), p. 155. 21 The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia: 18 August 1907), p. 17.

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 10

By 1910, the nation’s largest meatpacking chains maintained outposts in Philadelphia, including Morris & Company at 901 Girard Avenue; Armour & Company; and Swift & Company at 906 Noble Street.22

Armour & Company's Stock Depot, one of forty-five meatpacking plants in the city of Philadelphia, was among Armour & Company’s largest. In 1910, the company owned and operated facilities in over fifty cities with the largest facilities in Chicago and the smallest in Middletown, New York.23 Only nine of these facilities were larger than that in Philadelphia. Typically, the larger branches did in-house slaughtering. Armour & Company did not do in-house slaughtering in Philadelphia.24

1910 Philadelphia Atlas, G.W. Bromley. Source: Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network.

The majority of the city’s meat packing plants were located in North Philadelphia—with a concentration in the Northern Liberties section—and West Philadelphia. Several were located in the vicinity of Armour’s plant, in the Callowhill section, including: Swift & Company, 906 Noble Street; John Morrell & Company, 816 Noble Street; and Kingan Provision Company, northeast corner of 8th and Callowhill Streets25 Though the Stock Depot was Armour & Company's flagship location in Philadelphia, the company's footprint extended into other parts of the city. In addition to owning the Noble Street plant, the company owned a second property located at 213 W. Norris Street (near the intersection of American and Norris Streets) and also leased space within six other buildings: Keystone Hotel Supply Company, 150 N. 9th St.; 42 N. Delaware Avenue; 128 N. Delaware Avenue; 132 N. Delaware Avenue; Adams Brothers Company, 3038 Market Street; Adams Brothers Company, 232 N. Delaware Avenue:26

22 U.S. Department of Agriculture. Directory of the Bureau of Animal Industry. Washington, District of Columbia: Government Printing Office, 1920, p. 21-26. 23 Ibid. 24 Ibid, p. 75-76. 25Ibid, p. 21-26. 26 Report of the Federal Trade Commission on the Meat Packing Industry, Summary and Part I. Washington, District of Columbia: Government Printing Office, 1919, p. 503. Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 11

Though Armour & Company maintained the largest meatpacking plant in the city, Swift & Company, Armour & Company's principal competitor, was more than double the size of Armour locally. Between 1916 and 1919 the Federal Trade Commission reported that Armour & Company's assets (including land, buildings, and equipment owned in Philadelphia) totaled $310,876.78 and its sales exceeded $4 million while Swift & Company had $657,668.47 in assets and over $11 million in sales.27 Swift & Company’s Philadelphia headquarters, which included a market at street level, at the intersection of 8th Street and Girard Avenue. Source: City of

Philadelphia, Department of Records (phillyhistory.org) Historic Context: Armour & Company, 1918 to 1937 Armour & Company expanded this facility on several other occasions throughout their ownership.28 In 1922, the above listed parcels (and several others that have yet to be mentioned) were transferred to the company. This occurred in three transactions that took place on the same day in December of 1922.29

Armour & Company grew to encompass its entire city block by 1937. Like their contemporaries in Callowhill, the company played a role in transforming its unique residential environment into an industrial one. The company’s last two acquisitions are notable for this reason, including:

5) F. Raymond Wadlinger to A. Watson Armour on 11 March 1918 for $71,500 30 6) Emilie L. Wills, et al. to Armour & Company on 14 June 1937 for $2,700 31

Amour cleared the many row houses and ancillary frame structures comprising two entire courts, on these to make way for the later additions J. Ogden Armour in 1916. Under to its plant: a one-story brick warehouse and parking lots on the east and Armour, the regional meatpacker west ends of the property. grew into one of the largest food products manufacturers in the The 1918 acquisition (5th) made way for a simple-one story brick United States. Photo: Library of warehouse and parking lot on the east side of the property. The Congress, Prints and Philadelphia Inquirer reported on the purchase: “J. Ogden Armour & Photographs Division Company, represented by Barber, Hartman & Company, have acquired the (http://www.loc.gov/pictures/res ource/cph.3a42874/). properties at 903 to 915 Noble Street, 428 to 442 North Percy Street, and 908 to 912 Hamilton Street, with twelve court houses at rear.”32

27 Ibid. 28 O. A. Mather, “Armour a Great Leader in Vast Growth of Meatpacking, But His Riches Dwindled in Post-War Reserves,” Chicago Tribune. Chicago: 17 August 1927. 29 Recorded on 14 December 1922 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. M. H. No. 1402 p. 512.; Recorded on 14 December 1922 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. M. H. No. 1402 p. 514.; Recorded on 14 December 1922 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. M. H. No. 1402 p. 516.; Recorded on 11 March 1918 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. M. H. No. 315 p. 205. 30 Recorded on 11 March 1918 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. M. H. No. 315 p. 205.; and “Dwelling Titles Change Owners,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 13 March 1918. 31 Recorded on 14 June 1937 in Philadelphia Deed Book D. W. H. No. 375 p. 93. 32 “Review of Week in Real Estate,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 17 March 1918. Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 12

The 1937 acquisition (6th) of a court known as Rubican’s Court made way for a small parking lot on the west side of the property.33 Rubican’s Court included four three-story row houses, three two-story brick row houses, and three wood frame structures that faced a communal interior space. 34 James A. McComas had singularly owned the court from 1872 until his death, when it was divided among the six individuals (one couple and four individuals) who would sell it to Armour & Company.35

Armour & Company employees stand outside the building after an accident. Source: the Record Morgue, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

CRITERION D As defined by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission’s Pennsylvania Architectural Field Guide, the subject building embodies distinctive characteristics of the Italian Renaissance Revival. While the subject building was no doubt influenced by the Chicago school, the Italian Renaissance Revival was popularized on the East Coast by architects such as McKim, Mead & White in New York.

The Pennsylvania Architectural Field Guide and other definitive style references prescribe houses, public buildings, schools, government offices, and churches as being the most common building types; however, it is clear that Armour & Company wanted their depots to project an important, official appearance to the public. Physical features identified in the field guide include:  Flat roofs  Symmetrical facade  Masonry construction/wall surfaces  Impressive size and scale  Round arch entrances and windows  Classical details: columns, pilasters  Roofline parapet or balustrade  Arcaded and rusticated ground level This subject building maintains almost all of these physical features, having a flat roof, a symmetrical façade, being of masonry construction, being impressive in size and scale for its context, having round arch entrances and windows, featuring classical details including pilasters, and having a tribute to rustication at the ground floor.36

33 Federal Works Progress Administration of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Land Use Map, 1962. Map Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia. 34 Recorded on 14 June 1937 in Philadelphia Deed Book D. W. H. No. 375 p. 93. 35 Ibid. 36 http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/architecture/styles/italian-renaissance.html Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 13

CRITERION C The subject building is a local representative of a distinctive architectural type and style that was designed and control by one of the largest meatpacking companies in America. This is also a local representative of a large collection of Stock Depots built as part of a national campaign. Despite the advent of cold storage, meatpacking is an industry that always required the frequent movement of its products both in and out of its facilities. Animal carcasses were constantly imported in for processing, while dressed meat and other associated products were exported. To accommodate the constant traffic flow, the ground floor is almost always entirely dedicated to pedestrian and vehicular opening for loading and unloading. Because of this, buildings related to meatpacking were designed with large ground-floor loading bays with vehicular access doors within structural bays. The upper floor of meatpacking buildings were heavily fenestrated to allow a maximum of light to enter the building. Vertical piers, often times expressing structural bays are common features with brick corbeling and patterned bonds.

Armour & Company’s Stock Depot, Gary, Indiana. Source: Google Images.

Armour & Company Stock Depot, Chicago Area. Source: Google Images.

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 14

Armour & Company Stock Depot, Chattanooga. Source: Chattanooga Public Library.

Armour & Company Stock Depot, Texarkana, Texas. Source: Noel Kerns.

Armour & Company, Front Street, New Bedford, Massachusetts. Source: Spinner Publications.

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 15

Armour & Company, Holyoke, Massachusetts. Source: Joe Rito, Flickr.

Armour & Company, Richmond, Virginia. Source: Flickr.

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 16

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY American Experience: Chicago, City of the Century, “People and Events: Phillip Danforth Armour (1832- 1901).” Accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/chicago/peopleevents/p_armour.html. Armour Meats, “History and Heritage.” Accessed 1 March 2017, https://www.armourmeats.com/#heritage_section. Armour-Star, “About Us.” Accessed 1 March 2017, http://www.armour-star.com/about.asp. “Beef Inquiry Ends with 27 Indictments, Federal Grand Jury Winds Up Investigation with Sweeping Charges,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 2 July 1905. “Building News,” The American Architect and Building News (Boston: 8 September 1906, p. VI.; and City of Philadelphia, Board of Revision of Taxes: Property Information for 909-31 NOBLE ST. City of Philadelphia, Department of Public Works: Application for Zoning Permit and/or Use Registration Permit for 909-31 Noble Street, Received 9 March 1948. City of Philadelphia, Department of Public Works: “C” Application for Zoning Permit and/or Use Registration Permit for 901-909-31 Noble Street, Received 1959. Deed: Recorded on 13 January 1969 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. R. S. No. 465 p. 465. Deed: Recorded on 14 June 1937 in Philadelphia Deed Book D. W. H. No. 375 p. 93. Deed: Recorded on 11 March 1918 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. M. H. No. 315 p. 205. Deed: Recorded on 14 December 1922 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. M. H. No. 1402 p. 516. Deed: Recorded on 12 April 1906 in Philadelphia Deed Book W. S. V. No. 700 p. 204.1 Deed: Recorded on 11 June 1900 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. V. No. 141 p. 364. Deed: Recorded on 11 June 1900 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. V. No. 160 p. 227. Deed: Recorded on 7 June 1900 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. V. No. 160 p. 243. “Dwelling Titles Change Owners,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 13 March 1918. “Extortion in Beef Forced by the Trust, Living Made Costly by the High Prices Exacted by Chicago Houses,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 15 April 1895. Federal Works Progress Administration of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Land Use Map, 1962. Map Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia. Fourth Annual Message of John E. Reyburn, Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, with the Annual Reports of Henry Clay, Director of the Department of Public Safety, and of the Chiefs of Bureaus Constituting Said Department, Also Museums and Libraries for the Year Ending December 31, 1910. Philadelphia: Dunlap Printing Co., 1911, p. 214-223. George W. & Walter S. Bromley, Atlas of the City of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: G.W. Bromley & Co., 1895). Harry Kyriakodis. “The Life and Death of Callowhill,” Hidden City Philadelphia. Philadelphia: 10 February 2016. John Thies. “Decentralization in the Meatpacking Industry. Master’s thesis for Kansas State University, College of Commerce, 1965. Accessed 1 March 1909-31, https://krex.k- state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/22047/LD2668R41965T439.pdf?sequence=1. Margaret Walsh. The Rise of the Midwestern Meat Packing Industry. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1982, p. 55-70. “New Cold Storage Plant, Chicago Packers Will Add to Trade of City,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 18 August 1906. Ken Kalfus. Christopher Morley’s Philadelphia. New York: Fordham University Press, 1990, p. 181-182. O. A. Mather, “Armour a Great Leader in Vast Growth of Meatpacking, But His Riches Dwindled in Post-War Reserves,” Chicago Tribune. Chicago: 17 August 1927. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commision Style Guide: http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/architecture/styles/italian-renaissance.html “Philadelphia.” ..Ice .. and ..Refrigeration.. (October 1906), p. 155. “Philadelphia.” ...Ice..and Reridgeration.. (September 1906), p. 116. “Philadelphia.” Refrigerating World (1906), vol. 32, p. 45.

Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 17

Report of the Federal Trade Commission on the Meat Packing Industry, Summary and Part I. Washington, District of Columbia: Government Printing Office, 1919, p. 503. “Review of Week in Real Estate,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 17 March 1918. Samuel L. Smedley, Atlas of the City of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1862). “The Latest In Real Estate,” The Philadelphia Inquirer. (Philadelphia: 19 September 1900), p. 9. “The Latest News of Real Estate,” Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia: 18 August 1906. The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia: 18 August 1907), p. 17. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Directory of the Bureau of Animal Industry. Washington, District of Columbia: Government Printing Office, 1920, p. 21-26.

Appendix A

Historic Context: Philadelphia’s Callowhill Section The subject building is located in the Callowhill section of Philadelphia. The block is bound by Hamilton Street to the north; Noble Streets to the south; Percy Street to the east and 10th Street at the west. The site provided direct access to Philadelphia & Reading Railroad lines that traversed the city along Pennsylvania Avenue and Willow Street, carrying freight across the city from the Schuylkill River at Thompson Street to the ports of Delaware River.37

During Armour & Company’s tenure in Philadelphia, Callowhill, located several blocks north of Philadelphia’s central department store shopping and entertainment district, was an industrial hub and red light district traversed by freight railways. No one industry defined the area. Goods of all types—from steel to beer—were produced there. 38 As was the case in most of the industrialized sections of Philadelphia, Callowhill was also a densely populated residential community comprised of modest two- and three-story brick row houses that fronted on primary streets as well as interior alleys and courts. Nearly every square block in the area was traversed by these narrow alleys and courts.39

Left: The square block that Armour & Company would acquire between 1900 and 1937, in 1862. Samuel L. Smedley. Right: The same block in 1895. G. W. Bromley.

37 George W. & Walter S. Bromley, Atlas of the City of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: G.W. Bromley & Co., 1895). 38 Kyriakodis, Harry. “The Life and Death of Callowhill,” Hidden City Philadelphia. Philadelphia: 10 February 2016. 39 Samuel L. Smedley, Atlas of the City of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1862). Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 18

Well before the construction of Armour’s Philadelphia meat packing plant, the square block bounded by Hamilton and Noble Streets to the north and south and Percy and 10th Streets to the east and west was divided into sections by named north-south running alleys. From east to west, there was: Haywood Place, Selma Place, and Hedges Place.40 41

Until the mid-twentieth century, this unique residential landscape supported the factories and warehouses sprouting up along the railways. However, industry gradually swallowed up these residential blocks, prompting a shift that saw the row houses and hotels erected to house factory employees become flop houses and brothels.42

According to a 1910 Philadelphia Police Department report on crime in the Eight District, the neighborhood was home to dozens of women-run “bawdy houses” or brothels. In fact, there were over a dozen brothels on

Noble Street between 7th and 10th Streets alone (at this Lafayette Place, located between 1305 and 1307 time, the Armour & Company plant was in operation at Fairmount Avenue, was cited as an example of a 909-31 Noble Street): “bandbox court.” In 1954, there were nearly one hundred courts remaining. Photo courtesy Temple Address Proprietor University Urban Archives. 710 Noble Street Carrie Taylor 712 Noble Street Lulu Gaynor 713 Noble Street Blanch Wilkins 717 Noble Street May Russell 720 Noble Street Kitty Schwartz 722 Noble Street Annie Batten 727 Noble Street Hattie Cowan 802 Noble Street James Patterson 803 Noble Street Mary Allen 804 Noble Street May Davis and Carl Runkle 811 Noble Street Olga Miller 907 Noble Street Jennie Smith 913 Noble Street Lewis Smith 915 Noble Street Bessie and Abe Sachse43

Ten years later, in 1920, writer Christopher Morley described the area in his book, Travels in Philadelphia:

“Every street has a soul of its own. Somewhere in its course it will betray its secret ideals and preferences. I like to imagine that the soul of Callowhill Street has

40 Ibid. 41 George W. & Walter S. Bromley, Atlas of the City of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: G.W. Bromley & Co., 1895). 42 Kyriakodis, Harry. “The Life and Death of Callowhill,” Hidden City Philadelphia. Philadelphia: 10 February 2016. 43 Fourth Annual Message of John E. Reyburn, Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, with the Annual Reports of Henry Clay, Director of the Department of Public Safety, and of the Chiefs of Bureaus Constituting Said Department, Also Museums and Libraries for the Year Ending December 31, 1910. Philadelphia: Dunlap Printing Co., 1911, p. 214-223. Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 19

something to do with beer. Like a battered citizen who has fallen upon doleful days, Callowhill Street solaces itself with the amber.

Between Tenth and Fourth Streets, Callowhill numbers at least a dozen pubs, not to enumerate a score of ‘cider saloons.’ A soft breath of hope seems to haunt the air, and the trucks unloading kegs into cellars give promise of quenchers to come. Generally, one may meet along those pavements certain rusty brothers who have obviously submitted themselves to the tramplings of the brewer’s great horses, as Homer Rodeheaver’s anthem puts it.

Callowhill Street, like so much of Philadelphia’s old and gentle beauty, is in a downward pang, at any rate so far as the picturesque is concerned. It is curious to see those comely old dwellings, with their fluted dormer windows, their marble facing and dusty fanlights, standing in faded dignity and wistfulness among factories, breweries, and railroad sports. Down their narrow side alleys, one may catch a glimpse of greenery (generally the ailanthus, that slummish tree that haunts city back yards and seems to have such an affinity for red brick). If one has a taste for poking and exploring, he will find many a little court or cul-de-sac where hardly a stone or a window has changed for a hundred years…

It is a perpetual delight to wander in such byways, speculating on the beauty of these rows of houses in days gone by.”44

Left: The Darien Hotel, considered a “skid row flophouse” before its demolition in 1973 to make way for the Race- Vine Expressway. Photo courtesy Temple University Urban Archives. Right: Residents of the Darien Hotel, shortly before its demolition in 1973. Photo courtesy Temple University Urban Archives.

44 Kalfus, Ken. Christopher Morley’s Philadelphia. New York: Fordham University Press, 1990, p. 181-182. Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 20

Appendix B: Recent History

Armour & Company is the only extant meat packing plant complex in Callowhill, and its main building notably continued to serve the purpose of food storage and distribution well into the late twentieth century as Center City Grocery & Produce.

Armour retained the Noble Street plant until 1969, when it sold the entire property to Mid-City Wholesale Meat Company Inc. for $125,000. Between 1959 and 1990, the company deaccessioned the majority of its meat packing plants, including its most significant plant–located in Chicago’s Union Stock Yards since 1867. Business had been declining due to an array of factors ranging from gradual economic decline brought on by the Great Depression to the harsh conditions facing workers as highlighted in muckraker Upton Sinclair’s 1906 The Jungle.45

Compounding the decline in the meatpacking industry was an effort to remake the Callowhill section, regarded by city planners as a thoroughly blighted scourge on the city, through federally funded urban renewal. As a result of the Callowhill East Redevelopment Project, scores of properties in the area were condemned and subsequently demolished.46 Though outside the boundaries of the project, Armour & Company’s plant was condemned in the late 1940s (preceding the formal urban renewal effort).47

In 1974, the property was sold at sheriff’s sale to S.I.S. Corporation for under $10,000.48 Shortly after the purchase, the property was subdivided into two properties: 909-909-31 Noble Street and 903-907 Noble Street.49

The building is now owned by NCL Realty LP, which bought the property for $756,000 in late 2002.50 NCL Realty LP does not own the entire complex. The small, nondescript building to the east of the main building and located at 903-907 Noble Street now houses a garage. In fact, this property, which had last been used by Armour & Company as storage space, was converted into a garage under the company’s ownership in 1959. At that time, it consolidated its operations, including its local offices, into the building that is the subject of this nomination.51

The main building currently appears to be vacant.

Though no longer the force it once was, Armour & Company lives on as Armour Star, which produces shelf-stable meats (mostly canned) and Armour, which produces refrigerated and frozen meats. The former is now owned by Pinnacle Foods and the latter is now owned by Smithfield Foods.52 53

45 Thies, John. “Decentralization in the Meatpacking Industry. Master’s thesis for Kansas State University, College of Commerce, 1965. Accessed 1 March 1909-31, https://krex.k- state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/22047/LD2668R41965T439.pdf?sequence=1. 46 Kyriakodis, Harry. “The Life and Death of Callowhill,” Hidden City Philadelphia. Philadelphia: 10 February 2016. 47 City of Philadelphia, Department of Public Works: Application for Zoning Permit and/or Use Registration Permit for 909-31 Noble Street, Received 9 March 1948. 48 Recorded on 13 January 1969 in Philadelphia Deed Book J. R. S. No. 465 p. 465. 49 City of Philadelphia, Department of Public Works: “C” Application for Zoning Permit and/or Use Registration Permit for 903- 909-31 Noble Street, Received 22 July 1974. 50 City of Philadelphia, Board of Revision of Taxes: Property Information for 909-31 NOBLE ST. 51 City of Philadelphia, Department of Public Works: “C” Application for Zoning Permit and/or Use Registration Permit for 901- 909-31 Noble Street, Received 1959. 52 Armour Meats, “History and Heritage.” Accessed 1 March 2017, https://www.armourmeats.com/#heritage_section. 53 Armour-Star, “About Us.” Accessed 1 March 2017, http://www.armour-star.com/about.asp. Armour & Company’s Philadelphia Stock Depot, 909-31 Noble Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 2017–Page 21