DISSTON-TACONY INDUSTRIAL WATERFRONT HISTORIC DISTRICT Proposed Action: Designation Property Owner: Various Nominator: Tacony Community Development Corporation Staff Contact: Allyson Mehley, [email protected] OVERVIEW: This nomination proposes to designate the Disston-Tacony Industrial Waterfront Historic District and list it on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. The proposed historic district is in the Tacony neighborhood and includes 16 tax parcels containing 45 historic resources. The proposed historic district is the location of the Henry Disston & Sons Keystone Saw Works which resided there from 1872 to 1955. The company transformed the saw making and tool making industry not only in Philadelphia but throughout the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The company was founded by English immigrant Henry Disston in the 1840s in the Northern Liberties neighborhood. With plans for expansion, he began developing the Tacony property for his company in 1872 with the intent to move all operations to this waterfront location. Under Criterion A, the nomination contends that the historic district comprises the buildings, structures, and other physical features that historically represent, the formative and most important industrial complex in the Tacony neighborhood, as well as one of the most significant in Philadelphia. The firm and its manufacturing plant also satisfy Criterion A in the area the development of saw and tool manufacturing in Philadelphia and throughout the United States. Under Criterion G, the nomination asserts that the district is a distinctive industrial area which should be preserved for its ties to Philadelphia’s manufacturing history, and as an intact industrial plant that exemplifies the economic heritage of Tacony and Philadelphia. Finally, the nomination argues that the Keystone Saw Works and its manufacturing plant satisfy Criterion J in the areas of cultural, economic, and social heritage, as related to the Tacony neighborhood, and economic and social trends in the larger City of Philadelphia. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: The staff recommends that the nomination demonstrates that the Disston-Tacony Industrial Waterfront Historic District satisfies Criteria for Designation A, G, and J. For the purposes of this nomination, staff recommends that all vacant land more than 20 feet from a resource identified in the inventory as contributing or significant shall be considered non-contributing. 1. NAME OF HISTORIC DISTRICT (CURRENT/HISTORIC) ______________________________________________________________________The Disston-Tacony Industrial Waterfront Historic District 2. LOCATION Please attach a map of Philadelphia locating the historic district. Councilmanic District(s):_______________6th 3. BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION Please attach a written description and map of the district boundaries. 4. DESCRIPTION Please attach a written description and photographs of the built and natural environments/ characteristic streetscape of the district. 5. INVENTORY Please attach an inventory of the district with an entry for every property. All street addresses must coincide with official Office of Property Assessment addresses. Total number of properties in district:_______________3DUFHOV 23$DFFRXQWV UHVRXUFHVLQLQYHQWRU\ Count buildings with multiple units as one. Number of properties already on Register/percentage of total:__0 ______/________0% Number of significant properties/percentage of total:__________13 __/____________31% Number of contributing properties/percentage of total:_________21 __/____________45% Number of non-contributing properties/percentage of total:_____11 __/____________24% 6. SIGNIFICANCE Please attach a narrative Statement of Significance citing the Criteria for Designation the resource satisfies. Period of Significance (from year to year): from _________1872 to _ 1955________ CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION: The historic district satisfies the following criteria for designation (check all that apply): ✔ (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, (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; 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 ✔ (j) Exemplifies the cultural, political, economic, social or historical heritage of the community. 7. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Please attach a bibliography. 8.NOMINATOR7DFRQ\&RPPXQLW\'HYHORSPHQW&RUSRUDWLRQ'DWH$XJXVW 1DPH7LWOH______________________________________Alex Balloon, Executive Director ([email protected]______________________________ * NameTitle $XWKRU _________________________________Oscar Beisert, Architectural Historian [email protected] Street Address___________________________________Telephone____________________________6742 Torresdale Ave 215.501.7799 City, State, and Postal Code______________________________________________________________Philadelphia, PA 19135 Nominator is ✔ is not the property owner. *Edited and supplemented by PHC staff PHC USE ONLY Date of Receipt:_______ 8/28/2019_______________________________________________________ ✔ Correct-Complete Incorrect-Incomplete Date:______________________6/28/2021 Date of Preliminary Eligibility:____________________________________________________ Date of Notice Issuance:_______________________________________6/29/2021 _________________ Date(s) Reviewed by the Committee on Historic Designation:___________________________ Date(s) Reviewed by the Historical Commission:_____________________________________ Date of Final Action:___________________________________________________________ Designated Rejected 12/7/18 Nomination for the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Captions for Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, and Figure 4 are located beneath the first footnote. The DISSTON-TACONY INDUSTRIAL WATERFRONT HISTORIC DISTRICT - HENRY DISSTON & SONS’ Keystone Saw Works, Tacony Disston-Tacony Industrial Waterfront Historic District 1 Figure 5. The boundary for the proposed historic district is shown in yellow. Source: Atlas, City of Phila, 2019. Boundary Description The Disston-Tacony Industrial Waterfront Historic District is comprised of 16 tax parcels, each of which is defined by a metes and bounds description in its deed. A list of the tax parcels comprising the historic district can be found in the district inventory. Physical Description Located in the geological region known as the Piedmont Upland Section of the Piedmont Province, the Disston-Tacony Industrial Waterfront Historic District is located immediately upon the Delaware River in the northeast section of the City of Philadelphia. The subject historic district is located approximately 9 miles from City Hall, and two miles from the northeastern city limit on relatively flat topography. The district, which encompasses and/or includes approximately 8 city blocks, consisting of clusters of industrial buildings that comprised the Keystone Saw Works and were built by Henry Disston & Sons between 1872 and 1943.1 The following is a general description of the district’s physical boundary, but the legal boundary is defined by the 16 tax parcels in the historic district inventory. 1 Blocks 1, 2, 4, and 5 were are square blocks that were entirely devoted to the operations of the plant from the time of primary development to the sale of the firm in 1954. Blocks 3, 6, and 9 are partial blocks that were devoted to the operations of the plan from the time of primary development until the sale of the firm in 1954. Blocks 7 is a square block that was historically owned and partly developed for the purposes of the plant but was ultimately subdivided and sold off over time during the period of significance. Block 8 was owned, developed, and operated for the purposes of the plant, but was sold off during the period of significance. In addition, the Keystone Saw Works was a name that evolved overtime, including the Keystone Saw, Tool, Steel, and File Works. Captions from the previous page: Figure 1. Top: An illustration showing the buildings on the northeast side of Unruh Avenue in 1922. Source: The Disston Crucible. (Philadelphia: Henry Disston & Sons, 1922). Figure 2. Upper middle: The southwest elevation of Resource 2A: Saw, 2B: Saw, 6: Office, and 4: Band Saw Department on Unruh Avenue in 2008. Figure 3. Lower middle: The southwest elevations of Buildings 14: File Shop (1915-1916) and 15: File Shop (1915-1916) on Unruh Avenue in 2008.