2016-34 W. Lippincott St Philadelphia

The neighborhood felt like a forgotten patchwork of empty industrial buildings, each one silently decaying next to the other. Years ago, walking past the block near the old Freihofer Wholesale and Retail Bakery Complex, I noticed that the gate I'd once found shuttered was now slightly open—just enough to slip under and explore. I couldn’t resist.

Inside, the first thing I saw stopped me in my tracks: graffiti by artists who had transformed this abandoned space into their gallery. The centerpiece was surreal and monstrous—a sprawling, gray figure with jagged yellow teeth, too many yellow eyes to count, two exposed red brains, and a long, blood-red tongue. It was a disturbing mix of body parts, like something conjured from a fever dream. This wasn’t a piece that could’ve been drawn sober; it had an intensity that felt born from wild imagination and maybe a little psychedelic inspiration.

After taking in the scene, I moved farther inside. The rooms were filled with the usual debris—scraps of garbage and broken furniture, the remnants of long-ago illegal dumping. I snapped a few photos, but before long, I was back outside. I wish I had taken more exterior photos and had taken the opportunity to pull myself inside a basement window years ago, but we live and learn from regrettable mistakes.

The building layout was confusing. At one point, I thought I'd found a staircase leading to another section of the upper floor, expecting it to open onto a larger area. Instead, I found myself in a narrow room filled with wooden beams, holding up a section of the roof that let in bright shafts of daylight. There was no passage to the other side. It was a dead end, and I felt a pang of disappointment.

Defeated, I left, hoping the next stop—the former Steel Heddle Complex—might hold more promise. But luck wasn't on my side that day. Once again, I came up empty-handed.

Historical records and old Sanborn maps reveal a concentrated industrial history on this block, where several manufacturing companies once operated side by side. From the left of North 21st Street stood Ero Manufacturing Company, listed as an "Automotive Sporting Goods Manufacturer" in a 1910 survey and once known as Keller Manufacturing. In the center of the block was Woolford Tank Company, followed by Steel Units Manufacturing Company, with Good Bros Inc Food Products Warehouse anchoring the other end near North 20th Street. Today, this lot has been repurposed, with an entirely new business occupying the land.

Above these sites, on West Lippincott Street, lay the F.A. Depue Coal Yard, also known as McKeel Company Coal Yard, in 1910. Further, an NBS Special publication mentions Taylor Lock Co. once operating from 2034 W. Lippincott St.

In a twist of history, the industrial parcels on this block are currently for sale, covering 3101-19 N. 21st St, 2024-34 W. Lippincott St, and 2016 W. Lippincott St. The former Steel Heddle Manufacturing Complex itself stood a street away at 2100-20 W. Allegheny Ave, and is also on the market. This rare opportunity links past and present, offering a glimpse into the block's storied industrial legacy.

📋 Reader Records

🏭 Did you work this block off North 21st Street?

Four manufacturers shared this stretch between North 21st and North 20th: Ero Manufacturing Company, earlier known as Keller Manufacturing and listed in 1910 as an automotive sporting goods maker; Woolford Tank Company; Steel Units Manufacturing Company; and Good Bros Inc Food Products Warehouse. Taylor Lock Co. worked out of 2034 West Lippincott Street, and the F.A. Depue Coal Yard, also called McKeel Company Coal Yard, sat above them in 1910. The research could not establish when each shop closed, which of them left the graffiti-covered rooms behind, or who now holds the parcels at 3101-19 North 21st and 2016-34 West Lippincott. If you worked any of them, or know the block, your account is the record. Full credit given to all contributors.

⬇️ Keep Reading

🏭 The Rest of This Block, and More Philadelphia Industry

Starting with the two neighbours named in this post, then outward through the car-body plants, pump works and branch houses of industrial Pennsylvania.

⚙️ Steel Units Manufacturing Company One of the four shops named on this block. That post corrects a misidentified photo and places the Steel Heddle plant on West Allegheny Avenue, a street away; the loom-accessory works ran until 1983 and sold for $1 in 2007. › 🍞 Echoes of an Oven: Exploring the Abandoned Nicetown Factory in Philadelphia The Freihofer bakery at the end of this block. Built at Twentieth and Indiana in 1913, home delivery ended January 22, 1972, and the 4⅓ acres sold for $1,650,000 in 2019. › 🚘 Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Co - Hunting Park Plant Where the first stamped steel car bodies were made, from 1915. The Plymouth Group paid $6.5 million in 2019 for a life sciences campus that still has not been built. › 🔧 C. H. Wheeler Manufacturing Company Condensers, vacuum pumps and cooling towers, traced through the 1895 Philadelphia Atlas and the Barr Pumping Engine Company. An interior sign names it the city's future Fire Department logistics campus. › 🏢 Philadelphia Branch House of International Harvester Co Five storeys and 76,000 square feet on North 16th Street, built in 1922 for $350,000 to W.D. Price's design. Harvester left for Pennsauken in 1958 and sold it for $150,000. › 🧵 United Wiping Cloth Company An Armour & Company meatpacking plant in Shenandoah that Milton Sorin turned to wiping cloths. Apartments by 2012, gutted by fire in January 2020, demolished in 2025 on $500,000 of county and state money. ›

🏭 Sanborn maps put Ero Manufacturing Company, Woolford Tank Company, Steel Units Manufacturing Company and Good Bros Inc on one block between North 21st and North 20th Streets in North Philadelphia, with the F.A. Depue Coal Yard above them on West Lippincott Street in 1910. The lot has since been repurposed for a new business, and the former Steel Heddle Manufacturing Complex parcels at 3101-19 North 21st Street and 2016-34 West Lippincott Street have been offered for sale.

Sources:

1. NBS Special Publication. (1978). United States: The Bureau. pp.49.