Know your Neighborhood: St Charles Court, 60 - 66 N 3rd St.    

St. Charles Court Apartments, 60-66 North 3rd Street, was originally built as a hotel in 1851. The St. Charles was built by Charles Rubicam, using brick and cast-iron, a new construction material, which was painted to imitate brownstone. The design imitated Italian Renaissance palaces, with floor-to-ceiling windows opening onto a balcony that runs the length of the building.

Inside, the hotel featured eating and drinking saloons, a ladies’ parlor and 50 guest rooms.

The ground floor was altered to house stores in 1920; Second floor was rehabilitated as offices in 1975. The exterior was restored and the upper floors rehabilitated as apartments in 1980.

The building is very well preserved, from its stained glass windows on the first story, to the ornate lintels on the second level, to the beautifully restored faux stone façade.

60-66 N 3rd is currently connected with 403 Arch St as one building with apartments for rent and ground floor retail.

 

                                             1962

                                           1971

                                       Today

Know Your Neighborhood: Smythe Stores, 101 - 111 Arch St.

The Smythe Stores, 101 to 111 Arch Street, were built in 1857 for department store owner Samuel Smythe.

The Tiffany and Bottom Foundry in Trenton produced the cast-iron façade, which stretched across half the block. The design was inspired by Northern Italian Renaissance palaces, with pairs of arched windows divided by columns, and the five rows decreasing in height as they climb upward.

The original building was painted and sanded in imitation of stone. The design appeared in Samuel Sloan’s The Architectural Review and the American Builders’ Journal of March 1870, so he is assumed to be the building’s architect.

Tenants of the storefronts included the Aunt Sally Blended Tea Company, the Philadelphia Seed Company, and the Stratford Cigar Company.

In 1913, the central section of the building was demolished to allow the Arch Street trolley to loop around the building. The midsection was rebuilt by The Devoe Group using fiberglass and molds of the old section in 1984, when the Smythe Stores were converted into apartments.  Later converted to condos.

Philadelphia Register of Historic Places -- 8/5/1976

Know Your Neighborhood (& city): America's Oldest Thanksgiving Parade

Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States. The Gimbel's Brothers department store sponsored the first Thanksgiving Day parade held in 1920.

Ellis Gimbel, one of the founders of Gimbel's Department Stores, wanted to promote his toy land. He had 50 store employees dressed in costume and 15 automobiles, with Santa riding in the last car, in their first Thanksgiving Day parade. Over the years (esp. after rival Macy's began their parade in 1924), the parade expanded featuring floats, balloons and marchers parading down Market Street. The finale consisted of Santa Claus arriving at the eighth-floor toy department at Gimbels by climbing the ladder of a Philadelphia Fire Department truck (last 2 photos).

Gimbels sponsored the parade until 1986, when the company went out of business. The parade route changed at that time and now runs up the Parkway, ending at the Art Museum. Boscovs and 6ABC became sponsors until 2008, when Ikea took over sponsorship through 2010. Currently Dunkin Donuts and 6ABC are the parade sponsors.

Original Gimbel brothers store at 8th & Market

1925 ad

1930's

1961

1960's

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1947

Know Your Neighborhood:  Shane's Candy, 110 Market St

Shane Confectionery is a candy shop and candy producer, located at 110 Market Street.  Currently owned by the Berley brothers, it is considered the longest-running confectionery business in the U.S.  
Since 1863, candy and candy-making materials have been made or sold on the premises at 110 Market Street (originally known as the High Street).  The location was part of an active candy-making industry that grew up around the sugar trade. In 1910, Philadelphia was home to as many as 1,200 confectioneries.

Samuel L. Herring opened a wholesale confectionery supply business at 112 Market in the 1850s, expanding to 110 Market Street in 1863.  After the Civil War, his son Benjamin took over the business. He eventually went into partnership with one of his father's employees, confectioner Daniel S. Dengler. The partners sold wholesale confectionery goods at 110 Market until Benjamin Herring died. Daniel S. Dengler and his son, Frank Dengler, continued to operate the business until 1899, when they sold the building to William T. Wescott.  In 1910, Wescott moved to New Jersey, selling the business to Edward R. Shane.  The Shane family operated the location as a retail business for the next 99 years.

In 2010, the business was bought by brothers Ryan and Eric Berley. They chose to retain the "Shane Confectionery" name. They have restored the building and its contents, and use restored original machinery and traditional recipes to make many of the sweets they sell.

110 Market, 1906

1915 ad

1972 view

2005

Today