From Broad Street up to 18th, from Spring Garden to Pennsylvania Ave, (which no longer runs through below 20th), the Baldwin Locomotive Works was a massive complex, spreading over 7 blocks, supporting a robust economy of neighbourhood enterprises, and employing up to 10,000 people. The site was a colossus, relied heavily on apprentice labor (against which the first lodge of the Machinists' and Blacksmiths' International Unity was established in Philadelphia, 1857 [Montgomery 1987, p.187]), and was a crucial site of contestation for Philadelphia's early post-bellum labor movement.
I close my eyes as I walk along Spring Garden, and try to listen to the sounds of the forge and foundry, the smells of the furnaces.
The next best thing is to trace the history in maps. Which made my discovery today of the Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network particularly exciting. Here is a draft of the works and the surrounding neighbourhood, from the Hexamer General Surveys. But most exciting by far is their map viewer, which allows you to overlay various historical maps of the greater Philadelphia area over a Google maps display.
Montgomery, David. 1987. Fall of the House of Labor.
I close my eyes as I walk along Spring Garden, and try to listen to the sounds of the forge and foundry, the smells of the furnaces.
The next best thing is to trace the history in maps. Which made my discovery today of the Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network particularly exciting. Here is a draft of the works and the surrounding neighbourhood, from the Hexamer General Surveys. But most exciting by far is their map viewer, which allows you to overlay various historical maps of the greater Philadelphia area over a Google maps display.
Montgomery, David. 1987. Fall of the House of Labor.
No comments:
Post a Comment