Standard Roller Bearing Company, 1908
Merion Avenue between 48th and 51st Streets, Philadelphia PA 19131
© Preston Thayer and Jed
Porter, Workshop of the World (Oliver Evans Press,
1990).
In 1887, the Pennsylvania
Iron Works built a foundry, erecting shop, machine and
pattern-maker's shop east of 50th Street between the
Pennsylvania Railroad tracks and Merion Avenue.
Subsequent to that, they built a blacksmith shop and a
second erecting shop (for ice machinery) west of 50th
Street, between Merion and Lancaster Avenues. About 1892,
a third erecting shop, contiguous to the pattern-maker's
shop, was constructed. An office building was also built
along Lancaster Avenue. 1
The company was established in 1845, probably at
Danville, Pennsylvania. The company rolled the first "T"
rail in the United States and was the first to
manufacture iron rail using anthracite coal. It later
became part of Allen Wood Steel, of Conshohocken.
The Standard Roller Bearing Company, incorporated in
1901, took over the former site of the Pennsylvania Iron
Works in 1908. Standard manufactured a wide range of
ball, roller, and tapered bearings. They developed a
high-carbon, high-chrome steel now customary throughout
the ball bearing industry. They also developed and owned
the patents covering the basic design for all modern-day
tapered roller bearings. The company moved to Plainville,
Connecticut in 1923. 2
About 1924, the
Pennsylvania Railroad took over the buildings for use as
a records storage facility, a function they retain today
under Conrail.
Easily among the largest industrial sites in West
Philadelphia during its operation, the Standard Roller
Bearing Company factory is still impressive in scale,
despite partial demolition. The section which was
demolished once stood beside the Pennsylvania Railroad
tracks and behind the row houses on the 4800 block of
Merion Avenue. The row houses themselves appeared on maps
as early as 1913 and, therefore, could have been
constructed as housing for employees.
The eastern facade of the plant has an emblem bearing the
letters "SRB." Below the emblem is a painted sign
that reads "Rudge-Whitworth Detached Wire Wheels," an
indication that the company may have supplied Rudge, a
British manufacturer of bicycles and motorcycles, or
distributed its products.
1 Hexamer General Survey #2416 (1891)
"Pennsylvania Iron Works Co."
Hexamer General Survey #2646 (1892)
"Pennsylvania Iron Works Co."
2 Hudston T.
Morton, Anti-friction
Bearings, (Ann Arbor, MI, 1965)
Update May
2007 (by
Harry Kyriakodis):
All structures between Merion
Avenue and the railroad tracks have been demolished. A
few structures between Merion and Lancaster Avenues
remain, some abandoned and in poor condition.