Girard Point Grain Elevator, 1912-1916
between 26th and 29th Streets on the north bank of the Schuylkill River, Philadelphia PA 19145
© John Mayer,
Workshop of the
World (Oliver Evans Press, 1990).
As early as 1859, the
Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) recognized an economical
advantage in using Philadelphia's wharves for the import
and export of grains; wheat, oats, and corn. Thus began
the development of a number of grain elevators,including
a riverside terminal on the Delaware at the foot of
Washington Avenue, an elevator at Market and 30th Streets
(built in 1862), and numerous floating elevators that
collected grain from ships anchored off the
wharves. 1
By 1872, the PRR
owned half of Philadelphia's 1.5 million bushel capacity
for grain storage.
The last remnant of this important trade in South
Philadelphia is the grain elevator built by the Girard
Point Storage Company beginning in 1912. It replaced two
structures built by the International Navigation Company
around 1874 and later purchased by the PRR.
2
Girard Point offered convenient portage for ships and,
with the expansion of Greenwich Point Rail Yard, rail
access as well. The new grain elevator was fireproof,
built of steel and concrete, and able to hold 1.25
million bushels of grain. The railroad added an
additional 1 million bushels of storage capacity in 1914,
only two years after the elevator went into operation.
Six railroad tracks provided train access to the storage
bins. To deliver the grain to ships docked along the
pier, a trestle 30 feet high with the capability of
delivering 60,000 bushels of grain per hour was built
along the wharf.
The grain elevator was equipped with a grain drier and
cooler housed in a separate concrete building. The work
house contained various machines to assist in the storage
and separation of grain. A temperature-sensing system
monitored the temperature in each storage bin; readings
were taken at a central station. The drip shed had a
capacity of 36 cars, while the holding tracks adjoining
the elevator could accommodate 1,000 cars. The elevator
was able to receive 240 cars each 10-hour working day.
In 1964, the elevator was transferred to the Tidewater
Grain Company through the Philadelphia Industrial
Development Corporation. The site is currently being
renovated for use once again as a grain elevator.
1 James J.D. Lynch
Jr., "Grain,
Girard Point and the Pennsylvania Railroad,"
The High Line,
Vol. 6, Nos. 1 & 2, (Autumn 1985-Winter 1985).
2 Hexamer General Survey #843-844 (1875) "The
International Navigation Company's Girard Point Grain
Elevator, Girard Point."
Hexamer General Survey #1548-1549 (1881)
"The International Company's
Property."
Bromley's Atlas of Philadelphia, 26th and 30th Wards,
1887, Pl. X.
Update May
2007 (by
Joel Spivak):
No
change.
See
also:
Hexamer General Survey #2401-2402 (1890)
"The Girard Point Storage Company's
Property."