Just north of the intersection of 12th & Spring Garden stands one of the stranger buildings in a neighborhood that's experienced a rebirth of late. Though the building has occupied its current location at 531 N. 12th St. for well over 150 years, it has actually seen far more change in the last 30 years than in its entire prior history. The structure began as a family owned business called Finney & Son, noted manufacturers of tombstones. The unmarked location of the business, founded in 1850, is shown here in an image taken from Hexamer & Locher’s 1858 Philadelphia Atlas.
Finney & Son would span three generations, persisting through the era of the Civil War and into the early 20th Century. The image here below, taken from PhilaMOCA.org, shows the tombstone business advertising in a publication of some type in what appears to be the 1930s or 1940s. The ad notes that you can make appointment by way of Postcard for your convenience.
The gravestone and mausoleum business endured for more than a century, emerging in the topsy-turvy 1860s and eventually shuffling to its own grave in the topsy-turvy 1960s. The image here below, taken from the Philadelphia Department of Records, shows 12th Street facing north from Spring Garden in 1958. Finney & Son’s, here in its final days, is the white, one-story structure just beyond the Spring-Ridge Diner (now Spring Garden Pizza).
This fascinating building would go uninhabited for the next several decades until, according to PhilaMOCA.org, a sculptor from a local arts college used it as a studio in the 1980s. Another 20 years would pass before it would gain another inhabitant when emergent DJ and producer Diplo set up shop in Philadelphia. Diplo converted the decayed architectural curiosity into the headquarters and recording studio for his Mad Decent Records. According to PhilaMOCA, Diplo’s Mausoleum housed recordings by Cristina Aguilera, Shakira and M.I.A. during its brief run in the mid-2000s. The building also became the site of the DJ’s popular Mad Decent Block Parties as shown in the picture below, taken from Elivindotorg.
When Diplo left Philly for L.A. in late 2010, he put the space up for rent. Today, Diplo is landlord to the Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art. This arts space hosts events just about every night, highlighting alternative art works with a focus on performance and film.
