In Northern Liberties

In a city full of architectural curiosities, the log cabin at 872 N. Lawrence St. is one of the more unusual and unexpected buildings you'll see. We've wondered about it for many years, confused about how a home fit for Abraham Lincoln landed on this Northern Liberties corner. Now, thanks

There's a building on the east side of the 600 block of N. Front St. that's sitting, looking rather lonely, in the middle of a sea of surface parking. We've called your attention to this structure a couple times over the years, first noting that it was listed for sale

If you've eaten a burger in a Philadelphia restaurant, there's a decent chance that said burger originated at George L. Wells Meat Company. Wells is a meat, poultry, and seafood purveyor, and they've been doing their thing for over a century. As far as we can tell, they've operated their business out

It was maybe half a year ago that we spied some workers doing what looked like ground testing at 1102 N. 2nd St., and it got us wondering whether this large and curiously ignored parcel in Northern Liberties could soon get developed. We explained that the property was owned by Tower

721 N. 2nd St. has been used as an auto garage specializing in European cars for as long as we can remember, surely for longer than the decade than we can see in Google Maps Street View. Once upon a time, back when there was very little retail activity on this

As recently as fifteen, twenty years ago, it made sense that J.T. Riley Lumber Co. was located at 3rd & Girard. Northern Liberties was on the upswing, but still maintained many traces of its industrial past. Girard Avenue was a major barrier, with South Kensington effectively considered the "wrong side of the (trolley) tracks." Now

As Northern Liberties continues to trend upward (in terms of prices and retail diversity), it's a little curious that two prominent and enormous parcels remain vacant on the northern side of the neighborhood. Half a year ago, we wondered whether something might be happening with the large triangular lot bordered by Girard, 2nd Street, and

We had a meeting in Northern Liberties this morning, and after it wrapped up we were scrounging around the neighborhood, thinking about grabbing a bite to eat. Heading up 3rd Street, we were momentarily distracted from our belly rumblings by a fresh looking demolition notice. The industrial building at 952-56

As Northern Liberties was home to countless manufacturing interests back in the day, it makes sense that several breweries once populated the neighborhood. Schmidt's was an especially large and famous brewery which continued to operate through the late 1980s. Then it sat vacant for over a decade, until Tower Investments bought the

Yards Brewery splintered in 2007, with the newly spawned Philadelphia Brewing Company taking over the former Weisbrod & Hess building in East Kensington, and Yards opening a new brewing facility at 901 N. Delaware Ave. after a serious buildout effort. Now here we are, nearly a decade later, and both companies