The SIA 36h Annual Conference will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Thursday June 7, 2007 to Sunday, June 10, 2007
Workshop of the World - Revisited
Industrial Philadelphia

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Philadelphia was known as the “Workshop of the World” for the extent and variety of its industries. The forerunners of this industrialization had been present from Pennsylvania’s founding when grain mills, paper mills, and saw mills were sited on waterways. The craft tradition, which had prospered in the 18th century, grew into a community of mechanics with the shift from wood and waterpower to iron and steam-power.

The region’s geography supported this burgeoning industrial diversity with abundant sources of raw materials and fuel, as well as navigable waterways and a far-reaching railroad network. Philadelphia’s deepwater port provided a means of transporting goods and, perhaps more importantly, was a point of arrival for the immigrants who came and found work in the mills.

The American Industrial Revolution that took place in the 19th century was nowhere more apparent than in Philadelphia. The Embargo and the War of 1812 caused local entrepreneurs to begin the process and, by the 1880’s, Philadelphia manufactured textiles of many kinds, iron goods large and small, quality leather goods, and highly crafted machine tools. Notable among these are Dobson plush and carpets, Quaker lace, Stetson hats, Sellers’ machine tools, and Disston saws. Midvale Steel, Baldwin Locomotive Works, and Cramp Ship and Engine Building Company were known worldwide. This industrial prowess continued into the 20th century. In the 21st century, Disston is the only one of the above businesses still in operation.

Although service and electronic firms now dominate the city, and many mills and industrial complexes have been converted for commercial and residential use, the buildings remain and testify to Philadelphia’s great industrial heritage when it was truly the “Workshop of the World.”

Photograph above: Fairmount Waterworks. View looking southeast showing river facade of waterworks. Photograph by Jack E, Boucher, Dec. 1984. HAER (LOC) collection HAER PA, 51-Phila, 328-172

Measured drawing on right: Fairmount Waterworks North Engine section drawing from HAER PA-51, sheet 19 or 36, delineated by Peter C. Doo 1978 shows what the Oliver Evans non-condensing high pressure Columbian engine installation looked like before it was removed in 1832.

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