CIHD: The Heid Building

The Callowhill Industrial Historic District (CIHD) is bounded by North Broad Street to the west, Hamilton Street to the north, Pearl Street to the south, and 12th Street and the curve of the Reading Railroad Viaduct to the east. It is a relatively small historic district of 66 resources – 39 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing structure, 24 non-contributing sites and one non-contributing building. The early phases of our exploration of The Eraserhood focus on the dedicated buildings within this district.

If the vacant lot on the southeast corner of 13th and Wood where David Lynch lived during the 1966-67 school year is the heart of The Eraserhood, then the Heid building, dominating the northeast corner – and the entire block from 13th to 12th from Wood to Carlton – is the heart of CIHD. The nomination of the CIHD was sparked by the owners of this 1928 envelope factory. The owners sought the help of Powers & Co. to get the Heid listed on the National Register. They were told that the Heid was, “a nice building,” but the state encouraged Powers to look at the possibility of an historic district, instead. The owners agreed, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The eight floor, 80,000 square foot block may be one of the first projects to benefit from CIHD’s new status.

(All information courtesy of Plan Philly. http://planphilly.com/gritty-callowhill-recognized-national-historic-district)