“Walking the Eraserhood” represents an ongoing street-level exploration of the Callowhill district and surrounding environs, a sort of virtual walking tour of the neighborhood.
Standing and 12th and Wood we can see the former Smaltz building along the 1100 block of Wood, currently clothed in modern skin. Walking east from here, we can also pass through one of the massive stone tunnels under the Reading Viaduct. It is believed this is the tunnel David Lynch refers to in his anecdote about carrying a nail-studded board as protection while he lived in this neighborhood. The textures of the inside of the tunnel may well serve as the original model for textures Lynch used in the “man in the planet” sequence in Eraserhead. One can then continue south to stand at 11th and Wood at the foot of the Frank C. Maurone Company building, currently bearing the banner of Khmer Art Gallery. Standing here at 11th and Wood, it is also a good idea to look back to the west, to appreciate how the Reading Viaduct comes in from the crossing at 11th and Callowhill and points toward Reading Terminal.
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