The facility has served as a lasting inspiration to acclaimed film director David Lynch, who lived catercorner from the building in a house near the southeast corner of 13th and Wood when he attend the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in the 1960s. According to Lynch, he befriended morgue employees while hanging out at Pop’s Diner, and claims they once showed him the “parts room” where they kept limbs and other pieces of anatomy that were not matched to a body. He also recalled seeing body bags stacked up on the sidewalk. Morgue-related references can be found in many of Lynch’s films.
Source: Assuming Room Temperature At The City Morgue | Hidden City Philadelphia