September 4, 2018

This Old Manor

The property has been known at various times as the Heights, Woodburne, Woodbourne,
The Scott Estate, Little Flower, and Villa St Theresa.

The land on which the mansion stands was originally the a family farm which ran all the way
to the Creek and there are indications that the Great Minquas Path, a fur
trading route between the Susquahannock region and the Dutch fur trading posts, passed through the 
property.

It is said there were encampments on the "Heights of Darby" during the British occupation of 
Philadelphia (1777-1778)

Before the Civil War, the property was owned by George McHenry, President of the
Philadelphia Board of Trade, and a Southern sympathiser who went to England and arranged for 
shipments to go through the Union blockade. The land was sold at Sheriff's sale in April 1862
and the property then came under the ownership of Thomas A. Scott who served in
Abraham Lincoln's Cabinet as Assistant Secretary of War for Transportation and later as
President of the Pennsylvania Railroad..

His son, Edgar Scott, commissioned noted architect Horace Trumbauer to build the present mansion
in 1906 with the possible participation of Julian Abele.

Both Edgar Scott Senior and Edgar Scott Junior served with the Norton-Harjes American Volunteer 
Motorized Ambulance Service during the First World War.  Edgar Scott Senior died in France on 
October 20, 1918, 22 days before the Armistice. Edgar Junior married Helen Hope Montgomery
who had been the inspiration for Tracy Lord in "The Philadelphia Story."

The property was purchased by the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer in the 1930's. It is believed the 
postcard dates to the time the property was used as an orphanage. It later was a nursing home
and closed in 2005

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September 3, 2018

CMRE Church

The CMRE Church was founded in 1887 in West Philly, as the "Theological Seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church", its chartered and legal name. The seminary was established based on the pledge of a trust created by Harriet Benson in March, 1886. The corner stone for the first building to house the seminary was laid on September 19 of that same year. The seminary began meeting for classes in 1886 under the tutelage of Bishop William Nicholson in his residence. It officially opened the doors to its first class of students on September 30, 1887, in its new building as the seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church, after the trust was received on March 16, 1887.
The future of Christ Memorial has been in doubt for years, at least since the church’s 170-foot-high steeple collapsed during an intense storm in 2004.
In 2018 A demolition permit has been issued for the CMRE Church. Now it's waiting for it's fate wit the wrecking ball.


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August 28, 2018

The Church of the Alcohol and Drug Consumption

Photo Above By VDFP
This Church, a structure in N. Philly dates back to 1848. 
Construction on this Church was started in May of 1848 and it was dedicated in November of the following year, with a third of the funds said to have been donated by non-Catholics who were happy to have it in the area. With majestic Gothic architecture and twin copper spires soaring fifteen stories above the ground, the Church is an iconic building and a central part of an area that has already lost much of its heritage. It was designed by Patrick Charles Keely, one of the most prolific and respected ecclesiastical church architects in America's history, and is currently the oldest surviving structure he created. St. John Neumann helped consecrate the church and St. Katharine Drexel was baptized there, so it is also of no small historical significance to the Catholic church.

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August 27, 2018

NAD

NAD 2018 10 years later. See NAD 2008 Here.
The Department of the Navy utilized 122.9 acres of the property as an naval depot between 1899 until 1965. In 1957, the Navy declared the parcel to be excess and the parcel was turned over to the General Services Administration (GSA). In 1960, GSA was given jurisdiction over the property and used the site for records and raw materials (copper and rubber) stockpile storage, while the Maritime Administration used the main wharf for occasional transshipment of heavy freight. 

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August 26, 2018

When the shades have been pulled shut


This multiple occupancy home contains 7,932 sq ft and was built in 1936. It contains 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms and an indoor swimming pool.

It's hard to wake up
When the shades have been pulled shut
This house is haunted
It's so pathetic
It makes no sense at all
I'm ripe with things to say
The words rot and fall away
What stupid poem could fix this home
I'd read it every day

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