Wood Superior Inc. 1100 block of North Front Street, Northern Liberties, North Philly
This property is amazing, I could have taken 500 pictures of it. The front of the building is under the El on the edge of NoLibs/Fishtown, but the back faces Hope Street and is not fenced off. There are so many fantastic nooks and crannies of ruin, I may have to flag it as inappropriate.
As for the history of the business or the building, I couldn’t find a thing about it. It was bought in 1999 for $65,000. The owner has kept up with the property taxes. I wonder why they are just letting it sit and rot.
Update: Since this building went up in flames on July 10, 2012, there has been a flurry of research on the building’s history. There is some great information on the Ghost Sign Project Site. According to that site It was “Parke’s” owned by the L. H. Parke Company, “a seller of coffee, tea and spices.” Over the years it was also a distillery, warehouse and distributor for kitchen furniture and appliances. The “Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men” blog has a great post about the building’s distillery years complete with old-timey photos.
As to who owns the building, HiddenCity Philly says Blatstein and PhillyCurbed says John Galdo. I’m sure Philadelinquency will get down to the bottom of it.
