Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company, North Plant, 5000 Wissahickon Avenue, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA

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Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey

44 b&w photos
19 data pages
4 photo caption pages

TITLE:
Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company, North Plant, 5000 Wissahickon Avenue, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA

CALL NUMBER:
HAER PA,51-PHILA,703A-

REPRODUCTION NUMBER:
[See Call Number]

MEDIUM:
Photo(s): 44 (4 x 5 in. and 8 x 10 in.)
Data Page(s): 18 plus cover page
Photo Caption Page(s): 4

DATE:
Documentation compiled after 1968.

CREATOR:
Historic American Engineering Record, creator

NOTE:
Survey number HAER PA-306-A

Building/structure dates: 1929 initial construction

Significance: The North Plant housed the second major factory of the Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company. Atwater Kent was an important twentieth-century inventor and manufacturer of radios and electrical components for automobiles. The company was the largest producer of radios in the world in the late 1920s. The plant is roofed with 470,000 square feet of "Super-Span Saw-Tooth" roof trusses patented by Walter Ballinger. Ballinger and his firm contributed significantly to the architecture and engineering fields. Today, the Ballinger firm claims to be the oldest continuously practicing architectural and engineering firm in the United States.

SUBJECTS:
PENNSYLVANIA--Philadelphia County--Philadelphia

COLLECTION:
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)

REPOSITORY:
Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

DIGID:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.pa3820

CONTENTS:
Photograph caption(s):
1. View of the South Plant from the Roof of the North Plant
2. North Plant, Northeast Elevation Oblique, Looking South-Southeast
3. North Plant, Northeast Elevation Oblique, Looking West
4. North Plant, Southeast Elevation Oblique, Looking West-Southwest
5. North Plant, Southeast Elevation Oblique, Looking North
6. North Plant, Southwest Elevation Oblique, Showing Loading Dock and Southeast Elevation of Powerhouse, Looking Northwest
7. North Plant, Southwest Elevation Oblique, Looking East
8. North Plant, Northwest Elevation Oblique, Looking South
9. North Plant, View of Canopied Loading Dock with Powerhouse to Left, Looking Northwest
10. View along North Plant Southwest Elevation, Showing Loading Dock and Powerhouse (right rear)
11. North Plant, View of Parapet, Super-Span Saw-Tooth Roof, Looking Northwest
12. North Plant, Bi-level Roof with Center Walkway, Looking West
13. North Plant, Four-Bay Main Entrance on Northeast Elevation, Looking Southwest
14. North Plant, North Office Entrance on Northeast Elevation, Looking Southwest
15. North Plant, South Entrance on Southeast Elevation (location of former 1929 bridge), Looking Northwest
16. North Plant, Detail of Stack on Southeast Elevation, Looking Northwest
17. North Plant, Detail of Two-tiered Ridge at Parapet, Looking South
18. North Plant, Detail of Parapet Wall, North Corner, Looking South
19. North Plant, Detail of Corner Stone, Looking Southwest
20. North Plant Interior, First Floor General View, Looking Southwest
21. North Plant Interior, First Floor of Freight Elevator, Looking Southwest
22. North Plant Interior, First Floor showing Representative Glass Block Windows along Northwest Wall, Looking Northwest
23. North Plant Interior, Detail of Roof Truss System, Looking West
24. North Plant Interior, Basement Level, Looking Southeast
25. North Plant Interior, Basement Level, Looking Northwest
26. North Plant Interior, Sub-basement Level, Looking West
27. Oblique Aerial View of North and South Plants, Looking East, with Powerhouse in Center Foreground (undated)
28. Oblique Aerial View of North Plant, Looking Northwest (undated)
29. Oblique Aerial View of North Plant, Looking North, Showing Powerhouse in Left Center and 1929 Bridge in Right Center (undated)
30. North Plant, Southwest Elevation (November 1946)
31. North Plant, Southeast and Partial Northeast Elevation (circa 1946)
32. North Plant Roof, Looking Northeast (November 1946)
33. North Plant Interior (circa 1940)
34. North Plant Interior Showing Signal Corps Offices (undated)
35. North Plant Interior, Basement Level, Showing Bays of Files (undated)
36. North Plant Interior, North End of Basement Level, Showing Ductwork (1949)
37. Topographical Map of Land of Atwater Kent Manufacturing Co., 38th Ward, Philadelphia (before 1928)
38. Drawing entitled Atwater Kent Mfg. Co., Philadelphia, Pa., Plant No. 7, First Story. The Ballinger Company (1928)
39. Drawing entitled 5000 Wissahickon Avenue, North and East Elevations. Leon Clemmer A.I.A. & Associates, Wyncote, Pennsylvania, for the General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service, Washington, D.C. (undated)
40. North Plant, Details of Trusses and Roof Framing. The Ballinger Company (1928)
41. Drawing entitled Atwater Kent Mfg. Co., Philadelphia, Pa., Plant No. 7, Elevation and Plan of Bridge. The Ballinger Company (1928)
42. Drawing entitled Atwater Kent Mfg. Co., Philadelphia, Pa., Plant No. 7, Office Entrances, Wissahickon Avenue. The Ballinger Company
43. North Plant, Details of Trusses and Roof Framing. The Ballinger Company (1928)
44. Storehouse of Philadelphia Signal Depot, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, War Department (1942)

CONTROL #:
PA3820

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