American Railway Express Company Garage
Encyclopedia
The American Railway Express Company Garage is a historic parking garage located at 3002-3028 Cecil B. Moore Ave. in the Strawberry Mansion
neighborhood of north Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. It was designed by the firm Harris & Richards and constructed by the Robert E. Lamb Company in 1922 for developer John Presper Eckert, Sr.
Eckert was the owner of the Philadelphia Realty Company, and during the 1920s he consulted with the American Railway Express Company
(AREC) to build garages throughout the United States, as well as in Europe and Egypt. AREC's business was to ship express packages nationally by railway and to pick up and deliver them locally by truck. Thus AREC needed garages located near railway lines. The Philadelphia garage abuts railway tracks now owned by Amtrak
and probably served customers in the Brewerytown neighborhood a few blocks to the south.
Eckert's son, John Presper Eckert, Jr.
later became famous as the inventor of ENIAC
and other early computers.
In August 2006, the site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
. Though a sign on the building proclaimed "Now Leasing," in photographs accompanying the 2006 NRHP nomination, and in September 2010 (see photograph above), the roof was removed in 2004.
Strawberry Mansion
Strawberry Mansion could refer to:*Historic Strawberry Mansion, historic house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania*Nannie Lee House, historic house in Melbourne, Florida - also known as the Strawberry Mansion...
neighborhood of north Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. It was designed by the firm Harris & Richards and constructed by the Robert E. Lamb Company in 1922 for developer John Presper Eckert, Sr.
Eckert was the owner of the Philadelphia Realty Company, and during the 1920s he consulted with the American Railway Express Company
Railway Express Agency
The Railway Express Agency was a the national monopoly set up by the Untied States federal government in 1917. Rail express services provided small package and parcel transportation using the extant railroad infrastructure much as UPS functions today using the road system...
(AREC) to build garages throughout the United States, as well as in Europe and Egypt. AREC's business was to ship express packages nationally by railway and to pick up and deliver them locally by truck. Thus AREC needed garages located near railway lines. The Philadelphia garage abuts railway tracks now owned by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
and probably served customers in the Brewerytown neighborhood a few blocks to the south.
Eckert's son, John Presper Eckert, Jr.
J. Presper Eckert
John Adam Presper "Pres" Eckert Jr. was an American electrical engineer and computer pioneer. With John Mauchly he invented the first general-purpose electronic digital computer , presented the first course in computing topics , founded the first commercial computer company , and...
later became famous as the inventor of ENIAC
ENIAC
ENIAC was the first general-purpose electronic computer. It was a Turing-complete digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems....
and other early computers.
In August 2006, the site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Though a sign on the building proclaimed "Now Leasing," in photographs accompanying the 2006 NRHP nomination, and in September 2010 (see photograph above), the roof was removed in 2004.
