Boekel Building

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Boekel Building is a six-story industrial building at 505-515 Vine Street in Philadelphia, built in 1922-1923 in the Commercial Style to a design by architect Clarence Wunder.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criteria A and C, with criteria consideration G, and with local-level significance in industry and architecture; its period of significance runs from 1922 to 1952, reflecting its construction in 1922-1923.

Physical character

It rises six stories in a cubic form, with brick walls and foundation, a terra cotta belt course, brick piers and mushroom columns. Terracotta and concrete appear elsewhere under an asphalt roof; inside are marble wainscoting, terrazzo floors and a granite stoop, and about 1992 the loading dock gained a second bay and the iron sash windows were replaced.

Historical context

William Boekel founded a plumbing supply company in 1868 and moved it to 518 Vine Street in 1885; the company commissioned this factory at 505-515 Vine Street in 1922, built in 1922-1923, and was incorporated as William Boekel & Company in 1931. It made laboratory equipment and plumbing supplies at the site from 1923 to 1992, when it moved to Feasterville, Pennsylvania. The company was sold to Leo Synnesvedt in 1975. William Dursch joined the company in 1907.