Burk Brothers and Company

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

Burk Brothers and Company is a utilitarian-style industrial property at 913-916 N. Third St. in Philadelphia, built between 1855 and 1913. Its buildings went up in three phases: 1855 to 1874, 1897 to 1906, and 1911 to 1913. The nomination names William Steele & Sons Co. as architect and John N. Gill Co. as builder.

Why it's listed

It was listed in the National Register in 1985 under Criterion A, with local significance in industry. Its significance runs from 1900 to 1920, a span that takes in the start of glazed kid leather production here in 1901 and the building of the reinforced concrete factory in 1911-1913.

Physical character

Brick walls with segmental-arched window openings stand beside reinforced concrete walls under flat roofs, and the interiors have metal columns. Reinforced concrete floors were installed in 1921, and a stair enclosure, Structure S, was added in 1940. Building P gained a third story in 1943, and a loading platform, Structure Q, was built in 1945.

Historical context

Building A was built in 1855, and morocco leather was made on the site from 1855 to 1874. Henry Burk bought the property in 1897 and died in 1903.