1850-1900
In this detail from this 1861 map of Bridesburg the marshy point of land to the southwest side of the mouth of the Frankford Creek has been removed to accommodate boat access to Lennigs Chemical Works. A bulkhead at the creek and pier at the end of Bridge Street have also been added. The distinctive horseshoe curve in the creek remained despite calls to straight that section to permit easier navigation by barges. Smedley, Samuel L. Smedley's Atlas of the City of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co. 1861. From the Free Library of Philadelphia. This detail from an 1891 map shows further shoreline modifications along the river and the excavation of a pond connected to the Frankford Creek on the chemical works property. Bromley, George W, and Bromley, Walter S. Atlas of the City of Philadelphia, Volume 9 25th and 33rd Wards From Actual Surveys and Official Plans. Philadelphia: G.W. Bromley & Co., 1891. From the Free Library of Philadelphia.

The later half of the 19th century saw many changes on Bridesburg’s waterfront. The telltale signs of dredging and filling along the water’s edge are apparent in the steep underwater topography at the shoreline shown on Smedley's 1861 map (above left).  In comparison to the 1849 Dripps Map the marsh at the mouth of the Frankford Creek has been removed and the water depth drops off steeply at a smooth shoreline. These changes render the water’s edge more navigable and the channel at the Frankford creek is clearly protected from further silt depostion by a bulkhead. 'Point No Point' is labeled on the northeast side of Frankford Creek in contrast to Dripps’s labeling on the southwest side of the creek.

The Cedar Grove Hotel and Steamboat Hotel (on either side of the Bridge Street Pier) and the Bridesburg Hotel and Railroad Hotel (on either side of Bridge Street at the Frankford Creek) clearly mark this village as stopping point for travelers. The Lamp Black Factory, Loyerings Barrel Factory, Lennigs Chemical Works all take up a good bit of land along the Frankford Creek at Bridesburg's perimeter. Jenks Manufacturing Works is the only large inland factory cut off from the river by the smaller residential structures along the riverfront.

An 1891 map from Bromley’s Atlas (above right) shows a more highly engineered waterfront. Curves have been replaced with angular bulkheads and a lagoon appears off the Frankford Creek. A second pier has been added at the riverfront giving the Bridesburg Manufacturing Works (formerly Jenks Mfg.) direct access to the water. The building that housed the Steamboat Hotel to the southwest of the Bridge Street Wharf and some of the residential buildings along the riverfront are gone.  A filled area in front of the former Cedar Grove hotel has allowed room for a small boathouse on the riverfront northeast of the public access at the Bridge Street Wharf.

By  1880 the village of Bridesburg was home to 3000 souls and described as  having the appearance of a quaint country town that had several large manufacturing establishments in the village proper (Public Ledger, August 2, 1880).  Mansions and more modest residences along the river were slowly abandoned as the land was increasingly given over to industry (Freitag & Silcox, 3). Bridesburg's status as an important industrial center in Philadelphia’s ‘Workshop of the World’ is well documented in prints and advertisements of the era.
A portion of an image of the Bridesburg Machine Works which was known as the Jenks Factory before 1865 (The Public Ledger, August 2,1880) for its owner, Alfred Jenks. The factory manufactured cotton and wool-processing machinery except for a period during the Civil War when Springfield rifles were produced. Lithograph by E. Beaulieu which was originally published in Colton's Atlas of America in 1856 (New York: J.H. Colton & Company, 1856) . From the Library Company of Philadelphia.
The Bridesburg Manufacturing Company was depicted in many lithographs. The image (left) would indicate that the factory was located on a pristine Delaware riverfront. This setting likely owes more to artistic license than reality as both of the above maps indicate that a row of buildings was located between the factory and the river and the natural shoreline shown would be likely to ground the steamboat and sailboat pictured.
This engraving appeared Philadelphia and its Environs, and the Railroad Scenery of Pennsylvania, published by J.B. Lippincott in 1875. The exact same image can be found in the Jane Campbell scrapbooks (Vol.6 P. 9, Historical Society of Pennsylvania) entitled 'Jenks Factory, Bridesburg'. The spatial layout of Jenks' Factory, with industrial buildings enclosing a central workyard, is in marked contrast to the scattered buildings of the adjacent Lennig Chemical Works (later, Rohm & Haas).
Undated ad for the Tacony (Lennig) Chemical works from Images of America: Bridesburg.
Bridge and bank modification projects yields a rich source of documentation of areas along the Frankford creek, especially at the turn of the century. Here, an 1896 photo shows bridge construction over the Frankford Creek at Bridge Street. Note the draw pulley to the left of the trees. Philadelphia City Archives.
21 December 2005 Jayne Spector