Flickr Photos 39
Jaworski's opened here in 1959, and shut down after the owner passed away in 2016, a couple weeks after I got these pictures.
This area has changed a lot in just the past couple years. As recently as 2010, this street was mostly junk shops and abandoned buildings. At this point, only a handful of old businesses are left. It's now mostly cafe's and breweries.
These were built from 2015 to 2016 on part of the former Phoenix Foundry site. It is a massive complex.
This building is one of a couple buildings left over from the old steel foundry. The complex sat abandoned for a few years after the mill closed. Most of the less architecturally significant buildings were demolished in the 90's. This was one of the buildings that was saved. It now serves as a museum and banquet hall.
Before they fixed this place up, it still had all of the machinery left inside. Whenever I got the chance, I would always look in the windows here. Unfortunately, that was mostly scrapped when the restoration process began (I wanna say around 2006?).
This bridge carries both Gay Street and PA-113. Bridge Street was named after this, even though they aren't exactly related. Even though this bridge looks old, the structure seen here was built in 2009. The original concrete bridge was both outdated and falling apart, so it was demolished and rebuilt in a similar style.
quickly retrofitted to show movies as well. The theater's claim to fame was when it was used for a scene in The Blob. Unfortunately, the theater shut down in 1991. It sat empty for 8 years before it was purchased and reopened in 1999. Now, it primarily shows vintage movies (including The Blob, when they shut down the entire street for Blobfest. It's kind of a big deal here), in addition to independent and art films, and the occasional mainstream film.
This opened in 1983, after the owners bought out a closing general store. I don't think they changed anything, aside from the name. It closed in 2016 after the owners retired. The space has since been gutted out and will be converted into a microbrewery, just like every business in downtown Phoenixville that isn't a coffee shop.
This building used to be mostly vacant and falling into disrepair. There was a State Farm office in the middle (the left half of what is now the real estate agency), and some very decrepit spaces on either side. They fixed it up significantly in 2014.
I believe this began life as an independent supermarket in the 70's. It has been Produce Junction for as long as I can remember. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Produce Junction, it's sorta hard to describe. It's like a farmer's market that's not really a farmer's market. It's tables of fruits and vegetables, along with some flowers and plants.
This would have opened in the 30's. It looks like it was still selling gas until not too long ago (we're still talking maybe 30 years here, though). The gas pumps were removed sometime after the parking lot was last paved. They fixed up this building recently. Up until then, it still had the original white and blue Gulf paint job.
The long-abandoned White Hall Inn site was redeveloped into an apartment building for veterans. The framing is going up for the first floor in this picture. If I remember correctly, the finished product was three floors, maybe 4. Interestingly, they kept the old sign on the side of the building, and added a duplicate to the other side of the building.
I noticed these at a dairy store I occasionally shop at. I figure they must have come from one of the 2015 SuperFresh store auctions. A&P used to put them at the end of every checkout lane in their stores. At the end, it was really the company's only connection to the "Tea Company" it started out as.
Birchrunville is a little village close to Chester Springs, a little further off the beaten path. It's appearance hasn't changed much since the early 1800's, but it has now become much more of an upper-class neighborhood.
I forget what brought me in here this time, but it was the last I set foot in a Sports Authority store.
Not a great picture, but the best I was able to get before this place began a massive remodel. They somehow managed to stick their current design on this 96 year old building (which has been in continuous operation for that entire time). It certainly doesn't look a thing like this anymore.
Here's what it looked like in 1934, and here's the finished product. (Scroll to bottom of the page for second link)
I gave this store a little bit of coverage when if closed. Here we get to see it while it was operating as usual for a change.
An old pine tree fell across the trail here, but was caught by another tree. I don't remember seeing this the last few times I was out this way; they must have finally cleaned it up. It was fun to walk under, but I can see why they didn't want it there.
Mr. Tire has been here for several years; I'd be willing to bet they were the original tenant, although the building bears a strong resemblance to an older Firestone location.
This place totally deserved an award for most creative name. That didn't really work out in the long run, and the store closed in 2011. Looked like it lasted at least 30 years though. I feel like print centers have become obsolete. Doesn't seem like too many still exist today.
Time had not treated this place well. It was really falling apart before someone finally moved in (It's Phoenixville, obviously the new tenant is a microbrewery). The interior was entirely rebuilt, although the outside remains more or less the same.
Phoenixville Federal is a small chain of banks, with 4 branches. They were all built in a similar style to this. This looks like the smallest one, but it is still considered the flagship.
I'm pretty sure this is not the same building, but there was an A&P on the site here around 1915. It's been a Royal Bank for as long as I can remember. As I've mentioned previously, this is NOT related to the British Royal Banks, and was founded in King of Prussia.
Update: is now Bryn Mawr Trust as of Spring 2018. The companies merged.
Civil War Memorial, Phoenixville, PA
This was built in the 1960's to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the war. I can't find anything on this online, it appears to be one of the less famous monuments in town. I thought it was neat how they had an actual cannon on display here.
Fallout shelter sign. These aren't as rare as I would expect them to be, but still a cool find regardless. Might be a good thing to keep track of, too. Just in case North Korea does the unthinkable.
I'm curious how they name Chinese restaurants. It seems like they just roll dice with words on them, then stick either "Wok" or "Garden" on the end.
Another thing I feel the need to address is that the door is open, the "Open" sign is up, but none of the lights are on inside.
I forgot I had this picture yesterday. I got it through the window while I was walking back to my car. It looked like the building was experiencing some serious water damage. The microbrewery that moved in earlier this year probably had to do some mold remediation. The inside was gutted out and completely rebuilt anyway, so it probably wasn't too huge a problem.
This store opened in 1999, replacing an 80's store across the street. That space is now a Kimberton Whole Foods (which is not related in the least to Whole Foods). This was one of Eckerd's highest performing stores, and continues to thrive as a Rite Aid. This is their closest 24-hour location to me, so I wind up going here somewhat regularly. I initially got some pictures here back in 2013, which I shared shortly after I started Flickr. I only got 2 interior pictures that time, though. You can see them here.
The reason for this late-night visit in particular was because I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled the next morning, and needed to pick up a prescription in advance. I also grabbed some ice cream and Gatorade while I was here. So glad I got that over with.
Honda & P
A nighttime look at the A&P-turned-Honda Dealership in Downingtown.
This is a new apartment/shopping center. It's going up on both sides of Rapp's Dam Rd. The bulk of the center is going on the right of the road, on the site of an abandoned car dealership I've posted a couple pictures of. The left side was a vacant lot for several years. At one point, there was a massive brick Victorian mansion on the site. It had served as offices towards the end of its life, spent about a decade abandoned, and was finally demolished around 2009 to make the site more appealing to potential buyers.
This opened in 1745, and has been in continuous operation since then. It serves primarily as a gourmet (and pricey!) restaurant in the original tavern space, but still has rooms available upstairs. My grandparents had their 50th anniversary dinner here back in 2009; that's the only time I've eaten here. I remember the food is really good, though. I just need an excuse for somebody to buy me dinner here again. :P
All closed up, not even a year after BB&T took over. I thought they would have had more foresight when they bought this, and not splurged on all-new signage when they were just going to move down across the road.
It's open!
Here's my last shot from while it was still under construction. Less than 6 months later, Auto Zone would open in the old Rite Aid on the other end of the center. Now, all we need is for Pepboys to move in somewhere!
The conversion's complete! BB&T closed their branch across Rt. 113 when this opened.
This rest stop is a little smaller than most others, probably because it is the last one in the eastbound lane before branching off into the Northeast extension and the NJ Turnpike. This one just has an A-Plus and Starbucks, no Burger King.
A-Plus, Valley Forge Service Plaza, KOP, PA
This re-opened in 2015 when the turnpike commission rebuilt the rest stop. I love this new decor! Most of these newer-model stores now have warehouse ceilings, but they made an exception here. I'm assuming that's because they're sharing the building with a few other tenants. Interestingly, A-Plus has stopped using fluorescent lighting, and has switched to metal halide lights. It seems to be the opposite of what a lot of stores are doing now, but I like these a lot better.
This became First Niagara around 2010, when they first entered the Philadelphia market. I can't make out what the sign here originally said, but I don't think it was any of the other banks they bought. Key Bank took this building over after they bought FNB.
Update: Demolished sometime in late 2017 or early 2018.
This store opened with a blank brown overhang over the entrance. I thought they decided to ditch the wood-print veneer. Finally, a year and a half later, they made it look like it was supposed to!
The new façade is starting to come together! Looks like it's brick on the end, and will mostly be gray tile. I stuck my head around back today and figured out how this place went up so fast: It's made out of sheet metal instead of cinder block. I'm a little disappointed they went cheap here, but I have to admit it looks pretty good. Better than Giant's 2000's look.
I got dinner at Arpeggio while I was here. It was pretty good, but this was a couple days after I got my wisdom teeth out so I couldn't eat much except for the gazpacho and a small plate of spaghetti. The original plan was to keep both of these restaurants open until the new building was finished. Construction schedules didn't line up as planned, and they had to close for about a month. The new space wasn't quite ready. The last day of business was on a Friday in the spring. This was knocked down the following Monday.
I came back here earlier this summer to check out the progress, and the new Arpeggio was having its grand re-opening. I thought they were still closed, so I got lunch on the way there. Even though I didn't get to eat in the new restaurant, the owners were out greeting people and I got to meet them.
I really like the roof here. This is probably the least brutalist looking part of the center.
The boarded up windows are around where the building will be cut in half. Everything to the right stays- for now, while everything to the left is less than a month away from demolition.
With all of the trees cut down, the building looks a lot less welcoming (not that it was welcoming to start with).
Most of the work that was going on when this picture was taken were the utilities. The connections were all redone so they would attach to the surviving businesses, rather than the soon-to-be-history back of the mall. They were going to demolish the majority of the mall/office space, and leave the two surviving stores standing until their new homes were built. It didn't work out quite like that, but the restaurants operated for over six months here with most of the building done.
I think I have more pictures of this shopping center than anything else on my photostream. I have about 1 and a half more upload sets from this visit. Later, you'll see my coverage of this building after the vacant half has been knocked down, and another visit to the new center under construction. By the time I have that posted, I also probably will have had time to photograph the completed center.
From the parking lot, these windows provided a great view inside. Apparently, my camera couldn't see through the glare as well as my eyes. It looked like this was an office of some sort. There was a lot of water damage along the back wall.
Looks like the area surrounding the courtyard took a beating when they cut the trees out.
I thought it was interesting that they salvaged the
gooseneck lights that went along here.
The curb, bollards, and fire hydrant in the foreground are all remnants of the center's original driveway, which was rerouted around 2000 when they built the Genuardi's portion of the center.
Byers was a small graphite mining village located right outside of the larger village of Eagle. This hotel was built in 1865, and is one of the older buildings remaining here. It hasn't been a hotel in decades, and now houses offices. In 2003, the village of Byers and the former mine were added to the NRHP to protect it from the large amount of development going on around it. Eagle was practically torn in half when several buildings were demolished to make room for the CVS and ACME.
This was built in 2003, as a First Financial bank. Less than two years later, they merged with Willow Grove bank and became Willow Financial. Three years later, in 2008, they were bought by Harleysville Bank as they were over-expanding. in 2010, Harleysville started to implode, and was bought out by First Niagara. That lasted a whopping six years before being bought by Key Bank in 2016. Key Bank then closed in 2017.
This building has had the signage changed out a lot. I'm guessing the sheathing behind the siding is filled with holes at this point. In person, you can see the siding behind the signage is a slightly different color than the rest of it. It's been like that as long as I can remember, probably because it was getting replaced every couple years. The sign pictured actually was only up there for about a year. When they first opened, they used a version of their logo using only shades of brown. I guess that was an attempt to fit in with the village. I guess that just wasn't working, because they replaced it with the regular logo.
The name of this store may be a little misleading; it's not the kind of store you could buy a ball or tennis racket at. It's actually a family-owned hunting and fishing store. The store was originally located all the way out in Broomall, but relocated here in 1978 when the original owner retired and his sons lived out here.
This was built as a 1-room schoolhouse in 1860. Over the years, it was expanded to accommodate the growing population. In 1964, it was finally replaced with the Pickering Valley Elementary School which is actually where I went. In 2007, that building was demolished and replaced with a larger, new school. Eventually, I'm going to try to get around and post some pictures of the old building out of my second grade yearbook (that was the last year the old building was open, so they made the yearbook sort of a tribute to it.
...anyway, for the 53 years this hasn't been an elementary school, it has been operating as the Upper Uwchlan Township Building and Police Department.
A post-conversion update to this.
Even though that stucco looks a thousand times better than the old rotten wood look, I still can't stand the color.
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