Lost Philadelphia

 

Organized chronologically, starting with the earliest losses and ending with the latest, the book features much-loved Philadelphia institutions that failed to stand the test of time, such as the Horn & Hardart automat or the Market Street ferries. It highlights grand buildings erected in the Victorian era that were too costly to be refurbished, and movie theaters that the age of television made redundant. Philadelphia's shipbuilding tradition is one of the more recent losses with the Navy Yard closing in 1995 and the historic Cramp & Sons shipyard disappearing much earlier in 1946. Other sites include Fairmount Water Works, The Great Central Fair, Music Fund Hall, Graff House, Masonic Hall, Smith and Windmill Islands, Grand Depot, Starr Garden, Lubinville Film Studios, Logan Square, Baldwin Locomotive Works, Metropolitan Opera House, Old Post Office, Arch Street Theatre, Betsy Ross House, Baker Bowl, Broad Street Station, Eastern State Penitentiary, and the Stetson Hat Company.