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Birkbeck building
On related pages:
This is the building on the
northwest corner of Centre and Main Streets, originally referred to
as the Birkbeck block. For a few
years an upper floor was the home of the Mining &
Mechanical
Institute (MMI). MMI was first opened in Drifton in 1879. After a
devastating fire in 1888, the school reopened in temporary quarters in
Freeland, first in the Passarella building and then in
the Birkbeck Block on Centre and Main streets, shown here in a
photo courtesy of the Standard Speaker. A new MMI building was
completed in late 1902, so this photo predates MMI's moving
into its new home on south Centre Street. The Birkbeck
building
is still there. It was built for Birkbeck's hardware store, and in the
1950s-1960s the first floor was the Western Auto Store. Photo
courtesy of the Standard Speaker.
In 2007, with Tom Landers’
permission and assistance, I scanned this photo along with a group of
others that were stored in the YMCA basement. Joe Flanagan tells me
that most of
these photos have now been given to the Freeland Historical Society. We
enjoy these views of the Birkbeck building shown at left and
below courtesy of Tom
Landers, Joe Flanagan and the Freeland Historical Society.This photo had previously been published in the Freeland Suburban PennySaver in 1963, but the quality of the image was poor. Here is a fresh scan at a higher resolution.
I don't know what year this photo was taken or what the occasion was, but the building is really decked out with banners and flags. I'm guessing that it was taken in the first decade of the 20th century, perhaps around the time of the Pearl Jubilee or maybe even during that celebration, but I don't really know. Guesses are welcome!
Above, left to right: the first floor, the second floor, the second and third floors. The views of the upper floors shows that attorney Charles Orion Stroh had a second floor corner office, and at present I'm not sure what business(es) occupied the other space on that floor at the time of this photo. I can’t read the signs on the right-hand windows, but it looks like an insurance company, possibly the Prudential Insurance Company of America? I’ll try to confirm or correct that later. The third floor held Dr. Nixon Maley’s dental office and some club rooms; the Eagles met there.
A different photo courtesy of Charlie Gallagher showed the lettering on the top front of the building: “Birkbeck 1883”. That is hidden by a banner in the photo scanned at the YMCA. Later that evidence of when and for whom the building was made was removed, and “K of C” was put there in its place, for Knights of Columbus. The rest of this photo and a similar view will be part of a Birkbeck building webpage (in progress).
William Birkbeck’s hardware store held pride of place on the first floor on the corner. In 1895 he advertised hardware, paints, oils, glass, plumbing, heating and ventilating, roofing and spouting, stoves, heaters and ranges. It looks like he had a very eye-catching window display! In this photo you can also see a couple of the buildings across Main Street.
Between stores on either side of the first floor is a large door leading to the stairs for the upper floors. More of the hardware store window display is shown, and a welcome banner for the Fraternal Order of Eagles hangs over the central doorway. Signs to the right of the central doorway advertise Dr. Maley’s office, possibly Philadelphia One Price Clothing (Samuel Senie, manager), and other tenants. For a time Michael Merkt had his confectionery here in a storefront of the first floor, including when the photo was taken.
Here we see
Michael Merkt’s confectionery. The sign in the left-hand window
advertises ice cream, which he made on the premises, along with a wide
variety of candies. The banner across the front advertises Ice Cream
&
Soda Water. There is a “Welcome” banner over the door, and in front is
parked his horse-drawn wagon, on the side of which is an advertisement
(faint in this photo) for Bressler’s Bank Roll cigars. Notice that even
the horse is dressed up for the
occasion!