Free Philadelphia's Lost Waterfront by Harry Kyriakodis Page B

with stores. The Delaware Expressway now covers the site completely. But incredibly, all of Stephen Girard’s household possessions still exist. These items—furniture, paintings, silver and textiles made in Philadelphia, England, France and China—are on display inside Founder’s Hall at Girard College.
    N ATHAN T ROTTER AND F RANK W INNE
    Another importer/exporter who did very well in Philadelphia’s river district was Nathan Trotter (1787–1853), born on Elfreth’s Alley into a Quaker household. He lived and worked in this part of town all his life, plying his trade as a metals refiner and broker. Trotter grew rich and, like Girard, died a millionaire.
    His firm, Nathan Trotter & Company, was headquartered at 36 North Front Street for over 150 years. His storehouse remains standing and is now a condominium. Still in business in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Nathan Trotter & Co. is the oldest metals manufacturer and distributor in the United States.
    That both Trotter and Girard became so moneyed while living a mere block from each other along the Delaware is remarkable. Other millionaires lived and labored on the Philadelphia waterfront; they will be profiled in subsequent chapters.
    The one-time offices and warehouse of Frank W. Winne & Son are next to Trotter’s building. Founded in Philadelphia in 1895, Winne was the nation’s largest maker, importer and distributor of ropes, twines and packaging products—all in high demand during Philadelphia’s bygone mercantile period. The Winne buildings are now apartments, and the Winne company is still based in the Philadelphia area.
    This block of Front Street most epitomizes the thoroughfare at the peak of its commercial and maritime importance—at least the west side of the block. The east side has disappeared as a result of I-95. And, of course, comparable four- and five-story structures that once flanked both Water Street and Delaware Avenue are gone due to the highway.

    Front Street today, showing Penn’s View Hotel/Ristorante Panorama, Old City Mercantile (Girard’s Warehouses) and the Nathan Trotter and Frank Winne buildings. All structures are from the early to mid-1800s. Note how I-95 cuts off Front Street. Photo by the author .
    S TEPHEN G IRARD ’ S W ILL (I OF III)
    Stephen Girard left the City of Philadelphia some $500,000—an immense sum in the 1830s—for use in improving the riverfront area east of Front Street. Almost the whole rise in importance of the Port of Philadelphia is traceable to this bequest.
    Girard was obviously well acquainted with Penn’s stairways, given that he lived among them and one abutted his home. In his will, after explaining his understanding of how the bank steps and alleys came to be public property, Girard expressed dismay that some were no longer accessible:
    [O] wing to neglect or to some other cause on the part of those who have had the care of the city property, several encroachments have been made on them by individuals, by wholly occupying, or building over them, or otherwise .
    This was a time when both rich and poor lived alongside one another, a common occurrence in Philadelphia until the end of the 1800s. So it’s not surprising that Girard was concerned about the detrimental effect this was having on the health of people who lived on the crammed riverbank: “[I]n that way, the inhabitants, more particularly those who reside in the neighbourhood, are deprived of the benefit of that wholesome air, which [the alleys’] opening and cleansing throughout would afford.”
    Some modern accounts have it that the bank steps were built under the terms of Girard’s will, but this is not the case. Later chapters will address the will further.
    O LD C ITY M ERCANTILE /P ENN ’ S V IEW H OTEL /R ISTORANTE P ANORAMA
    Delaware Avenue in front of Pier 3 Condominium occupies the space where Stephen Girard’s docks and wharves were located long