1010-1014 Race Street, Philadelphia PA 19107
© Helene Schenck & Michael
Parrington, Workshop of the World (Oliver Evans Press,
1990).
The Heywood Company began in
Massachusetts in 1826. The firm was noted for its
production of bentwood furniture in the style of Michael
Thonet, and was commended at the Centennial Exhibition in
Philadelphia in 1876 for "the perfection acquired in the
use of bentwood, thereby securing strength and weight . .
. and for general excellence in manufacture and
finish." 1
By the end of the
nineteenth century, the company was supplying primarily
academic markets; for example Cope and Stewardson used
Heywood chairs and tables when they furnished Bryn Mawr
College in the 1890s.
The second warehouse of the Heywood Company was opened in
Philadelphia in the spring of 1874 at 802-804 Market
Street. In 1881, the firm moved into a newly developing
commercial zone at the northwest corner of Broad and
Cherry Streets. At that time, it was also listed as
making children's carriages.
Between 1892 and 1908, the Heywood Brothers production
plant was at 1010-1014 Race Street; this change in
location from a commercial street to a manufacturing
street may suggest a change in the role of their products
from fashionable to utilitarian by the end of the
century. In 1908, they moved to another large building at
244-254 South 5th Street, where they were still in
operation in 1926. That building is now demolished.
The building at 1010-1014 Race Street was built from
plans of late Victorian architect Willis G. Hale, and is
representative of that architect's florid Victorian
style, while incorporating some of the stylistic changes
of the 1890s.
In the twentieth century, the building remained a
manufacturing loft, with clothing being produced there.
The first floor was converted into a Chinese restaurant,
typical of the region, which by the 1890-1900 period had
become Philadelphia's Chinatown. Today the building
houses a Quality Inn.
1 Anon., A
Completed Century, 1826-1926: The Story of
Heywood-Wakefield Company .
Update May
2007 (by
Harry Kyriakodis):
Still standing. The building had flown the flag of
Quality Inn, Ramada Suites, and Clarion Suites, from 1985
to 2002. It has since been converted into a condominium
called "TenTen."