Wartime Heritage
Port Richmond played a major maritime role in American wars from the American Revolution and onwards through World War II. The William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, established in 1830 and located nearby, provided skilled work for local workers, who built the battleships USS Indiana (BB-1) and the USS Massachusetts (BB-2) for the Spanish-American War in the late 19th century.
The shipyard, and others in the area, also built surface ships during the American Civil War—such as the USS Kensington—and during World War I, and World War II when Cramps' workforce employed 18,000 skilled workers.
During World War II, Port Richmond contained numerous docks and wharfs for the loading and unloading of war cargo. In addition, the riverside area contained numerous ancillary facilities, such as warehouses, work shops, and offices.
The Reading Railroad had used the port as a terminus for the transfer of coal, and, during the war, railroad service remained a vital function of the port, for its ability to quickly transfer goods to and from the port. The old Orinoka Mills in Richmond, was used as a training and wartime production facility in association with Mastbaum during the war.
Today, the port is a shell of its former World War II self, although some marine services still remain, such as the Tioga Marine Terminal at Tioga and Delaware Avenue.
Read more about this topic: Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Famous quotes containing the words wartime and/or heritage:
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—José Bergamín (1895–1983)
“Flowers ... that are so pathetic in their beauty, frail as the clouds, and in their colouring as gorgeous as the heavens, had through thousands of years been the heritage of children—honoured as the jewellery of God only by them—when suddenly the voice of Christianity, counter-signing the voice of infancy, raised them to a grandeur transcending the Hebrew throne, although founded by God himself, and pronounced Solomon in all his glory not to be arrayed like one of these.”
—Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859)