|
Chronological List of District Heating
Systems in the United States |
Printing Plant owner Thomas Presser bought twenty acres of land in Yeadon that he named Presser Park and on which he planned to build 100 houses that he would sell to his employees at a reasonable cost. This plan was likely interrupted by the Great War and he ended up trading the land and the 57 completed houses in 1919 to Samuel Longacre Brumbaugh in exchange for Brumbaugh's Longacre Apartment Hotel in downtown Philadelphia.
Brumbaugh built a central heating plant to serve his new Longacre Park, which he operated as sole proprietor until it was incorporated in 1929 as the Longacre Park Heating Company.
The heating system expanded, eventually serving more than 1,300 customers. It was acquired by the General Waterworks Company in 1962, and transferred to the Pennsylvania Utilities Investment Corporation before being acquired by International Service Industries in May 1972. The new firm declared bankruptcy in November of that year and the system shut down in June and the plant was auctioned off in August, but apparently had no takers. The City of Philadelphia's Gas Work offered to supply gas to the former steam customers and all seem to have had new heating systems in place by the end of the year.
|
| 1929 Map Showing Longacre Park Heating Company Plant |
References
1902 History
of the Longacre-Longaker-Longenecker family
1916 "Yeadon
is Booming," Chester Times, May 6, 1916
Yeadon is seeing one of the largest building operations this year it has
ever seen; the operation being very similar to that of the Viscose Company
of Marcus Hook, except in point of size. Theodore Presser, a well-known
publisher of Philadelphia, purchased twenty acres of land in Yeadon some
time ago and upon this land he will this summer erect 100 houses for
employees of his firm. Work upon this operation has been started, ground
having been broken this week for the houses. During the last couple of
months men have been at work laying sewers, and this part of the work has
been practically completed. The houses to be built will vary in value from
$2500 to $3500, and the total sum invested will be upward of $350,000. The
old Pembroke baseball field, which is on the rear of the tract, will be
converted into an athletic field for employees of the Presser publishing
house.
1919 Fritz v. Brumbaugh et al, May 29, 1919
1919 "One
of the largest real estate transactions ever made in Philadelphia,"
Evening Public Ledger, July 12, 1919, Page 19.
Last month in exchange of the Longacre Apartment Hotel, valued at
$1,750,000.00, for the suburban development "Presser Park," 57 houses and
50 acres of land, valued at $750,000, we effected.
1920 "Announcement
of Unusual Interest," Evening Public Ledger, June 9, 1920,
Page 27.
The public will be interested to learn that we have completed an
arrangement whereby the entire development of houses at Longacre Park
(formerly Presser Park), at Yeadon, Delaware county, is offered for sale
in individual units at most attractive prices. These houses, 57 in number,
in various styles and sizes, were originally built about three years ago
by day labor, and it was the owner's intention to hold them as a permanent
investment. The result of this is a number of beautifully designed
residences, which were built with the care and forethought that an
individual would exercise in the construction of his own home. We believe
this development offers the best selection of individual homes with regard
to their respective values that can be found anywhere within the environs
of Philadelphia. The houses are of either brick, hollow tile or stone
construction, and each is thoroughly modern in every particular, from a
compact semidetached residence of 7 rooms and tiled bath at $8500 to a
handsome all-stone Colonial residence on large corner lot at $20,000.
A most attractive feature is a central heating plant, which also supplies
abundance of hot water throughout the year. Any one considering the
purchase of a home should make a trip to Longacre Park and see for
themselves what a really attractive community is available to them.
1926 "Philadelphia
Chronology - 1925," The City of First: Being a Complete History
of the City of Philadelphia from Its Founding, in 1682, to the Present
Time
Page 477: Theodore Presser, president of the Theodore Presser &
Company, a larger publishing house, died at the Samaritan Hospital. He was
77 years old. Mr. Presser was widely known as a music publisher and the
founder of "Etude," a music publication. The Presser Home for Retired
Music Teachers at John and Jefferson streets, Germantown, was started in
1911 with an outlay of $1,000,000, including endowment. The building was
dedicated in 1914. A model village was started by Mr. Presser in 1917 near
Yeadon, Delaware county, for the employees of the Presser Publishing
Company.
1927 "Our
New Members," The Bulletin of the National District Heating
Association 12(3):118 (April 15, 1927)
S.L. Brumbaugh, 1700 Walnut St. Philadelphia, Pa.
1928 Longacre Park Heating Company incorporated in Pennsylvania, November 27, 1928.
1936 Samuel Longenecker Brumbaugh (8 Dec 1869 - 8 May 1936) grave
1936 "Samuel Longacre Brumbaugh Dies," The Times Tribune, May 9, 1936, Page 18
1954 Yeadon
Citizens Committee v. Longacre Park Heating Company, September 17,
1954, Decisions of the Public Utility Commission of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania 32:591
Page 592: Respondent was incorporated November 27, 1928. Prior to
this date the business was operated as a sole proprietorship, service
having begun in 1919. As of May 31, 1953, respondent furnished steam
heating. service to 1,309 domestic customers, six other private customers
and four municipal customers, a total of 1,319 customers, in a portion of
the Borough of Yeadon, Delaware County.
1955 "Attorney
Thomas B. Gibb Collapses, dies on subway," The Philadelphia
Inquirer, February 4, 1955, Page 12.
He also was president and a director of the Longacre Park Heating Co.,
Yeadon.
1962 The Longacre Park Heating Company was sold to the General Waterworks Company.
1968 "Heat
Firms Seek Rate Increase," Simpsons Daily Leader Times, July
17, 1968, Page 31.
Lewis Jones, $52,100 for 1,917 customers in a section of Overbrook and the
Merion - Penn Wynne areas in Montgomery County.
Overbrook Steam Heat, $39,000 for 1,769 customers in Overbrook area.
Longacre Park Heating, $29,200 for 1,329 customers in Yeadon area of
Delaware County.
1972 "International
Buys Steam Heat Plants," Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, May 13,
1972, Page 2.
Wilkes-Barre
Scranton
Overbrook
Lewis Jones, Inc.
Longacre Park Heating Company of Yeadon
1972 "Steam Heat Firms File Bankruptcy Petitions in Phila.," Times-Leader, November 9, 1972, Page 1 | Part 3 |
1973 "Feeling the Chill: Many Steam-Heat Companies Bemoan Loss of Customers, New Air Standards," The Wall Street Journal, January 10, 1973, Page 34.
1973 "1,200 Yeadon homes, 4 schools, lack heat," Delaware County Daily Times, January 30, 1973, Page 1.
1973 "Steam Heat Owners Must Post $125,000 in 10 days," Times Leader, May 20, 1973, Page B1 | Part 2 |.
1973 "Steam-Heat
Clients Get City Offer," Philadelphia Daily News, June 22,
1973, Page 6.
Convert to gas heat at a reduced cost.
1973 "3
Steam Heating Plants to be sold at public auction," The
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 25, 1973, Page 41.
Longacre Park Heating co.
Overbrook Steam Heat Co.
Lewis Jones, Inc.
1973 "Heating
Changes Proceed," The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 4,
1973, Page 229. | Part
2 |
© 2026 Morris A. Pierce