Special Tour: Wayne Junction featuring newly restored Autograph Apartments

The Wayne Junction Historic District, bordering lower Germantown and upper Nicetown, was once a bustling Philadelphia industrial center known as "Workshop of the World." The Wayne Junction Train Station allowed for easy transportation to import raw goods and export specialized manufactured goods which would be developed and produced for nearly a century from the late 1800’s to the mid 1900’s.

Easily distinguished by its deep red brick facades, these one to four story industrial buildings produced a wealth of specialized items including metal engravings from the Max Levy Company, ball bearings from the Arguto Oilless Bearing Company, the first commercial X-ray plates in the world from Keystone Dry Plate & Film Works, and much more. Ever adapting, these buildings have been expanded, replaced, and gone through many transformations to suit the needs of ever changing industries throughout the years.

In the later decades of the 1900s, Wayne Junction experienced disinvestment and decline as manufacturing moved elsewhere, leaving many of the buildings vacant and deteriorated. While most of these industrial buildings still stand, they remained unused and neglected until recently. A revitalization plan is now being implemented by local developer Ken Weinstein, President of Philly Office Retail. He is actively transforming many former manufacturing buildings into mixed-use spaces for residential and commercial uses, bringing new energy and enthusiasm to this area. His projects include the newly completed 32 unit Autograph Apartments (formerly known as the Max Levy Autograph Building), the adaptive reuse of the Blaisdell Pencil Factory into offices, Deke's BBQ and Attic Brewing, and the Charles Schaeffer School which has been converted into much needed office space including Philly Office Retail's offices.

Join real estate developer and Preservation Alliance board member Ken Weinstein for a tour of the historic Wayne Junction area to get a closer look at his redevelopment projects while experiencing Philadelphia’s historical importance in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the hope and potential for Wayne Junction’s future. Tours orchestrated by the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.