Ajax Metal Company Plant Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Text courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form PDF for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.

The Ajax Metal Company Plant, standing at the southeast corner of Richmond Street and Frankford Avenue in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, is an important vestige of Philadelphia's foundry industry. The building is significant under Criterion A in the area of Industry for housing a local leader in the brass foundry industry for over four decades; the company was also an acclaimed producer of electric furnaces used to melt brass and bronze. The period of significance begins in 1907, when the oldest two sections of the Ajax Metal Company Plant were constructed, and ends in 1950 when . the parent company was purchased by H. Kramer & Company, a smelting and refining corporation based in Chicago, IL. The Ajax Electric Company, a subsidiary of the Ajax Metal Company, continued to produce electric furnaces in the southern wing of the building until 1954, when this division was moved to another building in Philadelphia. During the period of significance, the Ajax Metal Company Plant was a major contributor to Philadelphia's industrial strength by providing brass and bronze ingots for local military, railroad and marine use. The Ajax Metal Company also manufactured highly efficient electric furnaces for smelting brass that were sold and used throughout the country.