{"nrhp_refnum":"06000664","name":"American Railway Express Company Garage","other_names":["Eckert Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3002-3028 Cecil B. Moore Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.98388189600007,"lon":-75.18378336099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-08-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story reinforced concrete garage at 3002-3028 Cecil B. Moore Avenue, at the southwest corner of Cecil B. Moore and Glenwood Avenues in North Philadelphia. It was built in 1922 for the American Railway Express Company by the Philadelphia Realty Company.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an early example of the commercial parking garage and an outstanding example of Commercial style work by Harris & Richards. It was the only private garage the American Railway Express Company built in Philadelphia during its years in business, 1917 to 1929. Its brick and tile facades and its interior of open floors with concrete columns illustrate the design of garages for motor trucks.","narrative":"Built in 1922 as a truck garage on a wedge-shaped lot in North Philadelphia, this two-story reinforced concrete building is faced in red brick with buff brick belt courses and green glazed tile accents. The American Railway Express Company used it to house a large fleet of electric delivery trucks, and the interior held roughly 200 motor trucks split evenly between the two floors. The design was by Harris & Richards, and the contractor was Robert E. Lamb Company. The developer, John Presper Eckert, Sr., was president of the Philadelphia Realty Company. The garage is regarded as an early example of purpose-built parking garage architecture. Its exterior of tall brick piers, steel industrial windows and decorative capitals reflects the commercial style of the period. After 1931 the building was sold and stood empty for nearly a decade, and later occupants included Esso Standard Oil Company and Eastern Electric Company.","period_of_significance":"1922","architect_builder":"Harris & Richards, architects; Robert E. Lamb Company, builder","architectural_style":"Commercial Style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The building is presently vacant and awaits rehabilitation. Its roof was removed in 2004 for safety reasons.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.331515-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/06000664.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000664/a2d1750de2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000664/a2d1750de2-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Railway_Express_Philly_a.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Railway_Express_Philly_a.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"72001151","name":"Fairmount Park","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/fairmount-park-72001151/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996980","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Railway_Express_Company_Garage","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4744789"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/american-railway-express-company-garage-06000664/"}