{"nrhp_refnum":"12001043","name":"Drueding Brothers Company Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"437-441 W. Master St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.97500802400003,"lon":-75.14433009199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-12-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick and sandstone industrial building at 437-441 W. Master Street in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, built in stages in 1907, 1920 and 1949 for the Drueding Brothers Company. The 1949 section was later demolished.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for industry as the only exclusive manufacturer of chamois leather and chamois leather products in Philadelphia and a national leader in chamois production. Chamois was tanned using codfish oil, which made it highly water resistant, and it was used for cleaning, polishing, underclothing and novelty bags.","narrative":"Eight- and ten-story tan brick and sandstone manufacturing building in Kensington, northeast Philadelphia, designed in the Neoclassical style. William Steele & Sons built the southern section in 1907 and the northern section in 1920, and the two halves share matching detailing. The Drueding Brothers Company used it for offices, manufacturing and storage. It is regarded as significant to industry because the company was the only exclusive manufacturer of chamois leather and chamois leather products in Philadelphia and a national leader in chamois production. Chamois was tanned with codfish oil, which made it highly water resistant, and the leather was used for cleaning, polishing, underclothing and novelty bags for jewelry or watches. The period of significance runs from 1907 to 1958, when one-third of the company relocated to North Carolina and its operations became decentralized.","period_of_significance":"1907-1958","architect_builder":"William Steele & Sons","architectural_style":"Neoclassical","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"All original windows are gone and openings are infilled with plywood; the cornice has been removed.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.286097-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/12001043.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12001043/998f420274-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12001043/998f420274-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drueding_Bros_Co_Building_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drueding_Bros_Co_Building_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997494","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131599445"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/drueding-brothers-company-building-12001043/"}