The photo at right is of 1009 Arch Street circa 1960. Don't you love the fins on the cars? The sign says: Dougherty's Kitchen Equipment and Supplies. *William F. Dougherty was born December 11, 1850 in Philadelphia to Mary McCrory and Charles Joseph Dougherty. In the 1870 US census Charles lists his occupation as sheet metal worker and William is apprenticed to a tin smith. William is listed in the 1875 Philadelphia City Directory living at 808 Buttonwood Street and with an occupation of "stoves". In 1877 at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, William married Mary Ann Fitzgerald and in the ensuing years they had eight children: Charles, Alice, William, Thomas, Joseph, John, Anna Mary and Edward.
At the time of his death in 1920, William F. Dougherty's (my gggrandfather) obituary states that he was in the business of manufacturing cooking equipment for 55 years and the business was located at 925 Arch Street. Over the years it was located at 158 North 9th Street, 925 Arch Street and 1009 Arch Street.
I have an undated list of installations (which states the business started in 1852!) with such notable institutions as US Public Service Hospitals in Walla Walla, WA, Fort Bernard, NM, Rutland, MA and Prescott, AZ, Atlanta Terminal, Atlanta, GA, Hotel Rittenhouse, Philadelphia, PA, Hotel Charlestown, Charlestown, SC, Sing Sing Prison, NY, Campbell Soup, Camden, NJ, Bucknell University, and the Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Valley, NJ.
Thanks to EBAY and other internet cites I have been able to purchase several pieces of Dougherty china. The restaurant china was actually made by Shenango China, New Castle, PA and is stamped "made for William F. Dougherty & Sons, Philadelphia, PA". I also have a brass stovepipe label with "W.F. Dougherty & Sons 1009 Arch Street Phila."
*PHOTO CREDIT
http://www.phillyhistory.org This link give you marvelous access to the Philadelphia Photo Archive: The Philadelphia Department of Records has over 2 million photographs dating back to the late nineteenth century. Among these photographs are stunning pictures of ships arriving at dock, horse-drawn carriages on cobble streets, and the Eastern State Penitentiary, America’s most historic prison. The PhillyHistory.org website is a GIS application that allows the public to search for historic photographs based on location. Users can locate photographs within a certain neighborhood, within a radius of an address, near a particular intersection, or by a place name like City Hall. In addition, users can search for photographs during certain years and they can search the descriptions of photographs by keyword. Also available on the PhillyHistory.org website is a weekly updated historical blog and digital access to the Department of Records’ Historic Streets Index and Historical Photo Database. Users can make scan requests and purchase photos.
