From liberty lands to a manufacturing district
William Penn set aside the land north of his city as liberty lands, and by 1803 Northern Liberties was a district with its own government, one of the ten largest cities in the country until 1840. Mills, breweries, tanneries, paint and chemical works and iron and stove foundries lined its streets, and the Schmidt brewery made beer here from 1860 until 1987. One of those shops, the Eagle Iron Works on North Third Street, was built in 1871 to make steam engines and boilers. The district joined Philadelphia in 1854, and its rowhouses remain the core of the neighborhood.
Boiler and furnace repair in Northern Liberties rowhouses
A historic district created in 1985 covers 209 Federal, Greek Revival and Italianate buildings, and older brick rows continue well beyond its edges. Houses from that era commonly heat with a gas boiler and radiators, or with a furnace added later in the basement, and the piping often shows the work of several owners. When the heat stops, we trace the fault before replacing anything, give you the price before the work starts and answer no-heat calls at any hour. A gas boiler or furnace here runs on PGW gas, while the air conditioning and any heat pump draw PECO power.
Heat pumps and AC in Northern Liberties lofts and condos
By the 2000 census only about 3,500 people lived here, down from about 17,000 at mid-century. Then came Liberties Walk, apartments over shops along four blocks begun in the early 2000s, and the Piazza, an 80,000-square-foot plaza ringed by apartments that opened on the old Schmidt site in May 2009. Old industrial buildings were turned into apartments and offices, among them the Eagle Iron Works, reopened as 12 lofts with ceilings up to 22 feet and the ductwork left in view. Building has not slowed: in 2024 the 19123 ZIP code accounted for about a quarter of all new homes completed in Philadelphia. In condos and newer buildings, each home commonly has its own heat pump, with the outdoor unit on the roof, and in a loft the layout of the ducts decides whether the warm air reaches the people or stays near the ceiling.
Cooling, replacement and maintenance in Northern Liberties
Older rowhouses were never built for central air, but where there is attic space, an air handler up there can cool the top floor through short duct runs. When a boiler, furnace or heat pump is near the end, you see the replacement price beside the repair price, and new systems can often go in the next day. A $54 Seasonal Maintenance visit keeps a rooftop heat pump’s coil clean and its drain clear before the season that works it hardest. Our shop in Bala Cynwyd is about eight miles away by the expressways, and we make same-day repairs when we can.