Heywood Chair Factory

The Heywood Brothers Company was founded in 1826 in Massachusetts by five brothers. The firm opened a branch in Philadelphia by 1875 and occupied 802-804 Market Street. The company also manufactured baby carriages by 1881, having moved to the northwest corner of Broad and Cherry streets. Their new chair factory at 1010-1014 Race Street was open by 1892. On the upper seven floors, wood rods were steamed, bent, and made into furniture. The form supplied a number of educational institutions with furniture, including Bryn Mawr College.

The designer of the Race Street building, Willis G. Hale (1841-1907), had already designed a mansion at Broad and Girard Streets for Peter Widener and several local bank buildings. The building features tan brick, delicate Queen Anne style decoration and pressed metal trim. The neighborhood of the Race Street building became Philadelphia's Chinatown by the late 1890s. The Heywood Brothers Company moved from the Race Street factory building in 1908, to 244-254 South 5th Street. The Race Street building was owned by William Weightman by 1910.

The manager of Heywood Brothers & Company in Philadelphia in 1895 was named Samuel Sailor. The Heywood Brothers Company merged with another prominent furniture manufacturer, Wakefield Company, in 1897. The firm became Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company. The firm shortened their name to Heywood-Wakefield in 1921. The company was still operating at the 5th Street location in the mid-1920s; that building has not survived. Heywood-Wakefield operated seven factories by the 1920s. The company went on to produce popular Art Deco and mid-century solid wood furniture in the 1930s to 1950s. South Beach Furniture Company obtained the rights to the Heywood-Wakefield name in 1992. The company continues to make solid wood furniture in America from American-grown Northern Yellow Birch trees.

By the early 1980s, the first floor of the Race Street building was occupied by a Chinese restaurant. The upper floors had remained industrial into the 1980s and were used then for manufacturing clothing. The years from the early 1990s to 2003 were the hotel era for the building. Since 2003, the building has been condominiums. The Tenten complex offers one and two-bedroom units and bi-level penthouses from about 500 to 1,400 square feet. The building features a doorman, elevator, and individual HVAC in each unit. Recent condo sales have ranged from $90,000 to $240,000.

Boyd, Sibhald F. Boyd, William Henry. Boyd's Co-Partnership and Residence Business Directory of Philadelphia City. Philadelphia, PA. C.E. Howe Company, 1895.

Center City Condos. 1010 Race Street, Center City Philadelphia - Realtors. January 1st 2020. Accessed December 21st 2020. http://www.centercitycondos.com/mid_rises/1010_race.html.

Heywood-Wakefield. Looking Back-Looking Forward, About Heywood-Wakefield. January 1st 2020. Accessed December 20th 2020. https://www.heywoodwakefield.com/about/.

Kyriakodis, Harry. Heywood Brothers Chair Factory, 1892, Workshop of the World - Philadelphia. May 1st 2007. Accessed December 20th 2020. https://www.workshopoftheworld.com/center_city/heywood.html.

Thomas, George E. NRHP Nomination of Heywood Chair Factory. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1984.