This 1893 cover from Riverside, New Jersey, has an "all-over" advertising illustration of
the Philadelphia Watch Case Company Building.
Theophilus Zurbrugg (1861-1912), a Swiss immigrant, was the owner of the Philadelphia
Watch Case Company. He relocated the company from Philadelphia to Riverside in 1892.
Zurbrugg selected the old Pavilion Hotel, built in 1852, for his new factory. The hotel had
been vacant for some time when Zurbrugg purchased it in 1892.
The company expanded rapidly, producing gold-filled watch cases. In 1906, Zurbrugg began
construction of a new building south of the old hotel. Completed in early 1908, the 7-story
office building features an prominent clock tower at the corner.
The 1893 cover therefore shows the original Philadelphia Watch Case building, the old
Pavilion Hotel, before the expansion.
In 1912, Theophilus Zurbrugg passed away and left money in his will to build a hospital
near the Watch Case factory building.
Today the Philadelphia Watch Case building is a historic landmark located along N. Pavilion
Avenue, at the corner formed by the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and Lafayette
Avenue. You can see the clock tower facing this corner in the satellite photo shown below.
In the early 20th century, the Philadelphia Watch Case Company (later known as the
H. K. Parker Company) employed 1,000 workers and produced 6,000 watch cases per day.
As the popularity of pocket watches declined, it ceased operations, and the building
was vacated in 1972.
The Philadelphia Watch Case Company building is now occupied by new owners, who
recently demolished the rear section of the building that was once the Pavilion Hotel.
In the satellite photo shown above you can see vacant lot along N. Pavilion Street. This
is where the building shown on the 1893 advertising cover stood.
The Zurbrugg Memorial Hospital is located just south of Lafayette Avenue, on Zurbrugg Way.
Posted 03/08/2009 7:48 pm
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