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Lam Building Company Architectural Blueprints Collection

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Held at: Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
SCRC 158
Repository:
Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
Extent:
0.83 linear feet (1 box + 21 map folders)
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Lam Building Company Architectural Blueprints Collection, SCRC 158, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Date:
1909-1930 (inclusive)
Form:
Architectural drawings, Manuscripts, and Microfilms
Abstract:

The Lam Building Company was founded in 1876 by Dutch immigrant Charles M. Lam. The firm is thought to be the first Jewish-owned construction company in Philadelphia. After Lam's death in 1922, the business was continued by his son, Alfred C. Lam, and later, his grandson, Charles M. Lam. The firm constructed hundreds of buildings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including synagogues, hospitals, charitable institutions, warehouses, stores, and private residences. The firm was also known as the Lam Building Corporation.

The Lam Building Company Architectural Blueprints Collection contains blueprints, drawings, and specifications related to the construction of Jewish establishments in the Philadelphia area. This collection represents a small portion of the company's work, and includes architectural blueprints for charitable organizations, synagogues, cemeteries, banks, and private residences.

The collection is arranged into 2 series as follows:

Series 1: Architectural blueprints, 1909-1929, undated
Series 2: Specifications, 1909-1930

Donated by the National Museum of American Jewish History in September 1986. Collection previously administered by the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, acquired by Temple in June 2009.

Series 1: Architectural blueprints are available on microfilm.

The physical location of some blueprints is unknown. Please consult the microfilm copy of the collection for the most complete drawing sets.

Collection processed and finding aid prepared in June 2015 by Jenna Marrone, Project Archivist, Special Collections Research Center.

Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Project (PAB). http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/.

National American Jewish History Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

People
Organization
Subject
Place

Publisher
Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
Finding Aid Author
Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.
Finding Aid Date
June 2025
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

The Lam Building Company Architectural Blueprints Collection is the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.

Collection Inventory

Scope and Contents

Series 1: Architectural blueprints, 1909-1929, undated, contains construction drawings and blueprints for buildings that housed Jewish organizations, hospitals, and businesses. This series includes blueprints of charitable institutions, such as the Hebrew Orphans Home, the Downtown Jewish Orphans Home, the Hebrew Sheltering Home and Day Nursery, and the Hebrew Sheltering Home for the Aged. There are construction drawings for Jewish organizations, including the Young Women's Union, Young Men's Hebrew Association, the Philadelphia branch of the United Synagogues of America, and the United Hebrew Charities. Synagogues represented in this collection include Keneseth Israel, Tifereth Israel, Beth El Synagogue, Beth El Emeth's Mikveh Israel Cemetery, and Beth Kehillah in Atlantic City. This collection also includes blueprints from the Jewish Hospital and the Jewish Maternity Hospital, as well as People's Bank, Emanuel Asher and Son Funeral Home, and a private residence. Blueprints for an unidentified medical office can be found at the end of the collection. This series represents the work of architects such as Louis Levi, Frank E. Hahn, Max Haupt, Louis Magaziner, William Woodburn Potter, Stanley K. Neubauer, and David Supowitz, among others.

Please note that some blueprint sets are incomplete and do not represent as-built structures. For more complete blueprints, please consult the microfilm copy of the collection. This series is arranged alphabetically by building project title.

Beth El Emeth, Mikveh Israel Cemetery: alterations and additions to the Chapel and Dwelling, 55th and Market Streets, Lam Building Company, March 1913.
Map Folder M1a
Beth El Emeth, Mikveh Israel Cemetery: 1896 survey map (copy), Haupt & Franklin, undated.
Map Folder M1a
Beth El Emeth, Mikveh Israel Cemetery: survey drawing, Lam Building Company, undated.
Map Folder M1a
Beth El Synagogue: Rothschild Memorial Chapel, 58th and Walnut Streets, Louis Levi (1 of 2), November 1914-May 1915.
Map Folder M1b
Beth El Synagogue: Rothschild Memorial Chapel, 58th and Walnut Streets, Louis Levi (2 of 2), November 1914-May 1915.
Map Folder M1a
Beth Kehillah Congregation: Community Synagogue, Maryland and Pacific Aves., Atlantic City, NJ, Howard A. Stout, May 1921.
Map Folder M1b
Downtown Jewish Orphan's Home: 9th and Shunk Streets, J. E. Fieldstein and A.C. Bieber, March-December 1924.
Map Folder M1b
Emanuel Asher and Son Funeral Home: alterations and additions, 1309 North Broad Street, Frank E. Hahn, April 1920.
Map Folder M1b
Hebrew Orphans Home: alterations to the Main Building, [12th and Green Lane], Magaziner and Potter, June 1913.
Map Folder M1b
Hebrew Sheltering Home and Day Nursery: alterations and additions, 510-512 N. 4th Street, Magaziner and Potter, 1909, 1915.
Map Folder M1b
Jewish Hospital: Laboratory, York and Tabor Roads, Magaziner & Potter, February-June 1916.
Map Folder M1b
Jewish Hospital: Surgical Building, York and Tabor Roads, Children's Ward and Toilet Room, Magaziner and Potter, May 1916.
Map Folder M1a
Jewish Maternity Hospital: proposed alterations, 532-534 Spruce Street, Sauer and Hahn, May 1909.
Map Folder M1a
Jewish Sheltering Home: additions, 315-317 South 3rd Street, M. Haupt, August 1915.
Map Folder M1b
Keneseth Israel Synagogue: alterations to basement room of Alumni Building, 1717 North Broad Street, Silverman & Levi, July-August 1929.
Map Folder M1b
People's Bank: alterations, Southeast Corner of 5th and Bainbridge Streets, Frank E. Hahn and S. Brian Baylinson, July 1925.
Map Folder M1a
Private residence and doctor's office: alterations and additions, 2829 Girard Avenue, Neubauer and Supowitz, June-July 1925.
Map Folder M1a
[Tifereth Israel Congregation]: proposed synagogue, [40th and Westminster Avenues], Magaziner and Potter., April 1913.
Map Folder M1a
United Hebrew Charities [Federation of Jewish Charities]: alterations and additions, 516 North 4th Street, Simon & Bassett., July 1917.
Map Folder M1a
United Synagogue of America, Philadelphia Branch: alterations and additions, 3425-3427 Walnut Street, Neubauer and Supowitz, circa 1925.
Map Folder M1b
Young Men's Hebrew Association: alterations, 1616 Master Street, Sauer and Hahn, August-October 1915.
Map Folder M1b
Young Women's Union: alterations, 428 Bainbridge Street, Magaziner and Potter, June 1916.
Map Folder M1a
Unidentified medical office: address unknown, William H. Hoffman & Co., undated.
Map Folder M1a

Scope and Contents

Series 2: Specifications, 1909-1930, contains specifications associated with projects located in Series 1: Architectural blueprints. Specifications for construction on Beth Kehillah Congregation synagogue, Hebrew Orphans Home, Hebrew Sheltering Home and Day Nursery, Jewish Sheltering Home [for the Aged], Keneseth Israel Synagogue, and the Philadelphia branch of the United Synagogue of America, are included here. This series is arranged alphabetically by building project title.

Beth Kehillah Congregation community synagogue, May 1921.
Box 1 Folder 1
Hebrew Orphans Home: alterations and additions, June 1913.
Box 1 Folder 2
Hebrew Sheltering Home and Day Nursery, 1909.
Box 1 Folder 3
Jewish Sheltering Home [for the Aged], circa 1915.
Box 1 Folder 4
Keneseth Israel Synagogue: alterations and repair work to Alumni Building, July 1930.
Box 1 Folder 5
United Synagogue of America, Philadelphia Branch: alterations and additions, circa 1925.
Box 1 Folder 6

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