Abandoned building in Philadelphia: Beury Building

Story, photos by Cassie Hepler

Deep in North Philly sits another historic building on North Broad Street that has been left to crumble: the Beury Building aka “Forever Boner” tagged on the side. Once an Art Deco tower, the building was the National Bank of North Philadelphia in 1926. Designed by Architect William H. Lee, with a unique mix of Late Gothic Revival and Art Deco for the apartment building. The 14-story structure (the Divine Lorraine is only 10 stories) became known as the Beury Building after the bank’s first president, Charles E. Beury, (pronounced “Berry”) who was also once the president of Temple University.
This was stop number three on the abandoned building exploration tour and I arrived by myself, saw the crackhead behind the building, stuck my head in the “door” and promptly decided to wait for my fellow photographer friend, armed with a flashlight as a beat stick… if needed. But the place was empty minus us and wafts of grilled chicken blowing through the empty windows fortunately. The place is still completely solid as well as each floor and staircase is built out of concrete.