Then in the early 1980s National Sugar Refining closed the refinery and sold the property. Over time the refinery complex grew to 18 buildings, ownership shifted and the workforce grew.

Philadelphia has a long history of sugar refining and this particular facility along the Delaware was started in the 1880s, and for decades was operated by the Pennsylvania Sugar Company. In this aerial from Octowe see the Pennsylvania Sugar Company’s operations at full steam. Long before there was the SugarHouse Casino, there was the Sugar House, a major sugar refining operation along the Delaware River between Frankford Avenue and Shackamaxon Street.