Reborn | Yesterday and Tomorrow

A wise person once said,
"You can’t know where you’re going unless you
know where you’ve been."

In 1929 Harry Caplan opened National Products Restaurant Supply at 109 N. 2nd Street. Over the next 36 years, Mr. Caplan consolidated a network of 12 adjoining lots and buildings constructed at different points during the 19th and 20th centuries. By the late 1950s, Mr. Caplan was ready to visually brand his company, making sure everyone recognized his sprawling, ahead-of-its-time, kitchen products showroom. The result was the creation of The National’s iconic orange wall. It took 8 years to complete the entire wall and upon completion, it became part of what Old City is, earning nomination to the Register of Historic Places. Today, like Christ Church or the Betsy Ross House, the wall is a treasured symbol of the past that will endure into the future.

The wall is what connects The National to it's neighborhood. That’s why preservation was at the top of the list when it came to developing this one-of-a-kind landmark structure. Without the wall it’s just not The National.

The challenge was to blend the new with the old, to redefine this Old City landmark. The painstaking preservation and restoration of the wall will take place through various means. The tiles will be reproduced in every detail and all other elements that can be saved will be restored to their original vibrancy and location. Virtually all of the steel lettering, window framing, main entry doors and large vertical granite inset panels will be preserved and reinstalled once construction of the new building is complete, keeping The National as identifiable and unique as ever in its capacity as Old City’s premier new residential locale.