homes, like those on Almond Street, for example, increased in size as prosperity improved for the residents. These homes were palatial when compared with Chatham Street homes, and contained a coal-fired furnace that provided central heat. They generally consisted of three bedrooms and a bath upstairs, and also a living room, dining room, and a kitchen downstairs. (See the Salmon Street photo for examples of this type of row home.) Port Richmond residents were frugal and bought produce from the many street vendors who came by daily with their horse-drawn carts, loaded with fresh vegetables from nearby farms, located not very far away. Housewives could buy cabbage, cucumbers, potatoes, apples, and other vegetables by the bushel and store or preserve them for the winter. Gas mains were installed in the neighborhood by the city of Philadelphia, and gas was metered into each home for cooking and illumination. The meter was in the basement, and required someone in the household to occasionally feed it coins to keep the gas flowing. On Port Richmond sidewalks, tall gas lamps illuminated the streets. During each evening a lamplighter would come by to light the street lamps by igniting them with a very long device he held up in his hands. Wars Port Richmond played a major maritime role in American wars from the American Revolution and onward through World War II. The William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, established in 1830 and located nearby, provided skilled work for local workers, who built the battleships and the for the Spanish–American War in the late 19th century. The shipyard, and others in the area, also built surface ships during the American Civil War—such as —and during World War I, and World War II when Cramps' workforce employed 18,000 skilled workers. During World War II, Port Richmond contained numerous docks and wharves for the loading and unloading of war cargo. In addition, the riverside area contained numerous ancillary facilities, such as warehouses, workshops, and offices. The Reading Railroad had used the port as a terminus for the transfer of coal, and, during the war, railroad service remained a vital function of the port, for its ability to quickly transfer goods to and from the port. The old Orinoka Mills in Richmond, was used as a training and wartime production facility in association with Mastbaum during the war. Today, the port is smaller than it was in World