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Colonial Germantown Historic District

Historic district in Pennsylvania, United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colonial Germantown Historic District
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The Colonial Germantown Historic District is a designated National Historic Landmark District in the Germantown and Mount Airy neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania along both sides of Germantown Avenue. This road followed a Native American path from the Delaware River just north of Old City Philadelphia, through Germantown, about 6 miles northwest of Center City Philadelphia, and on to Pottstown. Settlement in the Germantown area began, at the invitation of William Penn, in 1683 by Nederlanders and Germans under the leadership of Francis Daniel Pastorius fleeing religious persecution.[2][4][5]

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Colonial Germantown was a leader in religious thought, printing, and education. Important dates in Germantown's early history include:[6]

  • August 16, 1683, Pastorius arrives in Philadelphia
  • October 25, 1683, Lots are drawn for land among Pastorius's followers and settlement begins
  • 1688, first American anti-slavery protest published
  • 1690, first paper-mill built in America is built near Germantown
  • 1705, possibly the first portrait painted in oil in America painted by Christopher Witt in Germantown
  • 1708, first Mennonite Meetinghouse in America built in Germantown
  • 1719, first Dunkards in America arrive in Germantown
  • 1743, first Bible printed in America in any European language (in this case German), printed by Christoph Sauer
  • 1760, Germantown Academy founded
  • February 1764, the Paxton Boys enter Germantown but disperse after meeting with a delegation headed by Benjamin Franklin
  • 1770, first American book on pedagogy written by Christopher Dock and published in Germantown
  • October 4, 1777, Battle of Germantown
  • 1793, during the Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic, President Washington and his cabinet move to Germantown
  • 1794, Washington spends two months in Germantown to avoid the heat in Philadelphia
  • July 20, 1825, General Lafayette visits Germantown
  • June 6, 1832, railroad from Philadelphia to Germantown opens
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Historic designation and extent

The district was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The original district included the 4500 to 6600 blocks of Germantown Avenue (between Windrim Avenue and Sharpnack Street). In 1987 the district was expanded north to the 7600 block of Germantown Avenue (up to Cresheim Valley Drive), which is the southern boundary of the Chestnut Hill Historic District. The district's two parts contain 579 properties, of which 514 are considered contributing, and only 65 non-contributing. The northwest Philadelphia area, which promotes itself as "Freedom's Backyard,"[7] contains 11 historic districts listed by the National Register of Historic Places, as well as 58 separately listed properties.[8] Eight state historical markers are located on Germantown Avenue. Nearly complete inventories prepared for the National Register of Historic Places, both for the original district and for the expanded area are available.[9][10] A 1907 inventory of historic buildings in the area was printed in the "History of Old Germantown."[11]

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Selected contributing properties

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Contributing properties in the district include the following. Even street numbers are on the west side of Germantown Avenue, odd numbers on the east. Original construction dates may be approximate. Many properties have been recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey, as indicated in the table below.

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