Roxborough
Manayunk
Wissahickon
Historical
Society

Local Landmarks Additional landmarks will be added as they are completed. If you have images you'd share or would like to help us create a profile for this section, please contact us. RMWHS welcomes volunteers. Shawmont Station Shawmont Station is the oldest surviving passenger station in America and the oldest building owned by any railroad, in the World. It was a schedule stop until 1991 and then a whistle stop until 1995. Structural restoration began in 2023. Read More Leverington Cemetery Since the first recorded burial in 1703, more than 12,000 souls have been laid to rest on this land during the last 320 years. The residents of Leverington Cemetery include some of the first settlers of the area, Revolutionary soldiers massacred at Woods' Barn as well as soldiers from every war since, and the generations of people who played a part in building the communities around it. Read More Bethany Lutheran Cemetery The cemetery opened in 1847 and was a part of the churchyard for the first Bethany German Lutheran Church (Bethanien Kirche) which was erected here in 1850. After a fire destroyed the wood church, a new one was built nearby and this land was used exclusively for burials which continued here until 1955. The cemetery holds an untold number of early German immigrants and at least 9 Civil War soldiers. Read More

Memorials of the 21st Ward Launched in 2022, "Memorials of the 21st Ward" provides a profile page for each of the 8 memorials within the 21st Ward. Each profile will be expanded in the months and years to come as both old and new images and newspapers clippings are added as well as a history of the memorial. If you would like to contribute an image or information for any of the memorials, please contact us . Also, if we have missed a public memorial within 21st Ward, please let us know. Some are tucked away and not well known and we'd like to help change that. Memorials of the 21st Ward RMWHS reminds all visitors to be respectful not only to the memorial and the grounds, but also of the others who may be there remembering loved ones lost, for whom these special places were created to honor. 21st Ward War Memorial (Gorgas Park) Learn More Civil War Soldier Memorial (Leverington Cemetery) Learn More Korean & Vietnam War Memorial (Hattal-Taylor VFW) Learn More Old Glory Memorial (Germany Hill) Learn More Revolutionary Soldiers Memorial (Leverington Cemetery) Learn More Shawmont Roll of Honor Memorial (Shawmont & Nixon) Learn More Wissahickon War Memorial (Sumac St & Rochelle Ave) Learn More WWI & WWII Memorial (Hattal-Taylor VFW) Learn More

Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Intro and Nomination Form Read More Boundary and Description Read More Statement of Significance Read More Native Americans Read More Patent Holders and Early Settlers Read More Ridge Road Read More Early Roxborough Read More Georgian and Colonial Architecture Read More During the Revolutionary War Read More Federal Architecture Read More Development of Manayunk Read More Greek Revival Architecture Read More Early 19th Century Read More Gothic Revival Architecture Read More Italianate Architecture Read More During and After the Civil War Read More Second Empire Architecture Read More Queen Anne Architecture Read More Turn of the Century Read More Conclusion and Bibliography Read More

Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society strives to preserve and promote local history, art, and culture. RMWHS a 501(c)(3) charity organization -- volunteer-run & donation funded. RMWHS Archive located at the Roxborough Free Library in Philadelphia, PA. Henry H. Houston II, Post 3 of the American Legion Historic Items Secured/Preserved by RMWHS Prior to the sale of the American Legion post building located at Ridge & Delmar, RMWHS was granted access to the building by Commander Bruce Driscoll with the hope we would take and preserve as much of the history of the post and its members as we could to ensure their legacy lives on. The Houston Post had 3 floors packed with 106 years of local, national, and world history. I put on my archivist hat -- and with the help of RMWHS members Linda Marie Bell and Virginia Buchanan plus the assistance of Bob Enslin a 21st Ward Veterans Association member -- we secured a ton of historic materials including photos, films, negatives, membership records, posters, paintings, awards, memorabilia, and more. It is my hope that in the coming months, I will be able to share some of the amazing history discovered at the post with the public but it will take me several months to identify, sort, organize, digitize, index, preserve, research, etc. During this time, keep an eye on the site as I share updates and images -- like the post commander portraits, photos commemorating awards and honors, and more. I thank Commander Bruce Driscoll and the former members of Henry H. Houston II, Post 3 of the American Legion for their service and for honor of allowing RMWHS to safeguard their history. Former members of the Houston Post can reach out to me at any time with questions, information, or requests. Georgie Gould, President, RMWHS Henry H. Houston II Post 3 of the American Legion 1919-2026 If you were a member of the Houston Post, or are a family member or friend of someone who was, and have history to share or a correction to give us -- please contact us . Any Houston Post info/knowledge you share may help us to better navigate & organize the collection. Houston Post Commander Portraits 1919-1998* *We're still looking for 1999-2026 portraits. Have one? Contact us! Click on any portrait below to see year & name of commander or flip through all of them. Load More Who Ya Gonna Call? Local Churchyards & Cemeteries: Emergencies & Information RMWHS offers details on who to contact if you witness a crime, want to report homeless activities, or seek burial records for a local churchyard or cemetery. FYI - RMWHS has provided a way to reach Leverington Cemetery. Read more ... RMWHS Treasures & Community Projects Presentation This video shares some of RMWHS new treasures and resources publicly for the first time and current community support efforts. Presentation includes: A very brief intro about RMWHS Historic books, maps, & deeds from the Leverington Cemetery - include some surprises and a mystery map. Antique and vintage bottles pulled from the Schuylkill as part of the Manayunk Canal Revitalization & Lock 68 rebuild efforts - all have been donated to RMWHS. Historic photos from the Hattal-Taylor VFW Museum that our president is helping to index, scan, restore, and research ... and her request for the public to help with identification of soldiers. And a bit about donations from Andorra (Manatawna) Church and Roxborough Baptist Church. Watch Replay ~27 mins You can help. Become a member & volunteer. $10 students/$20 individuals/$30 families Local Landmark Featured in Mini Documentary The Epic Church and it's re-imagining of the former Roxborough Baptist Church building is featured in a new mini documentary by Joe Porter of Innovatory Films and now available for viewing . The ~5 min film includes interviews with RMWHS's own Linda Marie Bell, who grew up in the Roxborough Baptist church and served on their Board of Trustees, and Epic Church's Pastor Jake Rainwater. The completed film segment captures a lovely little piece of our local history and evolving community. Visuals include historic photos as well as drone footage outside of the church and cemeteries/neighborhood. And despite the fog — or maybe because of it — some of the aerial shots of the church, cemetery, and neighborhoods have an ethereal quality. The footage highlights the sanctuary with its gorgeous windows and gracefully curved pews and illustrates the care Epic took to preserve them and incorporate them into the revitalized building. Screenshots below are property of Innovatory Films. BELOW - Historic Roxborough Baptist Church images provided for film. Click to expand image. Watch Film Now >>>>> RMWHS & the community owe a great thanks to Linda Marie Bell for sharing her time and stories for the making of this film. Through her personal memories, Linda adds a great warmth and brings the history of this beloved landmark to life. Congratulations to Pastor Jake Rainwater & the Epic Church. And thank you for adding a new chapter to the history of the landmark and our community. PhillyVoice Interviews RMWHS on 1304 Steps of Roxborough, Manayunk, & Wissahickon In case you missed it, Michael Tannenbaum of PhillyVoice did a story on the 1304 steps of our area as the rebuild of a local wall and set of steps stirred up their interest. It's a quick read with some great old and new photos ... shines a spotlight on the RMWHS interactive map! Story & resources it references: 'Footpath highway': 1,304 steps in Roxborough and Manayunk have linked communities and generations (PhillyVoice) 1304 Steps Overview, Poster, & Interactive Map (RMWHS) Step back in time: 1304 Steps to 1880s (RMWHS) Thanks to RMWHS members Chip Roller and Virginia Buchanan for their participation in the interview. RMWHS Channel now on YouTube Original videos created by RMWHS will be posted on YouTube as they become available. There is no schedule. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to be notified when something new becomes available. RMWHS only posts what we create. NOW AVAILABLE: Our first video takes you on a bike ride along the towpath from Shawmont Station to Lock St., featuring historic sites on the Schuylkill River and Manayunk Canal. The ~9 min video provides you with views of the waterways, murals, bridges, historic buildings, and more. RMWHS gets many inquiries from across the U.S. for the history along this 2.4 mile stretch and we thought those that can't visit it in person, might like to see it. YouTube.com/@RMWHS (Be sure to subscribe.) Want to help create content? Join RMWHS! Memorials of the 21st Ward RMWHS has launched a new web section -- Memorials of the 21st Ward -- which provides a listing of the 8 memorials within our area and includes a photo gallery of each. Each memorial page will be expanded in the months and years to come as images and newspapers clippings (both new and historic) are added. If you would like to contribute an image or information for any of the memorials, please contact us . Also, if we have missed a public memorial within the Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon area, please let us know. Each of the memorials is open to the public and all visitors (including service animals) are welcome. We remind all visitors to be respectful not only to the memorial and grounds, but of the others who may be there remembering loved ones lost, for whom these special places were created to honor. Explore the Memorials of the 21st Ward. RMWHS thanks all who have served.

The information on the RMWHS website is presented for informational and educational purposes only. Use of this website is subject to the provisions of this privacy policy. If you have questions about the site or our policies, contact us. RMWHS Website & Privacy Policy Disclaimers The information on the RMWHS website is presented for informational and educational purposes only. Use of this website is subject to the provisions of this privacy policy. While we cannot guarantee the website will be error-free, we will make every reasonable effort to make content accurate, reliable and complete. This includes correcting any errors that are brought to our attention. If you have questions about the site, our privacy policy, or wish to bring an issue to our attention, contact us . Website Statistics Statistical information is collected as users navigate the site -- this information is analyzed in aggregate and does not contain personally identifiable information. This analysis helps us to improve our site. Collection of Personal Information Your use of the site is anonymous except in the instances where you voluntarily choose to complete the contact us form. The information you provide in the form is used to respond to your inquiries and execute the requests you make. We may also use your information to follow up/verify the receipt of requested information or to inform you of upcoming activities, special events, and other programs and projects. After completion of your request, if you wish to have your contact data deleted from our records, you can contact us. Emails & Subscription Lists C urrently the RMWHS does not provide any subscription service or email blast to the public. Security As with any website, the confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted to/from this website over the Internet cannot be guaranteed. Accordingly, RMWHS is not responsible for the security of any information transmitted via the Internet. You assume the sole and complete risk for using this website and must make your own determination as to these matters. Cookies Cookies are small files that a website or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser to enable the site or service provider to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. We use cookies to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. Privacy We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personally identifiable information to outside parties. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our society business, addressing your requests or completing other transactions. All third parties whom are involved have also agreed to keep your information confidential. Third-Party Links Our site may contain links to third-party websites. These third-party websites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites. Revisions to Our Web Policies Please note that the RMWHS may revise its privacy policy at any time. We encourage you to periodically visit this page to review our most current policy. Your continued use of the site shall constitute your acceptance of any such changes to this policy. This policy was last modified January 1, 2021. Tech Issues or Questions Contact us.

The RMWHS Archive contains: books, photos, slides, negatives, maps, flyers, poster, pamphlets, genealogies, vinyl recordings, deeds, scrapbooks, newspapers, school year books, manuscripts, cemetery records, and much more. Cemetery, Burial, & Church Death Records RMWHS currently has: Andorra Baptist Church ~100 death records that the clergy kept in the last few decades of the 1900s. Any search requires additional wait time. Leverington Cemetery thousands of transcribed burial records tombstone records from a 1980s RMWHS tombstone survey digitized burial books, lot owners records, deeds from 1845-2020s maps (below) Roxborough Baptist Church original burial books for various years map (in Archive) If you would like to request a burial look-up, Always check www.findagrave.com first Contact us and provide the necessary details - name, DOB, DOB, and any info you found in Find A Grave which may prove helpful such as spouse or parents names. We do not want your entire tree -- just the basics. Note: RMWHS is not computerized. All resources must be searched through manually and it can be a slow process. If visiting the area, please contact us several weeks in advance. We are open by appointment only so please keep that in mind when traveling to our area. Appointments and calls with our Archivist can be requested online . RESEARCH TIPS: Always check www.findagrave.com . This information is posted by volunteers and is free to access. This is a good starting point but cemeteries, churches, and historical societies have additional more info. Be sure to try variations of the surname spelling and cast a wide net -- if the name is William Smith, try W Smith as you may otherwise miss Willie or Wm. Also try spelling various on the surname or a *asterisk as a wildcard to get wider results. Keep looking even if you think you have it all. Funeral homes & undertakers logs, coroner reports, doctors notes, there are often more death event documents that could be found if you keep digging and they could hold valuable you're looking for such as next of kin, home addresses, obit placement, memberships, veteran status, and more. Donations for our efforts are appreciated and will be used to preserve, expand, digitize, and improve the Archives. Leverington Cemetery Map

ebe23022-30e2-4180-ba72-cae936393e05 Main Street Manayunk Historic District Significance of Manayunk Manayunk played a significant role in the development of Philadelphia as a major industrial and commercial center in the 19th century. During this period of industrial development, manufacturing shifted from small cottage industry to large plants which mass produced goods. Large scale manufacturing depended upon waterpower to run machinery, and access to water transportation, for raw materials and finished goods. Describe your image The Manayunk Canal, the only intact portion of the Schuylkill Canal System remaining, represents an important period in the development of transportation systems in the United States. Manayunk developed in direct response to the transportation and waterpower opportunities provided by construction of the canal. The physical development of Manayunk paralleled the growth of other 19th century mill towns, particularly Rochdale, Pennsylvania, and Lowell, Massachusetts, with the location of mills adjacent to the water source, and residential and commercial development in close proximity. However, unlike these communities Manayunk was not a company owned and operated town -- industry was able to diversify more easily in response to changing market conditions -- and the town continued to grow in the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries. Describe your image As well as the canal and lock structures, many architecturally significant buildings remain, representing all phases of Manayunk's development There are several 3-5 story stone mill buildings dating from the 1850s, together with many groups of stucco and stone, mill worker row houses of the same era. The late 19th century commercial development is exemplified by several brick commercial and warehouse buildings. Describe your image This information has been posted by RMWHS with the permission of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Sections: 1 Intro and Nomination Form 2 Description 3 Significance of Manayunk 4 The Schuylkill Canal 5 Schuylkill Navigation Company 6 Manayunk Canal 7 Economic Development 8 Manayunk Social Development 9 The Industry of Venice Island 10 Main Street Manayunk 11 Bibliography 12 Boundary Details 13 Map Top of page

Historical Maps 1982 < Previous > Back to Historical Map List < Next > 1982 - Manayunk Canal (Part 2) Source: URL: Free Library of Philadelphia https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/48042 Full Name: Manayunk Canal, 1982, Map 2 Visit the source URL to use zoom features, find additional formats, or download a high quality image.

Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society strives to preserve and promote local history, art, and culture. Learn about the historic images used on the RMWHS website. RMWHS Website Images The changing images in the RMWHS website have generated questions -- Who is in that photo? What building is that? When was the photo taken and where? And the most common question: How can I stop the images from changing so I can study them better? To address the questions, the individual images have been provided below with some details and a few links to help you discover more about the Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon area. If you have more questions about the images, contact us . Likewise, if you can identify any of the faces in the group shots, please contact us . Shawmont Station is the oldest surviving passenger train station in America. Built in the 18 20s , the building became a train station a decade later and was in use until 1991 and was whistle stop until 1995. In 2008, Shawmont was placed on Philadelphia's Register of Historic Places, as the oldest passenger railroad station in America. Owned by SEPTA, the unused building fell further into disrepair until January 2023 when $1.2M of structural renovations began. For more see the Shawmont Station historic profile in our Local Landmarks section. Valley Green Inn , built in 1850, is one of the most recognizable buildings in the area as photos of it grace many local interest and travel sites. Originally it was named Edward Rinker's Temperance Tavern after the man who built it in 1850. Today, Valley Green is one of the last remaining roadhouses and taverns that had once dotted the banks of the Wissahickon in the 19th Century. Pencoyd Iron Works 1884 - This photo was donated by the family of George Maurice Miller (Miller is standing on far left in a short hat with beard and mustache). Born in 1864, Miller graduated from Lehigh University at the age of 16 in 1880. He was approximately 20 years old in this photograph. Miller was said to have been a very hard worker. On November 14, 1900, he purchased the building near the intersection of Ridge, Righter & Hermit from the Adams family to live in. The house had formerly served as a City Poor House. This image of the Schuylkill Bridge was taken during construction in May 1925. It is one image in a series currently on display in the RMWHS Archive. Other photos in the series include the stripping beam forms, removing the centers, the underside of the bridge, and a group shot of the construction crew and other team members. The crew shot is a particular favorite of visitors to the Archive for the clarity of the image, range of expressions, and the playfulness of one prankster in the group. The Rag Girls at Hamilton Paper Mill were responsible for sorting old clothing, sailcloth, ropes and other bits of discarded fibrous materials that were used in the production of paper. The sorting of these "rags" directly determined the type and quality of paper that was made in any given batch. It was a dirty and sometimes dangerous job as the materials sorted could carry germs, disease, and pests. Can you identify anyone in this photo? If so, please let us know. This Restaurant was located at 4147-49 Main Street Manayunk which became the New Umbria Baptist Church following the church's move from Umbria to Main Street several decades ago. While the brick front was refaced with white stucco long ago, the distinct arched window and door openings remain to this day as does the keystone accent featured at the top of each rounded arch. The Roxborough Reservoir Preserve (formerly Upper Roxborough Water Reservoir) on Port Royal and Lare provided this most tranquil view in March 2020. The 35-acre water basin was created in the 1880s to supply water to the growing Roxborough population but today is a nature preserve and part of our city's park system. A trail circles the preserve and is enjoyed regularly by walkers, bikers, birdwatchers, and photographers alike. To learn more about the history and the transformation, see the RDC's 2019 news story: Roxborough Reservoir Preserve is One of Philadelphia’s Hidden Gems . This image of the Main Street Market in Manayunk is dated to the 1920s as was determined by the bags of salt located behind the clerk. This particular brand only used that label in the early 1920s. Little else is known about this market, the clerk, or the reason he posed for the photo. Like the image below, the section shown here accounts for less than 1/4 of the original photograph. It was cropped tightly on the clerk and counter to allow us to show the detail of the scan. The full-size scan allowed archivists to study the products on the shelves and estimate the date the image was taken. Chas. E. Lentz Garage was located at 6655 Ridge Avenue. This image is only a small part of the original photo and accounts for about 1/4th of the overall image. The full photo shows cars parked along Ridge Ave on the left. And to the right, much of the house is visible. However, like the photo above, the the drastic cropping of the original image was necessary to highlight the details. In fact, the scan of this image is such a high quality, the bolts on the wheels are visible when it is viewed at full size. The William Levering School was built as a one room school house in 1748 and named for the man who donated the land. The first school was built of logs and was used not only for a school, but also for a church and political meetings. The school expanded and was rebuilt a number of times, but William Levering School was finally closed in 2013, after 265 years of educating the children of our community. Can you identify anyone in this photo? If so, please let us know. We appreciate your feedback. Contact us.

e2fdb1c2-e111-4669-a416-3309a17b7819 Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Early Roxborough Roxborough was officially recognized as a township by 1706, but it remained sparsely populated throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as the following chart shows. 34 Describe your image Until significant transportation and industrials advances in the 1820s, Roxborough remained a linear village with pockets of development located on and very near Ridge Road. The only significant developments off Ridge Road were several mills, which, by necessity, were located along the watercourses, the Wissahickon and its tributaries. Very few people lived to the west of Ridge Road, on the steep slopes down to the Schuylkill. Most Roxborough residents made their livings in agriculture, milling, selling stone, timber, and other building materials, or providing services to the wagoners and others who travelled along Ridge Road. As noted earlier, at least three taverns serving travelers stood on Ridge Road by the end of the eighteenth century, the Leverington Hotel of 1731 (Figure 14), the Plough Tavern of 1746, and the Sorrel Horse Tavern of 1785. Describe your image Although Ridge Road is and has been Roxborough’s primary thoroughfare since its establishment in the first years of the European settlement of the area, other roads were laid out and opened in the eighteenth century, especially to access mills on the Wissahickon. Typically, these roads were first laid out informally, and then later formally surveyed and opened by the Court of the Quarter Sessions, after they had been in use for a while. Most of the early secondary roads in Roxborough ran east from Ridge Road to mills along the Wissahickon and then on into Germantown, the nearest population center. No roads were officially opened from Ridge Road west to the Schuylkill until the early nineteenth century. School House Lane, which marked the southeastern boundary of Roxborough and still runs on its original line from Ridge Road to Germantown Road, was constructed about 1702, but not officially opened until September 1765.35 School House Lane and Ridge Road are the only two roads in Roxborough depicted on the Scull & Heap Map of Philadelphia and Parts Adjacent of about 1750 (Figure 8). Township Line Road, now known as Wissahickon Avenue, which marks the boundary between Roxborough and Germantown, was officially opened on the east side of the Wissahickon Creek in December 1763.36 The extension of Township Line Road on the west side of the Creek, in what is now called Andorra, from Wise’s Mill to Ridge Road, was officially opened four years later, in September 1767.37 A road on the line of Roxborough Avenue in Roxborough and Kitchen’s Lane and Carpenter Lane in Mt. Airy ran from Ridge Road, across the Wissahickon, and on to Germantown Road as early as 1761.38 Gorgas Mill Road (now Gorgas Lane and W. Mt. Airy Avenue), which ran east off Ridge Road, across the Wissahickon, and up to Township Line Road (now Wissahickon Avenue), was opened in December 1764.39 Rittenhouse Lane, which connected Ridge Road to the Rittenhouse Paper Mill, partially along the current line of Walnut Lane, was officially opened in December 1767.40 Shawmont Road (now Avenue), from Ridge Road to Wise’s Mill, was opened in June 1786.41 Although probably laid out about 1738, Spruce Mill Road, now known as Thomas Mill Road in Chestnut Hill, was officially opened from Ridge Road to Germantown Road in June 1793.42 That same month, Manatawna Road was opened, running east from Ridge Road.43 The roads that crossed the Wissahickon Creek at dams and small bridges were often swept away during flooding.44 Early tax rolls for Roxborough Township provide unique insights into the wealth, occupations, and numbers of the residents. The rolls for the 1769 proprietary tax list 91 taxpayers for Roxborough Township, 40 of which were landowners. The taxpayers include only one woman, Elizabeth Levering. The landowners owned an average of 68.9 acres. William Levering was the largest landholder, with 250 acres. The smallest holding was but one acre. Of the 91 taxpayers listed in 1769, 26 were associated with occupations, including four grain millers, two paper millers, two millers, two butchers, two coopers, two tanners, two weavers, and one of each of the following: flour miller, ferryman, taylor, innholder, cordwainer, smith, ropemaker, sadler, stonecutter, and hatter. Most of the remaining taxpayers were presumably farmers. The 91 taxpayers owned 119 horses and 148 head of cattle, but several persons owned neither horses nor cows. Only eight servants were listed among the 91 households. The 1774 provincial tax rolls list 105 taxpayers in Roxborough Township, 14 more than five years earlier. The 1774 rolls list very few occupations, but they do include a joiner, an occupation not noted in 1769. The 1779 effective supply tax rolls list 106 taxpayers in Roxborough Township.45 Real estate and other advertisements offer insights into eighteenth-century life in Roxborough. For example, the plantation of Jacob Cook was auctioned in June 1763 to pay his creditors. It was located “in Roxborough Township, Philadelphia County, about eight Miles from the City, on the great Road leading to Plymouth, and about one Mile from Schuylkill.” The property included: upwards of 14 Acres of Upland and Meadow, … a Dwelling-house, two Stables, a Smoke-house, Coopers Shop, an exceeding good Stone Vault, and a Well of excellent Water, also a Run of Water, with a never-failing Spring, a young bearing Orchard, with Apple, Peach, Quince, Cherry and Pear Trees, a good Flower and Kitchen Garden paled in, and a young Nursery of Apple and Pear Trees; about one Half the Premises Woodland; it is in good Repair, and well fenced in, pleasantly seated on high Ground, and very suitable for a Gentleman’s Country Seat, or a Store. The same advertisement offered for sale “a Mare, a Cow, two Hogs, a Plow and Harrow, a Cart and Gears, and sundry Implements of Husbandry.”46 Most households in eighteenth-century Roxborough were largely self-sufficient, raising their own food and selling or trading excess production with neighbors or in Germantown and Philadelphia. A similar advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1755 announced the sale of recently deceased Henry Shellenberg’s dwelling house and mill in the Township of Roxborough. In addition to the buildings and property, Shellenberg’s heirs offered for sale household furnishings, “two guns,” horses, cows, sheep, swine, various miller’s tools and supplies, “a young likely Negro man, a likely young Negro woman, [and] two or three Dutch mens times of servitude.”47 Slave and indentured labor worked the mills and fields in Roxborough. Two years earlier, in 1753, Benjamin Levering of Roxborough Township offered a 20-shilling reward and expenses for the return of a “Dutch servant lad, named Michael Haun, a taylor by trade, about nineteen years of age,” who had “run away.”48 Indentured servants were not the only ones fleeing in eighteenth-century Roxborough. In 1783, Jacob Amos gave public notice “that my wife Elizabeth has eloped from me, therefore I forwarn all persons from lending her or letting her have any thing on my account, as I will not pay any debts for her from the date hereof.”49 In 1758, Isaac Cook offered a 40-shilling reward for the return of stolen goods and an additional 40 shillings for apprehending the thief. He explained that, during the night of 30 June 1758, his house “was broke open, and robbed” of numerous items including garments, bed linens, table linens, a pair of gloves, and a large pewter teapot with feet.50 A real estate advertisement published in 1788 offered a large property in Roxbourough, “on the road leading from Philadelphia to Reading, about 9 miles from the city, containing 248 acres and 137 perches.” The advertisement is especially interesting because it provided several suggestions for the development of the property, providing a glimpse into the commercial activities in Roxborough. The advertisement highlighted the parcel’s proximity to Germantown as well as Plymouth Meeting’s “sundry lime-kilns”; suggested that the timber on the property was valuable and, if the timber was harvested, the cleared land would be excellent for farming; noted that the “Wissahickon Creek, running through this tract, affords an excellent mill-seat; its being situate on a road leading into one of the best wheat countries on the continent”; and even promoted the notion of shipping the processed wheat to market down the Schuylkill, which ran along the western edge of the property.51 An advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754 pointed to another industry in Roxborough. It announced that John Stanaland, stone cutter, had removed from his freestone quarry in Roxborough to a shop in Philadelphia, where “all persons may be supplied with various kinds of freestone work … both in regard to cutting and setting; such as steps for doors, window cases, door cases, battlements, pediments, &c.” The advertisement noted that, despite Stanaland’s departure for the city, Edward Harding continued to operate the quarry in Roxborough.52 With a small population, few institutions were established in eighteenth-century Roxborough. On 1 April 1748, William and Hannah Levering donated to the township a parcel of land on the west side of Ridge Avenue, south of the current Monastery Avenue, for the construction of Roxborough’s first school building.53 A one-story stone school building, known as the Roxborough School, was erected on the site that year. An 1895 newspaper article on the history of the school explained: This structure being the only public building in the vicinity, met all of the demands of the place for fifty years, not only for school purposes, but also for public meetings, elections and religious services. In it the Baptist people of Roxborough held services from 1754 until October 24, 1790, the Roxborough Baptist Church having been organized in the school house on August 23, 1789. In 1776 an enthusiastic patriotic meeting was held there to secure volunteers for the American Army. 54 The school building was enlarged with a second story for an additional classroom and a wing for the school master in the 1790s (Figure 15).55 The first church in Roxborough, the Roxborough Baptist Church, was officially organized by 32 residents in August 1789. The group had met informally for religious services at the Roxborough School since 1754. In October 1789, the church was officially received into the Philadelphia Baptist Association. Nathan and Sarah Levering donated a parcel of land for a church building on the east side of Ridge Road, about 500 feet north of the school, and a small church building was erected. The church building burned down on 17 January 1830 and a new church was erected by September of that year (Figure 16).56 The second Roxborough Baptist Church was replaced by a third church building in 1870. The third church building burned in 1876 and was replaced by the fourth, which still stands today, but has been significantly altered. Describe your image The Plan of the City of Philadelphia and Environs by John Hills, a detailed map of Philadelphia County 10 miles out from the city’s center, indicates that Roxborough remained sparsely settled in 1808. Only three roads, unnamed on the map, ran west from Ridge Road toward the Schuylkill River; they were Green Lane, Hipples Lane (now Fountain Street), and Ship Lane (now Port Royal Avenue). No development or roads were shown along the Schuylkill River in what is now Manayunk. The Roxborough School, Baptist Church, Sorrel Horse Inn, a few unnamed mills, a few property owners, and a soap stone quarry along the Schuylkill at the county line were called out on the 1808 map. No neighborhood names were called out on the map. This information has been posted by RMWHS with the permission of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Sections: 1 Intro and Nomination Form 2 Boundary and Description 3 Statement of Significance 4 Native Americans 5 Patent Holders and Early Settlers 6 Ridge Road 7 Early Roxborough 8 Georgian and Colonial Architecture 9 During the Revolutionary War 10 Federal Architecture 11 Development of Manayunk 12 Greek Revival Architecture 13 Early 19th Century 14 Gothic Revival Architecture 15 Italianate Architecture 16 During and After the Civil War 17 Second Empire Architecture 18 Queen Anne Architecture 19 Turn of the Century 20 Conclusion and Bibliography 34 Road Docket, June 1706, vol. 2, p. 31. Population data taken from Jones, The Levering Family, Appendix A, 189; and John Daly and Allen Weinberg, Genealogy of Philadelphia County Subdivisions (Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, 1966), p. 94. 35 School House Lane, Germantown Road to Ridge Road, September 1765, Road Dockets, vol. 3, p. 337. 36 Township Line Road (Wissahickon Avenue), December 1763, Road Dockets, vol. 3, p. 312. 37 Township Line Road from Ridge Road to Wise’s Mill, September 1767, Road Dockets, vol. 3, p. 378. 38 Kitchen’s Lane (Roxborough Avenue), Ridge Road to Cresheim Road or Germantown Road, December 1761, Road Dockets, vol. 3, p. 278. 39 Gorgas Mill Road (Gorgas Lane and W. Mt. Airy Avenue), Ridge Road to Wissahickon Avenue, December 1764, Road Dockets, vol. 3, p. 333. 40 Rittenhouse Lane (Walnut Lane) from Ridge Road, December 1767, Road Dockets, vol. 3, p. 389. 41 Shawmont Avenue, Ridge Road to Wise’s Mill, June 1786, Road Dockets, vol. 4, p. 175. 42 Spruce Mill Road (Thomas Mill Road), Ridge Road to Germantown Road, Road Dockets, June 1793, vol. 4, p. 303. 43 Manatawna Avenue from Ridge Road, June 1793, Road Dockets, vol. 4, p. 301. 44 Thomas’ Mill Road, Livezey Mill Road, and Rittenhouse Road are located within present day Wissahickon Park. Joseph D. Bicknell, “The Wissahickon in History, Story and Song,” paper read before the City History Society of Philadelphia, October 10, 1906, in Philadelphia History: Consisting of Papers Read before the City History Society of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: City History Society, 1917), 6. 45 William Henry Egle, ed., Proprietary, Supply, and State Tax Lists of the City and County of Philadelphia for the Years 1769, 1774, and 1779 (Harrisburg: State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1897). 46 The Pennsylvania Gazette, 9 June 1763, p. 1. 47 The Pennsylvania Gazette, 17 April 1755, p. 3. 48 The Pennsylvania Gazette, 30 August 1753, p. 3. 49 The Independent Gazetteer, 19 April 1783, p. 4. 50 The Pennsylvania Gazette, 6 July 1758, p. 3. 51 The Pennsylvania Gazette, 29 October 1788, p. 1. 52 The Pennsylvania Gazette, 23 May 1754, p. 2. 53 William and Hannah Levering and Andrew and Elizabeth Wood donated two additional parcels for the school’s use on 30 March 1771. 54 “Levering School and Its History,” Inquirer, 3 February 1895, p. 7. 55 See Franklin Davenport Edmunds, The Public School Buildings of the City of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: 1913), p. 5-7; “The New Levering School,” The Times, 28 July 1895, p. 4; “News and Gossip of the Schools,” Inquirer, 8 March 1896, p. 7. The school was renamed the Levering School in 1847. The school building was badly damaged by a tornado on 12 April 1856 and replaced with a new school building in 1857. That building was in turn replaced in 1895. A large annex to the 1895 school building was constructed in 1929. 56 Rev. David Spencer, The Early Baptists of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: William Sychelmoore, 1877), p. 147-148; “A Century and a Decade of Life for Roxborough Baptist Congregation,” The Times, 24 August 1899, p. 2. The 1830 church building was enlarged in 1846. A new church building was begun in 1868 and completed in 1870. It was lost to a fire in 1873. A new church building was completed in 1878. Top of page

2cd924c3-529b-4ccb-9cf2-96ff92f7418a Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Greek Revival Architecture The Greek Revival style of architecture was the dominant style for American domestic architecture between about 1825 and 1850. Archaeological investigations of the Classical World including Ancient Greece in the early nineteenth century as well as Greece’s war for independence (1821 to 1830) aroused interest in Greek architectural forms in the United States. Americans associated the forms with their new democracy. Philadelphia was the first city in the United States to adopt the Greek Revival style, as evidenced by Benjamin Latrobe’s Bank of Pennsylvania of 1801 and William Strickland’s Bank of the United States of 1818. Pattern books and carpenter’s guides by Asher Benjamin, Minard Lafever and others spread the style. Greek Revival buildings typically have gabled or hipped roofs of shallower pitches than their predecessors, broad cornices, and entry or full-width porches supported by classical columns. The Valentine Keely House at 8144 Ridge Avenue is the most stylistically pure Greek Revival building in Roxborough (Figure 24). Built in 1844, the symmetrical, five-bay Valentine Keely House has a portico supported by Doric columns, a hipped roof with a shallow pitch, and half-height third-floor windows separated by a string course from the façade below to give the appearance of a classical entablature. Advances in roofing technology in the early nineteenth century, especially the development of metal roofs, allowed for roofs with shallower pitches. Earlier cedar shake roofs required a steep pitch to effectively shed water. With the shallower pitched metal roofs, rooftop dormers gave way to half-height third-floor windows, creating more usable space in garrets. The half-height third-floor windows became a hallmark of houses constructed in rural areas around Philadelphia in the decades leading up to the Civil War. Describe your image Numerous examples of Greek Revival houses with half-height third-floor windows can be found along and around Ridge Avenue. The houses are usually three or five bays wide and often have open, full-width front porches. They are built of Wissahickon schist, which is either left uncovered or finished with smooth stucco. They often have double, gable-end chimneys. Good examples can be found at 5635 Ridge Avenue and 7101 Ridge Avenue (Figure 25). Describe your image This information has been posted by RMWHS with the permission of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Sections: 1 Intro and Nomination Form 2 Boundary and Description 3 Statement of Significance 4 Native Americans 5 Patent Holders and Early Settlers 6 Ridge Road 7 Early Roxborough 8 Georgian and Colonial Architecture 9 During the Revolutionary War 10 Federal Architecture 11 Development of Manayunk 12 Greek Revival Architecture 13 Early 19th Century 14 Gothic Revival Architecture 15 Italianate Architecture 16 During and After the Civil War 17 Second Empire Architecture 18 Queen Anne Architecture 19 Turn of the Century 20 Conclusion and Bibliography Top of page

8ab1c646-8d62-4a9f-9683-6695bc5acf66 Main Street Manayunk Historic District Description The Main Street Manayunk National Historic District is located on the north bank of the Schuylkill River, approximately 5 miles northwest from the center of Philadelphia. The community of Manayunk has retained a strong individual physical identity. Geographically, Manayunk and the adjacent communities of Roxborough and Wissahickon are separated from other sections of Philadelphia to the east, by the steep ravine of the Wissahickon Valley. Main Street is located within the narrow flood plain of the Schuylkill. North of Main Street, the topography rises steeply to Ridge Avenue on the crest between the Schuylkill and Wissahickon. Because of the geographical and cultural isolation of Manayunk, the physical appearance of the townscape and individual buildings differs markedly from those of similar eras built in other sections of the City. While Philadelphia residential and commercial buildings are typically red brick, those of Manayunk are commonly constructed of random coursed stone, Wissahickon Schist, either exposed or faced with stucco. It is the combination of steep topography, and white painted, pitched roof, stucco row houses which epitomizes the physical character of Manayunk. Describe your image The clear hierarchy of land use developed in Manayunk followed construction of the canal. The principal mill buildings were located on Venice Island between the Schuylkill River and Canal, though many of the major mills had operations on both sides of the canal, linked by bridges; often mill offices were located on the south side of Main Street. In contrast, commercial uses -- such as offices, hotels and banks, and mixed residential/ commercial buildings tended to concentrate on the north side of Main Street. Residential construction, typically in the form of attached 2- or 3-story row houses occurred on the side streets off the north side of Main Street. While the earliest development consisted of mill buildings and worker housing, later 19th century development included a broader range of commercial uses, including banks, warehouses, and retail stores, particularly at the west end of Main Street, corresponding to Main Street's developing role as a full retail and business center. Little development or redevelopment occurred in Manayunk after the turn of the century, and the overall physical appearance of the Main Street historic district has changed little since this time, although many retail and business uses have been replaced with lower grade warehouses, and storage uses. The earliest buildings remaining in Manayunk are mills of the 1840s and 1850s, and worker housing of the same era. Several of these mills remain on the Main Street side of the canal, at the east end of Main Street. The finest remaining mill building within the historic district is that located at 4268-72 Main Street, originally known the Blantyre mill. The two, 3-story pitched roof buildings, set at right angles to Main Street were constructed in 1847, of random stone rubble, with cut stone quoins, and brick arches over the window openings. An unusual feature are the fanlights in the gable ends facing Main Street. Describe your image Other important early mills include a 2-story building at 4050 Main Street, constructed about 1850 (originally the Roxborough Mills), a 4-story building at 4100 Main Street (formerly the Dexter Mills - dyeworks) and the rear buildings are facing the canal at 4208 Main Street (formerly Economy Mills). These buildings are typically long, narrow span structures of random stone rubble, often with a later stucco facing, and shallow pitch roofs. Window openings commonly have brick arch lintels, while windows are typically wood, arched head double hung with 4/4 or 12/12 lights. Another noteworthy loft building located on the north side of Main Street at 4313 in a 3-story, 6-bay structure built in 1859 of Wissahickon Schist. The building has segmentally arched brick labels over each window, and wood double hung windows. Describe your image Examples of housing of this era remain, both on Main Street, and on the narrow side streets. The housing is utilitarian, working class attached housing, Vernacular in style, although exhibiting distinct characteristics of formal design styles. The earliest housing is typically constructed in a Vernacular Federal style, while later housing is of a Vernacular Italianate style. The earliest remaining residential buildings are located at 104-106 Levering Street, constructed about 1840. These are 3-story, 2-bay, Federal style, stucco over stone rubble, pitched roof structures. The 2nd floor windows are double hung wood with plan frame, and the 3rd floor windows are casements. 103-105 Pensdale Street is a group of small Vernacular style worker houses built circa 1860. Built of stone rubble faced with stucco they have double hung 2/2 arched head windows and decorative wooden cornices. In contrast to the early simple random stone and stucco mills, later commercial buildings are commonly of brick, exhibiting the richer detailing typical of the late Victorian era, and are similar to such buildings in Philadelphia Some of these later buildings were manufacturing facilities, but many reflected the increasing importance of Main Street as a business and retail center. The finest example of a later industrial building is 4236 Main Street, an elegant 3-story, 3- bay brick loft constructed about 1890. The 1st-floor storefront incorporates a cornice, and central entrance flanked by pilasters. Crowning the building is a heavy wood cornice. 4346 Main Street is the former Manayunk Trust Company building, a monumentally scaled, single story banking hall, built in 1890. Constructed of brick, the building has pilasters with decorative capitals and consoles, stone cornices, and monumental scale windows with a stone surround enhanced with Greek key design. 4360 Main Street is a heavy 3-story, 5-bay brick warehouse constructed about 1890. The Romanesque detailing includes paired semi-circular headed windows on the 3rd floor, Palladian style 2nd floor windows, brick pilasters and a molded tin cornice. A similar style 2-bay, 4-story Romanesque style brick warehouse is located on 108-12 Levering Street. Noteworthy retail buildings include 4356 Main Street, an elegant 2-story building of 1880, featuring extensive use of glass. The ground floor consists of large storefront windows and recessed entrance way, with decorative metal transom panels above. The 2nd floor has large, fixed sash with transom lights, metal faced dividing mullions, and molded metal cornice. Describe your image Finally, there are some interesting turn of the century commercial buildings. 4437 Main Street is a handsome single story brick bar built in 1903. The facade incorporates a decorative ogee arch stepped brick gable parapet, with metal trim. 4323-24 Main Street, the Nickles Building of similar date, is a 2-story, 2-bay brick retail store with elegant, curved glass display windows, and a large ornate metal cornice and parapet. Describe your image This information has been posted by RMWHS with the permission of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Sections: 1 Intro and Nomination Form 2 Description 3 Significance of Manayunk 4 The Schuylkill Canal 5 Schuylkill Navigation Company 6 Manayunk Canal 7 Economic Development 8 Manayunk Social Development 9 The Industry of Venice Island 10 Main Street Manayunk 11 Bibliography 12 Boundary Details 13 Map Top of page

Historical Maps 1863 < Previous > Back to Historical Map List < Next > 1863 - Military Reconnaissance Source: URL: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3824p.cw0358250 Full Name: Map of a reconnaissance of the approaches to Philadelphia showing the positions and lines of defence on the north front of the city Visit the source URL to use zoom features, find additional formats, or download a high quality image.

Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society provides lists of organizations, 3rd party websites, books and other resources for user convenience. Organizations & Websites RMWHS does not control the content of these 3rd-party websites -- they have been listed for your convenience only. Historical Societies Lower Merion Historical Society East Falls Historical Society Chestnut Hill Conservancy Germantown Historical Society Germantown - Freedom's Backyard Montgomery County Historical Society Friends of the Northeast Philadelphia History Grand Army of the Republic - Civil War Museum & Archive City, State & National Resources Hidden Philadelphia Library Company of Philadelphia Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine Philadelphia Encyclopedia Philadelphia City Archives Historical Marker Search Historical Society of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission National Register of Historic Places National Archives (NARA) Genealogical Resources US Census Records Genealogical Society of Pennsylva nia Find a Grave Laurel Hill Cemetery West Laurel Hill Cemetery Leverington Cemetery (RMWHS has records) Historical Maps Free Library Map Mosaic – Interactive Free Library of Philadelphia - Digital Map Collection Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network Historic Map Works Historical Maps of PA Library of Congress - Online Maps Phila Open Maps Philly H2O (old site) Water History Phl (new site) The Anthenaeum of Philadelphia Old World Maps David Rumsey Map Collections Schuylkill Navigation Maps at RACC Historical Images PhillyHistory.org Free Library of Philadelphia Temple University Libraries Digital Collection Athenaeum Historic Photo Collection Historical Places to Visit Schuylkill Center Friends of the Wissahickon Historic Rittenhouse Town History Film/Video/Series History Making Productions Featured Website The Reading Area Community College (RACC) Schuylkill Navigation System Collection contains nearly 1,300 maps, drawings, and documents to explore. This collection would be of particular interest to those researching the Schuylkill River, Venice Island, Flat Rock Dam, Manayunk Canal, bridges, or the boats and scows that traveled the waterways. This collection would also be of interest to those researching Main Street or the Mills of Manayunk as some maps provide great details of water-adjacent properties and structures. - RMWHS Reading Area Community College - The Schuylkill Navigation System The Schuylkill Navigation Company was incorporated in 1815 for the purpose of making the Schuylkill River navigable. In the State Archives of Pennsylvania Manuscript Group 110 there are copies of the legislative acts, minute books, correspondence, reports, and other documents of the company from 1815 until 1947 when the property was contributed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the 1947 report Appraisal Schuylkill Navigation Company Canal for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania a "Brief History Of The Property To Be Appraised" is included. The "canal" or navigation system was constructed between Port Carbon and Philadelphia and covered a distance of 108 miles. Harry L. Rinker in his book, The Schuylkill Navigation: a Photographic History, points out that this "canal" was more properly a "navigation system" because it consisted of 18 dams, 23 canals which covered 57.73 miles, 120 locks, 17 stone aqueducts, one 450 foot long tunnel, 50.50 miles of slack water pools, 23 canals covering 57.73 miles, and 31 houses for toll and lock keepers when it was completed in May 1825. After 1825 efforts to improve the navigation system were ongoing, so the above number of structures changed over the years. There are photographs of some of the dwellings still in existence in 1947 in the Appraisal Schuylkill Navigation Company Canal for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Schuylkill Navigation Company collection at Reading Area Community College also includes drawings of reach profiles, canal boats, bowstring bridges, mechanical parts and scows.

69d054a1-fcdc-4f47-8f71-e8f94053e952 Main Street Manayunk Historic District Intro and Nomination Form Source: The information provided in this section was extracted from the "Main Street Manayunk Historic District (1984)" PDF which is available through the Philadelphia Historical Commission. The content here accounts for only about 10 of the 36 pages in the original document. Notice: The text in this section may not be reused or repurposed without the permission of the Philadelphia Historical Commission -- contact them directly to secure the necessary approval. The images in this section are from a number of different sources -- contact RMWHS for details. Download: The complete historic district document entitled "Main Street Manayunk Historic District (1984)" is available to download for free from the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Nomination of the Historic District Philadelphia Register of Historic Places "Main Street Manayunk Historic District" Describe your image This information has been posted by RMWHS with the permission of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Sections: 1 Intro and Nomination Form 2 Description 3 Significance of Manayunk 4 The Schuylkill Canal 5 Schuylkill Navigation Company 6 Manayunk Canal 7 Economic Development 8 Manayunk Social Development 9 The Industry of Venice Island 10 Main Street Manayunk 11 Bibliography 12 Boundary Details 13 Map Top of page

cdf5e0e2-93bd-4999-8428-e83a218be741 Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District During and After the Civil War During the Civil War, manufacturing generally and textile manufacturing specifically flourished in Manayunk and throughout Philadelphia, creating great wealth and effecting great change. “In Philadelphia, which was perhaps the largest center of manufacturing in the country, 58 new factories were erected in 1862, 57 in 1863, and 65 in 1864; and the building inspectors reported that those erected in the last-named year were generally very large.”84 In Manayunk, for example, Sevill Schofield’s carpet and yarn mill, which made blankets for the Union Army during the Civil War, employed 32 and was capitalized at $15,000 in 1860, but, by 1870, employed 314 and was capitalized at $200,000.85 As industrial Manayunk burgeoned, the managerial class, which ran the mills, pushed up the ridge into Roxborough, building their residences beyond the dirt and noise of the factories and the crowded rowhouses of the millworkers. As the mills expanded, traffic between the city and northwest Philadelphia increased. The section of Ridge Road running through North Philadelphia, just outside the downtown, began to be called Ridge Avenue in the 1850s. By the 1860s, the name Ridge Avenue began to be used in Roxborough. An advertisement in the Inquirer in July 1861 for “Country Boarding at Roxborough … for the Summer, in a private family, on Ridge avenue, above the sixth mile stone” may be the first use of the name in print to refer to the section of the road in Roxborough.86 The Ridge Avenue passenger railway line was started in 1858 and became fully operational the next year. It ran from Arch Street at N. 2nd Street to Manayunk by way of Ridge Avenue. The Ridge Avenue Passenger Railway Company was on formed 8 March 1872 by the consolidation of the Girard College Passenger Railway Company, which was incorporated in 1858, and the Ridge Avenue & Manayunk Passenger Railway Company, which was incorporated in 1859. Under a proviso in the charter of the Ridge Avenue Passenger Railway Company of 1872, the railway company purchased the Ridge Turnpike Company for $15,000. Subsequently, the Court of Quarter Sessions freed the turnpike from toll, signifying that the thoroughfare was transitioning from a country road into a city street.87 The Roxborough Passenger Railway Company was chartered on 15 April 1869, granting it the right to construct a trolley system from the Wissahickon Station on the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad line to the Sorrel Horse Tavern north of Port Royal or Ship Lane. Train travel to northwest Philadelphia increased as well. In 1847, 69,443 passengers passed through the Wissahickon and Manayunk stations of the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad. By 1860, the annual ridership at the two stations had jumped to 211,883. By 1870, the annual ridership had more than doubled during the ensuing decade, climbing to 455,542.88 Describe your image On 9 April 1873, the state legislature chartered the Manayunk & Roxborough Incline Plane and Railway Company, authorizing it to construct and operate a standard streetcar line powered by “horse or dummy engine” on Ridge Avenue from the Wissahickon to Barren Hill in Montgomery County. The new company was also authorized to construct and operate “an inclined plane from any point on Levering Street, in Manayunk, to extend to the top of the hill in Roxborough … and to run and haul cars by a stationary steam engine up and down said inclined plane.”89 The novel inclined plane proposal was celebrated. “This will be something new for this city, it being the first road of its kind that has ever been built here. … At first undoubtedly the timid ones will be afraid to patronize the new road, but after they have learned that the inclined planes in the western part of the State have been in operation for a long time without a single accident … they will ride up and down in the queerly shaped cars with the same feeling of comfort and security that they now experience in a street car.”90 Despite the enthusiasm for the novel technology, only the standard streetcar line on Ridge Avenue was constructed. The inclined plane up Levering Street from Manayunk to Roxborough was never built. Describe your image On 14 April 1868, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania approved a measure to take much of the land bounding the Wissahickon Creek in Philadelphia as an addition to Fairmount Park to ensure the protection of the purity of the water and the preservation of the beauty of its scenery. Over the next several decades, the Fairmount Park Commission acquired more than 2,000 acres of land in the creek valley and systematically demolished most of the industrial facilities as it returned the Wissahickon Valley to its natural appearance. In the 1930s, the Works Project Administration, a New Deal agency, demolished the remaining mill buildings, removing the last traces of what had been one of the most industrialized landscapes of eighteenth-century America and constructing rustic buildings for recreational uses.91 At about the same time the City began acquiring the valley of the Wissahickon Creek to protect the Schuylkill River’s water quality, it also began construction of a reservoir system in upper Roxborough. By the end of the 1850s, the Philadelphia Water Department determined that the northwestern section of the city, including Roxborough, Manayunk, and Chestnut Hill, would need to be served by its own water works. The high ground in this area was far above the reach of existing reservoirs in the city, which supplied water by gravity. Wells in populated areas were becoming unpalatable and in many cases unhealthy. “Manayunk and Roxborough [contain] a population numbering about twelve thousand,” Henry P.M. Birkinbine, chief engineer of the Philadelphia Water Department, wrote in a report to City Councils on 8 September 1859. “Of these, at least three thousand are operatives employed in the different factories. This part of the city is much in need of a supply of water for culinary, manufacturing and sanitary purposes, and for protection against fire, as the property in the manufactories is of great value, and now almost entirely without protection against fire…. From the dense population of parts of the district, the wells have become so contaminated, that the water in but few of them is now fit for culinary purposes. The necessity of a supply for manufacturing and mechanical purposes is evident.” Birkinbine proposed a water works along the Schuylkill, with a pumping station above the Flat Rock Dam at Shawmont and reservoirs located higher up the steep banks of the river, which would provide water by gravity through distribution mains in the streets. This system would serve not only the immediate vicinity, but other areas of the city as well. Construction began on these works after the end of the Civil War, with the pumping station at Shawmont completed in 1869. The steam-powered pumps forced water uphill into a reservoir (about 366 feet above city datum) located at present-day Eva and Dearnley Streets in Roxborough. To increase the capacity of the Roxborough Works and allow water to flow by gravity to a larger part of the city, the pumping station on the Schuylkill was expanded in the 1890s, and a much larger reservoir was built higher up the ridge (the Upper Reservoir, about 414 feet above city datum), along Port Royal Avenue about a block from Ridge Avenue. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the City constructed slow-sand filter plants at the Lower and Upper Roxborough Reservoirs. Once it went into operation citywide in 1909, the filtration system greatly reduced the incidence of waterborne diseases such as typhoid fever, which had been transmitted by the untreated (and sometimes sewage-tainted) river water. By the 1940s, rapid-sand filters began to supplant slow-sand filters as the technology of choice for water purification systems. By the early 1960s, filtration plants elsewhere in the city had been updated with this new technology as well as other automation features. More efficient and powerful electric pumps also meant that water could be delivered to the highest parts of the city from other pumping stations and reservoirs. “Unsuited to the needs of a modern city, the [Roxborough] water works were rapidly becoming obsolete and their capacity was too limited to meet future community growth,” stated the 1962 annual report of the Water Department. That year, the pumping station and two filter plants were closed down, and the upper reservoir was drained of its 147 million gallons. Today, underground storage basins at the Upper and Lower Roxborough sites are now filled by the pumps of the Queen Lane plant.92 Describe your image The City Atlas of Philadelphia by G.M. Hopkins clearly shows that Leverington had emerged as an identifiable suburban residential district by 1875 (Figure 33).93 West of Ridge Road, between Levering Street at the south, Leverington Avenue at the north, and Manayunk Avenue at the west, a highly developed suburban neighborhood of large detached and semi-detached houses was nearly built out by 1875. East of Ridge, large suburban houses were depicted on the 1875 map on Leverington and other streets. Smaller suburban houses, primarily twins, were evident on Dupont, Monastery, Roxborough, and other streets extending east from Ridge. In 1875, large estates including those of Dr. William Camac and J.V. Merrick occupied southernmost tip of the ridge in the Wissahickon neighborhood, mirroring the grand estates across the valley, on the southern bank of the Wissahickon along School House Lane. Little had changed in the remainder of Roxborough, which persisted as a linear village along Ridge Road surrounded by farmers’ fields. The 1875 map depicted the Wissahickon & Barren Hill Horse Railway running the length of Ridge Road out into Montgomery County, with a horse car barn west of Port Royal or Ship Lane, at the former Sorrel Horse Tavern. The population of the 21st Ward grew considerably in the late nineteenth century, from 13,861 in 1870; to 18,699 in 1880; to 26,900 in 1890; to 32,168 in 1900.94 In the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s, much of the remaining open land adjacent to Manayunk in the Wissahickon and Leverington sections of Roxborough, south of Fountain Street was subdivided and built upon, primarily for residential use. For example, by 1885, large single and twin Second Empire houses lined Sumac and Rochele in the Wissahickon neighborhood, provided elegant housing for managers associated with Manayunk’s textile mills and the Pencoyd Iron Works, which was located across the Schuylkill River in Montgomery County, but linked to Roxborough by bridges. However, large pockets of open land remained south of Fountain, especially to the east of Ridge Avenue. Commercial and institutional buildings were primarily located on Ridge Avenue. To the north of Fountain Street, Roxborough remained a linear village along Ridge Avenue with zones of denser development around Shawmont Avenue and Manatawna Avenue. Away from Ridge Avenue, north of Fountain Street, the land continued to be farmed as it had for nearly 200 years. During the decades after the Civil War, numerous religious and other institutions were established in the Leverington and Wissahickon neighborhoods of Roxborough to support the growing population. The Central Methodist Episcopal Church was established on Green Lane west of Ridge Avenue in 1870. The Leverington Presbyterian Church was established in 1878 and consecrated its first church building at Leverington and Ridge in 1880. The Wissahickon Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1882; the congregation consecrated its church building at Terrace and Salaignac Streets in 1883.95 The Wissahickon Baptist Church, on Terrace near Dawson, was established in 1884 at a mission chapel. The church building was erected in 1889.96 St. Stephens Episcopal Church at the corner of Terrace and Hermit was established in 1886 from a mission that was formed in 1871. The Talmage Reformed Church at Pechin and Rector was formed in 1889. Wissahickon Presbyterian Church at the intersection of Ridge and Manayunk was organized in 1892 and the church building was completed in 1894. The Galilee Baptist Church, an African-American congregation, incorporated in 1899 and constructed a church building to designs by architects Kennedy & Kelsey at the corner of Roxborough Avenue and Mitchell Street in 1901.97 During this period, only one church was established to the north, in the sparsely populated rural section of Roxborough; the Manatawna Baptist Church on Ridge Avenue was established in 1872.98 In addition to churches, several religious-based social service agencies were established in the southern sections of Roxborough during the late nineteenth century. St. Timothy’s Working Men’s Club and Institute was founded in 1872 to provide social and educational opportunities for working men. The club’s building, located at the intersection of Ridge Avenue, Terrace Street, and Vassar Street, was designed by architect Charles M. Burns Jr. and completed in 1877 (Figure 34). It included a library with reading and billiard rooms. The club hosted baseball and cricket teams and offered free night classes in mechanical drawing, engineering, and chemistry. The club ceased operations in 1912 owing to declining membership. The Roxborough Home for Women was established in 1887 on East Leverington to provide housing and support for Protestant women. The Memorial Hospital and House of Mercy of Saint Timothy's Church, Roxborough opened in 1890. By 1896, the name was changed to St. Timothy's Memorial Hospital and House of Mercy, Roxborough and, in 1920 to the Memorial Hospital, Roxborough. Located at Ridge Avenue and James Street, the hospital was built on land and with funds donated by J. Vaughan Merrick. The hospital was under the control of St. Timothy's Protestant Episcopal Church until 1920.99 Describe your image As George W. and Walter S. Bromley’s Atlas of the City of Philadelphia of 1895 shows, Manayunk and Lower Roxborough, south of Fountain Street, continued to be densely developed during the later nineteenth century as a suburban residential district for people employed in Manayunk and downtown Philadelphia. Commercial activity in Roxborough was primarily confined to Ridge Avenue. Away from Ridge Avenue, Upper Roxborough as well as the eastern reaches of Lower Roxborough along the Wissahickon, which were inaccessible to commuters, remained open land.100 Describe your image In the late nineteenth century, Henry Houston, a wealthy businessman and real estate investor with connections to the Pennsylvania Railroad, began to acquire large tracts of open land in Upper Roxborough.101 Houston also held large tracts of land in Germantown, Mt. Airy, and Chestnut Hill and had built the Philadelphia, Germantown & Chestnut Hill Railroad (now the Chestnut Hill West line) in the 1880s to provide easy access to the land west of Germantown Avenue for suburban development.102 About 1890, Houston and others began promoting a suburban commuter rail line in Roxborough to open the rural land for suburban development. In July 1891, William F. Dixon, a paper manufacturer, City Councilman, and 21st Ward powerbroker was granted a charter for the Roxborough Railroad Company, which authorized it to build a line 10 miles long from the Philadelphia, Germantown & Chestnut Hill Railroad line at Chelten Avenue and Pulaski Street in Germantown, across the Wissahickon, through the eastern and northern reaches of Roxborough, and into Montgomery County, where it would connect with the Trenton cut-off (Figure 35).103 As Dixon explained, the railroad was intended to “open up a territory of the city which is now virtually isolated, and one which is badly in need of railroad facilities.”104 Survey work and negotiations for the right-of-way were initiated in the summer of 1891. In 1892, the Pennsylvania Railroad, which also operated the Philadelphia, Germantown & Chestnut Hill Railroad, agreed to manage the Roxborough line. The railroad project, however, hit several snags including property owners who “demanded exorbitant prices” for their land. Evidencing the troubles, the police were called to prevent the railroad from breaking ground in 1893.105 The project languished. In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad abandoned the Roxborough Railroad project because “it was finally determined that the costs of the right of way would be far in excess” of $80,000, the amount the railroad had agreed to pay in 1892. Charles E. Pugh, the First Vice President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, explained to Philadelphia’s Mayor John Reyburn that “the advent of electricity has made the trolley car the proper medium for doing this character of work, and the facilities of the steam railroads, already very crowded, should be depended upon for taking care of long distance travel.”106 This information has been posted by RMWHS with the permission of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Sections: 1 Intro and Nomination Form 2 Boundary and Description 3 Statement of Significance 4 Native Americans 5 Patent Holders and Early Settlers 6 Ridge Road 7 Early Roxborough 8 Georgian and Colonial Architecture 9 During the Revolutionary War 10 Federal Architecture 11 Development of Manayunk 12 Greek Revival Architecture 13 Early 19th Century 14 Gothic Revival Architecture 15 Italianate Architecture 16 During and After the Civil War 17 Second Empire Architecture 18 Queen Anne Architecture 19 Turn of the Century 20 Conclusion and Bibliography 84 Emerson Fite, Social and Industrial Conditions in the North during the Civil War (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1910), p. 94-95. 85 Cited in Table 8.1 in Philip Scranton, Proprietary Capitalism: The Textile Manufacture at Philadelphia, 1800-1885 (Cambridge: Cambridge University press, 1883), p. 296-297. 86 Inquirer, 13 July 1861, p. 5. 87 “A Defiant Corporation,” Inquirer, 12 June 1888, p. 2; “The Ridge Line Leased,” The Times, 1 July 1892, p. 1; “The Ridge Line Leased,” The Times, 19 August 1892, p. 1. 88 Cited in Table 2-2 in Jeffrey P. Roberts, “Railroads and Downtown: Philadelphia, 1830-1900,” in William W. Cutler III and Howard Gillette Jr., eds., The Divided Metropolis: Social and Spatial Dimensions of Philadelphia, 1800-1975 (Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1980), p. 41. 89 Laws of the General Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1873 (Harrisburg: Benjamin Singerly, 1873), p. 883-884. 90 “Proposed New Railway from Manayunk to Roxborough,” Inquirer, 25 April 1874, p. 2. See also “New Passenger Railway,” Inquirer 12 August 1873, p. 2; Inquirer, 4 January 1875, p. 6; Inquirer, 9 September 1893, p. 2. 91 David R. Contosta and Carol Franklin, Metropolitan Paradise: The Struggle for Nature in the City Philadelphia's Wissahickon Valley, 1620-2020 (Philadelphia: Saint Joseph's University Press, 2010). 92 Adapted from Adam Levine, “Watershed History: Roxborough Water Works,” Watersheds Blog, Philadelphia Water Department, 19 May 2011. 93 G. M. Hopkins, City Atlas of Philadelphia, Vol. 2, Wards 21 and 28, 1875. 94 In 1867, the former Penn Township portion of the 21Ward, with School House Lane as the dividing line, was split off to form the 28th Ward. Act of 14 March 1867, §1, P.L. 460. Population numbers from: John Daly and Allen Weinberg, Genealogy of Philadelphia County Subdivisions (Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, 1966), p. 100. 95 “Wissahickon M.E. Church,” Inquirer, 30 October 1883, p. 2. 96 Inquirer, 11 January 1889, p. 7. 97 “Baptist Church Can Incorporate,” The Times, 29 December 1899, p. 3; “The Latest News in Real Estate,” Inquirer, 24 November 1900, p. 15; “New Church to Cost $13,000,” The Times, 3 December 1900, p. 11. 98 Inquirer, 18 May 1872, p. 2. 99 “A Generous Gift,” The Times, 19 March 1890, p. 6; “The Merricks’ Munificent Gift,” Inquirer, 12 June 1890, p. 5. 100 George W. & Walter S. Bromley, Civil Engineers, Atlas of the City of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: G.W. Bromley and Co., 1895), plates 32-34. 100 George W. & Walter S. Bromley, Civil Engineers, Atlas of the City of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: G.W. Bromley and Co., 1895), plates 32-34. 101 On Henry Houston, see J.M. Duffin, A Guide to the Henry Howard Houston Estate Papers, 1698-1989 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, The University Archives and Records Center, 1989). 102 The Philadelphia, Germantown & Chestnut Hill Railroad was incorporated on 2 January 1883 and 6.75-mile line between Germantown Junction and Chestnut Hill was constructed in 1883 and 1884. 103 “William Dixon’s Railroad,” Inquirer, 18 July 1891, p. 3; “Surveys for a New Road,” Times, 23 July 1891, p.4; “The New Trenton Cut-Off,” Inquirer, 10 September 1891, p. 4; “Roxborough’s Railroad Extension,” Inquirer, 11 September 1891, p. 8; “Roxborough’s New Railroad,” Inquirer, 29 October 1891, p. 4. 104 “Councils’ Committee at Work: The Roxborough Railroad Seeking a Route,” Times 11 September 1891, p. 6. 105 “A Railroad Checked,” Inquirer, 17 May 1893, p. 2. 106 “Roxborough Line Will Not Be Built,” Inquirer, 25 June 1910, p. 7. Top of page

The RMWHS History Hub serves as a digital extension to the Archive, providing a sample of local history, art, and culture on a variety of topics. This section will continue to grow and expand. RMWHS History Hub Sections below will grow, merge, and change as additional content is added and this website evolves. Topics to Explore Historic Districts Images & Image Collections Artists & Authors Maps & Self-Guided Tours Topics to Explore Explore Philadelphia's City Register of Historic Places Up Memorials of the 21st Ward Discover Local Landmarks Discover Houses of Worship This section is in development We have more topics to write about and welcome volunteer assistance. Contact us to learn more. Our Historic Districts Up Ridge Avenue Roxborough Historic District Discover Main Street Manayunk Historic District Discover Upper Roxborough Federal Historic District This section is in development Victorian Roxborough This section is in development Images & Image Collections Up RMWHS Web Images - Details Revealed View the individual images used on the RMWHS website, get the details, and learn more about our local history. Explore Port Royal Horse Stable A beautiful image collection of horses, riders, events, and playful moments at the farm. Discover Artists & Authors Up Claude Clark World-Renowned Artist, Educator, & Roxborough High School Graduate Celebrate We have more topics to write about and welcome volunteer assistance. Contact us to learn more. Maps & Self-Guided Tours Up Historical Maps Explore 1304 Steps of Our Town Explore

Historical Maps 1681 < Previous > Back to Historical Map List < Next > 1681 - Province of PA Source: URL: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division https://www.loc.gov/item/2006625100/ Full Name: A map of the improved part of the Province of Pennsilvania in America: begun by Wil. Penn, Proprietary & Governour thereof anno 1681 Visit the source URL to use zoom features, find additional formats, or download a high quality image.

bcf7468b-e6d1-4027-b20d-8dda56890c76 Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District During the Revolutionary War The British Army led by Sir William Howe, and the Continental Army, under George Washington fought one another in the Battle of Germantown, a major engagement in the Philadelphia campaign of the Revolutionary War. Although centered in Germantown on the east side of the Wissahickon Valley, the battle raged across northwest Philadelphia including Roxborough. After defeating the Continental Army at the Battle of Brandywine on 11 September 1777, and the Battle of Paoli on 20 September, Howe outmaneuvered Washington, seizing Philadelphia, the capital of the colonies, on 26 September. Howe left a garrison of some 3,000 troops in Philadelphia, while moving the bulk of his force to Germantown. Learning of the division, Washington determined to engage the British. His plan called for four separate columns to converge on the British position at Germantown. The ambition behind the plan was to surprise and destroy the British force, much in the same way as Washington had surprised and decisively defeated the Hessians at Trenton. In Germantown, Howe had his light infantry spread across his front as pickets. In the main camp, General Wilhelm von Knyphausen, second in command of the Hessian mercenaries in North America, led the British left, while Howe himself personally led the British right. After dusk on 3 October 1777, the American force began the 16-mile march southeastward toward Germantown in complete darkness. The Americans remained undetected by the pickets, and the main British camp was, subsequently, unaware of the American advance. However, the darkness made communications between the American columns extremely difficult, and progress was far slower than expected. At dawn, most of the American forces had fallen too short of their intended positions, losing the element of surprise they otherwise enjoyed. One column, under the command of General John Sullivan, moved down Germantown Road. A column of New Jersey militia under Brigadier General William Smallwood moved down Old York Road to attack the British right. General Nathanael Greene's column moved down Limekiln Road. The Pennsylvania Militia, led by Brigadier General John Armstrong Sr., marched down Ridge Road from the west and engaged von Knyphausen’s Hessian troops, who had dug in on the east side of the Wissahickon in the Falls of Schuylkill. The Pennsylvania Militia advanced down the Ridge Road to the confluence of the Wissahickon Creek and Schuylkill River and set up its artillery at the top of the ridge on the west bank of the Wissahickon. The Pennsylvania Militia fired ineffectively on the Hessians before withdrawing back up the Ridge Road (Figure 19). Armstrong's Pennsylvania Militia played no further part in the battle, which raged in Germantown. Owing to confusion and miscommunication, the Continental Army failed to rout the British and Hessian soldiers at Germantown. Many on both sides were killed, especially during the failed American assault on British soldiers in the Chew House on Germantown Road. At the end of the day, Washington’s troops retreated back to Valley Forge, where the army encamped for the winter of 1777-1778. Of the 11,000 men Washington led into battle, 30 officers and 122 men were killed, and 117 officers and 404 men were wounded. British casualties in the battle were 71 killed, 448 wounded and 14 missing. Howe eventually resigned his command and his replacement, General Henry Clinton, abandoned Philadelphia for New York in June 1778. A few months after the Battle of Germantown, a famous Revolutionary War incident occurred in Roxborough. On 19 December 1777, 40 members of Light Horse Harry Lee’s Virginia Dragoons were patrolling in Roxborough. Lee, the father of Civil War general Robert E. Lee, was not present. At nightfall, they arrived at the house of Andrew Wood and asked for shelter. After they were fed, some bedded down in the house, while others slept in the barn. Members of the British 16th Light Dragoons were also on patrol in Roxborough and discovered the American troops on the Wood property. Wood led the troopers staying in the house out the back door to safety. The troopers in the barn were not so fortunate. The British set fire to the barn and, as some of the troopers tried to exit, they were shot down. Others remained in the barn and were burned to death. A total of 18 Virginia troopers were killed that night. In 1860, the remains of the troopers were transferred to Leverington Cemetery, where a large monument to the victims of the massacre was erected. After the Revolutionary War, every township in the Commonwealth estimated the costs of the damages caused by the British troops. In Roxborough, 19 property owners sustained damage totaling $3,228.99. Not surprisingly, Andrew Wood, whose barn had been burned when the Virginia Dragoons were massacred, sustained the greatest damages, estimated at $674.26.60 Describe your image This information has been posted by RMWHS with the permission of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Sections: 1 Intro and Nomination Form 2 Boundary and Description 3 Statement of Significance 4 Native Americans 5 Patent Holders and Early Settlers 6 Ridge Road 7 Early Roxborough 8 Georgian and Colonial Architecture 9 During the Revolutionary War 10 Federal Architecture 11 Development of Manayunk 12 Greek Revival Architecture 13 Early 19th Century 14 Gothic Revival Architecture 15 Italianate Architecture 16 During and After the Civil War 17 Second Empire Architecture 18 Queen Anne Architecture 19 Turn of the Century 20 Conclusion and Bibliography 60 Joseph Starne Miles and William H. Cooper, eds., A Historical Sketch of Roxborough, Manayunk, and Wissahickon (Philadelphia: George Fein & Co., 1940), p. 50. 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19ed4f31-8ca3-4476-b9f4-bc35ce342470 Main Street Manayunk Historic District Main Street Manayunk Although the industrial areas of Venice Island were substantially developed by the 1870s, Main Street did not reach the peak of its development as a commercial and retail center until the early 20th century. In the mid-19th century, Main Street served as the principal land route for the transportation of people and goods in and out of Manayunk. It initially developed as a residential street and business center, responding to the industrial growth of Venice Island. In 1850, the Girard College and Manayunk horse drawn streetcar line operating on Main Street was completed linking Manayunk to the city via Ridge Avenue. At this time, the south side of Main Street was largely open to the canal. Bridges at cross streets connected Main Street to Venice Island. The north side of Main Street was almost fully developed between Pensdale and Carson with residential development on side streets north of Main Street extended as far up as Silverwood Street. Describe your image Through the 1870s, industrial development on Venice Island continued and the business center grew as commercial development spread along the south side of Main Street between Lock and Grape Streets. Much of this growth came in the form of mill offices. With the increasing importance of Main Street as a business center, hotels developed on the north side of Main Street, near the railroad station, and also banks, such as the Manayunk National Bank at Levering and Main. By 1890, development of the south side of Main Street extended west to the 4300 block of Main Street, including the Manayunk Trust Co., at 4336 Main Street. By the close of the century Main Street had become the commerce and institutional center for Manayunk. Describe your image Main Street in the early 1900s remained a business and commerce center tied to Venice Island industry rather than a retail shopping district. By the 1920s, the south side of Main Street was fully developed, breaking any visual link between the commercial district and the canal industrial zone. However, as suburban residential growth occurred in Roxborough the character of Main Street shifted to retail shopping and entertainment catering to local trade. The Empress Theater was constructed on the site of the last remaining hotel on Main Street at 4439, and department stores such as the Foster Department Store at number 4268 and Propper Brothers at Levering Street north of Main Street. Describe your image The Depression years brought the closing of many mills in Manayunk and the decline of Main Street as a community retail center. New retail activity concentrated first on the strip shopping district along Ridge Avenue, and then in the freestanding shopping centers, further west on Ridge Avenue. After a long period of decline evidenced by many vacant stores, there is renewed interest in the commercial strip, as antique shops, and restaurants, seeking out low rent locations, have established businesses on Main Street. Recently, one of the larger structures on Main Street has been renovated for professional office use. This information has been posted by RMWHS with the permission of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Sections: 1 Intro and Nomination Form 2 Description 3 Significance of Manayunk 4 The Schuylkill Canal 5 Schuylkill Navigation Company 6 Manayunk Canal 7 Economic Development 8 Manayunk Social Development 9 The Industry of Venice Island 10 Main Street Manayunk 11 Bibliography 12 Boundary Details 13 Map Top of page