Roxborough
Manayunk
Wissahickon
Historical
Society

Status: This is a historic cemetery that is still accepting new residents. Leverington Cemetery Lyceum Ave & Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19128, USA Owner: Leverington Cemetery LLC Status: This is a historic cemetery that is still accepting new residents. Visitors are welcome during daylight hours when the front gate is open. Please watch your step -- old graveyards tend to have uneven ground and more than a few groundhog holes. History In 1703, Elizabeth, the 13-year-old daughter of Wigard Levering, was the first to be laid to rest on this land. Dozens of other Leverings would eventually join her as would their descendants, neighbors, and thousands of residents not only from the 21st Ward, but from across Philadelphia and Montgomery County. In the 320 years since Elizabeth's death, the cemetery was known as the Roxborough Burial Grounds and eventually the Leverington Cemetery -- taking its name from the area named in deference for the founding Levering families in the area. Memorials Revolutionary Soldiers Memorial Civil War Soldier Memorial Map A map of cemetery has been provided below. Burial Records & Resources Burial records & resources are available through Ancestry.com , FamilySearch.com , and Findagrave.com . If those resources do not provide the information you are looking for, you can contact RMWHS . Please note, you should check the online resources first as a courtesy to our volunteer archivists. Volunteers Welcome Each Spring members of the community are invited to participate in Clean-up & Planting Day. Volunteers and local groups come spend a few hours one Saturday doing minor weeding and landscaping projects as well as tending to the planters and cradle beds. If you are interested in helping, join/watch the Friends of Leverington Cemetery on Facebook for details on the date (which is typically in mid-to-late April). Adopt a Cradle Grave If you are interested in adopting a cradle grave, contact RMWHS . A few of our members organize weeding, planting, and occasional watering of a number of the cradle graves throughout the cemetery. We appreciate your assistance in help in beautifying one of our most treasured landmarks. Gallery of Photos Map

c03e0f0b-21ea-4b0e-8e9c-b06dcf4ae808 Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Ridge Road In 1686, before Europeans settled Roxborough, Mary Farmar, the widow of Major Jasper Farmar, discovered large deposits of lime on her 5,000-acre estate in Plymouth Township, Montgomery County. In 1687, the residents of Plymouth Township petitioned the Court of the Quarter Sessions to lay out a roadway from Philadelphia to the Township to transport the lime, which was valuable as a building material, especially in a city where brick construction would become predominant. The residents of Plymouth Township again petitioned the Court of the Quarter Sessions “to grant them a common Cartway or Road to extend from Wissahickon Mills [where the Wissahickon flowed into the Schuylkill] up into the Perkioming Creek” [in Collegeville] in March 1706. That same year, surveyor Thomas Fairman certified that he had laid out the road as ordered by the Court. In June 1706, the Court directed Fairman to survey the road leading from the City of Philadelphia at 6th and Sassafras (Arch) Streets to Wissahickon Mills so that it could be confirmed. In 1707, Fairman reported to the Court that he had surveyed the road, which had existed but had not been confirmed. In 1709, the road was extended from Collegeville west to Manatawny (Pottstown). Ridge Avenue was known by many names during its first century including the Great Road, King’s Road, Wissahiccon Road, Plymouth Road, Manatawny Road, and Reading Road. Describe your image At several points during the eighteenth century, in 1723, 1753, 1786, and 1797, the route of the Ridge Road from the western bank of the Wissahickon to the top of the ridge, where Ridge, Righter, and Hermit intersect today, was shifted to ease travel up the steep hill. By the end of the eighteenth century, this section of the Ridge Road was established on its current line (Figure 9). 20 Describe your image To help orient travelers, milestones marking the distance from the City of Philadelphia were placed along Ridge Road in the middle of the eighteenth century. On 12 August 1768, Jacob Hiltzheimer noted in his diary that he “Went up the Wissahockon Road to set milestones.” 21 A Plan of the City of Philadelphia and Environs Surveyed by John Hills of 1808 identifies the locations of some of the milestones along Ridge Road. The Milestone 6 was located immediately west of the bridge across the Wissahickon. Milestone 7 was located near the intersection with Rittenhouse Lane, now Walnut Lane. Milestone 8 was located near the current intersection on Ridge Avenue and Gates Street. Milestones 9, 10, and 11 were not depicted on the map, but would have been located west of Domino Lane, at Port Royal Avenue, and at the Montgomery County line, respectively. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the milestones on Ridge Road were used like addresses. For example, in 1837, the National Gazette advertised a farm for rent “on the Ridge road, near the eight mile stone… The location of this property is on the most elevated part of Roxborough, and for salubrity and fertility cannot be excelled by any in the vicinity of the city.” 22 In 1841, John Parker and David Millar offered a $2 reward for “a brown COW, some white on her forehead with large horns,” which had strayed away “in Roxborough township, Ridge Road, near the seven mile stone.” 23 Ridge Road was an important trade route, providing access to the interior of Pennsylvania and beyond. Freight was hauled in Conestoga wagons (Figure 10). James Logan, secretary to William Penn, appears to have coined the term Conestoga wagon in 1717. Logan ran freight wagons between Philadelphia and the Conestoga Valley in Lancaster County. In 1787, Benjamin Rush described the Conestoga wagon as "a large strong waggon covered with linen cloth is an essential part of the furniture of a German farm. It is pulled by four or five large horses of a particular breed, and will carry 2000 to 3000 pounds." The Conestoga wagon’s curved shape prevented cargo from shifting as it traversed rough terrain. The large, broad wheels allowed the wagon to maneuver in ruts and mud. Rush noted that, during the fall harvest season, "on the road between Philadelphia and the Valley you'll see 50 to 100 [Conestoga wagons] a day." Wagon traffic was significant. More than 10,000 wagons made the trip to Philadelphia annually by 1775. Convoys sometimes included as many as 100 wagons on a single train. As historian David McCullough has noted: the crowds and noise [in the center of eighteenth-century Philadelphia] seemed overwhelming … on market days, Wednesdays and Saturdays, when German-speaking country people came rolling into town in huge farm wagons loaded with produce, live chickens, pigs, and cattle. The “thundering of coaches, chariots, chaises, wagons, drays, and the whole fraternity of noise almost continually assails our ears,” complained a visiting physician. [Continental Congress] delegate Stephen Hopkins from Rhode Island counted one day seventy farm wagons on Market Street. 24 Describe your image As the population expanded westward, Conestoga wagons leaving Philadelphia took one of three main routes: over the Appalachian Mountains to Pittsburgh where the freight was then shipped downriver into the Ohio Valley; along the National Road connecting Baltimore and Frederick, Maryland with Wheeling, West Virginia and eventually to Vandalia, Illinois by 1852; and down the Great Wagon Road through the valley of Virginia into North Carolina. Wagoners with horse-drawn Conestoga wagons carried supplies and finished goods westward on three-to four-week journeys and returned with flour, whiskey, tobacco, and other products. In addition to the long-distance trade, wagoners moved cargo locally and regionally, hauling agricultural products, lumber and other building materials, and various other goods. Shipping companies, like Philadelphia’s Inland Transportation Office, hauled “Goods, Mdze. &c., by waggons to … Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Lancaster, and all other parts of the Western Country” (Figure 11). 25 As one witness reminisced: When Conestoga wagons roamed the highways of Pennsylvania before freight trains appeared, Ridge road was the direct route to and from that astonishingly fat region, the Schuylkill Valley. From Berks, Lebanon, and Montgomery poured an endless string of Conestogas, hauled by great horses -- often four to a team. Down that valley poured the output of America’s first iron works. At certain seasons Ridge road was white with lime wagons from the kilns about Bridgeport. Indeed, a great part of the city’s bread and butter flowed down the Ridge. 26 Describe your image Inns and taverns along Ridge Road provided food and shelter for travelers. The first, the Leverington Hotel, was erected in 1731 at what is now the southeast corner of Ridge Ave. and Leverington Street. It was demolished by real estate mogul Albert M. Greenfield in 1925. 27 Located at the top of the steep hill at the eastern edge of the ridge, where Ridge, Hermit, and Righter intersect today, the Plough Tavern was constructed in 1746. After housing travelers on the Ridge Road, the building was used for many purposes including as an almshouse and church. It was abandoned in 1925 and demolished in 1937. 28 The Sorrel Horse Tavern, located on Ridge Road above Port Royal, was erected in 1785. When it sold in 1867, the “valuable hotel property, known as the ‘Old Sorrel Horse Tavern’” was described as “a 2½-story stone house, 4 rooms and a large hall on the first floor, 4 rooms on second floor, and 3 rooms on third floor; a large stone barn, stabling and shedding sufficient to accommodate 30 to 40 horses, ice house, and 3 wells of never-failing water.” 29 In 1878, the Sorrel Horse Inn was described as “once famous, but now empty.” 30 The tavern was used by the Roxborough Passenger Railway Company, but eventually demolished. During the eighteenth century, Ridge Road was poorly maintained and passage could be difficult, as is evidenced by this account by the Duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt: On the twentieth of April [1795] Mr. Guillemard, Caleb Lownes, and myself, set out on horseback from Philadelphia, through Ridge Road, on our way to Norris Town. This road, like all the public roads in Pennsylvania, is very bad, for provision is brought to that city from all parts in large and heavy laden wagons. The constant passage of these wagons destroys the roads, especially near the town, where several of them meet. Ridge Road is almost impassible. 31 In response to the poor travel conditions, the Ridge Turnpike Company was founded to improve Ridge Road (Figure 12). Chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 30 March 1811, the company was authorized to sell 1,500 shares of stock at $50 per share and to build a macadamized road, not less than 40 feet, nor more than 60 feet in width, from the intersection of 10th and Vine Streets at the edge of the City of Philadelphia to the bridge over the Perkiomen in Montgomery County. The Company was also responsible for all of the road’s maintenance and repairs. 32 Construction of the 23½-mile road was completed in 1816 at a cost of $7,500 per mile. The Ridge Turnpike was never profitable, in part because of the competition of the nearby Germantown Turnpike, which also led to the Perkiomen Bridge, and in part because teamsters avoided the steep grade up the ridge to the west of the bridge over the Wissahickon. In 1825, the Ridge Turnpike Company collected about $10,000 in tolls, but faced about $10,000 in expenses. That year, the company paid no dividends and carried about $140,000 in debt. 33 The numbers of Conestoga wagons in the United States increased year after year until the 1830s, when canals began competing with them for freight hauling. In the east, railroads replaced Conestoga wagons and canals by the 1850s. However, the prairie schooner, a lightweight, flat variant of the Conestoga wagon, carried pioneer settlers from Missouri to the West Coast. And the Conestoga wagon remained in use on farms in Pennsylvania well into the twentieth century (Figure 13). 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 20 See Joseph S. Miles and William H. Cooper, A Historical Sketch of Roxborough, Manayunk, Wissahickon (Philadelphia: G. Fein & Co., 1940). P. 17-19. 21 Joshua L. Bailey Jr., “Old Milestones about Philadelphia, Illustrated,” Bulletin of the Friends’ Historical Society of Philadelphia, vol. 9, no. 2, November 1919, p. 46-62; Jacob Cox Parsons, ed., Extracts from the Diary of Jacob Hiltzheimer: Of Philadelphia. 1765-1798 (Philadelphia: Wm. F. Fell & Co., 1893), p. 15. 22 The National Gazette, 2 February 1837, p. 3. 23 Public Ledger, 27 September 1841, p. 3. 24 David McCullough, American History E-book Set (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), n.p. 25 See, for example, advertisements for the Inland Transportation Office, National Gazette, 27 December 1823, p. 2; National Gazette, 9 January 1824, p. 3. 26 Inquirer, 9 April 1929, p. 10. 27 “Northwest Expect Realty Boom Soon,” Inquirer, 19 July 1925, p. 55. 28 “Famed Inn Must Go,” Inquirer, 25 October 1937, p. 17. 29 Inquirer, 30 October 1867, p. 8. 30 “An Old Tony Weller: The Tales He Tells of the Coaching Days of Yore, The Times, 3 May 1878, p. 1. 31 Duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Travels through the United States of North America, the Country of the Iroquois, and Upper Canada, in the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797, with an Authentic Account of Lower Canada (London, 1797), vol. 1, p. 2-3. 32 “Ridge Avenue Passenger Railway Company v. City of Philadelphia,” July 15, 1897, The Atlantic Reporter 37 (May 5-August 25, 1897): 910. 33 Donald C. Jackson, “Turnpikes in Southeastern Pennsylvania,” in Judith A. McGaw, ed., Early American Technology: Making and Doing Things From the Colonial Era to 1850 (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994), p. 232-233. Top of page

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

Historical Maps 1876 < Previous > Back to Historical Map List < Next > 1876 - Fairmount Park Int'l Exhibit Source: URL: Free Library of Philadelphia https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/52583 Full Name: Fairmount Park International Exhibition: Philadelphia, 1876, Map Visit the source URL to use zoom features, find additional formats, or download a high quality image.

20c02876-4c20-4cb2-af1f-b1d2b78217f7 Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Italianate Architecture Like the Gothic Revival style, the Italianate style began in England as part of the Picturesque movement, a reaction to formal classical ideals in art and architecture that had been fashionable for about 200 years. The movement emphasized rambling, informal Italian farmhouses, with their characteristic square towers, as models for Italian-style villa architecture. The first Italianate houses were built in the United States in the late 1830s; the style was popularized by the influential pattern books of Andrew Jackson Downing published in the 1840s and 1850s. By the 1860s, the style had completely overshadowed its earlier companion, the Gothic Revival. Most Italianate examples date from 1855 to 1880. The hallmarks of the style are low-pitched roofs with wide eaves supported by decorative brackets; tall, narrow four-over-four or two-overtwo double-hung windows, sometimes arched, often with crowns or other decorative hoods; cupolas or towers; double doors with bolection mouldings; and decorative door surrounds and porches elaborated with brackets.83 “Houghton,” the grand residence of J. Vaughan Merrick Jr. at 5301 Ridge Avenue, which was built about 1860, is the best example of the Italianate style on Ridge Avenue (Figure 30). The mansion includes all of the character-defining features of the Italianate: a tower, bracketed eaves, large porches supported by square pillars, and four-over-four double-hung windows. The urban, rowhouse variant of the Italianate style can be found at the row at 6109 to 6115 Ridge Avenue. The three-story, mixed-use buildings have bracketed cornices at the storefronts and rooflines, brick facades with butter joints, and windows with stone lintels and sills. 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 83 Drawn from Virginia & Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), p. 210-214. Top of page

afd11fc1-1d3a-44bc-b939-0a24ff0d7af5 Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Queen Anne Architecture The Queen Anne style was the dominant style of domestic building in the United States from about 1880 to 1900; and persisted with decreasing popularity through the first decade of the twentieth century. The style was named and popularized by a group of nineteenth-century English architects led by Richard Norman Shaw. The name is rather inappropriate, for the historical precedents used by Shaw and his followers had little to do with Queen Anne or the formal Renaissance architecture that was dominant during her reign between 1702 and 1714. Instead, they borrowed heavily from late medieval models of the preceding Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. The half-timbered Watts-Sherman House built in Newport Rhode Island in 1874 is generally considered to be the first American example of the style. A few high-style examples followed in the 1870s and, by the 1880s, the style was being spread throughout the country by pattern books and one of the first architectural magazines, The American Architect and Building News. Large-scale manufacture of pre-cut architectural details and the expanding railroad network by which they were shipped aided in the growth and popularization of the style. 108 Queen Anne buildings are generally comprised of multiple, intersecting volumes, resulting in more complex forms than their predecessors. These asymmetrical, complex forms are created by combining various volumes including cross gables, engaged towers and turrets, steeply pitched roofs with irregular shapes, and bay windows. Queen Anne buildings often include decorative brick or stonework, ornate gable detailing, shaped slate or wood shingle patterning, large porches with complex woodwork, multi-paned windows with clear and colored glass. The twin buildings at 6222 and 6224 Ridge Avenue, which date to about 1885, are excellent examples of the Queen Anne style as applied to semidetached buildings and have some detailing that might be better classified as the Stick style, a variant or close relative to Queen Anne (Figure 37). The three-story buildings are stone at the first floor, and fish-scale shingles at the second floor and mansard. The shingles create a vibrant pattern of light and shadow. The dormers in the mansard have highly unusual hoods or crowns supported by large brackets. The cornice is also supported by brackets and features fish scales. The second-floor windows are double hungs with small and large panes in the upper sash. The porch has turned posts with arched latticework panels between them. Other buildings in the saw-tooth row of twins also have Queen Anne features, but none characterize the Queen Anne style with the exuberance of those at 6222 and 6224 Ridge Avenue. Describe your image The house at 5535 Ridge Avenue, with its corner turret topped by a conical cap and finial, is another good example of the Queen Anne style. In addition to the turret, the mansard roof, bracketed dormers, and wrap-around porch all characterize the style. The house at 6904 Ridge Avenue is likewise an example of the Queen Anne style, owing to its turret, oversized dormer, and wrap-around porch. 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 108 Drawn from Virginia & Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), p. 262-268. Top of page

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

900b2961-dce5-49a4-8644-344cdeebb707 Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Gothic Revival Architecture The picturesque Gothic Revival style was popularized by landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing’s Cottage Residences, first published in 1842 and reprinted in many editions in the mid and late nineteenth century. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, American architecture styles, including Georgian, Adam, Federal, and Greek Revival, were predicated on Classical forms and vocabulary. In the early nineteenth century, as industry grew, rural areas transitioned into suburbs, a middle class emerged, and the field of architecture was professionalized in the United States. Those architects proposed a new architectural vocabulary appropriate for housing in suburban environments. In 1837, architect Andrew Jackson Davis (1803-92) published Rural Residences, in which he drew from British sources to champion the Gothic Revival style for domestic architecture for the first time in America. Rural Residences was influential, but the Gothic Revival style for American domestic architecture was catapulted into collective national consciousness by landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-52), a friend and collaborator with Davis, who published A Treatise of the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1841), followed by Cottage Residences (1842), and The Architecture of Country Houses (1850). In his books, Downing popularized the modest-sized, inexpensive detached cottage in a suburban or rural setting. Downing’s pattern books provided multiple design suggestions for this type of dwelling, ranging from a small suburban cottage to a villa in the Italian style. By the mid-1840s, the picturesque Gothic or Gothic Revival style of architecture began to increase in popularity for residences, largely due to Downing’s pattern books. Downing’s Cottage Residences is considered “one of the most widely used books in American architectural literature.”80 Downing’s The Architecture of Country Houses, a companion to Cottage Residences, has been called a “seminal” book in American architecture. According to the National Historic Landmark nomination for the Rotch House, a Gothic Revival house in New Bedford, Massachusetts designed by Davis in 1845, “the publication and eventual dissemination and popularity of Downing’s Country Houses became a watershed event in the evolution of American domestic architecture, and today cultural historians recognize the book’s significant consequences for the shaping of popular taste in the pre-Civil War period.”81 While his books included many details of house and landscape designs, Downing provided the designs as suggestions, which a builder could adapt to the site and the needs of the homeowner. Downing’s books, in collaboration with Davis, who provided many of the architectural designs and illustrations, inspired the design of numerous cottage residences in rural and suburban settings, leading to an era characterized by these types of Victorian cottage residences. A rural, rather than urban, setting was considered important to the Gothic Revival style, as the building was intended to be compatible with the natural landscape, not situated on a narrow urban lot.82 The primary distinguishing characteristic of the Gothic Revival style is the centered cross gable roof with decorated barge boards. Other characteristics include finials, steeply pitched roofs, pointed arch lancet windows extending into the gables, and open entry and full-width porches with flattened, pointed Gothic arches. One of the best examples of the Gothic Revival style in Roxborough is the Amos Barnes House at 559 Righter Street, at the intersection of Ridge, Righter, and Hermit. Constructed of Wissahickon schist about 1856, the Barnes House effectively represents the Gothic Revival style with Victorian Cottage elements, as reflected in the center cross gable decorative barge board at the roofline. Originally, the building had a full-width front porch and lancet window at the gable (Figure 29). Other excellent examples of the Gothic Revival style on Ridge Avenue include the houses at 5508 Ridge Avenue, which includes the centered cross gable, arched gable windows, and full-width front porch; and 8029 Ridge Avenue, which includes the centered cross gable, lancet windows, and a highly ornamented, full-width, front porch. The building at 8029 Ridge Avenue is unique in that it is clad in wood shiplap siding rather than masonry. Also, rather than decorative bargeboards, it has bracketed cornices, linking it to the Italianate style as well. 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 80 Adolf K.Placzek, “Preface to the Dover Edition,” in Andrew Jackson Downing, Victorian Cottage Residences (New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1981), p. iii. 81 Peggi Medeiros and William E. Krattinger, National Historic Landmark Nomination for William J. Rotch Gothic Cottage, designated February 17, 2006, p. 9. 82 Leland M. Roth, A Concise History of American Architecture (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1979), p. 100-103; Virginia & Lee. McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), p. 200. Top of page

Status: This is a historic cemetery and no longer open for new burials. Bethany Lutheran Cemetery 378 Martin Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA Owner: Lutheran Church of SE Pennsylvania Status: This is a historic cemetery and no longer open for new burials. Visitors should see the sign posted on the cemetery gate. No pets are permitted. History German-speaking Lutherans of the Roxborough, Manayunk, Wissahickon area organized the Bethany German Lutheran Church (Bethanien Kirche) in 1845. The cemetery located at 378 Martin Street was opened in 1847 and the last burial took place in 1955. While the precise number of individuals buried in the cemetery is not known as the records have been lost, there were 73 grave markers that were transcribed and added to findagrave.com. However, the actual number buried in the cemetery plot is likely several times that given the size of the cemetery, growth of the congregation, and the number of deaths that would have occurred over the 104 years. RMWHS Archivists found evidence that at least than 9 Civil War soldiers are buried at Bethany Cemetery. Ongoing research will be done by RMWHS to add what is known of others buried here. If you have burial records, newspaper articles, obituaries or documentation of someone buried at Bethany, please share the information with RMWHS. Gallery of Photos

14f452f2-6046-4a39-8cc8-41b0e866b924 Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Intro and Nomination Form Source: The information provided in this section was extracted from the "Ridge Avenue Roxborough thematic district (2018)" PDF which is available through the Philadelphia Historical Commission. The content here accounts for only about 55 of the 433 pages in the original document. Notice: This content may not be reused or repurposed without the permission of the Philadelphia Historical Commission -- contact them directly to secure the necessary approval. Download: The complete historic district document entitled "Ridge Avenue Roxborough thematic district (2018)" is available to download for free from the Philadelphia Historical Commission . Please note the complete 433 page document is 36M as it contains the full inventory of the historic district. Nomination of the Historic District Philadelphia Register of Historic Places "Ridge Avenue Roxborough Thematic 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 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

Historical Maps 1752 < Previous > Back to Historical Map List < Next > 1752 - Phila & Adjacent Source: URL: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3824p.ct000294 Full Name: A map of Philadelphia and parts adjacent : with a perspective view of the State-House Visit the source URL to use zoom features, find additional formats, or download a high quality image.

Historical Maps 1816 < Previous > Back to Historical Map List < Next > 1816 - Phila County Source: URL: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3824p.la000783 Full Name: Map of Philadelphia County : constructed by virtue of an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed 19th March 1816 Visit the source URL to use zoom features, find additional formats, or download a high quality image.

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

e8ab28c4-0111-4d3d-abc3-e94af591c2b9 Main Street Manayunk Historic District The Industry of Venice Island The pattern of physical growth and development in Manayunk during the 19th century was determined by the location of the Manayunk Canal, as a transportation route and power source. With the decline of the canal and the increasing importance of railroad transportation, the construction of a railroad spur adjacent to the canal maintained Manayunk as an important industrial location. Industrial development and redevelopment occurred during the 19th and early 20th centuries in response to changes in technology and market condition favoring new industries. Describe your image After completion of the canal, Venice Island, located between the river channel and the canal, became the principal location for Manayunk industry. By the 1860s, a substantial number of mill complexes had been developed both on the eastern and central parts of Venice Island, and the south side of Main Street, near the lower locks. Principal mill structures at the lower locks included the Roxborough Mills, and the Littlewood and Lancaster Mill. Cotton mills clustered in an area cast of Green Lane Bridge, while west of the Leverington Street Bridge, a wider variety of mill industries developed including paper mills (Flat Rock Paper Mill), grist mills (Mt. Vernon Grist Mill), and Knitting Works (Pennsylvania Knitting Works). Coal was now the major source of power for the mill complexes with the Philadelphia and Norristown Railroad servicing the coal depots on the south side of Cresson Street. Describe your image Over the next fifteen years, development continued along the eastern and central parts of Venice Island as far west as Fountain Street. Major mill complexes east of Green Lane included the Schuylkill Cotton Mill at Rector Street, Hardings Paper Mills and Ripka Cotton Mills at Carson Street. Typically, each mill had operation on both sides of the waters, linked by bridges across the canal, with the mill offices located on the Main Street side. By 1875, a substantial number of paper and wood pulp mills has been constructed west of the Fountain Street Bridge. Among these mills were the American Wood Pulp Co., Flat Rock Mills and Philadelphia Pulp Works. Race channels, cut across Venice Island from the canal to the main channel, supplied water for each mill. Gas became a new source of energy for Manayunk industries, provided by the Manayunk Gas Works located on Venice Island, east of the Leverington Street Bridge. In the 1880s, rail transportation became increasingly important and a second rail line serving Manayunk, the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad, was completed. Before 1818, Flat Rock Road and the canal had provided the only direct means of transporting raw materials and finished goods to and from the Island mills. Now, the transformation of Venice Island industry transportation from water to rail transportation was complete with the construction of the Venice Island branch of the Reading Railroad on the tow path right of way, and the elimination of the canal tow path system. At the turn of the century, most of the mills were still in operation, although new types of industry began developing with the construction of the railroad spur to Venice Island. With increasing competition from textile production in the south, and a reorientation of Manayunk industry to pulp, soap, and chemical production, further development and redevelopment occurred in the first two decades of the 20th century. Some major textile mills remained, such as Imperial Woolens and Elton Textiles Mills, while new industries such as the Zane Soap and Chemical Co., National Waste Co., and the National Milling and Chemical Co. (NAMCO), opened. No significant new industrial development occurred in Manayunk after the 1920s, heightening the decline in importance of Manayunk as an industrial center. Today, Venice Island provides both industrial and recreational uses. While the west end of the Island remains industrial, some of the old, abandoned textile mills at the east end have been cleared for active recreational uses. Although many of the older mills have been demolished, these Venice Island sites may at some future time yield valuable archaeological information relating to 19th century industrial technology. 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

9c89da16-ca78-44e6-a7d2-0d24c5906b7d Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Georgian and Colonial Architecture The Georgian style was the dominant architectural style of the English colonies from the early eighteenth century to about 1780, but forms of the style persisted in some areas to as late as 1830. Although the style derives its name from England’s King George, the buildings in this style in Roxborough probably owe as much to Germany as to Britain, and therefore may be more appropriately referred to as simply Colonial in style. Georgian or Colonial style houses were typically side-gabled, two-story boxes with windows and doors arranged in strict symmetry. Additions were often constructed to the sides or rears as new needs arose. Georgian houses in northwest Philadelphia were typically constructed of Wissahickon schist. Relatively simple buildings, they were typically ornamented with molded cornices, door surrounds, and, in the early years, with pent eaves. The buildings typically featured shed or pedimented dormers. The Georgian vernacular farmhouse at 900 Northwestern Avenue is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Roxborough (Figure 17). The ancient farmhouse stands with an early barn on a rural lot at the northern edge of Roxborough, providing an impression of township during its bucolic, farming days. The house has been dated to 1690 and the barn to 1700 by one local historian. While dates for the buildings have not yet been thoroughly documented, they more likely are situated in the 1720s, when Hans George John owned the property.57 The whitewashed stone house with shake roof, which sits very low to the ground, includes many of the features of early German Colonial buildings in southeastern Pennsylvania: pent eaves, shed and gabled dormers, large chimneys, and multi-paned windows. The tall stone barn with steeply pitched roof is typical of early German-American construction. The twin house at 7549 and 7551 Ridge Avenue is an excellent example of a Georgian vernacular building (Figure 18). It is a symmetrical, side-gabled, two-story, stone building set low to the ground with a steeply pitched roof. Although the buildings include informal date stones on the front facades reading 1717 and 1784, it appears that the building was not constructed as early as 1717, but was actually constructed at some point after 1764. While marketing the 179¼-acre property, which was roughly bounded by Ridge Road and the Wissahickon Creek and the current lines of Shawmont and Wigard Avenues, for sale in 1764, John Malcolm advertised it as: A Valuable Plantation, in Roxborough Township, about nine miles from Philadelphia, containing 180 Acres, 100 of which is well wooded, the rest clear, and under Fence, with a good Log-house, Barn and Stable, 6 acres watered meadow, and more may be made, a Well of excellent Water by the Door, an Orchard of the best Newtown Pippins. The Situation is exceedingly high, commands an extensive Prospect. 58 Malcolm made no mention of the two-story stone house on Ridge Road in his 1764 advertisement offering the property for sale, but only mentioned a log house, barn, and stable. Malcolm sold the property in 1764 to Andrew Crawford. The property was held by members of the Crawford family during the later eighteenth century, when the existing two-story, stone, twin building was likely constructed.59 Describe your image Several other significant eighteenth-century buildings stand along Ridge Avenue in Roxborough including the twin houses at 6633 and 6635 Ridge Avenue, the twin houses at 7616-18 Ridge Avenue, the buildings at 6835 Ridge Avenue and 7625 Ridge Avenue. All are two-story, side-gable, stone buildings with dormers. The vernacular stone building at 7701 Ridge Avenue is an unusual survivor; dating to about 1790, the small, side-gable, stone building has 2-½ stories with half-height windows at the top floor, a fenestration style that would become prevalent in the middle third of the nineteenth century. 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 57 Jim Duffin kindly provided his research into the property, which concludes that the house was likely built by Hans George John in the 1720s, not the 1690s, as others have claimed. 58 Pennsylvania Gazette, 1 March 1764, p. 3. 59 The 180-acre property was sold by the Pennsylvania Land Company to John Malcolm in 1763 (Deed Book H-19-202); from John Malcolm to Andrew Crawford in 1764 (Deed Book H-19-213). It passed by will to Hugh Crawford and then to Ann, Mary, Jane, and Hugh Crawford Jr. by will in 1783. Top of page

33b08f87-73cd-4fa9-bf12-4b8d192d0c02 Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Conclusion and Bibliography Conclusion The Ridge Avenue Roxborough Thematic Historic District satisfies four Criteria for Designation (a, c, d, and j) as delineated in Section 14-1004(4) of the Philadelphia Code, the City’s historic preservation ordinance. Paraphrasing the criteria, the Ridge Avenue Roxborough Thematic Historic District: (a) Has significant character, interest and value as part of the development, heritage and cultural characteristics of the City, Commonwealth and Nation and is associated with the lives of persons significant in the past; (c) Reflects the environment in an era characterized by distinctive architectural styles; (d) Embodies distinguishing characteristics of architectural styles and engineering specimens; and, (j) Exemplifies the cultural, political, economic, social and historical heritage of the community. The Ridge Avenue Roxborough Thematic Historic District warrants the Philadelphia Historical Commission’s designation, protection, and preservation. Bibliography 1. William Bucke Campbell, “Old Towns and Districts of Philadelphia,” Philadelphia History, City History Society of Philadelphia , 1942, vol. IV, no. 5. 2. 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). 3. Emily Cooperman and Claire G. Schmieder, “Historic Context Statement for Neighborhood Cluster 2,” prepared for the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, 2009. 4. John Daly and Allen Weinberg, Genealogy of Philadelphia County Subdivisions (Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, 1966). 5. Deborah Del Collo, Roxborough (Charleston, S.C: Arcadia Pub, 2011). 6. Richard S. Dunn and Mary Maples Dunn, eds., The Papers of William Penn, Volume 2: 1680-1684 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982). 7. Franklin Davenport Edmunds, The Public School Buildings of the City of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: 1913). 8. 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). 9. John Fanning Watson and Willis Pope Hazard, Annals of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania in the Olden Time: or, Memoirs, Anecdotes, and Incidents of Philadelphia and Its Inhabitants from the Days of the Founders (Philadelphia: E.S. Stuart, 1899). 10. Emerson Fite, Social and Industrial Conditions in the North during the Civil War (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1910). 11. James Green, The Rittenhouse Mill and the Beginnings of Papermaking in America (Philadelphia: The Library Company of Philadelphia and Friends of Historic RittenhouseTown, 1990). 12. Charles Edward Hall, The Geology of Philadelphia County and of the Southern Parts of Montgomery and Bucks (Harrisburg: The Board of Commissioners for the Second Geological Survey, 1881). 13. Donald C. Jackson, “Turnpikes in Southeastern Pennsylvania,” in Judith A. McGaw, ed., Early American Technology: Making and Doing Things From the Colonial Era to 1850 (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994). 14. Horatio G. Jones, The American Historical Record, and Repertory of Notes and Queries Concerning the History and Antiquities of America and the Biography of Americans , vol. 2 (Philadelphia: Samuel P. Town, 1873). 15. Horatio G. Jones and James W. Willmarth, Centennial Memorial: History of the Roxborough Baptist Church of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Printed for the church by the National Baptist Association, 1890). 16. Horatio Gates Jones, The Levering Family; or, a Genealogical Account of Wigard Levering and Gerhard Levering (Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1858). 17. John C. Manton, Bygones: A Guide to Historic Roxborough-Manayunk (Philadelphia, PA: 1990). 18. John C. Manton, A Splendid Legacy: St. Timothy's, Roxborough, 1859-1984 (Philadelphia, PA: St. Timothy's Church, Roxborough, 1984). 19. John C. Manton, Victorian Roxborough: An Architectural History (Philadelphia, PA: 1983). 20. Virginia & Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993). 21. Nick Meyers, Milestones in History, 1690-1990: Roxborough, Manayunk, Wissahickon, Andorra (Philadelphia, PA: Roxborough-Manayunk-Wissahickon Historical Society, 1990). 22. Joseph Minardi, Historic Architecture in Philadelphia: East Falls, Manayunk, and Roxborough (Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2014). 23. Joseph S. Miles and William H. Cooper, A Historical Sketch of Roxborough, Manayunk, Wissahickon (Philadelphia: G. Fein & Co., 1940). 24. Kate Hamilton Osborne, An Historical and Genealogical Account of Andrew Robeson of Scotland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and of his Descendants from 1653 to 1916 (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1916). 25. Jacob Cox Parsons, ed., Extracts from the Diary of Jacob Hiltzheimer: Of Philadelphia. 1765-1798 (Philadelphia: Wm. F. Fell & Co., 1893). 26. Horace H. Platt and William Lawton, Freemasonry in Roxborough (Philadelphia: Centennial Historical Committee of Roxborough Lodge, no. 135, F. and A.M, 1913). 27. 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). 28. Leland M. Roth, A Concise History of American Architecture (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1979). 29. J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia , 1609-1884, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co., 1884). 30. Philip Scranton, Proprietary Capitalism: The Textile Manufacture at Philadelphia, 1800-1885 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983). 31. Cynthia J. Shelton, The Mills of Manayunk : Industrialization and Social Conflict in the Philadelphia Region, 1787-1837 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986). 32. Rev. David Spencer, The Early Baptists of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: William Sychelmoore, 1877). 33. Paul A. W. Wallace, Indian Paths of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1965; reprinted, 1998). 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

d033a9c0-a465-4a11-93fd-ac6d8f6de40e Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Patent Holders and Early Settlers Between 1681 and 1685, William Penn conveyed more 4,000 acres of land in lower northwest Philadelphia to 11 original purchasers. Most of the land was located to the northwest of the Wissahickon Creek, in what is now known as Roxborough and Manayunk, but a small portion of the original 11 parcels was located to the southeast and east of the creek, in what is now known as East Falls and Mt. Airy. The names of several of the original purchasers are identified on Thomas Holme’s Map of improved part of Pensilvania in America, divided into counties, townships and lotts. of 1681 (Figure 5). The original purchasers did not settle the land between the Wissahickon Creek and Schuylkill River, but instead held the properties as investments. Over the next six decades, the original 11 parcels were subdivided numerous times, and by 1741 had been carved into 43 lots. Europeans began settling in the area in the 1690s. In 1676, Andrew Robeson, his wife Elizabeth, and their son Samuel emigrated from Great Britain, settling in Gloucester, South Jersey. Robeson served in South Jersey as the Surveyor General and Judge. In 1690, they moved to a property called “Shoomac Park” near the mouth of the Wissahickon Creek, in what is now East Falls. They obtained the estate from Joshua Tittery, who had obtained it from Robert Turner, William Penn’s original grantee. Robeson erected a house and renamed the estate “Roxburgh,” after his birthplace, Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotland. Robeson became Chief of Justice in Pennsylvania and was instrumental in the establishment of Roxborough as a township. Robeson also operated a flour mill on the Wissahickon. After the deaths of Robeson, his wife, and son in the 1690s, the property passed to nephew Andrew Robeson Jr. The Robeson family held the property until 1864, when John and James Dobson, the well-known carpet manufacturers, purchased it. The old mill burned in 1866. The Fairmount Park Commission took much of the property in 1872 for the Wissahickon branch of Fairmount Park. 3 The old Robeson house was used as a hotel and public house known as the High Bridge Mansion in the late nineteenth century and as a restaurant in the twentieth century. In 1956, the Fairmount Park Commission approved its demolition, concluding that it had “no particular architectural design nor historical significance.” 4 Describe your image John Kelpius, a Bavarian religious leader who espoused millennial and universalistic doctrines, arrived in Philadelphia in 1694. He and his followers settled and lived as hermits in small huts in the woods adjacent to Wissahickon Creek, near Roxborough’s present day Hermit Lane. 5 The hermits conducted religious services in the wooded area overlooking the Wissahickon.6 Kelpius died in the first decade of the eighteenth century, and his followers eventually disbanded. 7 Although the name Roxborough, or Rocksburrow, has been attributed to Kelpius, who wrote about "foxes burrowing in rocks,” the area was named by Robeson for his native land, Roxburgh, Scotland. Brothers Gerhard and Wigard (Wickert) Levering arrived in Pennsylvania from Holland during the summer of 1685 and first settled in Germantown. Wigard Levering purchased 200 acres in Roxborough in 1691 and moved to the area, where he farmed. He purchased another 300 acres in 1697 in the area that came to be known as Leverington. He prospered and died a wealthy man in 1744. 8 Wigard’s eldest son William was born in Germany in 1677 and came with his family to Pennsylvania at the age of eight; he was 15 when his family moved to Roxborough. In 1717, Wigard gave William a large tract of land, which consisted of the unsold portions of Wigard’s speculative land holdings in Roxborough. William was a farmer like his father, but engaged in other ventures as well. He built the Levering Hotel, Roxborough’s first hotel, in 1731. He also gave land on which Roxborough’s first school was built in 1748. 9 He died in 1746, having amassed a valuable estate. 10 Wigard’s son Jacob was the first of his 12 children to be born in Roxborough. In 1717, Wigard granted Jacob 85 acres of land, which abutted the along the Schuylkill River in the area of Green Lane, extending to Levering Street and comprising much of present-day Manayunk. Jacob lived on this land, first in a log cabin, and then in a stone house that he built in 1736 on the northwest side of Green Lane. Besides farming, Jacob was also engaged in industrial undertakings. He owned a distillery in Roxborough and a saw mill on the western side of the Schuylkill River in what is now Montgomery County. Jacob died in 1753 with an estate valued at the substantial sum. 11 Wilhelm Rittinghausen, born in 1644, learned the papermaking trade in Mulheim, Germany, while working at his uncle Mathias Vorster’s mill. The two men later went to Holland, where they were employed in a Gelderland mill near Arnhem. In 1688, Mr. Rittinghausen, by now a Dutch citizen, immigrated to British North America and changed his name to William Rittenhouse. In 1690, he established a paper mill in Roxborough on the Paper Mill Run or Monoshone Creek, a tributary of the Wissahickon Creek. The mill was located near the confluence of Paper Mill Run and the Wissahickon, about 1.6 miles above the point where the Wissahickon flows into the Schuylkill. 12 Joining him in the venture were three partners, Robert Turner, Thomas Tresse, and a printer named William Bradford. Rittenhouse developed a successful mill, owing to his ability to organize financial backers as partners and a printer-partner as a contractual customer for the products. Previous to Rittenhouse’s operation, all paper was imported from Europe and taxed accordingly. The new mill provided a local source of printing, writing, and wrapping paper, as well as pasteboard. All of the mill’s fiber for hand papermaking was obtained from discarded rags and cotton. The paper that came from the Rittenhouse mill during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was made by hand, each sheet crafted separately. First, workers pounded rags into pulp in stone or iron mortars using trip-hammers. After pulp was placed in frames, it needed several days to dry completely. The final product carried the Rittenhouse watermark. In 1706, Rittenhouse bought out the other partners and became sole proprietor of Rittenhouse Paper Mill. Rittenhouse proved that papermaking in America could be a viable, economically sound business. Rittenhouse died in 1708 and left the paper mill to his son, Claus. The business prospered at the site, and was operated by six generations of family descendants. Rittenhousetown grew up around the mill. For 20 years, Rittenhouse Paper Mill was the only paper mill in the Colonies. In 1710, William Dewees, who was married to Claus Rittenhouse’s sister, built a mill nearby in Chestnut Hill, having learned the trade at Rittenhouse Paper Mill. In 1729, the Willcox Ivey Mill was built in Chester County. Forty years after the founding of Rittenhouse Paper Mill, the number of printers and paper mills grew exponentially. The Rittenhouse family monopoly in paper was over, but Rittenhouse’s descendants continued making paper on the Monoshone Creek until the nineteenth-century Industrial Revolution, when the development of the Fourdrinier, with its endless web and cylinder papermaking, changed the industry forever. 13 Among the many prominent members of the Rittenhouse family, David Rittenhouse (1732-1796) was an astronomer, inventor, clockmaker, mathematician, surveyor, fabricator of scientific instruments, and public official. Rittenhouse was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the first director of the United States Mint. Several eighteenth and nineteenth-century buildings survive at the Rittenhouse Paper Mill site including the Rittenhouse Homestead (1707), the Bake House (1725), the Abraham Rittenhouse Home (1720), and the Enoch Rittenhouse Home (1845) (Figure 6). The Rittenhouse complex was not included in this thematic district because of its distance from Ridge Avenue, but it precisely represents both the early mill culture and early architectural styles in Roxborough Township.14 Describe your image Between 1746 and 1747, Joseph Gorgas built one of Roxborough’s more impressive surviving residences on a large tract of land bordering the Wissahickon Creek, which he purchased from Benjamin Shoemaker. Gorgas was a Seventh Day Baptist and wished to have an isolated residence for meditation and solitude, as well as for pursuing his grist mill business. The stone house is three stories, with an adjoining grist mill and saw mill. When it was built, it was one of the largest residences in the area and may have been one of the first three-story homes in the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia.15 The Gorgas property was not included in this thematic district because of its distance from Ridge Avenue, but it certainly represents a high point of Georgian architectural achievement in Roxborough Township.16 Describe your image Other early Roxborough families included the Righter, Livezey, and Houlgate families.17 The earliest settlers were primarily engaged in farming and milling. Grist mills, located on the Wissahickon and its tributaries, were the most common type of industry in eighteenth-century Roxborough. In 1779, there were at least eleven mills in the area, eight of which were grist mills.18 Glen Fern, the Thomas Livezey House, still stands on the east bank of the Wissahickon. Constructed in 1733-39 and added to later in the eighteenth century, the house evidences many characteristics of the Georgian style. Livezey, who purchased the property in 1747, operated one of the largest mills in the colonies. In addition to the house, the foundation of the mill and the associated dam survive. Glen Fern was not included in this thematic district because of its distance from Ridge Avenue, but it precisely characterizes both the early mill culture and early architectural styles in Roxborough Township.19 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 3 Kate Hamilton Osborne, An Historical and Genealogical Account of Andrew Robeson of Scotland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and of his Descendants from 1653 to 1916 (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1916), 6-14. 4 “Park Commission OKs Destruction of Shoomac Mansion,” Inquirer, 12 December 1956, p. 17; “Senator Stiefel Sues to Preserve Shoomac House,” Inquirer, 20 December 1956, p. 19. 5 John Fanning Watson and Willis Pope Hazard, Annals of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania in the Olden Time: or, Memoirs, Anecdotes, and Incidents of Philadelphia and Its Inhabitants from the Days of the Founders (Philadelphia: E.S. Stuart, 1899), 458-460. 6 Horatio Gates Jones, The American Historical Record, and Repertory of Notes and Queries Concerning the History and Antiquities of America and the Biography of Americans, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: Samuel P. Town, 1873), 3. 7 J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co., 1884), 1319. 8 Horatio Gates Jones, The Levering Family; or, a Genealogical Account of Wigard Levering and Gerhard Levering, Two of the Pioneer Settlers of Roxborough Township, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1858), 3-12. 9 Ibid., 187. 10 Ibid., 18-21. 11 Ibid., 22-25. This nomination draws liberally from Emily Cooperman and Claire G. Schmieder, “Historic Context Statement for Neighborhood Cluster 2,” prepared for the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, 2009. 12 James Green, The Rittenhouse Mill and the Beginnings of Papermaking in America (Philadelphia: The Library Company of Philadelphia and Friends of Historic RittenhouseTown, 1990), 5; Horatio Gates Jones, “Historical Sketch of the Rittenhouse Papermill; the First Erected in America, A.D. 1690,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 20 (1896): 317. 13 Green, The Rittenhouse Mill, 3-5; Jones, “Historical Sketch of the Rittenhouse Papermill,” 322. 14 Rittenhouse Town was designated as historic and listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places on 26 June 1956 and on 7 June 1973. 15 Unfortunately, the HABS data pages for The Monastery are not among the documents in the Library of Congress’ Historic American Building Survey collection. Julius Friedrich Sachse, The German Sectarians of Pennsylvania, 1708-1742: A Critical and Legendary History of the Ephrata Cloister and the Dunkers (Philadelphia: P.C. Stockhausen, 1899), 284-285. 16 The Joseph Gorgas House, the Monastery, and associated outbuildings was designated as historic and listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places on 26 June 1956. 17 Information about the original and early purchasers as well as “Map Showing the Roxborough Tracts Bought by the First Purchasers” and “Map Showing the Roxborough Tracts Purchased by Early Settlers” is provided in: Joseph Starne Miles and Rev. William H. Cooper, A Historical Sketch of Roxborough, Manayunk, and Wissahickon (Philadelphia: George Fein & Co., 1940), p. 75-79. 18 The grist mills were owned by the Robeson family, John Vanderen and Martin Rittenhouse, Nicholas Rittenhouse, William Rittenhouse, Abraham Rittenhouse, Peter Care, John Gorgas, and Thomas Livezey. The Rittenhouse papermill was in operation, as well as a fulling mill owned by Matthew Houlgate and Christian Snyder and an oil mill owned by Benjamin Gorgas. Jones, The Levering Family, 187. 19 Glen Fern was designated as historic and listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places on 26 June 1956. Top of page

95b6f26a-373f-48cd-bbee-87868620a60b Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Boundary and Description Boundary Description The Ridge Avenue Roxborough Thematic Historic District is comprised of 188 tax parcels, each of which is defined by metes and bounds description in its deed. A list of the 188 tax parcels comprising the district can be found in the district inventory. Description Topography The northwestern section of Philadelphia including Roxborough is located in a geological region known as the Piedmont Upland Section of the Piedmont Province. The bedrock in Roxborough is primarily mica schist but becomes trap rock with veins of serpentine stone at the northwest along the Montgomery County line (Figure 1). 1 Roxborough is located on a steep ridge formed by the Wissahickon Creek to the east and the Schuylkill River to the west. The ridge runs from the confluence of the Schuylkill and Wissahickon at East Falls or the Falls of the Schuylkill northwest for approximately five miles, where it crosses into Montgomery County. Historically, streams drained the land on the ridge, running east to the Wissahickon and west to the Schuylkill. Most of the streams have been culverted. Ridge Avenue, the primary thoroughfare in Roxborough, leaves East Falls at the confluence of the Schuylkill River and the Wissahickon Creek, runs up a steep slope more than 200 vertical feet to the top of the ridge, and then along the ridge to the northwest into Montgomery County. The section of Ridge Avenue between the Wissahickon Creek and the Montgomery County line is approximately five miles in length. The highest point along Ridge Avenue is approximately 420 feet above sea level, in the stretch between Cathedral Road and Manatawna Avenue. Built Environment The area along and around Ridge Avenue in Roxborough between the Wissahickon Creek and the Montgomery County line is primarily a residential corridor with a commercial core from Martin Street to Hermitage Street and several traditional, shopping center, and strip mall commercial developments scattered throughout (Figure 2). Most buildings are detached and semi-detached, but some are row buildings. With the exception of a few institutional buildings, nearly all structures along the corridor are three stories or shorter. The residential buildings are both single and multi-family. Most, but not all, properties include some green space. Ridge Avenue is a major, two-lane thoroughfare for most of its length in Roxborough, but expands to six lanes west of the intersection with Henry Avenue. Most of the buildings included in the Ridge Avenue Roxborough Thematic Historic District were historically and are currently used for residential purposes. Many of the others are commercial or mixed-use commercial and residential. The district includes five churches, some with cemeteries, one stand-alone cemetery, one public park, one school building and one former school building, and several institutional buildings (Figure 3). 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 1 Charles Edward Hall, The Geology of Philadelphia County and of the Southern Parts of Montgomery and Bucks (Harrisburg: The Board of Commissioners for the Second Geological Survey, 1881). 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.

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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