Roxborough
Manayunk
Wissahickon
Historical
Society

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. Images of Our Neighborhoods 2023 Yearbook Yearbook Project 2022 Year book The following images were donated by members of the community, visitors, former residents, and those who have roots in the area. These images are now a part of the RMWHS digital image collection. Share your local photos with us - send photos to rmwhsarchvies@gmail.com with your name and the location/event/subject of image (if it's not obvious). Mouse over any image below for details / Click on an image to enlarge

News articles and interviews about or informed by the Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society and/or it's members. RMWHS In the News If you are aware of a newspaper, magazine, website, or other source that has written about, quoted, or mentioned RMWHS, please let us know. 2023-11-12 -- Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society switching things up with Nov. 15 online ‘Show and Tell’ 2023-04-21 -- Pa. State House honors Sylvia Myers 2023-02-17 -- SEPTA begins work on Shawmont Station restoration 2022-07-29 -- Community invited to help shape RMWHS Image Collection 2021-02-07 -- RMWHS celebrates Black History Month with a spotlight on artist Claude Clark 2020-12-13 -- R MWHS Launches New Website 2020-11-17 -- RMWHS looks ahead into the digital age 2020-02-24 -- Natural Selections: Manayunk and Manatawna: Our Lenape Place Names 2019-09-10 -- Get the picture with special session of Roxborough Manayunk Historical Society 2018-11-17 -- New sign dedicated at Leverington Cemetery in Roxborough 2018-03-14 -- Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society dedicated to preserving the past 2017-11-15 -- NATURAL SELECTIONS: Proposed city council bill — ‘more than just a moratorium’ for Roxborough area 2017-09-20 -- Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society presentation to focus on Schuylkill Navigation 2017-06-28 -- Annual Roxborough Independent Day Parade to step off Tuesday 2017-05-18 -- Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society speaker to discuss new Museum of the American Revolution 2017-04-18 -- Filmmaker to share history documentary with Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society 2016-06-03 -- NATURAL SELECTIONS: Plymouth Meeting struggles with possible loss of piece of history 2015-11-13 -- NATURAL SELECTIONS: Save the Shawmont Station 2015-07-02 -- A Tribute to Samuel Lawson, Founder of the Local Independence Day Parade of Churches and Sunday Schools 2015-05-22 -- NATURAL SELECTIONS: Why is Ridge Avenue there? 2015-04-14 -- Historical Society to discuss Upper Roxborough 2015-03-11 -- Upcoming historical society meeting discusses Civil War 2014-11-07 -- Talking historical homes at the next RMWHS meeting 2014-09-02 -- Talking about Lincoln's relationship 2014-08-19 -- Historical Society receive articles on Mt Vernon Church 2014-07-03 -- A Tribute to Samuel Lawson, Founder of the Local Independence Day Parade of Churches and Sunday Schools 2014-04-16 -- Discussing the famous inventors of Our Town 2014-04-15 -- Save Our History 2014-03-27 -- Historical Society showcases vintage WWI & WWII posters 2012-12-11 -- Judgement on the Bunting House to come by week's end 2012-11-02 -- Spirits abound in Hermit's Glen 2012-09-26 -- UPDATED: Bunting House receives 30-day reprieve from demolition, negotiations on future still continue 2012-09-24 -- UPDATED: Residents want historic building saved from wrecking ball 2012-06-29 -- A history of Our Town's parade 2011-09-01 -- RMWHS releases new book ‘Roxborough’ (Arcadia Press) 2010-09-21 -- Vintage baseball 2010-09-21 -- No namby pamby players: vintage ballists recreate old time baseball 2010-08-13 -- A treasure trove of memories 2010-02-03 -- Thinking first and then acting out : Manayunk-raised artist Claude Clark 2009-11-17 -- A celebration of thanksgiving and history 2009-04-22 -- RMWHS hosts tour of Founders Hall at Girard College 2009-03-18 -- Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society receives a real gem 2009-02-25 -- Celebrating 150 years of God & service 2009-02-18 -- Now accepting applications for ‘Mr. Nick Award ’ to honor RMWHS’ Nicholas G. Myers 2009-02-11 -- Knowledge is for all time essay contest 2008-11-12 -- Historical Society meeting talks sports 2008-07-09 -- A new sign commemorates 1777 Woods Barn massacre 2008-07-06 -- Shawmont Train Station now a city landmark (Register of Historic Places) 2008-03-26 -- 'Liberty or Death' at the RMWHS 2008-02-20 -- 'Knowledge is for all time': Mr. Nick Myers award essay contest returns 2008-01-09 -- Landmark 22 foot Garner Mural moves out 2007-12-05 -- Celebrating 100 years of linking lives 2007-11-21 -- Historical society makes history (RMWHS 40th Anniversary) 2007-11-21 -- David Young speaking at society anniversary meeting 2007-07-04 -- Remembering Wood's Barn : A Revolutionary War Tragedy 2005-11-09 -- A new and improved archive room for RMWHS 2005-07-06 -- Fourth of July is a tradition in Roxborough. 2004-04-21 -- Beauty found at reservoir 2003-05-07 -- Professional musician has done it all 2003-05-01 -- Another disease epidemic is recalled 2003-04-18 -- Young man makes movie on 21st Ward 2001-10-10 -- The Civil War sentinel has returned to cemetery post

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

Historical Maps 1862 < Previous > Back to Historical Map List < Next > 1862 - Atlas of Phila (Manayunk) Source: URL: Free Library of Philadelphia https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/12336 Full Name: Atlas of the City of Philadelphia, 1862, Section 22 [Manayunk] 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

​​The Archive is located within the Roxborough branch of the Philadelphia Free Library at 6245 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19128. Street parking only. Admission to the RMWHS Archive is free -- but it is open by appointment only. Please contact us to make an appointment. Appointment Required - Contact Us Now Virtual Research Consultation Upon Request The BEST research support we can offer is via Zoom as we can share digital resources (including tip sheets, shortcuts, digital/indexed books, & images) that are not accessible in the Archive. In-Person Visits to Archive: September - May (and for special circumstances) Location & Parking - The RMWHS Archive is inside the Roxborough branch of the Philadelphia Free Library located at 6245 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19128. Free street parking is available -- Hermitage Street recommended. Admission is free. Masks - Our volunteer may ask you to wear a mask in the Archive. It is a small, tight room and there is little personal space. Please understand our volunteers give time, energy, and skills to help the public and a request to mask up is a small kindness you can pay them if they ask. Thank you! Visitor Limit - Please note that due to limited space, the Archive can only comfortably accommodate 2 visitors at any one time. No Wheelchair Access - While the main Library entrance is wheelchair accessible, much of the Library including the narrow Archive entrance is not. Please consider a virtual visit instead -- it can be far more beneficial for research and sharing historic items in great detail as many visual images have been scanned. No food, drink, or pets permitted. Open by appointment. Admission free.

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

cc6f3200-62a2-414c-a075-1dc5b15d74ec Ridge Ave Roxborough Historic District Federal Architecture The Federal style of architecture, which emerged after the Revolutionary War, is closely related to the earlier Georgian or Colonial style, but Federal buildings are lighter and more delicate than their predecessors, which were generally weighty with stout detailing. Like the earlier houses, Federal houses are generally side-gabled, two-story, symmetrical boxes. Wissahickon schist remained the predominant building material, but the stone was sometimes faced with stucco. The Federal style was employed in Roxborough Township from the 1780s through the 1820s. The Levering-Jones House at 6341 Ridge Avenue, which also served for a short time as the General Washington Tavern, is an excellent example of the Federal style (Figure 20). Built about 1796 by William and Martha Levering, the house was converted to a tavern in the early nineteenth century. It was later converted back to a residence and was the boyhood home of prominent historian Horatio Gates Jones Jr. The house was restored to its original appearance in the twentieth century. Its side-gable, symmetrical façade, pedimented door surround, and pedimented dormers with Gothic windows are all hallmarks of the Federal style. The Starne-Smick House at 7552 Ridge Avenue, built about 1795, is another good example of a Federal style house in Roxborough. Although without the high-style embellishments of the Levering-Jones House, the Starne-Smick is a large, well-preserved, significant example of the style. The Joseph Ozias House of 1811 at 7953 Ridge Avenue is another example of a well-preserved Federal style house. The cut-stone front façade with quoins at the corners is an interesting feature of this otherwise modest residence. 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

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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

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

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Historical Maps 1982 < Previous > Back to Historical Map List < Next > 1982 - Manayunk Canal (Part 1) Source: URL: Free Library of Philadelphia https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/48041 Full Name: Manayunk Canal, 1982, Map 1 Visit the source URL to use zoom features, find additional formats, or download a high quality image.

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

Historical Maps 1862 < Previous > Back to Historical Map List < Next > 1862 - Atlas of Phila (NW) Source: URL: Free Library of Philadelphia https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/12334 Full Name: Atlas of the City of Philadelphia, 1862, Section 20 [Northwest] Visit the source URL to use zoom features, find additional formats, or download a high quality image.

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.

Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society provides lists of books about the Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon area (and our neighbors) that may be of interest to our website visitors, local history researchers, and students of history. Supporters and friends of RMWHS RMWHS thanks the local businesses who provide their expertise and services to help us preserve and promote the local history, art, and culture. Their knowledge and support helps our volunteers and benefits the community. J. Davis Printing 7109 Ridge Avenue Philadelphia, PA, 19128 215-483-1006 www.jdavisprinting.com Reel Revival Film Professional/Commercial Film & Home Movie Scanning austin@reelrevivalfilm.com 484-754-6974 www.reelrevivalfilm.com

0bde0beb-8c39-44b3-9265-153294e93123 Main Street Manayunk Historic District Economic Development The development of Manayunk as a significant regional and industrial center was due to construction of the Manayunk Canal. While Manayunk continued to flourish as a manufacturing center into the 1930s, it is the 19th century industrial development, which is of historic significance. Before the canal was opened in 1819, industry located in Manayunk because of the access to water; pre-canal industries included grist mills, glass and paper, iron rolling and wood screw production. Industries were typically small scale, serving a local market. After completion of the canal, Manayunk quickly expanded as a center of diverse small scale industrial production including cotton, drugs, oak grinding, and the manufacturing of hat bodies and paper. The construction of the canal brought three potential benefits for industry: 1. The availability of coal for industrial production. 2. The availability of waterpower. 3. Transportation of raw materials and finished goods. Realizing the value of the newly available waterpower, the Schuylkill Navigation Company began marketing this valuable industrial commodity. The first waterpower was sold to Captain John Towers on April 10, 1819, and he proceeded to construct the first mill in Manayunk, on land formerly part of the Levering estate. In 1820, Charles Hagner constructed the second mill, between Green Lane and Leverington Street, for the preparation of Oil and grinding of drugs, and subsequently other mills were constructed. During the 1820s, the scale of industrial production magnified, and operations increasingly focused on cotton textile production. By 1828, 10 mills were in operation with 6 homes under construction. A commentator described Manayunk in 1828 as follows: "I rode over to a new village called Manayunk, lying about 4 miles above me on the left bank of the Schuylkill, it is flourishing and increasing in dwelling houses and mills. I visited the largest cotton factory, belonging to Mr. Boris and Mr. Jerome Keating. These gentlemen have a 4-story stone building, 200' long, containing 4,500 spindles and one hundred and twenty power looms, all worked by about 200 persons. " Many of the area’s first factories combined assembly line production with forms of cottage industry. Because a large portion of Manayunk labor force was unskilled, there was substantial technological innovation. In. contrast, competing textile centers such as Kensington, with it skilled hand weavers, were slow to adopt mechanization. Mechanization led to increased labor organization and some of the unions were organized in Manayunk in the 1830s. The national depression of the late 1870s ended the early diverse phase of industrial growth and reinforced cotton textile manufacturing as the dominant industry of Manayunk. The scale of production continued to increase, many of the first mill structures were demolished and redeveloped as larger multi-story structures to accommodate new industrial processes. Describe your image With the commencement of the Civil War, cotton from the South became unavailable resulting in the closing of many mills. Surviving mill owners switched to wool to supply the needs of the Union Army. After the war, wool and wool blend textiles continued to be an important aspect of Manayunk industry while cotton industries declined. Because of competition from mills in the South, industrial specialization prevailed with factories linking their output to a few steps in the production process, selling their materials to other factories. By the end of the century, Manayunk factories were producing standard cotton and wool fabrics, as well as carpet yarns, silks, "shoddy" blends, hosiery, dress goods, cashmere, jeans, and other articles. Despite this diversification, the first generation of mill owners such as Ripka and Schofield, who prospered before the Civil War, continued to define the structure of Manayunk industry. After the war, the rate of industrial expansion declined, and the new mills were generally less profitable. While textile and textile related production continued to be important through the 1920s, the manufacture of paper, soap, chemicals increased in importance until the Depression. Today, although no longer a regionally significant location for industrial activity, Manayunk remains a relatively satisfactory location for existing industries. Factors contributing to the area’s longevity include easy access to the interstate highway system, a stable community, availability of water, and physical isolation from the deteriorated sections of the City. 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 1855 < Previous > Back to Historical Map List < Next > 1855 - Consolidated City of Phila Source: URL: Free Library of Philadelphia https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/11728 Full Name: New Map of the Consolidated City of Philadelphia, 1855, Map Visit the source URL to use zoom features, find additional formats, or download a high quality image.

Celebrate Roxborough High School graduate Claude Clark who became a world-renowned artist and spent his life advancing art education and recognition of black artists. In the Spotlight Claude Clark Artist, Poet, Author, and Educator Does the name Claude Clark ring a bell? He's a Roxborough High School graduate that made it big in the art world and whose paintings can be seen in museums from our local Woodmere Art Museum to the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Born in the South, Claude's family moved to Philadelphia in 1923 to escape poverty and the Ku Klux Klan. They settled in Manayunk to be close to relatives that lived in the area and became members of the Josie D. Heard A.M.E. Church. Claude attended Roxborough High School and was the only black graduate in June 1935. While attending Roxborough High School, Claude spent Saturdays attending art classes in Center City. His talent was recognized by the school principal, who recommended him for a scholarship so that he could further his artistic talent. Click newspaper image below to open a larger version. The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 30, 1944 RMWHS Celebrates Black History Claude Clark November 11, 1915 - April 21, 2001 Claude Clark Portrait - Wikipedia "As a child in the churches, the schools and the community, I dreamed of a destiny. My search became a single purpose for the dignity of Black Americans..." - Claude Clark Treasure Trove of Information www.claudeclarkart.com offers an exceptional collection of information on Claude Clark including downloadable PDFs that are a must-see for those wishing to learn about the artist. It is well worth the visit. Claude went on to attend the Philadelphia Museum School of Art and later pursued studies at The Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania, where he met and became friends with Albert C. Barnes . While there were relatively few celebrated black artists during the artist's early years, he reached out to renowned painter Horace Pippin , who became a friend until Pippin's passing in 1946. “Freedom Morning” by Claude Clark was painted in 1944 by Claude Clark. It was painted in Philadelphia and commissioned by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. Throughout his life, Claude mentored black artists and black causes. He became an outstanding art professor and educator, working toward advancing art education and recognition of black artists. Today his work is displayed in museums across the country and abroad as well as in the homes and the rich and famous. "A Dreamer" by Claude Clark at the Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill. The Roxborough Manayunk Wissahickon Historical Society holds a large repository of information about Claude Clark's life, including poems, short stories, family photos, and of course examples of his artwork. Many of these items were donated to the RMWHS by close friends of the artist. Clark never forgot his local roots and his works of art reflect that love. "Resting" by Claude Clark at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of the Harmon Foundation This oil painting on canvas was created in 1944 and is in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art collection in Washington DC. You are invited to explore the links provided below to discover more about Claude Clark, his life, his talents, and his accomplishments. LEARN If you would like to learn more about Claude Clark, visit the RMWHS Archive . VIEW If you would like to view Claude Clark's artwork in person, plan a visit to the Woodmere Art Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art . Note: Always check with a museum before a visit to verify the works/artists you wish to see are on display and not out on loan or unavailable due to restoration, remodeling, or a visiting exhibit. EXPLORE Want to see more from the comfort of your home? Explore examples of Claude Clark's artwork online right now! www.claudeclarkart.com Woodmere Art Museum Philadelphia Museum of Art Smithsonian Metropolitan Museum of Art RMWHS's In the Spotlight features local artists, inventors, writers, poets, scholars, activists, leaders, thinkers, and other individuals who have had an impact on history. RMWHS has a long list of people we plan to feature, but we'd love to hear from you -- is there someone you'd like us to feature? If so, let us know . RMWHS thanks our special contributor Donna Howley for helping us honor Claude Clark.