Germantown, Philadelphia

“ But the foreigner, to whom Philadelphia is a station between New York and Washington or New York and Chicago, has never heard of it, nor has the rest of America to whom Philadelphia is the junction for Atlantic City. With the exception of Stenton, the old Germantown houses are for use, not for show, still lived in by the families who have lived in them from the beginning, and I love them too well to want to see them overtaken by the fate of sights starred in Baedeker, even while I wonder why they have escaped. ”

“ It is served by the Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia & Reading railways. There are many old colonial houses and handsome modern residences along Main Street (the old Germantown Road or Avenue) . Prominent among the historic houses is Cliveden, or the “Chew House,” built about 1761 by Benjamin Chew (1722–1810) , who was chief-justice of Pennsylvania in 1774–1777 and was imprisoned as a Loyalist in 1777, and whose home during the battle of Germantown (see below) was occupied by British troops. ”

“ Foreword So many books have been published which are devoted wholly or in part to the fine old Colonial residences and public buildings of Philadelphia, including Germantown, that it might seem almost the part of temerity to suppose there could be a place for another one. ”

“ It is not surprising, therefore, that in August, 1777, Judge Chew and John Penn, the late proprietary, were arrested by the City Troop and on refusing parole were imprisoned at the Union Iron Works until sometime in 1778.
With fourteen attractive and accomplished children, two sons and twelve daughters, things were always lively at Cliveden, and it was the scene of lavish entertainment of Washington, Adams and other members of the first Continental Congress. Around its classic doorway the Battle of Germantown raged most fiercely. ”

“ For a long time yet your way shall be down what seems to be the main street of a prosperous village, with its great homes set away back in green lawns from the noisy pavement and the public sidewalk. There are shops but they are distinctly local shops and the churches bear the names of the brisk towns that were submerged in the making of a larger Philadelphia—Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown. ”

“ Like Upsala, Grumblethorpe, at Number 526 Main Street, Germantown, opposite Indian Queen Lane, displays ledge-stone walls except for its façade, which is plastered, and it has the same returns of the eaves like a penthouse roof across the gables. This large two and a half story house stands directly on the sidewalk and has areaways at the sunken basement windows like many modern houses. A sturdy chimney at either end and two dormers with segmental topped windows are the features of the roof. ”

“ The Germans in the cloister Ephrata, Pa., established by the Tunker, or Dunkards, also owned a printing-press, a paper-mill, and a bookbindery. They published, in 1749, the Maertyrer-Spiegel, a folio of 1514 pages, the greatest literary undertaking of the American Colonies. To the Germans enumerated must be added the German Reformed; the Moravians, who founded Bethlehem and Nazareth in Pennsylvania; the Salzburgers in Georgia; the Palatines in New York; etc. And what may be said of Germantown, is true also with regard to Philadelphia. ”

“ The regulars didn't fire, and the mountaineers helped themselves to everything they wanted and set out for Philadelphia. Some Indians were being held as prisoners in the town, and the Paxton boys, growing insolent with power as they saw British regulars and Quaker farmers yielding to their orders, determined to make the people of Philadelphia give the Indians to them. The mountaineers marched to the high ground of Germantown, north of the town, nearly a thousand in number, and sent their envoys to the town officers. ”

“ The deadly disease swept away whole families. Eleven persons died in one house within a day.
Philadelphia with 50,000 population in 1792 was then not only the largest and busiest city of the Nation but its seat of government. The Congress moved from the city to Germantown; President George Washington and the members of his Cabinet and their families departed the city, and every person who could afford it followed their example. ”

“ In December Washington went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, 40 m. west of Philadelphia. The British wintered in and around the city.
See N. H. Keyser, “Old Historic Germantown,” in the Proceedings and Addresses of the Pennsylvania-German Society (Lancaster, 1906) ; S. W. Pennypacker, The Settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and the Beginning of German Emigration to North America (Philadelphia, 1899) , and S. F. Hotchkin, Ancient and Modern Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill (Philadelphia, 1889) . ”

“ And so we look with particular admiration at the fine old countryseats of local rock-face and surfaced stone which abound in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, especially at Germantown, finding among them the most homelike and picturesque stone dwellings of the past and the best prototypes for present-day adaptation. Nowhere can one discover better inspiration for rock-face stonework, and nowhere have the architects of to-day more successfully preserved and developed the best local traditions of Colonial times. ”

“ However, the wing flights of stone steps on the sidewalk leading to a broad landing before the door and the handsome wrought-iron rail lend individuality and rare charm to this notable example of a familiar type.
The doorway of Grumblethorpe, Number 5621 Germantown Avenue, Germantown, differs little in general appearance, if considerably in detail, from that of the Powel house. One notices first how deeply recessed it is because of the thickness of the stone walls. With the projecting entablature it affords almost as much shelter as a porch. The single door next attracts attention. ”

“ The attractive Philadelphia suburban features spread westward across the Schuylkill, and are largely developed in the northwestern sections of Germantown and Chestnut Hill, Jenkintown and the Chelten-hills. In this extensive section the wealth of the people has of late years been lavishly expended in making attractive homes, and the suburban belt for miles around the city displays most charming scenery, adorned by elaborate villas, pleasant lanes, shady lawns and well-kept grounds. ”

“ School House Lane and Greene Street, Germantown Academy, built, 1759; colonial, native stone; founded by Christopher Saur, and others of German birth, to furnish education in “English, High Dutch, and the German language.” It has always held high rank as a school; the bell was brought to Philadelphia in 1774, in the tea ship Polly, the cargo was not allowed to land, it was taken back to England, and returned here when the war was ended; telescope used by Washington during battle, when the building was used as a hospital, is here; several British soldiers were buried in the yard ”

“ A few persons came in from Philadelphia. Several deserters came in from Washington's Army.
25th The Army marched in two columns to Germantown, and encamped on the heights near that place. On the march some militia were seen in front of the right-hand column. A good many people came in from Philadelphia; most of them represented that place as in the greatest confusion and expressed fears of its being burnt. A few rebels dragoons with a captain were taken by a party of Burgoyne's. ”

“ But accounts say that some people have died in Germantown also of the malignant fever. Every death, now, however, is ascribed to that cause, be the disorder what it may. Wilmington and Trenton are almost equidistant from Philadelphia in opposite directions, but both are on the great thoroughfare and equally exposed to danger from the multitude of travelers, and neither may have a chamber sufficient for the House of Representatives. Annapolis and Lancaster are more secure and both have good accommodations. ”

“ From the time our republic was born, German Americans have enriched our national life and culture. Many, seeking religious freedom, first settled in and around Philadelphia more than 300 years ago; and to this day, one of the largest neighborhoods in that city is called Germantown. Throughout the colonial period, more Germans arrived on these shores and made their homes throughout the Thirteen Colonies. Today, almost a quarter of the American people can trace their roots back to Germany. ”

“ It is lighted with gas, is well supplied with water, and is connected with Philadelphia by both a steam and a horse railway. Many retired merchants and wealthy citizens of Philadelphia have here their residences, some of which are of great elegance. ”

“ Under the provisions of the Girard trust fund nearly five hundred dwelling houses have been erected by the city in South Philadelphia, all heated and lighted by a central plant operated by the trustees, and more than seventy million tons of coal have been mined on property belonging to his estate. Few philanthropists have left their money so wisely or with such thoughtful provisions to meet changing conditions.
Plate XVI.—Loudoun, Germantown Avenue and Apsley Street, Germantown. Erected in 1801 by Thomas Armat; Solitude, Blockley Township, Fairmount Park. Erected in 1785 by John Penn. ”

“ The Main Street in Germantown, with its peaceful old grey stone houses and great overshadowing trees, has no rival at home or abroad, and I have seen as commonplace a street as Walnut in West Philadelphia, its uninteresting houses screened behind the two long lines of trees, become in the golden light of a summer afternoon as stately an avenue as any at Versailles or St. ”

“ Upon one of his Arrivals from England at Boston, he wrote to me that he should come soon to Philadelphia, but knew not where he could lodge when there, as he understood his old kind Host Mr Benezet was remov’d to Germantown. My Answer was; You know my House, if you can make shift with its scanty Accommodations you will be most heartily welcome. He reply’d, that if I made that kind Offer for Christ’s sake, I should not miss of a Reward. And I return’d, Don’t let me be mistaken; it was not for Christ’s sake, but for your sake. ”

“ The British General, James Agnew, lived here at the time of Battle of Germantown; was brought back wounded, and died here; now owned and occupied by Wister descendants. 5300 Germantown Avenue, corner of Queen Street, parsonage of Trinity Lutheran Church; was one of the Saur properties; first type cast in America, in 1772, was made in the cellar of this house; church built, 1837; many well-known Germantowners lie in the graveyard. 5275-77 Germantown Avenue, Germantown National Bank, 1825-68; John Fanning Watson was cashier, he lived at 5277 ”

“ Madam Wetherill glanced at them. Would it be the old story over again?
The battle of Monmouth was hard fought, but a victory for neither side, since Sir Henry saved his stores at the sacrifice of many lives, and escaped. Washington came back to the city for a brief stay and new plans.
Lovely old Philadelphia, that had been William Penn's dream, was no more. British occupation had overthrown its quaint charm. Gardens had been destroyed, houses ruined, streets were a mass of filth and rubbish, the country roads were full of lawless gangs who plundered inoffensive people. ”

“ The old exclusiveness, with its follies, was better, more amusing, than the new tendency to do away with everything that gave Philadelphia society its character. It was the charm and the strength of Philadelphia society that it had a character of its own and was not just like Boston or New York or Baltimore society. ”

“ The extensive and swarming German quarter is precisely like the German quarter of Philadelphia, (though the Cincinnati lager-bier is better,) and the wide, square, spacious old mansions are exactly such as the older houses of Philadelphia would be if Philadelphia burned bituminous coal.
Every New-Yorker supposes, of course, that there must be in a large and wealthy city one pre-eminent and illustrious street like his own Fifth Avenue, where he is wont either to survey mankind from a club window, or, as mankind, be surveyed. ”

“ Nothing now can be left peacefully as it was. I felt the foundations of the world crumble when I heard that the Dancing Class has taken new quarters over in Horticultural Hall and the Assembly in the Bellevue, that Philadelphia consents to go up Broad Street for its opera, quieting its conscience by the compromise of going in carriages and motors and never on foot. There surely was the end of the old Philadelphia, the real Philadelphia. ”

“ Far, far finer in effect than New York's over eccentric alley of painters, Washington Mews, its original loveliness has simply been restored. It is as jolly to look upon as London's artist nook, Cheyne Row. Perhaps even jollier.
Now another unusual thing about Philadelphia is that Philadelphians standing within three blocks of the place can't tell you where South Carlisle Street is. Professional Philadelphians, such as policemen, firemen, postmen, street car men, can't do it. In the attempt they contradict each other, and quarrel among themselves. ”

“ Why isn’t Philadelphia a greater city in its greater wealth? Why does New York excel Philadelphia? People say, “Because of her harbor.” Why do many other cities of the United States get ahead of Philadelphia now? There is only one answer, and that is because our own people talk down their own city. If there ever was a community on earth that has to be forced ahead, it is the city of Philadelphia. ”

“ The result was that, at the moment, I saw in the Centennial chiefly a violent upheaval shaking the universe to the foundations, with Philadelphia emerging, changed, transformed, unrecognizable, plunging head-foremost into new-fangled amusements, adding new duties to the Philadelphian's once all-sufficing duty of being a Philadelphian, inventing new attractions to draw to its drowsy streets people from the four quarters of the globe, and, more astounding, giving itself up to these innovations with zest. ”