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Historical Landmarks
The Germantown Avenue corridor of Germantown, Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill are important to the city's and nation's history.
During colonial times, this area was farmland and considered the suburbs of the city, so wealthy city residents retired here during the summer months.
As a result, there are many large homes from the 18th and 19th centuries throughout the area.
The building located at 7402 Germantown Avenue, which houses the former
Cresheim Cottage Cafe, is dated at around 1748. The Chestnut Hill Cat Clinic, 8220 Germantown Avenue, is in the oldest building on Germantown Avenue.
Cliveden of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
6401 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119
(215) 848-1777
www.cliveden.org
Cliveden (a.k.a. “Benjamin Chew House” or “Chew House”) was inhabited almost continuously for over 200 years by seven generations of the Chew family,
beginning with Benjamin Chew, who built this Georgian summer home (1763-1767), until 1972 when the ownership of Cliveden, its remaining six acres, and
its artifact collection were transferred to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Cliveden played a major role in the American Revolutionary War’s Battle of Germantown. On October 4, 1777, British troops occupied Cliveden and held off
American troops, led by General George Washington, until British reinforcements arrived.
The Battle of Germantown is annually reenacted on the first Saturday of October.
What to See: Historic House Museum
Concord School House
6309 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119
(215) 848-4579
www.ushistory.org/Germantown/upper/concord.htm
One-room schoolhouse built in 1775.
Deshler-Morris House
5442 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144
(215) 596-1748
Named for its first and last owners, the Deshler-Morris house was built as a four-room summer home by David Deshler in 1752. Circa 1772,
Deshler added a 3-story, 9-room addition to the front of the house.
The Deshler-Morris house served as the headquarters of British General William Howe during the October 1777 Battle of Germantown.
During Philadelphia’s yellow fever epidemic of 1793, the house’s then owner, Isaac Franks, a former colonel in the Continental Army, rented the house
to U.S. President George Washington. That August, President Washington held four cabinet meetings in the “Germantown White House.” President Washington
and his family also lived in the house in the summer of 1794.
In 1804, brothers Elliston and John Perot bought the house as a summer residence. In 1834, Elliston passed away and his son-in-law, Samuel B. Morris,
purchased the house. Upon Morris’ death in 1859, the house was bequeathed to his son, Elliston P. Morris. When the latter Morris passed away in 1948,
the Deshler-Morris house was donated to the Independence National Park Service. Members of the Morris family lived in the Deshler-Morris house for over
a hundred years.
Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion
200 West Tulpehocken Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144
(215) 438-1861
www.ebenezermaxwellmansion.org
The Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion was built in 1859 by cloth merchant, Ebenezer Maxwell. He and his wife, Anna Smith Maxwell, were the mansion’s first
inhabitants. In 1862, the Maxwells sold the mansion to William and Rosalie Hunter, Jr. In 1867, Hunter, Jr. passed away. Rosalie married Howard A.
Stevenson in 1870. The Stevenson’s only child, Augusta, lived in the Maxwell Mansion until her demise in 1956.
The Hunter-Stevenson family occupied the mansion for 94 years.
Grumblethorpe
5267 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144
(215) 843-4820
The first summer residence in Germantown, it was built by John Wister in 1744.
Historic RittenhouseTown
206 Lincoln Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19144
(215) 438-5711
www.rittenhousetown.org
Preserved site of the first paper mill
in the country in 1690.
Johnson House
6306 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119
Colonial Germantown architecture; Part of Underground Railroad.
Mennonite Meeting House
6121 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144
(215) 843-0943
www.meetinghouse.info
Built in 1770, one of the oldest buildings in Germantown, but includes
desk where first protest against slavery
was written in 1688.
Stenton
4601 North 18th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140
(215) 329-7312
www.stenton.org
Upsala Mansion
6430 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119
(215) 842-1798
Across the street from Cliveden. Also from 18th century; American camp
during Battle of Germantown.
Wyck
6026 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144
(215) 848-1690
www.wyck.org
Nine generations of a Quaker family
lived here, and the exhibit includes
three centuries of original furniture
and a 19th-century garden.
For more historical information about the area, visit the following:
Chestnut Hill Historical Society, www.chhist.org
Germantown Historical Society, www.germantownhistory.org
Historic Germantown Freedom's Backyard, www.freedomsbackyard.com
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