June 6, 1832, railroad from Philadelphia to Germantown opens
Historic designation and extent
The district was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The original district included the 4500 to 6600 blocks of Germantown Avenue (between Windrim Avenue and Sharpnack Street). In 1987 the district was expanded north to the 7600 block of Germantown Avenue (up to Cresheim Valley Drive), which is the southern boundary of the Chestnut Hill Historic District. The district's two parts contain 579 properties, of which 514 are considered contributing, and only 65 non-contributing. The northwest Philadelphia area, which promotes itself as "Freedom's Backyard,"[7] contains 11 historic districts listed by the National Register of Historic Places, as well as 58 separately listed properties.[8] Eight state historical markers are located on Germantown Avenue. Nearly complete inventories prepared for the National Register of Historic Places, both for the original district and for the expanded area are available.[9][10] A 1907 inventory of historic buildings in the area was printed in the "History of Old Germantown."[11]
Contributing properties in the district include the following. Even street numbers are on the west side of Germantown Avenue, odd numbers on the east. Original construction dates may be approximate.
Listed separately on NRHP. Additions in 1750, 1799, 1806, 1819. Owned by John Wister, an important site during the Battle of Germantown. Stone with wood trim in the Colonial style.
Wistar's Tenant House
5269 Germantown Ave.
1745
Listed separately on NRHP. Addition in early nineteenth century. Stone with wood trim in Colonial style.
Clarkson-Watson House
5275 Germantown Ave.
1745
Additions/alterations in 1775, 1825, 1870, 1910. Stucco on stone with wood trim in Federal style/Colonial style.
Meeting founded 1690. This parcel acquired 1693 and used as a burial ground. Previous meeting houses built 1705, 1812. School founded 1845. Several school buildings on site.
Masonic Temple of Germantown
5423–27 Germantown Ave.
1873
Additions/alterations 1915, 1920. Three stories, stone with wood trim in the Gothic Revival style A previous house on this site was the birthplace of Louisa May Alcott.
Listed separately on the NRHP. Additions/alterations 1840, 1856, 1868, 1887, 1898, 1909. Headquarters of General Sir William Howe during October 4, 1777 Battle of Germantown. Temporary residence of President George Washington, November 1793 (yellow fever epidemic), and Summer 1794. Stucco on stone with wood trim in the Federal style.
Listed separately on the NRHP. Congregation established in 1688 as first Mennonite church in America. One and one-half stories, stone with wood trim in the Colonial style.
^Philadelphia Historic Resource Survey Inventory, Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 2007, p. 42
^NRHP 1966? Inventory Enter "public" for ID and "public" for password to access the site.
^NRHP 1987? Inventory Enter "public" for ID and "public" for password to access the site.
^Garber, John Palmer; Naaman Henry Keyser; C. Henry Kain; Horace Ferdinand McCann (1907). History of Old Germantown. Germantown: H. F. McCann. pp. 453.
"Germantown Street Index". Places in Time: Historical Documentation of Place in Greater Philadelphia. Bryn Mawr College. Retrieved December 8, 2016. at Bryn Mawr College
