5106 Germantown Avenue, residence of Commodore James Barron, Commandant Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1842; Captain of the Chesapeake, when captured by the British ship Leopard; in 1807 he killed Commodore Stephen Decatur in a duel at Bladensburg, Maryland. 5157 Germantown Avenue, residence and printing office, now altered, of Philip R. Freas; publisher of The Village Telegraph, in 1830; later The Germantown Telegraph. St. Stephen’s Methodist Church, opened in 1856; site of Frederick Fraley’s carpenter shop; gun carriages were made here for the American Army; Washington was a frequent visitor. 5140 Germantown Avenue, residence of Gilbert Stuart, 1794-95; the barn was used as his studio; portrait of Washington, now in the Athenaeum of Boston, was painted here; also a full length portrait of “Cornplanter,” the Indian chief. 5253-55 Germantown Avenue, formerly one dwelling, Owen Wister, novelist, was born here July 14, 1860, son of Dr. Owen J. and Sarah Butler Wister; his mother was a daughter of Pierce and Fanny Kemble Butler. 5219 Germantown Avenue, residence of John Bringhurst, carriage maker, 1775-95; a founder of the Germantown Academy; in 1780 he made a “chariot” for General Washington, whose arms and crest were properly displayed; cost £210 in gold; Martha Washington rode to Mount Vernon in it. Colonel Bird, British officer, died here. 5249 Germantown Avenue, built by Dr. Owen Wister, was his residence from 1860-70, he then moved to Butler Place on York Road; 5253 Germantown Avenue site of Christopher Saur’s residence and printing office, who arrived in Germantown, 1724; secured a printing outfit from Germany in 1738; published the first German newspaper in America, 1739; printed the first Bible in European language in America, 1743; Christopher Saur, Jr., was Bishop of the Dunkard Church, 1753. 5242-44 Germantown Avenue, site of Indian Queen Tavern, which gave the name to Queen Street. 5261 Germantown Avenue, erected by John Wister in 1744, stones were quarried from a hill in the rear; joists from oaks in Wister’s woods; family removed to Penllyn during occupancy by British, where Sally Wister, a daughter, wrote her charming “Diary.” 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; building was occupied by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, and Edmund Randolph, Attorney General of the United States, in 1793, during the yellow fever in Philadelphia.
Northeast corner of Germantown Avenue and Coulter Street, St. Luke’s Protestant Episcopal Church, first Episcopal Church in Germantown, built, 1811; land given by Thomas Armat, Esq.; John Fanning Watson, the annalist, is buried in the churchyard. Northwest corner of Germantown Avenue, and Coulter Street, Friends’ Meeting, land given by Jacob Shoemaker, fifty acres, in 1693; in the library is a photograph of the first protest against slavery. 5425 Germantown Avenue, Masonic Lodge room; site, residence of A. Bronson Alcott, where Louisa May Alcott, authoress, was born. 5430 Germantown Avenue, residence of Captain Albert Ashmead, of the Philadelphia County Troop who commanded a troop of cavalry, and escorted General Lafayette from Bristol to Philadelphia in 1824; French Embassy during 1793. 5434 Germantown Avenue, residence of John Ashmead, father of Captain Albert Ashmead; who designed and made the first carriages known as Germantown wagons, in 1824, in the shop at rear of house; also first plows with wrought iron mold board; Lafayette purchased four, for his La Grange farm in France.
Market Square, Battle of Germantown fought here, September 25, 1777; here was the market house, prison, stocks, and public scales; in February, 1764, several hundred Paxtang boys, from banks of the Conestoga and Susquehanna Rivers, encamped here; they came east to murder the peaceful Moravian Indians, sheltered in Philadelphia, and were met by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Willing, Benjamin Chew, and others, who persuaded them to return. Monument erected in 1883, to Civil War soldiers and sailors, pedestal with tablets, containing names of Germantown soldiers and sailors, at base are two coast defense mortars from the Civil War, two bronze cannon on wheels from the United States Arsenal; the enclosure is of musket barrels and bayonets, used during Civil War, and broken cannon from British frigate Augusta, sunk by American batteries during Revolutionary War. Market Square Presbyterian Church, originally German Reformed, built in 1733; Count Zinzendorf preached his first sermon in America here, December, 1741, and last on leaving, June, 1742; Washington worshiped here while living in the Morris house opposite; a battalion of Ninth Virginia, captured by the British, was confined here.
5442 Germantown Avenue, Morris House, Washington’s summer residence, in 1793-94, built by David Deshler, 1772-73; Sir William Howe occupied it after the battle in 1777; in 1804, it was bought by Mr. Perot for a country residence, and became the property of his son-in-law, Mr. Morris; the yard is kept in the simple elegance of colonial times. 5450 Germantown Avenue, in 1790 residence of Thomas Armat, who lived later at “Loudoun.” 5452 Germantown Avenue, erected in 1711 by John Ashmead, great grandfather of Captain Albert Ashmead; front rebuilt 1790. 5454 Germantown Avenue, occupied in 1742 by Count Zinzendorf; commencement of Moravian Seminary, now in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Saving Fund Building, site, residence of Jacob Tellner, first stone house built in Germantown; William Penn present at the roof raising; he once preached here.
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; cricket was first played in America here, by British officers; Bank of Pennsylvania was brought here, escorted by McPherson’s Blues in 1798, during the second yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia; gymnasium on Green Street, modern. On School House Lane, farther west, is Cricket Field of the William Penn Charter School.
Northeast corner of School House Lane and Germantown Avenue, Mutual Fire Insurance Company, in the office is “Shag Rag,” an old hand engine, imported from England, 1764; site, De la Plaine house, Whitefield preached from balcony to about 500 people in the Square. Northwest corner of Germantown Avenue and School House Lane, Germantown Bank, chartered, 1813; site of Germantown Library in 1806; used by United States Bank in 1798, escorted from Philadelphia by body of Light Horse. 5516-18-20 Germantown Avenue, site, King of Prussia Tavern in 1757, the sign was painted by Gilbert Stuart; a stage coach, with awning, ran from King of Prussia to the “George Inn,” Second and Arch Streets, three times a week. Germantown Avenue north of Chelten Avenue, Vernon Park, residence of John Wister, member of Congress until 1883; now belongs to the city; mansion, built in 1803, is used as museum by the Site Relic Society; marble statue of John Wister, near the door, made in Italy, given by his son, Jones Wister, who posed for the figure. Free library building in Park. South side of Haines Street, east of Chew, still stands a farmhouse; residence of Christopher Ludwig in 1777; appointed “Baker General” to American Army; said to be the original of Harvey Birch in Cooper’s novel, “The Spy.”
Southeast corner Germantown Avenue and High Street, site of the Morris-Littell house, was residence of Dr. Christopher Witt, physician, botanist, musician, artist, astronomer, poet; originally one of the hermits of the Wissahickon; friend of John Bartram and Francis Daniel Pastorius; an oil portrait of Johannes Kelpius, painted by Dr. Witt in 1705, is said to be the first oil portrait painted in America, now at Pennsylvania Historical Society; he started the first botanical garden in America, twenty years earlier than Bartram’s. Now yard of high school building. South side of High Street, two squares east from Germantown Avenue, St. Michael’s Protestant Episcopal Church; window of St. Michael after Guido Reni by William and Annie Lee Willet; grave of Dr. Christopher Witt is here; died in 1765, aged 90; site of old Warner burial ground; British and American soldiers were buried here.
Methodist Church, 6019 Germantown Avenue, site, Green Tree Tavern in 1748, kept by Francis Daniel Pastorius until 1754; General Anthony Wayne came this far, time of battle; Pastorius was the hero in Whittier’s “Pennsylvania Pilgrim.” Died in 1719; was buried, probably, in the Friends’ burial ground, Germantown Avenue above Coulter Street. Southwest corner of Walnut Lane and Germantown Avenue, “Wyck,” built in 1690; thought to be the oldest house now in Germantown; was used as hospital and operating room after battle; Lafayette was entertained here July, 1825. 6043 Germantown Avenue, southeast corner of Walnut Lane, was bought in 1775 by Dr. William Shippen as a summer home; center of fierce skirmish during battle; Pennsylvania manual training school was here under Dr. George Junkin, who was afterwards President of Washington and Lee University; his daughter was married to General Stonewall Jackson; in 1832, Dr. Junkin was President of Lafayette College, Easton; in 1851 this property was bought by Charlotte Cushman, actress.
Germantown Avenue above Herman Street, Mennonite Meeting House, founded, 1708; present building erected, 1770; William Rittenhouse, first pastor; Brigadier General Agnew was mortally wounded near here. 6205 Germantown Avenue, site of house built in 1738 by Dirck Keyser, a silk merchant, who came from Amsterdam in 1688. 6239 Germantown Avenue, was known as Washington Tavern in 1793. 6306 Germantown Avenue, Johnson House, in thickest of fight; time of battle the British swarmed through, and cleared everything edible; family fled to the cellar. Germantown Avenue, north of Washington Lane, built, 1775, Concord School House; now Charter Oak Library. North of library is the Upper Burial Ground; has probably the oldest existing stone to a German in Pennsylvania, Cornelius Tyson, buried in 1716; graves of the Lippard family are here, ancestors of George Lippard, author; American soldiers’ memorial stone was erected by John Fanning Watson. Southeast corner of Germantown Avenue and Duval Street, site, “Pomona,” residence Colonel Thomas Forrest, artillery officer; later member of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Congress. 6338 Germantown Avenue, site, the Ship House, built, 1760; had representation of a ship on south gable; rear, site of first public hall in Germantown.
Northeast corner of Germantown Avenue and Johnson Street, Chew House, “Cliveden,” known as the “Germantown Battle Field,” built in 1760 by Benjamin Chew, Attorney General of the Province, member of Council, later Chief Justice; colonial, solid and heavy masonry; forming admirable fortification; was the scene of most important battle in Germantown, October 4, 1777; family were away; house partly furnished was left in charge of servants, the building was battered with bullets, holes still shown in the doors. Northwest corner of Germantown Avenue and Johnson Streets, Upsala, one of the finest examples of colonial architecture; built in 1798 by John Johnson; is still occupied by his descendants; during the battle, Americans put their cannon in the yard to fire on the Chew House, opposite. Northeast corner of Germantown Avenue and Upsal Street, Billmyer house, built in 1727; Washington stood on the horse block, telescope in hand, to penetrate the smoke of battle, and discover force of the enemy at Chew House. Woodwork bears marks of bullets and attempts by soldiers to set it on fire; bought by Michael Billmyer in 1788, a celebrated German painter, whose business plant was here; tablet placed by Site and Relic Society.