Buildings

Historic RittenhouseTown

RittenhouseTown is the site of the first paper mill in North America, built in 1690 by William Rittenhouse. For over 150 years, the Rittenhouse family operated the mills while living on the site. By the late 18th century, RittenhouseTown had developed into a small self-sufficient industrial community with more than 40 buildings: homesteads, workers' cottages, the paper mill complex, a church, a school, and a firehouse.

In the late 1870s, the Rittenhouse family sold the industrial site to the City of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park Commission. Today, only seven buildings still stand on the remaining 30 acres that were declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1992.

                                    Chestnut Hill Historical Society

After entering the site from Wissahickon Avenue near Lincoln Drive, the first building on the right is the Visitors Center, housed in a home built by Abraham Rittenhouse in 1720. Across the Monoshone Creek from the Visitor Center is the Rittenhouse Homestead built by William and Claus Rittenhouse in 1690 along with an 18th century bake house, now used for historical cooking demonstrations. Continuing up the road on the right is Isaac Rittenhouse’s home built in 1790, followed by a house built by Jacob Rittenhouse in the 1750s.

Another house follows this, but it has not yet undergone a thorough historic study. It probably dates from the mid-to-late 18th century and was enlarged and remodeled in the 19th century. Behind it is the Barn, now used for papermaking workshops. 

Livezey House

South of Valley Green Inn, Livezey House, also known as Glen Fern, was most likely built in the early 1700s. Originally owned by James Claypool, one of William Penn’s resident land commissioners, the property had at least seven owners before being purchased in 1747 by Thomas Livezey — a

 Quaker miller, farmer, justice of                                                   Photo: Eric J. Vath

the peace and provincial commissioner. Livezey’s grist mill, the stone ruins of which can be seen today next to the house, was not only the largest of dozens of mills scattered along the banks of the Wissahickon, but it was said to be the largest mill in the Colonies. In 1868, the Livezey House and mill were sold to the Fairmount Park Commission. 

Monastery House and Stables

Joseph Gorgas built this house of Wissahickon schist at the end of Kitchen’s Lane around 1750. Though it never served as a monastery, its name may be a result of the religious activity attributed to this area.

Photo: CHHS

When the Kitchen family occupied the house in the latter half of the 19th century, there were five cellars: one each for wine, milk, vinegar, potatoes and the “outside cellar.” These cellars may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad. 

                                                                                    Courtesy CHHS

92nd District Police Station

Located on Lincoln Drive and Gypsy Lane, this building was erected in 1849 as Wissahickon Hall, a carriage hotel offering boating on the Creek as well as other amenities. It was the first of numerous inns along the southern end of Wissahickon Creek, offering refreshments and respite. It once served as the headquarters for the Fairmount Park Guard and is now used as a police station. 

Philadelphia Canoe Club

This building at the mouth of Wissahickon Creek is dated 1877. The first mill on this site was built about 1687 as a gristmill belonging to Robert Townsend and changed hands many times, becoming a sawmill about 1689. By 1700, the mills on this site were part of Andrew Robeson’s three Wissahickon Mills. Robeson and his family lived in a mansion (Shoomac Park) nearby on Ridge Avenue. By the mid 1700s, the buildings on this eight-acre site were known as the Roxboro mills and included grist, lumber, and nail mills. The Roxborough mill complex was sold to the Fairmount Park Commission in 1869, which demolished most of the buildings. This is the only building left standing and serves as the headquarters of the Philadelphia Canoe Club, established in 1905.

Shelters, Guardhouses, and Other Small Buildings

Shelters throughout Fairmount Park were built by more than 4,000 employees of the Works Projects Administration (WPA) from 1935-1943 as shelters for the Fairmount Park Guards who patrolled the park by foot, horse, and bike. Each shelter had a telephone and wood or coal stove. All were made from local wood and stone and designed to blend into the landscape. They were used into the 1960s, but totally abandoned when the Park Guard was disbanded in the 1970s. Thirteen of these shelters were built in the Wissahickon Valley. They include those on Forbidden Drive at Kitchen’s Lane; near the Covered Bridge at Thomas Mill; Allen’s Lane; and the juncture of Forbidden Drive and Lincoln Drive. This last shelter is known as Ten Box. Built in 1940 by the WPA as a guard station, it was the location of the tenth box of a telephone system that once ran along Forbidden Drive.

The shelter near the Covered Bridge was originally built for the mills nearby and Fairmount Park restored it in 1921. The WPA rebuilt the structure in 1938 with toilets that were spring fed with septic systems. Since this does not meet current standards and with no water or sewer at the site, the FOW rebuilt the shelter and uses it for tool and lumber storage. Other unused toilets are located in Ten Box Shelter. 

Across the Wissahickon Creek from Ten Box is a 19th century building, traditionally called the Toll Booth Building. It was restored by FOW who provided the window pictures of the old toll coins. Across and upstream from Valley Green Inn is a lookout shelter also restored by FOW.
In the late 1990s, FOW also restored the Springhouse on Forbidden Drive near Allens Lane. After student volunteers from the Crefeld School and the Chestnut Hill Academy cleaned this structure out, the Philadelphia Garden Club supplied and planted about six different native species of ferns along the walkway leading up to it. Metal work for the door and window was restored with nineteenth-century wrought iron from a local mansion being demolished. (See Structures Restoration.)

Valley Green Inn

Of the several inns which once dotted the Wissahickon Valley, Valley Green is the only one still in operation. Located on Forbidden Drive in Fairmount Park, the Inn was built in 1850 on land owned by the Livezey family. The Livezeys sold the land on which it stood and 66 additional acres to the City of Philadelphia in 1872 as part of the Fairmount Park system. The Fairmount Park Commission leased the hotel to various managers until it was declared a ruin and scheduled for demolition in 1899. A group of local citizens rallied to its rescue raising the necessary funds to restore the building. In 1900, a group of prominent Philadelphia women took over its management and they changed the name to the Valley Green Inn, offering only light refreshments to park users. 
The Friends of the Wissahickon has been responsible for the Inn since 1937 when a lease was obtained from the City. At the end of the 1980s, a new manager Bob Levy proposed another restoration and enlargement of the facility. Fundraising for this project began in earnest in 1996, and groundbreaking took place in 2002. Restored and enlarged, Valley Green now operates as a restaurant. See Valley Green Inn and Structures Restoration.

Warming Sheds

The original warming sheds on this site near Valley Green Inn deteriorated and their remains were carted away. In 1999, volunteers from the Friends of the Wissahickon, under the leadership of Tom Ryan, Ed Stainton, and Buzz Wemple, rebuilt the Valley Green Inn warming sheds to the exact specifications of the original: no nails, all sections intricately joined with pegs and an 18th century-style joiner. Horseback riders can now leave their horses in the sheds while they stretch their legs and have a snack at Valley Green Inn. (See Structures Restoration.)