206 Lincoln Drive • Philadelphia, PA 19144 • (215) 438-5711• Fax (215)849-6447 • information@rittenhousetown.org
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At the heart of the thriving early industrial community known as RittenhouseTown, the first paper mill in British North America built by William Rittenhouse and his son, Nicholas, occupied the north bank of the Monoshone Creek. A second mill, Homestead and Bake House quickly followed. For the next 200 years, while eight generations of Rittenhouse family members continued to live and work all along the Monoshone and Wissahickon Creeks, the focus of the community remained this intimate cluster of buildings enclosing both public and private space. From the early 18th century, Rittenhouse Street linked the early settlement at Germantown with RittenhouseTown and brought a constant stream of people, horses and wagons into the community past the Homestead on their way to the mill across the Monoshone Creek. Weavers transformed flax grown in Germantown into linen textiles and when the fabric was reduced to rags it was brought to RittenhouseTown to be made into paper. Paper produced at the Rittenhouse mill was sold to printers in nearby Germantown, Philadelphia and New York for use in Bibles and newspapers. As the Rittenhouse family expanded so did the village of RittenhouseTown. In later years, the Baptist Chapel located just yards from the Homestead’s front door welcomed mill workers who lived in the tenement building directly across Rittenhouse Street. By the mid 19th century, over 40 buildings populated this busy self contained industrial village including numerous residences for family members and mill workers, several mills producing paper, textiles, rugs, and blankets or grinding grain, a school, firehouse, general store and smithy. Until the construction of the Walnut Lane Bridge in 1908, Rittenhouse Street continued to be one of only a few routes linking Germantown with Roxborough, Manayunk and the Schuykill River. After nearly 200 years of economic success, changes in technology and increased competition brought an end to milling at RittenhouseTown. In July of 1890, the city of Philadelphia acquired 8 acres from the heirs of Peter Rittenhouse which included the Mill and Homestead. The following year Fairmount Park Commission purchased the remainder of the original 20 acre plot leased by William and Nicholas Rittenhouse from Samuel Carpenter in 1690 for $13,000. Other parcels of Rittenhouse land became part of Fairmount Park Commission through gift or purchase. The last remaining parcel included the Abraham Rittenhouse Home which had been sold by Rittenhouse descendant, William Umstead to Dr. Mary Ridgway in 1914 and was finally sold to the city in 1917. At the end of the nineteenth-century the Commission demolished the ca. 1702 mill and a number of nearby buildings as part of their plan to create parkland for city residents and to control the sources of pollution which were making the city’s drinking water from the Schuykill unsafe. Even in its demise, the destruction of the Rittenhouse mill was part of the story of the development of one of the largest city parks in the United States, Fairmount Park. Since 1984, when Hugh Hanson founded the Friends of Historic RittenhouseTown, we have considered it our mission to preserve, protect and interpret our important National Historic Landmark District. With the financial support of The William Penn Foundation, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the McLean Foundation, the Barra Foundation, the 25th Century Foundation, Bryn Clovis Foundation and others, we have demonstrated our commitment with the successful restoration of the 1707 Rittenhouse Homestead, ca. 1730 Bake House, ca. 1720 Visitor Center, and ca. 1845 Enoch Rittenhouse Home. As part of our Interactive Education Program, our professional staff provides interpretive walking tours of our early industrial village, interactive colonial German cooking in our 18th century Bake House and hands-on paper making classes to over 3000 students – from preschool through high school – each year. A visit to Historic RittenhouseTown enables educators to discuss with their students a wide variety of academic topics – from history and art to science, nutrition and conservation and to integrate their experiences at Historic RittenhouseTown with the State curriculum requirements. Today our National Historic Landmark District reminds us of the importance of the paper making industry to the development of early America and the essential role of the Rittenhouse family as suppliers of locally produced paper for letters, legal documents, maps and books. Visitors to Historic RittenhouseTown today can still experience the sense of community which has characterized this unique spot since the 17th century. |
News & Events-May 18th Spring Flea Market 9am-2pm, Call for details! All spaces SOLD OUT -June 7th Weekend Summer Tours Begin! 12-4pm. Last tour leaves Visitors' Center @ 3 p.m. -August 4th-8thSummer Day Camp! [3rd-6th grade] Call today for details, Limited Spots Available -June - September Paper Arts Workshops. Click for Class Information!
Annual Appeal Campaign TO CONTRIBUTE, CLICK THE DONATION BUTTON. ENTER ONE OF THE FOLLOWING AMOUNTS IN THE "UNIT PRICE" FIELD. This is not for membership. $50, $100, $200, $350, $500, $1,000, $5,000, or MORE thank you
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