HISTORIC SITES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cambridge Building at Alden Park
Alden Park
Wissahickon Avenue and School House Lane [Click for map]
National Register of Historic Places, Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
Built between 1925 and 1929, the Alden Park complex is one of the most distinguished and well-known structures in East Falls – though it is in the Germantown Zip Code 19144. One of the first apartment houses constructed as “towers in a park,” the three buildings (Manor, Kenilworth, Cambridge) were designed by Edwyn Rourke.
Click here for Alden Park National Register Nomination (PDF)
See also: wikipedia.org/wiki/Alden_Park_Manor
North Compplex (foreground) has since been demolished
Atwater Kent Factory
Wissahickon Avenue and Abbottsford Avenue [click here for map showing South Complex]
This site once housed the factory of the Atwater Kent Company, the largest producer of radios in the world during the 1920’s. In addition to radios, the company produced electrical components for automobiles. Atwater Kent, raised and educated in New England, established his company in Philadelphia in 1902 and was a prolific inventor who was awarded 93 patents during his career.
The enormous South complex, below Abbotsford Avenue, was built from 1923 to 1925, and the North complex on the other side of the road was built in 1928 and 1929. At its peak, the complex churned out over 6000 radios per day, employing over 12,000 workers. Its best radios were among the finest available.
The Atwater Kent Company fell on hard times during the Depression and was dissolved in 1936.
The U.S. Government purchased the North Complex in 1941, and eventually acquired the South Complex as well. The north building was later demolished to build the Roosevelt Expressway cut (US 1). The south building houses a variety of businesses and other activities. A related building, now seemingly on the grounds of the Water Department, may have been a power plant.
Click here for Atwater Kent National Historic Register Nominalion (PDF)
See also: https://www.workshopoftheworld.com/nicetown/atwater.html
http://www.historic-structures.com/pa/philadelphia/atwater_kent.php
Castle Ringstetten
Castle Ringstetten
4414 Ridge Avenue (official city address, though it’s access is 4347 Kelly Drive) [Click here for map]
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
Designed by Frank Furness and dating from 1875-76, it continues to serve as the clubhouse of the Undine Barge Club, one of the city’s rowing organizations
See also:/undine.com/.../ringstetten/
Dobson Mills
Dobson Mills
4055 Ridge Avenue [Click here for map]
National Register of Historic Places
Dating from the 1850s, the restored sections of the current apartment complex housed one of the city’s largest wool woolen mills which made blankets, coats and especially carpets. Owners James and John Dobson (brothers) became major landowners in the Falls of Schuylkill.
See also Hexamer General Surveys: Vol. 1, plate 3 (former location at Wissahickon Creek) Volume 20, Plates 1890-1891; Other Free Library holdings.
Click here for National Register Nomination
Philadelphia Record photo, Harold R. Stott, October 1927
Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd
3816 The Oak Rd [Click here for map]
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
Designed by Colonial Revival specialist Carl A. Ziegler and completed in 1927, the church and parish hall were found to satisfy both historic designation Criterion D for the Philadelphia Register (Embodies distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style or engineering specimen) and Criterion E (Is the work of a designer, architect, landscape architect or designer, or engineer whose work has significantly influenced the historical, architectural, economic, social, or cultural development of the City, Commonwealth or Nation).
Click here for church website.
See also: Manor Sunday School Association/Chapel of the Good Shepherd
Falls of Schuylkill Library
Free Library of Philadelphia, Falls of Schuylkill Branch
3501 Midvale Avenue [Click here for map]
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
One of the finest of Philadelphia’s many “Carnegie Libraries,” it dates from 1913. It was designed by the notable firm of Rankin, Kellogg & Crane in a style called variously Tudor Gothic or Collegiate Gothic.
See also: Friends of Falls Library - History
Presentation - History and Architecture of Falls Library (YouTube)
Click here for Carnegie Libraries Nomination (PDF)
Click here for Historic American Buildings (HABS) report (PDF)
Hassrick Residence
Hassrick Residence
4130 Cherry Lane, off School House Lane [click here for map]
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
A strong example of a mid-century modern or “modernist” house, designed by the important west coast architect Richard Neutra, in collaboration with Philadelphia architect Thaddeus Longstreth. It was built in 1958. It is now owned by Jefferson University/Philadelphia University and is used by its program in historic preservation.
See also hiddencityphila.org/...hassrick-house-in-east-falls/
Click here for Philadelphia Register Nomination (PDF)
Henry W. Brown residence
Henry W. Brown residence (Timmons House)
3850 The Oak Road [click here for map]
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
This handsome “Colonial Revival” house built in 1906-1907 was designed by Clinton Gardner Harris for Henry W. Brown a prominent figure in the insurance business who created The Oak Road. Its final private owner was John Spence Timmons, who invented an early form of radio loudspeaker and other electronic devices. He gave the house and property to the neighboring William Penn Charter School.
Click here for Philadelphia Register Nomination
Ivy Cottage, 1974 photo
Ivy Cottage
3819 The Oak Road [click here for map]
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
One of the oldest houses in the eastern region of East Falls, Ivy Cottage dates to somewhere in the 1850s-1870s. It was for many years in the 19thcentury the home of the Johnson family, which included Lindley Johnson, an architect. It is an exemplary “Gothic Cottage,” a style intended for the country, which its surroundings were when the house was built. The architect is not known.
The Kelly House, ca. 2009
Kelly House
3901 Henry Avenue, Philadelphia, PA [click here for map]
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Marker
Marker text:
The Kelly Family
This famous family lived in the home built here by John B. Kelly. A successful businessman active in city politics, Jack was a 3-time Olympic gold medal winner in the 1920s for rowing. Son John Jr. ("Kell") won the Diamond Scull at the 1947 British Henley Regatta and a bronze medal at the 1956 Olympics. Both father and son were named to US Rowing and Olympic Halls of Fame. Daughter Grace was an Academy Award-winning actress and Princess of Monaco.
See also: wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Kelly_Sr.
See also: wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Kelly
"Millionaires' Row"
Laurel Hill Cemetery
3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA [click here for map]
National Register of Historic Places
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Marker
From Wikipedia:
Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic garden or rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts.
The cemetery is 74-acre (300,000 m2) in size and overlooks the Schuylkill River. The cemetery grew to its current size through the purchase of four land parcels between 1836 and 1861. It contains over 11,000 family lots and more than 33,000 graves including thousands of 19th- and 20th-century marble and granite funerary monuments such as obelisks, elaborately sculpted hillside tombs and mausoleums.
In 1977, Laurel Hill Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 1998, it became the first cemetery in the United States to be designated a National Historic Landmark.
See also: .wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_Hill_Cemetery
See also: thelaurelhillcemetery.org
Recent view of Chapel
Manor Sunday School Association/Chapel of the Good Shepherd
3625 McMichael Street, Philadelphia, PA [click here for map]
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
The complex of one-story buildings at 3625 Michael Street on the corner of Midvale Avenue was placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places by the Philadelphia Historic Commission on Friday, February 14, 2020 based on its architectural style and contribution to the social history of the neighborhood. The chapel section was built on this site in 1916 for the Manor Sunday School Association previously formed by neighborhood men in the newly developing Queen Lane Manor neighborhood bounded by Henry Avenue, Queen Lane, Coulter Street (then called Mill Street) and Stokely Street.
See also: History of “Ken-Crest” Site Revealed
Click here for Philadelphia Register Nomination
Odd Fellows Hall ca. 1937
Odd Fellows Hall/Palestine Hall (also known as Masonic Building)
Odd Fellows Hall/Palestine Hall (also known as Masonic Building)
4200 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA [click here for map]
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
Constructed in 1868 for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and owned and used by several different fraternal organizations, community groups, and commercial tenants, the building at 4200-06 Ridge Avenue exemplifies the social, economic and historical heritage of the East Falls community. The large building stands out in the context of primarily two and three-story rowhouses and is situated prominently at the intersection of Ridge and Midvale Avenues—the heart of the East Falls community.