RittenhouseTown Historic District
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Rittenhousetown Historic District
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Rittenhouse homestead
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| Location | 206–210 Lincoln Drive, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Area | 84 acres (34 ha) |
| Built | 1690–1732 |
| Architectural style | Georgian, Federal |
| NRHP Reference # | 92001878 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 27, 1992[2] |
| Designated NHLD | April 27, 1992[3] |
| Designated PHMC | April 8, 1991[1] |
The Rittenhousetown Historic District was an early industrial community where the first paper mill in British North America was built by William Rittenhouse and his son Nicholas on the north bank of Monoshone Creek near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Flax was woven into linen in nearby Germantown. When the linen fabrics wore out, the rags were brought to Rittenhousetown to be made into paper. Paper produced at the Rittenhouse mill was sold to printers in Germantown, Philadelphia, and New York City. In 1890, Rittenhousetown became part of the Germantown section of Philadelphia.
The site was acquired through donations and several purchases by the City of Philadelphia through the Fairmount Park Commission over the years from 1890 to 1917.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark District on April 27, 1992.[3][4]
Historic RittenhouseTown, Inc. was formed in 1984 to preserve, restore, and historically interpret RittenhouseTown.[5] The group maintains five historic buildings: Abraham Rittenhouse Home (c. 1720), which serves as the visitor center; Rittenhouse Homestead (1707); Enoch Rittenhouse Home; Jacob Rittenhouse Home; and the Rittenhouse Home. There is also a barn and bakehouse that are used for paper-making and cooking demonstrations.
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See also
- Rittenhouse (surname)
- Awbury Historic District
- Chestnut Hill Historic District
- Colonial Germantown Historic District
- Tulpehocken Station Historic District
Further reading
- Green, James. The Rittenhouse Mill and the Beginnings of Papermaking in America. Philadelphia: Library Company of Philadelphia and Friends of Historic RittenhouseTown, 1990.
References
External links
- Photos, exterior and interior, from 1989 and 1990 PDF (NPS) 32 KB
- Historic RittenhouseTown website
- First Paper Mill in British North America
- Listing, photographs, and drawings of the Claus Rittenhouse house at the Historic American Buildings Survey
- Listing, photographs, and drawings of the Claus Rittenhouse home outbuilding at the Historic American Buildings Survey
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| Lists by county |
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- German-American history
- History of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Historic house museums in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Open-air museums in Pennsylvania
- National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania
- National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Industry museums in Pennsylvania
- Historic districts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
- Pennsylvania state historical marker significations
- Germantown, Philadelphia
- Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
