Jax Stumpes: Haverford, PA (8/29/2019)

Thursday, August 29, 2019
We had a lunch date with Kent's Chofu High School friend, Phil O, in Haverford, PA. Went a little early to check out significant sites, according to the Haverford Township Historical Society.

World War II Memorial (1946) on Old Manoa Road

Powder Mill Valley Monument (1947)

Stone wall remnants on Cobb Creek

Henry Lawrence Cabin (c 1709), the oldest free-standing
domestic building in the township, relocated here in 1961

Nitre Hall (1805), home of the powder master of the
Nitre Hall Powder Mills (established by Israel Whelen about 1800)

Nitre Hall was an important source of gunpowder during the War of 1812.

Nitre Hall

Moss and ferns (KSS)

Beechwood Bridge (1907, rehabilitated 1984) in the foreground,
with the hill beyond being the site of the former
Beechwood Amusement Park (open only 1907-1909)

Leedom/Dickinson Mansion (1800 L, 1725 middle, 1750 R) was
the residence of the owners of a sawmill on Cobbs Creek

St Denis Church (1947 for the first Delaware County
Roman Catholic Church, established in the 1820s) and Cemetery

Old Haverford Friends Meeting (established 1688, 1700 addition,
1688 log cabin replaced by main building in 1800),
is the oldest place of worship in Haverford Township

Mary Kelly Ott House (1820) was the home on a 124-acre farm,
belonging to the daughter of Dennis Kelly, an Irish immigrant
who ran the Castle Hill Textile Mills and also donated
the land for the St Denis Church and Cemetery

Craig Hall (1925, by Horace Trumbauer, in Georgian Revival style)

Federal School (1797) was the first purpose-built school in
Haverford Township; it was originally a subscription/tuition school,
but in 1849 became a public school per the inscription over the porch

Federal School Outhouse

The school outhouse has been modernized as Haverford Township provides a "One-Room School Experience," where all fourth graders have an official but old-style school day as if in the year 1850.

Allgates Mansion (1911, by William Eyre), residence for banker
Horatio Gates Lloyd, Sr, who donated funds for the Haverford Free Library

Sign for the Merion Golf Club (founded 1896
by members of the Merion Cricket Club)

Merion Golf Club has an East Course (1912) and West Course (1914)
and later separated from the Cricket Club in 1942

The Merion Golf Club is known for the wicker baskets atop
the pins instead of flags, as seen here on the practice putting greens

Merion Cricket Club (founded 1865, clubhouse 1896, by Frank H Furness)

Cricket fields; the club also hosts lawn tennis, squash, and croquet

Dolobran Estate (1881, by Frank H Furness in Shingle style),
residence of shipping magnate Clement Griscom

Former Whitehall Apartments (1925-1926, by Lippincott & Schaef,
in California-Spanish Mission revival style)

Features include wrought iron balconies,
blue decorative tile with scenes of
Christopher Columbus, and red tile roof caps

Friends School Haverford (founded by Quakers in 1885) is the
oldest Quaker school in the Philadelphia metropolitan area

Millbrook Farm Main House (1850), residence of the Garrigues family
who operated saw and grist mills, and a brickyard

Whitby Hall (1754 in Kingsessing, moved here in 1922) was built for
the Philadelphia High Sheriff James Coultas

Next to Haverford College (founded 1833 by Quakers).

Founders Hall (1833) where the first students and faculty
lived, ate, and held classes until 1877

Former Ryan Gymnasium (1900 in Colonial Revival style) was
renovated in 2017 to become the Visual Culture, Arts, and Media facility

Comprising of the entire campus, the Haverford College Arboretum
(1834, by William Carvill) is the oldest college arboretum in the nation

Penn Treaty Elm (1915) is actually a descendant of the American Elm
under which William Penn and Lenape Chief Tamanend signed a
treaty of peace in 1683 in what is now Penn Treaty Park of Philadelphia

Barclay Hall (1877), a student residence hall

Carvill Arch (1834) is a remnant of a greenhouse that is dedicated
in memory of William Carvill, who not only designed the landscape
of the college and began the arboretum, but also introduced
the game of cricket to the Americas from his native England

We had to do a little "closed road" sign dodging.

Castle Bith (1693 R half of house, 1924 additions) was owned by
the Llewellyn family, Welsh Quakers, who named it for their birthplace

Finally, "The Grange" (1700, with multiple expansions) is located on one of the earliest land grants (1681) to Welsh Quaker Henry Lewis. Initially named Maen Coch/Red Stone, it changed names and owners over time. A later owner, John Ross, was host to many influential visitors including the Marquis de Lafayette, Robert Morris, Revolutionary War generals Knox and Mifflin, and George Washington. The story is that John Ross renamed the property The Grange in honor of his friend, the Marquis de Lafayette, whose large farm estate and chateau near Paris was named La Grange. Today The Grange is owned by the Township of Haverford, and is preserved as a historical site (representing the second half of the 19th century) and events venue.