Beggarstown School

Last updated
Beggarstown School
Beggarstown School.jpeg
School in 1972
Street map of Philadelphia and surrounding area.png
Red pog.svg
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location6669 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°3′5″N75°11′7″W / 40.05139°N 75.18528°W / 40.05139; -75.18528
Arealess than one acre
Built1740
NRHP reference No. 71000718 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 23, 1971

The Beggarstown School, built c. 1740, is a historic school in Beggarstown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, now part of the Mount Airy neighborhood. It is a rare example of a school building from the colonial era. [2]

Contents

Architecture and history

The small building has one-and-a-half stories and measures 28 feet 3 inches (8.61 m) across the front, and 18 feet 3 inches (5.56 m) along the sides. A brick el in the rear was added after a 1915 restoration. The four-bay front is constructed of Wissahickon schist ashlar, and the sides of stuccoed rubble. The school was altered in 1840. [2] A few of the original floorboards remain in the otherwise greatly altered interior.

The school is owned by the adjacent St. Michael's Evangelical Lutheran Church. While most students were part of the Lutheran congregation, some attended simply because it was the closest local school. Its teachers taught basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, unlike the more sophisticated Germantown Academy or Union School which was located about one-and-a-half miles south. [3] [4]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It is also a contributing building in the Colonial Germantown Historic District, a National Historic Landmark Historic District. [3]

It is currently home to Alena's Café.

See also

Concord School, a nearby school built in 1775

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germantown, Philadelphia</span> Neighborhood of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, United States

Germantown is an area in Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded by Palatine, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, which is about six miles northwest from the city center, now consists of two neighborhoods: 'Germantown' and 'East Germantown'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Airy, Philadelphia</span> Neighborhood of Philadelphia

Mount Airy is a neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germantown White House</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

The Germantown White House is a historic mansion in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest surviving presidential residence, having twice housed Founding Father George Washington during his presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church</span> National Historic Site of the United States

Gloria Dei Church, known locally as Old Swedes', is a historic church located in the Southwark neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 929 South Water Street, bounded by Christian Street on the north, South Christopher Columbus Boulevard on the east, and Washington Avenue on the south. It was built between 1698 and 1700, making it the oldest church in Pennsylvania and second oldest Swedish church in the United States after Holy Trinity Church in Wilmington, Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stenton (mansion)</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

Stenton, also known as the James Logan Home, was the country home of James Logan, the first Mayor of Philadelphia and Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court during the colonial-era governance of the Province of Pennsylvania. The home is located at 4601 North 18th Street in the Logan neighborhood of North Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grumblethorpe</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

Grumblethorpe was the home of the Wister family in the present-day Germantown section of Philadelphia, who lived there for over 160 years. It was built in 1744 as a summer residence, but it became the family's year-round residence in 1793. It is a museum, part of the Colonial Germantown Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Johnson House (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

The John Johnson House is a National Historic Landmark in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, significant for its role in the antislavery movement and the Underground Railroad. It is located at 6306 Germantown Avenue and is a contributing property of the Colonial Germantown Historic District, which is also a National Historic Landmark. It is operated today as a museum open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliveden (Benjamin Chew House)</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

Cliveden, also known as the Chew House, is a historic site owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, located in the Germantown neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia. Built as a country house for attorney Benjamin Chew, Cliveden was completed in 1767 and was home to seven generations of the Chew family. Cliveden has long been famous as the site of the American Revolutionary War's Battle of Germantown in 1777 as well as for its Georgian architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyck House</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

The Wyck house, also known as the Haines house or Hans Millan house, is a historic mansion, museum, garden, and urban farm in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1971 for its well-preserved condition and its documentary records, which span nine generations of a single family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upsala (mansion)</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

Upsala is a historic mansion in Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Considered one of the finest extant examples of Federal architecture, the mansion is a contributing property of the Colonial Germantown Historic District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic RittenhouseTown</span> United States historic place

Historic RittenhouseTown, sometimes referred to as Rittenhouse Historic District, encompasses the remains of an early industrial community which was the site of the first paper mill in British North America. The mill was built in 1690 by William Rittenhouse and his son Nicholas on the north bank of Paper Mill Run near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The district, off Lincoln Drive near Wissahickon Avenue in Fairmount Park, includes six of up to forty-five original buildings. RittenhouseTown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark District on April 27, 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chestnut Hill Historic District (Philadelphia)</span> Historic district in Pennsylvania, United States

The Chestnut Hill Historic District is a historic area covering all the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebenezer Maxwell House</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

The Ebenezer Maxwell House, operated today as the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion, is an historic house located in the West Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Germantown Academy and Headmasters' Houses</span> Historic school in Pennsylvania, United States

The Old Germantown Academy and Headmasters' Houses or The Old Campus is an historic, American school campus, the original site of Germantown Academy, located at Schoolhouse Lane and Greene Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The academy moved to a new suburban location in 1965, and the site is currently occupied by the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concord School House (Philadelphia)</span> United States historic place

The Concord School House is a historic one-room schoolhouse in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is operated today as a museum. It is part of the Colonial Germantown Historic District which was named a National Historic Landmark District in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Widow Maloby's Tavern</span> United States historic place

The Widow Maloby's Tavern is an historic, American tavern building that is located in the Queen Village section of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Schaeffer School</span> United States historic place

Charles Schaeffer School is a historic former school building located in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building was renovated in 2019 and is now the corporate offices of the Philly Office Retail real estate company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin Hose Company No. 28</span> United States historic place

Franklin Hose Company No. 28, also known as Harmony Engine Company No. 6, is a historic fire station located in the Southwest Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was originally built about 1849, and considerably altered with a new front in 1868–1869. It is a four-story, three-bay-wide building measuring 34 by 60 feet. It is constructed of brick, with an ashlar granite-faced first story and a mansard roof. It features round arched window openings and a heavy wood cornice. In February 2010, the building was undergoing renovation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester Springs Historic District</span> Historic district in Pennsylvania, United States

Chester Springs Historic District, also known as The Old Art School, Orphan's School, Yellow Springs Spa, and Good News Buildings, is a national historic district located in West Pikeland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The district includes 7 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, and 1 contributing structure in the spa community of Chester Springs. The district includes the old hotel and inn, two large residences, a bath house at one end of the springs, and a studio. It also includes a wooden summer house that enclosed the iron springs. The property was the site of a hospital commissioned by the Continental Congress and built in 1777. The three-story, 106 feet by 36 feet wide building burned in 1902, was reconstructed, then burned again in the 1960s. The Yellow Springs resort operated in the early-mid 19th century and many of the buildings date from that period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Michael's Evangelical Lutheran Church (Mt. Airy)</span> United States historic place

St. Michael's Evangelical Lutheran Church is a historic church building in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia, just north of the Germantown neighborhood. The congregation was founded sometime before 1728 and three successive church buildings have occupied the same location since that time. The church was closed in 2016.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Beggarstown School, 6669 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA - Supplemental" (PDF). Historic American Buildings Survey. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  3. 1 2 NRHP Nomination Form for Beggarstown School, 1971, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, CRGIS, accessed December 2, 2016.
  4. Grauman Wolf, Stephanie (1980). Urban Village Population, Community and Family Structure in Germantown Pennsylvania, 1683-1800. Princeton University Press. p. 361. ISBN   0691005907. See page 33.