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 A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

. The mill was built in 1690 by

William Rittenhouse William Rittenhouse (1644 – 1708) was an American papermaker and businessman. He served as an apprentice papermaker in the Netherlands and, after moving to the Pennsylvania Colony, established the first paper mill in the North American col ...

and his son Nicholas on the north bank of Paper Mill Run (Monoshone Creek) near (and now within)

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The district, off Lincoln Drive near Wissahickon Avenue in

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, w ...

, includes six of up to forty-five original buildings. RittenhouseTown was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and was designated a

National Historic Landmark District A National Historic Landmark District (NHLD) is a geographical area that has received recognition from the United States Government that the buildings, landscapes, cultural features and archaeological resources within it are of the highest signific ...

on April 27, 1992.

History

Flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

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,

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The Rittenhouse paper mill operated until about the 1850s, by which time the family was leasing its facilities out to other types of manufacturing. Between the years 1890 and 1917, the site was acquired through donations and purchases by the City of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park Commission. A nonprofit organization called Historic RittenhouseTown, Inc. was founded in 1984 to preserve, restore, and historically interpret RittenhouseTown. The organization maintains offices within RittenhouseTown and offers historic tours, paper making workshops and special events.

Description

RittenhouseTown includes six historic buildings maintained by Historic RittenhouseTown: Abraham Rittenhouse Home (c. 1720); Rittenhouse Homestead (1707); Rittenhouse Bake House (c. 1730); Enoch Rittenhouse Home (1845); Jacob Rittenhouse Home (1810); and another unnamed 18th century Rittenhouse Home. The Rittenhouse Bake House is used for cooking demonstrations. A 20th century barn originally built for the Fairmount Park Commission is now used for paper-making workshops and demonstrations. Most of RittenhouseTown's buildings are built of stone and finished in stucco, and generally exhibit colonial building methods. They are all that are left of a much larger industrial complex and worker village, of which more than thirty-five buildings have been demolished. The area also includes archaeological industrial remains of some of the mill buildings.

References

External links

* ( NPS) 32 KB
Historic RittenhouseTown websiteFirst Paper Mill in British North America
*

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

(HABS) documentation, filed under 207A Lincoln Drive, Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA: ** ** {{Authority control German-American history History of Philadelphia Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia Historic house museums in Philadelphia Open-air museums in Pennsylvania National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Industry museums in Pennsylvania Historic districts in Philadelphia Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Germantown, Philadelphia Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Wissahickon Valley Park Historic house museums of the Pennsylvania Germans

History

Description

See also

References

Further reading

External links