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41-560: The Germantown White House (also known as the Deshler–Morris 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 . The house's alternate name comes from its first and last owners: David Deshler, who built it beginning in 1752; and Elliston P. Morris, who donated it to

82-611: A carriage for George Washington . His estate consisted of 19 acres (7.7 ha) in Germantown, and was eventually split up by his heirs. Today, near the current historic site, Bringhurst Street is a street named after him which lies on the edge of his former land. Lieutenant Colonel John Bird was lying sick in the Bringhurst House when the American army attacked on the morning of October 4, 1777. Bird arose from bed to lead his men, but

123-619: A regional public high school located in Germantown, were both closed in 2013. Mastery Charter Schools operates the Mastery Charter Pickett Campus (7–12, MCPC) in Germantown. The school opened in August 2007. The charter system headquarters is located at Pickett. Germantown Settlement Charter School (5–8), Imani Education Circle Charter school (pre-K to 8), and the Wissahickon Charter School's Awbury Campus (6th–8th)

164-631: A studio nearby, and the family attended the German Reformed Church across the square. Four slaves were held by the Washingtons at the Franks house: Oney Judge , Austin (her brother), Moll, and Hercules . The house is administered by Independence National Historical Park . In 1972, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The house is also a contributing property of

205-557: A two-page condemnation of slavery and sent it to the governing bodies of their Quaker church, the Society of Friends . The petition was mainly based upon the Bible's Golden Rule , "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Though the Quaker establishment took no immediate action, the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery was a clear and forceful argument against slavery and initiated

246-475: Is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies , most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel . Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel . The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence. Sometimes, the term 'half-colonel' is used in casual conversation in

287-869: Is all of Philadelphia. Public schools located in Germantown include the Anna L. Lingelbach School (K–8), the John B. Kelly School (K–6), the John Wister Elementary School (K–6), the Hill Freedman Middle School (6–8), the Theodore Roosevelt Middle School (7–8), the Fitler Academics Plus School (1–8), and the Martin Luther King High School (9–12). The Robert Fulton Elementary School and Germantown High School ,

328-664: Is covered by the 19144 zip code, but the area north of Chew Avenue falls in the 19138 zip code. Although the arrival by ship of the Original 13 , the later founders of Germantown in Philadelphia on October 6, 1683, was later to provide the date for German-American Day , a holiday in the United States, historical research has shown that nearly all of the first thirteen Quaker and Mennonite families were in fact Dutch rather than Germans . These families, which were mainly Dutch but also included some Swiss, had relocated to Krefeld (near

369-475: Is currently in the process of conversion into an exhibition space and welcome center for the Germantown White House landscape. Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Germantown has played a significant role in American history ; it was the birthplace of the American antislavery movement , the site of a Revolutionary War battle , the temporary residence of George Washington , the location of

410-651: Is located in the neighborhood . The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf , a private state-chartered school, occupies the former site of Germantown Academy , which moved to Fort Washington, Pennsylvania , in 1965. Germantown's private schools include the DePaul Catholic School (K–8), Waldorf School of Philadelphia (PreK-8), the High Street Christian Academy (K–4), the Germantown Islamic School,

451-581: The Battle of Germantown , on October 4, 1777, the Continental Army attacked the garrison. During the battle, a group of civilians fired on the British troops as they marched up the avenue, mortally wounding British officer James Agnew . The Americans withdrew after firing on one another in the confusion of the battle, which resulted in the battle becoming a British victory. The American losses amounted to 673 men and

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492-618: The Colonial Germantown Historic District . In 2009, the National Park Service changed the official name of the house from the "Deshler-Morris House" to the "Germantown White House." The Bringhurst House, neighboring the Germantown White House on the northwest, was originally owned by John Bringhurst (February 19, 1725 – March 18, 1795), a carriage builder and inventor of the Germantown Wagon; in 1780 he built

533-652: The NRHP : For a more complete gallery of contributing properties in the Colonial Germantown Historic District see here The 1946 book, Bright April , written and illustrated by Marguerite de Angeli , features scenes of 1940s Germantown while addressing the divisive issue of racial prejudice experienced by African Americans . The 2015 novel Loving Day is set in Germantown. Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( UK : / l ɛ f ˈ t ɛ n ən t ˈ k ɜːr n əl / lef- TEN -ənt KUR -nəl , US : / l uː ˈ t ɛ n -/ loo- TEN - )

574-480: The National Park Service in 1948. Deshler, a merchant, bought a 2-acre (8,100 m) lot from George and Anna Bringhurst in 1751–52, and constructed a four-room summer cottage. Twenty years later he built a 3-story, 9-room addition to the front, creating one of the most elegant homes in the region. Isaac Franks, a former colonel in the Continental Army , bought the house following Deshler's 1792 death. It

615-590: The yellow fever epidemic of 1793. The first bank of the United States was also located here during his administration. Germantown proper, and the adjacent German Township, were incorporated into the City of Philadelphia in 1854 by the Act of Consolidation . Italians began settling Germantown in 1880, and comprised an active and vibrant part of the community. The significant changes that occurred in Philadelphia's demographics at

656-556: The British Army. Additionally, in the U.S. Army 'light colonel' has been used informally in the past. In the British military, it is customary to refer to either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel by their first names when mentioning them, e.g "Colonel Tim will be at the parade". In the United States Air Force, the term 'light bird' or 'light bird colonel' (as opposed to a 'full bird colonel') is an acceptable casual reference to

697-568: The British losses consisted of 575 men, but along with the American victory at Saratoga on October 17 when John Burgoyne surrendered, the battle led to the official recognition of the Americans by France , which formed an alliance with the Americans afterward . During his presidency, George Washington and his family lodged at the Deshler-Morris House in Germantown to escape the city and

738-575: The Dutch border) and Kriegsheim (in Rhineland-Palatinate ) some years prior to their emigration to America to avoid persecution of their Mennonite beliefs in the Dutch Republic and Swiss Confederacy . The town was named Germantown by the group's leader Franz Pastorius , a German preacher from Sommerhausen . The town's population remained largely Dutch-speaking until 1709 , after which a number of

779-406: The Dutch families set out west and a series of major German emigrations reached Germantown and Pennsylvania as a whole. Their initial leader, Pastorius, later aligned himself with newer German arrivals and as the only university-trained and legal and literary man among the early settlers, chronicled and stressed the town's German origins. Adding to the assimilating of Dutch culture was the fact that

820-654: The Green Tree School (special education, ages 6–21), and two Quaker schools: Germantown Friends School and Greene Street Friends School . Nearby private schools include Mount Airy's Revival Hill Christian High School (9–12), Blair Christian Academy (PreK–12), Islamic Day School of Philadelphia (PreK–5), Project Learn School (K–8), Classroom on Carpenter Lane (K-2), and Holy Cross School (K–8), as well as Chestnut Hill's Springside School (PreK–12), Chestnut Hill Academy (K–12), and Crefeld School (7–12). The William Penn Charter School (commonly known as Penn Charter),

861-512: The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority allocated $ 10.6 million for the creation of public housing. Between 1954 and 1956, Germantown experienced an influx of lower-income African Americans, resulting in a decline in property values and triggering a " white flight " of the majority of white residents to the suburbs. The demographic shift caused a slow but steady decline in central Germantown's upscale shopping district, with

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902-410: The borough was absorbed into the city of Philadelphia in 1854. Today, the western part of the former borough is the neighborhood known simply as 'Germantown' (though is sometimes called 'West Germantown') and the eastern part is the neighborhood of 'East Germantown'. While the boundary between the two neighborhoods is not well-defined and has varied over time, these days 'Germantown' usually refers to

943-491: The corporation of Germantowne", to make laws for the government of the settlement, and to hold a court of record. This court went into operation in 1690, and continued its services for sixteen years. In 1688, five years after its founding, Germantown became the birthplace of the anti-slavery movement in America. Pastorius, Gerret Hendericks and the brothers Derick and Abraham op den Graeff gathered at Thones Kunders's house and wrote

984-495: The demographic transition of Germantown into a predominantly black neighborhood was the result of the now illegal practice of blockbusting . "It was a great disgrace. Cheap houses would be sold to a black family, then the realtors would go around and tell the neighbors that the blacks are invading", said Stackhouse. The practice was used to trigger panic selling . Germantown is zoned to the School District of Philadelphia , as

1025-594: The direct vicinity of the settlement was already inhabited by fifty-four German families who had accompanied Johan Printz to the Swedish settlement on the Delaware several years before 1683 and had resettled themselves. Pastorius was the first bailiff. Jacob Telner, Derick Isacks op den Graeff and his brother Abraham Isacks op den Graeff , Reynier Tyson, and Tennis Coender ( Thones Kunders ) were burgesses, besides six committeemen. They had authority to hold "the general court of

1066-403: The first bank of the United States, and the residence of many notable politicians, scholars, artists, and social activists. Today, the area remains rich in historic sites and buildings from the colonial era, some of which are open to the public. Germantown stretches for about two miles along Germantown Avenue northwest from Windrim and Roberts Avenues. Germantown has been consistently bounded on

1107-571: The headmaster's residence for Germantown Academy (now extensively altered and part of Pennsylvania School for the Deaf ). He also traveled to Reading, Pennsylvania , 60 miles (97 km) northwest of the city, to see if it would make a suitable emergency capital. Returning to Germantown, from November 16 to 30, he occupied the Isaac Franks house. His wife Martha , two of her grandchildren, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis , and more of their slaves and staff joined him late in

1148-530: The house. When the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 struck Philadelphia, President Washington remained in the city until September, before making his regular autumn trip home to Mount Vernon . He and a small group of slaves returned in early November, but Philadelphia was under quarantine and they were rerouted to Germantown, then ten miles (16 km) outside the city. He first occupied the Dove House,

1189-468: The largest community school of the arts in the United States, operates one of its six branches in Germantown. Free Library of Philadelphia operates public libraries. The Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Regional Library is located in Germantown. The library was given its current name in 2002, after Joseph E. Coleman, a member of the Philadelphia City Council . The first railroad in Philadelphia

1230-498: The last department store, a J. C. Penney branch, closing in the early 1980s. The current demographics of Germantown reflects this shift. As of the 2010 US Census, Germantown proper is 77% black, 15% white, 3% non-white Hispanic, and 2% Asian, and East Germantown is 92% black, 3% white, 2% non-white Hispanic, and 2% Asian. Eugene Stackhouse, a retired former president of the Germantown Historical Society says that

1271-634: The neighborhood to Center City: the Chestnut Hill West Line with stops at Queen Lane , Chelten Avenue , and Tulpehocken stations; and the Chestnut Hill East Line with stops at Wister , Germantown , and Washington Lane stations. The neighborhood is also served by bus routes 18 , 23 (formerly a trolley line), 26 , 53 (formerly a trolley line), 65 , H and XH , J , and K . Germantown has numerous parks and recreation areas. These include: Other sites listed separately on

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1312-575: The oldest Quaker school in the world, is located in nearby East Falls . La Salle University is in both Germantown and historic Belfield . Its west campus is centered on the old Germantown Hospital buildings and property, which it purchased in 2007. Other universities and colleges close to Germantown include Drexel University College of Medicine 's Queen Lane Medical Campus, Arcadia University , Chestnut Hill College , The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia , Philadelphia University , and Saint Joseph's University . Settlement Music School ,

1353-424: The part of the former borough that lies west of Germantown Avenue, up through West Johnson Street, and 'East Germantown' to the part that lies east of Germantown Avenue, up through East Upsal Street. The neighborhood of Mount Airy lies to the northwest, Ogontz and West Oak Lane to the northeast, Logan to the east, Nicetown–Tioga to the south, and East Falls to the southwest. The majority of Germantown

1394-767: The process of banning slavery in the Society of Friends (1776) and Pennsylvania (1780). In 1723, Germantown became the site of the first congregation of Schwarzenau Brethren in the New World. The Church of the Brethren - among other churches - have their roots in the Schwarzenau Brethren. When Philadelphia was occupied by the British during the American Revolutionary War , British units were housed in Germantown. In

1435-535: The south to Philadelphia occurred. While the majority of middle-class African American newcomers first settled in North Philadelphia, the housing shortages in this area that followed the end of World War II caused later arrivals to move instead to the Northwest. This led to a wave of new housing construction. To meet the housing needs of the growing numbers of African American families moving into southern Germantown,

1476-468: The southwest by Wissahickon Avenue, on the southeast by Roberts Avenue, and on the east by Wister Street and Stenton Avenue, but its northwest border has expanded and contracted over the years. When first incorporated as a borough in 1689, Germantown was separated from the rural Germantown Township by Washington Lane; later, the border was expanded to Carpenter and East Gorgas Lanes; it was then rolled back to Washington Lane in 1846, and remained there until

1517-531: The start of the 20th century caused major shifts in Germantown's ethnic makeup as well. When the first wave of the Great Migration brought more than 140,000 African Americans to the city from the South, long-established Philadelphians started to move to the outskirts. During this time, many German, Scots-Irish, and Irish families moved to Germantown. During the 1940s, a second mass migration of African Americans from

1558-579: The stay. The following September and October, Washington and his family returned to the Franks house for vacation, although he left early to deal with the Whiskey Rebellion in Western Pennsylvania. He met there four times with his cabinet: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson , Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton , Attorney General Edmund Randolph , and Secretary of War Henry Knox . The President posed for painter Gilbert Stuart , who kept

1599-411: Was he who rented it to President Washington. Later, the house was sold to Elliston and John Perot, and in 1834 to Elliston's son-in-law, Samuel B. Morris. The Morris family lived in the house for over a hundred years, before its 1948 donation to the National Park Service. On October 4, 1777, it was a scene of fighting in the Battle of Germantown , after which British General Sir William Howe occupied

1640-584: Was mortally wounded in the battle. Although a surgeon tried to treat him in Melchoir Meng's house situated on what is now a part of Vernon Park , he was carried back to the Bringhurst House, where he died. In 1973, the Bringhurst house was donated to the National Park Service from the Germantown Savings Bank in order to "assure access, light, and air for the historic structure". The Bringhurst property

1681-483: Was the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad , which linked Germantown to a station at 9th and Green Streets in Center City . It opened in 1832, and was initially powered by horses. The inventor Matthias W. Baldwin built his first commissioned steam locomotive for the new railroad. Nicknamed Old Ironsides , it eventually reached a peak speed of 28 mph. Today two SEPTA Regional Rail lines connect

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