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. 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.[5] The organization maintains offices within RittenhouseTown and offers historic tours, paper making workshops and special events.
Descriptionedit
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.[6]
^"PHMC Historical Markers". Historical Marker Database. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
^"NRHP Focus". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
^ ab. National Historic Landmarks Program. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
^Noble, Timothy M (November 18, 1991). "Rittenhousetown Historic District" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. National Park Service.
^"NHL nomination for RittenhouseTown Historic District". National Park Service. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
Further readingedit
Green, James. The Rittenhouse Mill and the Beginnings of Papermaking in America. Philadelphia: Library Company of Philadelphia and Friends of Historic RittenhouseTown, 1990.
External linksedit
Photos, exterior and interior, from 1989 and 1990 (NPS) 32 KB
Historic RittenhouseTown website
First Paper Mill in British North America
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation, filed under 207A Lincoln Drive, Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA:
HABS No. PA-16, "Claus Rittenhouse House", 21 photos, 12 measured drawings, 3 data pages, 2 photo caption pages, supplemental material
historic, rittenhousetown, sometimes, referred, rittenhouse, historic, district, encompasses, remains, early, industrial, community, which, site, first, paper, mill, british, north, america, mill, built, 1690, william, rittenhouse, nicholas, north, bank, paper. 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 Monoshone Creek near and now within 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 3 4 Historic RittenhouseTownU S National Register of Historic PlacesU S National Historic Landmark DistrictPhiladelphia Register of Historic PlacesPennsylvania state historical markerRittenhouse homesteadLocation206 210 Lincoln Drive Philadelphia PennsylvaniaCoordinates40 01 43 N 75 11 28 W 40 02860 N 75 19112 W 40 02860 75 19112Area84 acres 34 ha Built1690 1732Architectural styleGeorgian FederalNRHP reference No 92001878Significant datesAdded to NRHPApril 27 1992 2 Designated NHLDApril 27 1992 3 Designated PHMCApril 8 1991 1 Contents 1 History 2 Description 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksHistory editFlax 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 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 5 The organization maintains offices within RittenhouseTown and offers historic tours paper making workshops and special events Description editRittenhouseTown 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 6 nbsp Outbuilding 207A Lincoln Drive Fairmount ParkSee also edit nbsp Philadelphia portal nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to RittenhouseTown Awbury Historic District Chestnut Hill Historic District Colonial Germantown Historic District Tulpehocken Station Historic District List of National Historic Landmarks in Philadelphia National Register of Historic Places listings in Northwest PhiladelphiaReferences edit PHMC Historical Markers Historical Marker Database Pennsylvania Historical amp Museum Commission Archived from the original on December 7 2013 Retrieved December 10 2013 NRHP Focus National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Archived from the original on June 17 2009 Retrieved June 27 2009 a b Rittenhousetown Historic District National Historic Landmarks Program National Park Service Archived from the original on June 6 2011 Retrieved February 17 2008 Noble Timothy M November 18 1991 Rittenhousetown Historic District PDF National Register of Historic Places Registration Form National Park Service Historic RittenhouseTown NHL nomination for RittenhouseTown Historic District National Park Service Retrieved March 26 2017 Further reading editGreen James The Rittenhouse Mill and the Beginnings of Papermaking in America Philadelphia Library Company of Philadelphia and Friends of Historic RittenhouseTown 1990 External links editPhotos exterior and interior from 1989 and 1990 NPS 32 KB Historic RittenhouseTown website First Paper Mill in British North America Historic American Buildings Survey HABS documentation filed under 207A Lincoln Drive Fairmont Park Philadelphia Philadelphia County PA HABS No PA 16 Claus Rittenhouse House 21 photos 12 measured drawings 3 data pages 2 photo caption pages supplemental material HABS No PA 16 A Claus Rittenhouse Home Outbuilding 6 photos 2 measured drawings 1 data page 1 photo caption page Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Historic RittenhouseTown amp oldid 1175747303, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
