1982 National Register of Historic Places Inventory for Colonial Germantown Historic District:
"(NWC Rittenhouse Street) John Rittenhouse houses, c. 1828, first floor alterations nineteenth and twentieth centuries, two and one-half stories, stucco with wood trim, Federal style. --- Contributing."

Background:
In the first half of the eighteenth century, before John Rittenhouse owned these houses, a shoe manufacturer and a butcher conducted business on this site. Then John and his brother Samuel Rittenhouse conducted a well-known country store on the premises. By 1903, the corner had been transformed into a "business center" with a man named Hobson selling provisions such as flour and potatoes in the rear of the premises. This was one of the first buildings in Germantown to install gas lighting.

Additional Sources:

• GHS: Jellett, Edwin C. "Germantown Historical Miscellany:"
  • p. 233: "Old Poor House Lane" (October 8, 1898 news article).
  • p. 238: panoramic view of Germantown Avenue south of Haines (1906 post card).

• GHS: Keyser, Naaman. Manuscript Notes for v. 2 (north of Chelten), History of Old Germantown, p. 35 (unpublished typewritten text).

• GHS: Photo Scrapbook 6 "Germantowne 100 Years Ago" (1955), compiled and presented by Blanche Day: no. 62 (1955 photograph of Rittenhouse houses as Town Hall Barber shop).

• HSP: Perkins Collection, vol. 62, p. 60: newsclipping dated November 13, 1903.