5928 Germantown Avenue
Old Town Hall

Left: HSP: Perkins Collection, vol. 61D, p. 42, "Bird's-Eye View of Central Germantown in the Early Sixties" (oval photograph shows Cuyler Hospital and the stand pipe for the Germantown Water Works as well as side of old Town Hall with original steeple)
Center: HSP: Perkins Collection, vol. 61D, p. 40 "Town Hall, Germantown" (photograph of facade of old Town Hall with second steeple built to accommodate the old State House clock)
Right: HSP: v51:56 "Germantown Hall" [in state of decay] (photograph from Dept of Public Works Neg #20169).

Background:
Constructed 1854, Napolean LeBrun architect. In 1862 additional frame buildings were constructed at rear for the Cuyler Civil War Hospital which were dismantled at the end of the war. In 1876 the old steeple was removed and a new one erected in order to accommodate the old clock (made by Isiah Lukens) and bell that had formerly hung in the State House.

Additional Sources:

• GHS: Handsome Homes of Germantown, Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy & Pelham (Germantown: Independent-Gazette, 1899), p. 11: "Town Hall, Germantown" (photograph).
• GHS: Jellett, Edwin C. "Germantown Historical Miscellany," ff. p. 251: Old Town Hall (text and images).
• GHS: Johnson, George Clarence, compiler. Pictorial Germantown Road & the Vicinity & Some of its Inhabitants, vol. 2, pp. 93-94: Old Town Hall and Cuyler Hospital (images).
• GHS: (L1-11) Keyser, N.H (died 1922). Germantown Scrapbook, pp. 169-171 (newsclippings on Old Town Hall, one dated 1901).
• GHS: Keyser, Naaman (died 1922). Manuscript Notes for v. 2 (north of Chelten), History of Old Germantown, p. 36: Old Town Hall (unpublished typewritten text).
• HSP: Franklin Fire Insurance Policy O 21754 for the City of Philadelphia, December 4, 1854 (survey with site plan and window details).
• HSP: Campbell Collection, vol. 33, pp. 132-133: Old Town Hall (postcard and clippings).
• HSP: Perkins Collection, vol. 61D, pp. 39, 40, and 42: Old Town Hall and Cuyler Hospital (manuscript text, newsclippings post card, and photos including the two above).
• HSP: Shoemaker Collection, folio 9: Cuyler Hospital (text and same oval photograph shown above).
• Hotchkins, Rev. S. F. Ancient and Modern Germantown, Mt. Airy, and Chestnut Hill. Philadelphia: P. W. Ziegler and Co., 1889, p. 142 (text).
• LCP: Old Town Hall, ca. 1865 (original sketch by a soldier--possibly John Richards).
• PHC: Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, Germantown Town Hall (text).

   

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