Description:
Engle House. 1758. Double House of stone with water shed which breaks the first and second story in front, curved into a slight canopy over the front door. Moved back from Germantown Avenue for construction of the Engle Building, 1905. Demolished, 1955.

Background:
During the colonial period, the Engles were among the first tanners in the country. Until 1895 the ruins of the tannery stood at the rear of the property along Honey Run, now enclosed in a sewer. During the Revolutionary War, Washington was entertained here, and the woodwork showed the marks of missiles fired during the Battle of Germantown.

Additional Sources:

• GHS: Box 11, envelope 5: "Engle House built by Per. Engle 1758" (photograph of original wash and ink drawing in John Richards' sketchbook, p. 20).

• GHS: Jellett, Edwin C. "Germantown Historical Miscellany," pp. 255-59: Engle House and Tannery (text and images). Page 257 mentions that the tannery buildings, in their later years, were a resort for local politicians and were known as the Bark Hotel. Removed c. 1895.

• GHS: Johnson, George Clarence, compiler. Pictorial Germantown Road & the Vicinity & Some of its Inhabitants, vol. 1, pp. 95-96 (images).

• GHS: Keyser, Naaman. Notes for v. 2 (north of Chelten), History of Old Germantown, p. 40: Engle House (unpublished typewritten text).

• GHS: Photo Box 1:
  • p. 26: "Engle house" (photograph of exterior by Samuel Castner, Jr., 1904).
  • p. 46: Engle house after moving (photograph by Fred Perry Powers, 1903-24).
  • p. 92: ""Engle House at rear above Germantown Municipal Building" (photograph taken in 1930 by a city photographer at the direction of Mayor Mackey).

• GHS: Photo Scrapbook 6 "Germantowne 100 Years Ago" (1955), compiled and presented by Blanche Day: no. 59 (photograph of Engle House no. 5938 moved to rear as Polis Antiques).

• HSP: Campbell Collection, vol. 33, pp. 135-142 Engle House 5938 (newsclippings and images, including the one above).

• HSP: Perkins Collection, vol. 61D, pp. 44-47 Engle House (images-including the F. deB. Richards image found at the LCP, newsclippings, and manuscript text).

• HSP: Richards, John. Old Landmarks in Germantown and Vicinity, 129b. "Next to Town Hall. Mr. Engle 5034 (old numbering) Main St." (sketch of house and out buildings from the rear, showing horse-drawn trolley on Germantown Avenue).

• HSP: Shoemaker Collection, folios 14 and 17: Engle house, old tannery and neighboring houses (two photographs of exterior and main door and manuscript text).

• Hotchkins, Rev. S. F. Ancient and Modern Germantown, Mt. Airy, and Chestnut Hill. Philadelphia: P. W. Ziegler and Co., 1889, p. 142 (text).

• Jellett, Edwin C. Germantown Gardens and Gardeners. Germantown: Horace F. McCann, 1914, p. 78 (text).

• LCP: John G. Bullock Collection, number 50: "Engle House Main St. abv Town Hall - built 1758 by Benj. Engle. Stone in N Gable: BE 1758." (lantern slide dated April 1899).