Germantown Avenue, south side below Tulpehocken
Germantown Water Company Office

HSP: Shoemaker Collection, folio 23: "Mrs. Marion Y. Peterson's Home. S Cor Germantown Road & W. Tulpehocken St." (photograph with text, dated 1890, shows the Germantown Water Works office to the right).

Background:
When John C. Fallon, who married Susan Johnson, opened up Tulpehocken Street and began to sell the old Johnson property off in lots, water was needed for the houses on this street. Fallon had first planned to put a hydraulic dam on Paper Mill Road, but when the water proved to be more abundant than expected, the water company was formed and a dam, engine house and stand-pipe were completed by 1852. The Germantown Water Company continued as a private company until purchased by the city in 1866; the old water works were abandoned in 1872 when a connection was made with Flat Rock Dam Works.

The Germantown Water Company office at Germantown and Tulpehocken was a 24 and 1/2 by 20 foot rough cast, one-story building with a frame addition (used initially as a plumber's shop) and a basement (used as a tool and storage room). It was erected in 1858 or earlier on property owned by the Klinken-Johnson-Fallon family from 1687 until the early 1870's. In 1871 the corner plot on which this office stood was owned by a McHenry.

After the Germantown Water Company office closed about 1872, Mrs. M. Y. Peterson, who lived in the adjoining house, purchased the property and converted the office into a stable. It was demolished in 1894. In the twentieth century a gas station and a Kentucky Fried Chicken have stood on the site.

Additional Sources:

• GHS: Jellett, Edwin C. "Germantown Historical Miscellany":
  • p. 233: "Old Poor House Lane" (news article dated October 28, 1898 ).
  • p. 232: "Old Poor House Lane" (news article written October 8, 1898 ).
• GHS: (L1-11) Keyser, N.H. Germantown Scrapbook, pp. 127-128: "How Germantown Obtained its First General Water Supply" by David R. Morrell (typed copy of 1889 text describing Germantown Water Company).
• GHS: Photo Box 1, p. 122, Collection of Edwin C. Jellett: "Water Works Pond, at west end of Tulpehocken Street. Lower photograph by J. Mitchell Elliot. 1883" (two photographs).
• GHS: Photo Scrapbook 2(2): pp. 109-112 (typewritten notes with the engraving entitled "Raising the Stand Pipe for the Germantown Water Works. Birkinbine Troller, Engineers").
• GHS: Photo Scrapbook 5, p. 17: "Raising the Stand Pipe for the Germantown Water Works. Birkinbine Troller, Engineers" (same engraving as found above in Photo Scrapbook 2(2), p. 111 at the GHS).
• HSP: Franklin Fire Insurance Policy O 275615 for Nov. 30, 1858 (survey with floor plan).
• HSP: Perkins Collection: vol. 62, p. 55: "A Pen Picture of Old Poor House Lane Fifty Years Ago" (news article dated November 20, 1903).
• HSP: Shoemaker Collection, folio 19: "Germantown Water Company's Office. S Cor Germantown Road & W Tulpohocken St." (text with photograph, dated 1890).

   

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