Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Germantown was a town in Pennsylvania and is today primarily a neighborhood in Phildelphia, about 6 miles northwest from the center of the city. The neighborhood has been fully built up as a part of an urban city, but is rich in historic sites and buildings that have been preserved. Many of these are open to the public. Germantown stretches for about two miles along Germantown Avenue from Windram Avenue northwest to Upsal Street.

History

The town was first settled in 1683 by immigrants from the Rhine Valley. In 1681 William Penn published a broadside in German to recruit settlers for his new colony. The first group to respond arrived in Philadelphia on the Concord in October. Germantown was incorporated in 1691.

When Philadelphia was occupied by the British during the American Revolutionary War, several units were housed in Germantown. During the Battle of Germantown in 1777 the Continental Army attacked this garrison. During the battle a party of citizens fired on the British troops as they marched up the Avenue, and mortally wounded British Brigadier General Agnew.

For a time after the war George Washington rented a house in Germantown to escape the central city. The first bank of the United States was also located here during his administration.

External link

Web pages Describing Historic Germantown