Beggarstown School

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Beggarstown School
Beggarstown School.jpeg
School in 1972
Beggarstown School is located in Philadelphia
Beggarstown School
Location6669 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°3′5″N 75°11′7″W / 40.05139°N 75.18528°W / 40.05139; -75.18528Coordinates: 40°3′5″N 75°11′7″W / 40.05139°N 75.18528°W / 40.05139; -75.18528
Arealess than one acre
Built1740
NRHP reference No.71000718 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 23, 1971


The Beggarstown School, built c. 1740, is a historic school in Beggarstown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, now part of the Mount Airy neighborhood. It is a rare example of a colonial era school building.[2]

Architecture and history[]

The small building has one-and-a-half stories and measures 28 feet 3 inches (8.61 m) across the front, and 18 feet 3 inches (5.56 m) along the sides. A brick el in the rear was added after a 1915 restoration. The four-bay front is constructed of Wissahickon schist ashlar, and the sides of stuccoed rubble. The school was altered in 1840.[2] A few of the original floorboards remain in the otherwise greatly altered interior.

The school is owned by the adjacent St. Michael's Evangelical Lutheran Church. While most students were part of the Lutheran congregation, some attended simply because it was the closest local school. Its teachers taught basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, unlike the more sophisticated Germantown Academy or Union School which was located about one-and-a-half miles south.[3][4]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It is also a contributing building in the Colonial Germantown Historic District, a National Historic Landmark Historic District.[3]

It is currently home to Alena's Café.

See also[]

Concord School, a nearby school built in 1775

References[]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Beggarstown School, 6669 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA - Supplemental" (PDF). Historic American Buildings Survey. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  3. ^ a b NRHP Nomination Form for Beggarstown School, 1971, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, CRGIS, accessed December 2, 2016.
  4. ^ Grauman Wolf, Stephanie (1980). Urban Village Population, Community and Family Structure in Germantown Pennsylvania, 1683-1800. Princeton University Press. p. 361. ISBN 0691005907. See page 33.

External links[]

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-1675, "Beggarstown School", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page, supplemental material
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