Places | Horsham Preservation and Historical Association

Penrose-Strawbridge Ice Barn

There are ruins of a small bank barn located on Governor Road right at the the entrance to what was Graeme Park and is now on the current Penrose-Strawbridge Farm. The structure, dating to about 1735, is surrounded on three sides by the hillside. The front of the building, facing Governor Road, is open. An earthen ramp leads to what would have been a second floor and is located on the back side opposite the side facing the road. There do not appear to be any windows or doors cut into the stone. This structure was used by the Penroses and Strawbridges as an ice house to store ice likely...

William and Hannah Penrose

Posted in People, Places.

William and Hannah Penrose William Penrose is the second generation of Penroses to own and farm Graeme Park. William Penrose, the third child and second son of Samuel and Sarah Penrose, was 19 when he moved with his parents from Richland Township to Graeme Park in 1801. His older brother, Abel, remained in Richland. His older sister, Gainor, would marry Richard Jarrett (son of Jonathan and Hannah (Mather) Jarrett) of Horsham. He married in 1810 at age 28 to Hannah Jarrett (daughter of William and Ann (Lukens) Jarrett), also of Horsham. William and Hannah moved into a new home – a large three-story...

Horsham Road

Posted in Roads.

Horsham Road was laid out in 1735, from Montgomeryville to Norristown Road, along one of the parallels of Thomas Holme’s map. Holmes ran parallel lines northwestward from the Delaware River at intervals of one and one-half miles; each alternate line established a division line between townships. The intervening lines formed median or base lines within the townships, from which individual grants of land were measured. County Line forms the township border on the north and Welsh Road on the south. Horsham Road runs through the middle. Horsham Road was originally known as the Montgomery Road,...

Welsh Road

Posted in Roads.

Welsh Road forms the southern border of Horsham Township and follows one of the parallels first laid out by Thomas Holme in his 1687 map of Pennsylvania. It is one of the earliest roads in the township. Many of the area’s earliest settlers were Welsh Quakers. A first wave arrived in 1683 and settled in Lower Merion, Radnor and Haverford Townships, followed a few years later by settlement of a second “Welsh Tract” in an area they called Gwynedd (Welsh for “white” or “fair land”), which today encompasses both Upper and Lower Gwynedd. Some Welsh property owners held parcels that overlapped...

Davis Grove Road

Posted in Roads.

Davis Grove Road today is a short road of 1.2 miles from Horsham Road on the western end to Babylon Road on its eastern end. It parallels Horsham Road for about three-quarters of its length. Davis Grove Road was originally built in 1735 as a private road by the Kenderdines known as “Kenderdine’s Lane” to offer access to their mill from Babylon Road. Babylon Road existed at that time but was not dedicated until much later. “The Davis Grove Road from Davis Grove to the intersection of Horsham Road, was laid out in 1745. The original petition and draught were presented to the December 1744...

Keith Valley Road

Posted in Roads.

Keith Valley Road, which currently extends north from Horsham Road to County Line Road, is a central artery in Horsham. It was originally a path connecting Sir William Keith’s Fountain Low (Graeme Park) to the Kenderdine Mill.48 An 1893 map of Horsham shows Keith Valley Road either as a road or a path going from Davis Grove Road across the Kenderdine Mill Stream and across Park Creek near Governor Road and extending to County Line Road. It was extended from Davis Grove Road to Horsham Road sometime in the 1990s. The Kenderdine Mill at what is now Keith Valley Rd and Davis Grove Road was opened...