Kennett Square Village 1750-1840s Preview

1

Kennett Heritage Center - 120 N. Union Street - Starting point of tour

This home, built for Dr. Isaac D. Johnson in 1901, houses the Kennett Heritage Center and the Kennett Underground Railroad Center. Dr. Isaac D. Johnson (1827 – 1911) was a mechanic, inventor, author & physician. In 1858, Johnson, with assistance from Quaker abolitionist, Ester Hayes, rendered aid to an injured freedom seeker at the home of black abolitionist, James H. Walker. The patient was spirited out of Kennett by “conductors” on the Underground Railroad, and eventually settled in Boston. As a freeman he chose to use the name Johnson Hayes Walker. Liberal Quakers actively supported abolition during the Antebellum period. Abolitionists, both Black and white, played important roles in Kennett and the surrounding area in securing freedom for self-emancipated slaves.

2

State & Union Streets - northwest corner

Before European settlers came to this region it was populated by the Lenape Indians. The name Kennett originates with Francis Smith who settled in Kennett Township in 1686. He was a native of Devizes in Wiltshire County, England. His tract, present-day Route 925 at Brandywine Creek, reminded him of the Kennet River area of Devizes. (in 1790 Pennsbury Township was formed from this far eastern section of Kennett Township) In the early18th century, Kennett was a small crossroads village where the road from Chester to Nottingham (State Street) intersected the road which led from Lancaster to Wilmington (Union Street). In 1764, Joseph Musgrave purchased 87.5 acres on the north side of present-day State Street. The next year he petitioned the Court for a license to operate a “public house of Entertainment” in Kennett Square. This was the first time the village was referred to as Kennett Square. In his petition, he refers to “a commodious stone house…with stabling, pasturage and meadow for carrying on business in a reputable way.” The license was granted in 1765, and the Public House was known as The Sign of King George III; later, the Unicorn Inn. On September 10, 1777, the village was overtaken by 8,000 Crown Forces led by Generals Howe and Cornwallis who made the Unicorn their headquarters. The British soldiers bivouacked along the 1720 road (route 82) overnight. Generals Howe, Cornwallis, and Knyphausen finalized marching plans to battle General Washington and the Continental Army at Brandywine Creek the next day. (see historic marker at the Kennett Heritage Center, site 1)The old Unicorn burned in 1875. The present building, the Unicorn Block, was built in 1877 by Theophilus Sickels.

3

100 E. State Street - The Swayne Block

This was the site of a 2-story stone house built by John Taylor in the early 1800s. John was the grandfather of Kennett’s most notable citizen, Bayard Taylor. Taylor was born here in 1825 and was a 19th-century author, diplomat, poet, and journalist. He published over forty books including a local favorite, The Story of Kennett. A fire of mysterious origin destroyed the stone house in August 1878. After the fire Evan T. Swayne built the building you now see. A bronze marker was placed in 1925 to commemorate Taylor’s birthplace (look in doorway of Green Eyed Lady.) Some of the houses on the north side of East and West State Streets were built in the 1830s and marked the beginning of development of the village.

4

114 E. State Street - Musgrave/Shippen House 1767, Kennett Hotel and J.J. Newberry’s department store.

Joseph Musgrave built a 2 1/2 story brick house on the left-hand side (LaVerona) of this site in 1767. In 1804, John Taylor (grandfather of Bayard Taylor) bought the building which housed a store, post office, and was a stagecoach stop. Taylor built another bay onto the original section around 1810.  Brig. General Robert Bloomfield used the building briefly as his men marched from Philadelphia to Wilmington during the War of 1812.   Improvements and additions, including the third and fourth floors, and iron porches, were made between 1831 and 1897.  In the 1930's, owners of buildings with iron porches were ordered to remove the porches, due to safety concerns.  The hotel underwent much needed improvements in 1950-1951. In August 1952, an electrical fire gutted it and for 2 years its’ fate was in limbo. Demolition couldn’t be avoided and a J.J. Newberry Company department store, was built. It opened in 1955 and served Kennett residents well for 40 years. In the 1930's, owners of buildings with iron porches were ordered to remove them, due to safety concerns.  The hotel underwent much needed improvements in 1950-1951. In August 1952, an electrical fire gutted it and for 2 years its’ fate was in limbo. Demolition couldn’t be avoided and a department store, J.J. Newberry Company, opened in 1955 and served Kennett residents well for 40 years. The building you see now is the old department store with a coat of paint hiding the Mid-Century classic yellow bricks.The first photo is of a tavern in Christiana, Delaware where George Washington stayed during his pursuit of the British Army leading up to the Battle of Brandywine. Joseph Musgrave's 2 1/2 story brick "mansion" was most likely of similar design.The second photo is how the Kennett Hotel looked on the day it burned.*Col. Shippen was an uncle of Margaret Shippen, aka Peggy Shippen wife of Benedict Arnold.  

5

201 E. State Street - John & Susan Love’s house (presently Lettie’s Tavern)

Originally built as two houses, the west side is a 2-bay Penn Plan built in 1832 and the east side is a 4-bay Federal style built the following year. The two houses were deeded separately as residences until 1910. In 1926 the DiPaolo family turned the property commercial by opening a restaurant originally known as the Green Gate Tearoom (during Prohibition) and later known as the Green Gate Tavern. In 1976 the Warner family did extensive renovations and operated the Kennett Square Inn until 2021.

6

216 E. State Street – State Street Meeting 1813; (presently Kennett Library, 1962-2022)

In 1813, Quaker villagers petitioned Old Kennett Meeting for a meeting house in Kennett Square. A stone building known as State Street Meeting, was erected on a 3-acre parcel. The stone building was razed in 1873 so that a larger brick building could be built. That building lasted until the late 1950s when the meetinghouse was sold to the library. Part of the adjoining burial ground was sold to the US government for a new post office. The remaining part of the burial ground was sold in 2001 to the Borough. All remains were moved to Old Kennett Meeting burial ground.

7

223-227 E. State Street- Samuel Martin’s first Boarding school ca. 1833 (Michoacana Ice Cream, far right);

Samuel Martin a Quaker, like most of the townfolk in his time, was a teacher and builder. He began his teaching career in 1824 and built this boarding school ca. 1833. In 1843 he built Kennett Square Female Academy - now Kennett Friends Home at 147 W. State Street. In 1875 he built Martin's Academy at 224 E. State Street. The school was closed in 1910 but was used as a hospital during the influenza epidemic of 1918.

8

305-323 E. State built in the 1840s

Samuel Martin built some of the houses here in the late 1830s and 1840s. Most of them are built in a 2-bay Penn Plan configuration.

9

E. State & Willow Streets – Site of the S&M Pennock Agricultural Implements Foundry 1845 ( E&H appliances)

In 1844, brothers Samuel, Morton and Jesse Pennock bought several tracts of land to build their agricultural implements foundry and factory. Their father Moses Pennock, known as the genius farmer, held several patents for improvements to farm equipment. The sons based their business on his patents and some of their own. This business flourished and contributed to the growth of Kennett’s population.

10

N. Willow & E. Linden Streets Pennock Foundry Worker housing; Two sets of row houses: one on each side of E. Linden Street.

These two sets of row houses were built ca. 1846 by Gideon Swayne for S & M Pennock. Members of the Pennock family were given or bought the houses and leased them to employees of the Pennock foundry.

11

200 - 206 E. Linden St. site of Brosius Pottery 1847-1885

Edwin Brosius moved from his parent's farm in Upper Oxford Township to Kennett Square in 1845. The Brosius family farm was a known station on the Underground Railroad. Edwin learned the potter's trade from his father, Mahlon Brosius, who typified the Chester County trilogy of Quaker, potter, and abolitionist. Edwin bought several parcels on E. Linden Street next to the Pure Spring Water Company’s pit reservoir - water being necessary for making pottery. His pottery turned out earthenware, yellow ware and stoneware dishes, crocks, jugs and drain tile. It was the second largest and one of the most successful potteries in the county. This was another business that contributed to Kennett’s growth.The first photo shows the houses that were built in the pottery site after Edwin Brosius died in 1885. The second photo is of a pottery in New London established ca. 1840. Brosius' pottery probably started out this small. According to an inventory taken in 1885, it had expanded to a three-story, multi-room building with sheds and stables.

12

Parking Garage- site of Pure Spring Water Company 1847

In 1847, The Pure Spring Water Company, a private company, was organized to satisfy the demand for water created by the housing boom of 1840’s. Two pit reservoirs were dug on the south side of East Linden Street where the parking garage now stands. Water was pumped from the east branch of the Red Clay Creek and distributed to homes by terra cotta pipes.  The Borough of Kennett Square bought stock in the water company in 1856 and purchased the entire company in July 1867, for $3,000. The second photo shows one of the water supply tanks (far left in photo; installed 1954) that stood behind the Municpal Building at E.Linden and Broad Streets. The Municipal Building was demolished in 2019 to make way for the parking garage expansion shown in first photo.

13

200-216 N. Union Street Village- built 1839-1846

Hiram Hall divided a 12-acre parcel into building lots along the west side of “the road to Unionville.” Built in the 2 or 3 bay Penn Plan, exterior features of this period are double chimneys, brick dentil molding, attic dormers with an arched top and a fanlight over the front door. All of the houses in this row have been modernized with additions built off the rear of the buildings and some of the original architectural details have been changed as well.