A daily feature from our surrounding historical societies.
Lansdale Historical Society Facebook The picture above from North Wales has always fascinated me for several reasons. First, my house (or the parcel of land where my house was later built) is off to the left of this picture. Second, the house pictured is still here, in an expanded form, and now divided into two homes. Third, just seeing this corner of S. Main and Church Streets in such an early and primitive form is amazing. (Back then Main was known as Wales Street and Church was Chestnut
Street).
The year is 1868; the men in front are getting ready to build St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. The house and barn belonged to Joseph K. Anders, a farmer whose crops were flowers and fruit. He owned quite a bit of land in this part of town. He was also a minister, instrumental in the beginnings of the Methodist Church in North Wales.
Lansdale Historical Society Facebook
The expansion of the house seems to have happened between the maps produced in 1871 and 1886. A detail from the 1871 map shows the house in its original form, with no greenhouses. The 1886 map shows the house in its expanded form with a greenhouse. When it was added on to and when the barn was demolished is also not established. The house got passed down through the Anders family, and was in their possession until 2017.
Lansdale Historical Society Facebook Lansdale Historical Society was founded in 1971, and its purpose is to preserve the history of the Borough of Lansdale and the greater North Penn area, and to share its collection of material and resources with the greater community, particularly the youth. It has its headquarters in a two-building complex, located on Jenkins Avenue in the center of Lansdale, Montgomery County, PA. The buildings are owned by the Borough of Lansdale.
Volunteer for or donate to the Society here. Follow them on Facebook.
