Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

On the Waters of the Wissahickon: A History of Erdenheim Farm
On the Waters of the Wissahickon: A History of Erdenheim Farm
On the Waters of the Wissahickon: A History of Erdenheim Farm
Ebook342 pages4 hours

On the Waters of the Wissahickon: A History of Erdenheim Farm

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

In this comprehensive history of Erdenheim Farm, On the Waters of the Wissahickon separates the facts from the multitude of fictions, revealing the complex and intriguing history behind this important agricultural center along the Wissahickon Creek in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Featuring more than one hundred historical and contemporary illustrations and maps, Eric Plaag's engaging and thorough history of the property chronicles its storied past as well as the inherent value in preserving its future.

One of the last intact agricultural parcels in Whitemarsh and Springfield Townships, Erdenheim Farm was at the center of the thoroughbred horseracing world from the 1860s until the late twentieth century. Its illustrious owners have included Aristides Welch, Norman W. Kittson, Robert N. Carson, George D. Widener, Jr., and Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr., through whom Erdenheim accumulated a rich and fascinating historical pedigree and worldwide attention over the past two centuries. The property is also the subject of extensive lore, including the longstanding rumor that Sirhan Sirhan worked at the farm shortly before his assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, as well as legends that the farm's guests may have included the Marquis de Lafayette and as many as eight U.S. presidents.

Once the home of the Lenni Lenape tribe, who in turn sold the property to William Penn during the seventeenth century, the land that would eventually become Erdenheim Farm passed to German immigrant Johann Georg Hocker and several neighboring farmers by 1763. While the farm's name is often attributed to Hocker (Erdenheim loosely translating as "earthly home" in German), and Hocker built the farmhouse most closely associated with this name for much of the nineteenth century, the farm's name probably originates with Dr. James A. McCrea. Under McCrea's ownership during the 1850s, Erdenheim began building a reputation as a highly regarded livestock farm. Its owner from the 1860s until the 1880s, Aristides Welch, brought national attention to Erdenheim through his purchase of major horseracing champions such as Flora Temple and Leamington, transforming the farm into a significant breeding and training operation that produced dozens of national racing champions over the next several decades.

Under its next two owners, Norman W. Kittson and Robert N. Carson, Erdenheim's reputation declined even as its boundaries dramatically expanded, but, during the twentieth century, owner George D. Widener, Jr., revived Erdenheim's significance as a world-class thoroughbred operation and livestock showplace. Upon Widener's death, his nephew Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr., became Erdenheim's primary caretaker and began the painstaking process of preserving Erdenheim even as encroaching suburban sprawl threatened its survival. Through a landmark agreement with the Natural Lands Trust, Dixon permanently protected the oldest parts of Erdenheim. Following Dixon's death in 2006, the Whitemarsh Foundation and nearly a dozen individuals and organizations, including Peter and Bonnie McCausland, worked together to complete a massive land-conservation deal to preserve permanently the majority of Erdenheim's approximately 450 acres as one of the last remaining open spaces in Montgomery County and a unique example of the Philadelphia region's agricultural past.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 30, 2015
ISBN9781611175509
On the Waters of the Wissahickon: A History of Erdenheim Farm

Related to On the Waters of the Wissahickon

Related ebooks

United States History For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for On the Waters of the Wissahickon

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    On the Waters of the Wissahickon - Eric Plaag

    ʿNabook_preview_excerpt.html\ɒǑ;qjxz]~Ė||׻x$W `+a;* V 1zsu؇n˃Uh 5wNœƢ94x(b_Nk*둱 5kz1 D8ZFq5ѝmvQƃ1>:pi!bԭ+KrN~JW ^CWXޯm'pƖppM[WxuN6qN*`TSjėC[}B?S e̸z45uWR5=_Kof>Ƌr9A2;pa֠:-Upñmȍ^؁=-[NQ*OAqWoGi+5DĆ'owYl68vs뮳8y×'KUˮiɛP tka?t[ hdjV j QLNW6 D oC$Z"8Jٴ(6Ph)>}UhԨ-5ٶwh"}~t@tL:xۙ^ S k>4z\|J T ~#L4i«9vb# Yϗt19#j(΅BW@-=^M;z'8ĻbHcb}:WZC7j2mn]ZbUp-L;n|~+%g#ghEyIɰkƜL[ɴMy~P?:cy㻁~E$Ѳps0= {Y8_FrP.n07m!2{eM[ɦ5$|=r*UY#$#IF#>(}Lwc|O@  jL3^j-<;|:ÍD~z)PNbRS:H́ksH)Q;WvHge|hݚCim`_ ˁӃDRưȑk~,N蟷'w?N" g1 0vI;"'\^G>Dg)nxibXdeF}V`2 Q%8ꏀ&keY#x q2 %w@`7g]w mLg Bї9c|vz9œvxnSt5sWmlטY!6ŏ 7ū;a =Npέ #䓷| M>XL"է,KDNW19{r9m=O5D a>ܗ6314ÜZRXE(AC ɫ12cUk!Δ-\AA 7(76j0";O!xUOh0dFjsoq-!Ւ. {@zOpuanWu1qS{(obpI@,9PyႁYxV8a5 6-~`b";)4>~v`N>]1J FS]i+2@!q 5OQ閉&Ĝi"~& 8ehܨ&\b D];JV`_IE.k93Sj :ipp~yf$Arcxw@d;Fy8TX"s 2LwǬFg T!0Dl}*,Z/ Q~,»O/$V$Vl v 0EߎcU͵[(XT/,JPЗdc{Ǩ^0}t&:S[pzi񄶬gP h8fLԃfp3w`RRYk?rMn:X@nD Sd- :[8^8ޓDU7Z22kIz|̀Ó3!HC[ c>!2y+gq&N'niG}ѷj/Y=l$-wu2o$W; ) q 79 07/p4ߊ=X<!({l(~&,lˇIV.lĬ^$5rW\8oW]xrC[<,ŵR,=fAyxwX˒^eF)b_.yZBeo<\¬!:b탰bL2 P.!郜I Jضp[U!+*;enX⬡٥MoZd-R$)lp^#Q38-cg!`U%NJV-;yR.0${O.  ]w9~nˇ)`l >i@pjݦO) d Gؖa_Zvc@td3f!w\=)s+wN1,f_ȤE=ODr,c#}jxq8%ƪȈ%aM edunrźq~4ƔVLxnA+*j_st _4@ Zda(gwN NET t/l9TL> ~.FTbpiL`UyT|𩛕&p}&zO@Ci ×y/h uA*24u2Y>~k47Z4beXqr1"~<"Q5I0@${`͠G#~4?EU23;@` (5 fi~{ޤ^w,:ɼ]!1"PVbmIm c\a{_+Pޤ3^K ê\s9L'JLjp:T[8SXl}@G],n},ȊLa*Eϛ{PTDuF~Z1Z@/0kUnmy#J)K=#9h%:`ƘzDi)IZfYojIpwsjQ!x2Ly8d/}LKiQ~˳m˰s}S*:3tUMYSX(#(¸)Qnyޗ5$?{&C sֵ*88<4Q,Oei%MaN&=c e96Dw"֛- y,,&Ď"M@m-:[|v|:KZ'0l-bӝܼk\\]*4?n6R9ܘ,D$gzbB KЍUX0ΰV ec!ZD|ڑ` )d -ܭ!j~G oU5%Zu;"klsAF)4̕<`Wx|Lj%yZ*!GvAO!;+T]Hz][`wL +bTH&FN0~߂T½%a{0̆ k."K]K!u2Usy!dL gаq($e^3y:C2fKVu1uX91 |v]_S(Lڭ7=rg_[pMq#=* s-6J&}}yRj7I89A{%#dd(>6<' z$1!-=$"~i]vטzxVeަ q{,x&E#9lLJ~BJ6f [Cȃc5o]LD8Ul*P[0|4Vr`읹3Sqz6iR,{GV=+f2I8l [)39Ube_"бgrZKƳQ`8bDfL2o :ѣj[jKZ3^rQ0]V!ڏD3*OemMٹhSL(Hxe ʺj1X۬pZPNa<~8*]*r誴{e bR*&T& M[p:ޥTdP4%!% U-Lz֞J.`j3w9Ks\vڃ`m~ĞJ =9=ԗڐ3&|b?X2̳Ju3kbZ X+8on%4S1IIHh).;*zTA 0*[)cAMXYC@>1Rޒh[MJl{V?[ὺ!N8rG|T880.Iy>V d/a ,aX)m{G&ʱ$2o|iubmJx&*z-9K w=<$A?r6IRXjt{jKلѵ[3-N;࿃+c#Q0̂8.)ҵj Zηt|ncܾ(Wk΂8);r*A8񊅕:82'zEn :y8GᘏG]F  /qzçYr(Z0# .rhSBCvPJ֝t_/ceUnUٝaP_צO" n0iѹG%0A,^/!ivƮ.U  bLhiX4mqb/vzW̢NKJ7,`;x]d#ʖ h6ٻ1KMbV("41CR=&G.{7X7eﴠ`=\ȖuhwusI5BeT;50l媖cj/W&5%g .-oȄ)\bXq$C|κ`dBq*O;tC¯[)i.*Ngy*Ȃk`P/a#Q`ϗ87!CԖ ϺUK,s656q7I -/<}-7-QOrIR6Fi93`c&k^r{f\L#gғN/b('B]߃WuJ;e1Tb U&'a?ǘ -1.%ۗBWkDFbc]q휔[CP[vlY 8$#f+gvwN*UhagV5cEv }[z}5ː:}w!a(#~9ХgX*ס⍴TI]O:?v CCZ x`/kd8LgƤWpw(6sdh]Cnon=\TQx v4zUb:n"ZUZwн;Ր@Fz*2#R1'#?l4JY O 7o獈Y{Yf W,Lw(Ep pʏtz͗bY"l2[~ExJc~O&,:sJ^]hn]gټہ!RC:,YoNVu3~-̥$J(均$!^Ng̓vl=ytA(kL9@jX[.faT4ޟWf$ [jFKUЬel ^F\ Cr PJJG`Nr\R= ؤ| ٻr)^:O먳{%!]״?\]/ kQVLݔq};Z;y*2锊(CdjyuOJ^R7p:[wI !bFmIg8~bGœU{ΏH"$z]1|}ɠ-C?<}ǻIJiإJW)1kaҹ|{=M>~`ۿ3BS:<ѩ*0V s[jUTzὊ,G%Ru:ЏĒ amduQRvPBaw$͜{.66Vη|'}=X7t6Wwif_cSݨn&ZF~ 7g!wddt$~{z|?[THЫ4.^M :w׽3?wĞ 2kx>Y+RKΖ'3ݩYS["H6ZާJkNs'(@nU׊FRWvR\lOƟ&`W{ GyԚx4&4R őG3!<>^u r|%-#'TAwV \nTE&" _OO3yՅ1X))_~ Dix_ #]7xYl !]¬}trbn2?k2ө#ך~N#߫V>!>םZގZ)P@/>m5ltcY,J Ԗn7#^!R=ZYjIob/*5ؤ_b%Z_,K0{ɋM(L{3^?2v`g5 1% 53nTƬ|r.EKӯ1Iq:-1g[Q59=]B.r`k—z# 8}"ɹXB+P'l⑦+dDb֒^&{uλ-2_ƠMv` ~X*N$N*9wX-|dx몋d;Y NJdô( ڳaʺo]sK#0' 4jJLSVSW0gbcUשyZ|ơr/Xj;{y35(6U
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1