The Monastery (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Monastery, The
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places


Location	Fairmount Park, Kitchen's Lane at Wissahickon Creek, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°2′10″N 75°12′13″W / 40.03611°N 75.20361°W / 40.03611; -75.20361Coordinates: 40°2′10″N 75°12′13″W / 40.03611°N 75.20361°W / 40.03611; -75.20361
Area	less than one acre
Built	1747
NRHP Reference #	72001164^[1]
Added to NRHP	March 16, 1972

The Monastery is a historic stone house in Philadelphia, located on the Wissahickon Creek at Kitchens Lane.

It was built in 1747 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The house's connection to monastic life is uncertain or simply legendary, but German mystic and hermit Johannes Kelpius lived nearby in the Wissahickon Valley from 1694 until his death in 1708, and connections with monks from Ephrata have been reported.^[2] According to the History of Philadelphia (1884):

...there is a recital in the deed that Joseph [Gorgas] had since (1747) erected at his own cost and charges "a three-story stone house or messuage on a certain piece or spot of land." Joseph Gorgas was a member of the society of Seventh Day Baptists. It is conjectured that he erected this house for purposes of seclusion and meditation. It is said, "Hither were gathered congenial spirits like himself, and there they held sweet communion." A small strip of land below the county bridge is pointed out as the place where the monks were accustomed to administer the rite of baptism in the Wissahickon, and on the early township map the spot is designated as the Baptisterion. Joseph Gorgas sold the lot with the house, now called the "Monastery," to Edward Milner in 1761, and it has since gone through various hands. The house in which the unknown author of the "Chronicon" lived for seventeen months could not have been the stone mansion to which tradition affixes the title. There is no proof that Gorgas allowed his house to be used for monastic purposes, but novelists have made much of the legends and tales of hermits and monks that cluster thickly about the vicinity.^[2]

Front view as drawn by HABS
Side view as drawn by HABS
First floor plan by HABS
Stable on the grounds

References

Media related to The Monastery (Philadelphia) at Wikimedia Commons

↑ Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
1 2 Scharf, John Thomas; Thompson Westcott (1884). History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Volume 2. L. H. Everts & co. p. 1315

External links

"The Monastery on the Wissahickon, 1874" at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1898 photograph at the Free Library of Philadelphia

City of Philadelphia

Nickname(s): City of Brotherly Love

Topics	History Timeline Architecture Bibliography Companies Culture Cuisine Demographics Economy Education Media Music Notable people Sites of interest Historic Landmarks Skyscrapers Transit

Government	City Hall Mayors City Council Sister cities Fire department Free Library of Philadelphia Police Department Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia Mint School district

Museums	Academy of Natural Sciences Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum American Swedish Historical Museum Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia Barnes Foundation Civil War Museum Chemical Heritage Foundation Elfreth's Alley Fairmount Water Works Franklin Institute Historical Society of Frankford Historical Society of Pennsylvania Insectarium ICA GAR La Salle University Art Museum Museum of the American Revolution Mütter Museum National Constitution Center National Liberty Museum National Museum of American Jewish History Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Philadelphia Museum of Art Rodin Museum Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Wagner Free Institute of Science Woodmere Art Museum

Neighborhoods	Center City South Philadelphia Southwest Philadelphia West Philadelphia North Philadelphia Lower North Upper North Northwest Northeast

Sports	Phillies Eagles 76ers Flyers Union Soul

Squares	Centre Square Northeast Square Northwest Square Southwest Square Southeast Square

Wards	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66

Related Articles	Delaware Valley Independence Hall Liberty Bell Philadelphia English

Portal Category Commons

US National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania

Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types

Lists by county	Adams Allegheny Armstrong Beaver Bedford Berks Blair Bradford Bucks Butler Cambria Cameron Carbon Centre Chester East North South Clarion Clearfield Clinton Columbia Crawford Cumberland Dauphin Delaware Elk Erie Fayette Forest Franklin Fulton Greene Huntingdon Indiana Jefferson Juniata Lackawanna Lancaster Lawrence Lebanon Lehigh Luzerne Lycoming McKean Mercer Mifflin Monroe Montgomery Montour Northampton Northumberland Perry Philadelphia Pike Potter Schuylkill Snyder Somerset Sullivan Susquehanna Tioga Union Venango Warren Washington Wayne Westmoreland Wyoming York

Lists by city	Pittsburgh Lancaster Philadelphia Center City North Northeast Northwest South Southwest West

Other lists	European archaeological sites Native American archaeological sites Bridges (covered) National Historic Landmarks (Philadelphia)

Category NRHP portal

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, February 24, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.