Old Germantown Academy and Headmasters' Houses or The Old Campus is a historic school campus, the original site of

Germantown Academy Germantown Academy, informally known as GA and originally known as the Union School, is the oldest nonsectarian day school in the United States. The school was founded on December 6, 1759, by a group of prominent Germantown citizens in the Gree ...

, located at Schoolhouse Lane and Greene Street in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The academy moved to a new suburban location in 1965, and the site is currently occupied by the

Pennsylvania School for the Deaf The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf is the third-oldest school of its kind in the United States. Its founder, David G. Seixas (1788–1864), was a Philadelphia crockery maker-dealer who became concerned with the plight of impoverished deaf childr ...

. After the founding of Germantown Academy in 1759, the land for the campus was donated by Dr. Charles Bensell, a prominent Germantown landowner and later trustee of Germantown Academy. The first building on campus constructed was the old schoolhouse complete with its iconic Belfry. The building comprises local

Wissahickon schist The Wissahickon Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. It is named for the Wissahickon gorge in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. In Maryland formations, the term "Wissahickon" is no longer used. Rocks in this c ...

and is built in the colonial style. Until the move of 1965, the school would hold the title of having the oldest school still using its original building. The schoolhouse was replicated on the 1965 campus in Fort Washington.William Travis, History of the Germantown academy (Ferguson bros. & co., 1882) https://books.google.com/books?id=qPsBAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s The bell that hung in the belfry was first ordered in 1770 and brought over from England on the tea ship ''Polly''. However, due to the tensions with the British crown in the early 1770s, the ship was unable to land and was brought to

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

until it could be transported to Germantown. Seven years later, during the

Battle of Germantown The Battle of Germantown was a major engagement in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania, between the British Army led by Sir William Howe, and the American Con ...

, Germantown Academy was used as a hospital and camp for the occupying British army. There are recorded stories that the troops used the Belfry (and its weathervane) for target practice before and after the battle. Today, the original weathervane, complete with a British crown (no longer in use) shows bullet damage. During the same occupation, legend tells that the first game of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

played in the United States was played on the academy lawns.

Campus additions

Between its start in 1759 until 1888, the campus changed very little even as the school grew in number and in prominence. At the insistence of alumni, a gymnasium was donated for student use. The building was known as Alumni Hall and was later converted into the school chapel after the building of a new gymnasium in 1950. The building was constructed closest to the corner of Schoolhouse Lane and Greene Street and was built in the

colonial revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

style of architecture. GA Alumni Gymnasium

At the turn of the century, GA had one of the most proactive and attentive alumni bodies in its history. These men proposed an addition to the 1760 schoolhouse from the rear. The addition was known as Sauer Hall (named after Christopher Sauer, one of the founders of the academy and the publisher of the first German bible in America). In 1920, the academy purchased the adjoining property on Schoolhouse Lane (looking toward Wayne Avenue) known as the Alburger property, and later as the Dove House, and Kershaw Hall. The house had been constructed in the 1760s along with the schoolhouse as a house for one of the early masters of the academy. Over time, it was used by different families and changed from its colonial origins into a building with distinct Victorian architectural traits. The house hosted

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

in 1793 briefly during his stay in Germantown during the Yellow Fever epidemic in

while it was the home of GA German Master, Rev. Frederick Herman. There Washington and some of his former generals were treated to meals and was allegedly used the house for cabinet meetings during the epidemic.

The house was bought by the academy in 1920 and was restored to its original colonial style in 1937. Originally two stories, a third story was built during its occupation by families. In the renovation, the third story was removed. Also in 1937, the house received an addition (in the same colonial style) which was used for kindergarten classrooms. The next addition to campus came in 1932 after the death of young alumnus, Edward Wynne Moore,'1903. In honor of his love for his school and the generosity of his parents, Moore Hall was constructed and served as a space for the intermediate grades. The building was constructed in the rear of the Dove House. The last building to be built before the move to Fort Washington was the gymnasium built to the right of the Dove House (looking toward Wayne Avenue). The gym was built in 1950–51 in honor of the recent GA veterans of the World Wars.

Athletic spaces

In the rear of the nine acre property was an athletic field that served as a football and baseball field and a track, depending on the season. Due to the lack of space, many teams including the soccer and tennis teams had to play at the nearby

Germantown Cricket Club The Germantown Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was one of the four principal cricket clubs in the city and was one of the clubs contributing members to the Philadelphian cricket ...

. This developed a relationship between the club and the school that would last until the move. As there was no pool on the campus, the swim team practiced at the Germantown YMCA or in the nearby suburbs. The site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1972.

References

*''A History of the Germantown Academy, 1759-1877'', Lippincott, Burbank, 1910 *''A History of the Germantown Academy, Vol. 2, 1877-1936'', Lippincott, 1935

Campus additions

Athletic spaces

References

See also