1 E. Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. County/parish: Montgomery.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places February 18, 1971. NRIS 71000713.
3 contributing buildings.Also known as:
Hovenden House, Barn and Abolition Hall is a group of historic buildings in Plymouth Meeting, Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In the decades prior to the American Civil War, the property served as an important station on the Underground Railroad. Abolition Hall was built to be a meeting place for abolitionists, and later was the studio of artist Thomas Hovenden.
The house is located at the northeast corner of Germantown and Butler Pikes, diagonally opposite the Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse. Northeast of the house is the stone barn, and behind and attached to the barn is the former carriage house, above which was built Abolition Hall. The three buildings are part of a 10.45-acre farm, and are contributing properties in the Plymouth Meeting Historic District.
In 2016, the property was threatened by a proposal to reroute Butler Pike between Hovenden House and its barn. Preservation Pennsylvania added the property to its 2017 Pennsylvania At Risk list. In 2021, however, it was announced that Whitemarsh Township and the Whitemarsh Art Center would jointly buy the property for $3.95 million, preserving it for use by the center.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997836