January 11, 1999
S.R. 0041 Transportation Improvement Project
On-line Alternative
Potential Historic Structures in New Garden
Township
Submitted by:
New Garden Township Historic Commission
The New Garden Township Historic Commission is charged with
assisting in the identification and evaluation of historic
buildings along possible routes involved in the S.R. 0041
Transportation Improvement Project. This report covers structures
along the "on-line alternative", that is, all
structures within ±500 feet of the
present path of Rt. 41 through New Garden Township that would be
affected if Rt. 41 were simply widened along its current route.
This report is an attempt to identify all fifty year old or
greater structures in the study area. By law, fifty-year-old
structures are not automatically considered historically
significant, but must be evaluated. This evaluation will be done
by KCI. The New Garden Historic Commission expects to be
consulted in this evaluation process.
The maps are based on a series of USGS
topographic maps of New Garden Township based on aerial
photographs taken in 1950. All structures present shown on these
maps are therefore at least 50 years old. A field survey was
undertaken over the last few months to determine which of these
structures remain standing today. Buildings no longer standing
are marked with a gray circle with an X through it. An attempt
was made determine the approximate vintage of remaining buildings
using historic maps from 1860, 1873, and 1883. Buildings
appearing on these earlier maps are marked with a colored circle.
No other effort was undertaken to determine the age of a
structure. It is possible that some buildings marked as
"old" are actually newer buildings on the same site as
a previous building.
There are several structures in this survey that the New
Garden Twp. Historic Commission believes to have special historic
significance. While it is understood that the Pa. Museum &
Historic Commission is the final arbiter of historic
significance, the Historic Commission wishes to list these
buildings here to ensure that they are properly researched.
Omission from the following list does not mean that the Historic
Commission would consider a structure to be insignificant.
Structures in Western Portion of Township
(click on any yellow circle to see structure photograph and
description)
This is a stucco-covered frame house built by James Hoopes
shortly after he purchased the property in 1869. In 1887, Elwood
Michener wrote "...James Hoopes built the mansion near the
turnpike."
The old barn is still standing.
On the Breou's map of 1883, this frame house and barn are
identified as belonging to Eliza Mitchell. The buildings are
north of Rt. 41, west of the Township Building.
This Orthodox Quaker Meeting House, built of brick in 1830-31,
was remodeled into a dwelling in the late 1950's.
There is a cemetery adjoining the Meeting House.
Structures in Eastern Portion of Township
(click on any yellow circle to see structure photograph and
description)
This brick residence was originally built for the Central
Grammar School, sometimes called the New Garden School. Built in
1900, on land purchased from Edward Dillon, initially the school
included two years of high school. However, the school lasted for
only ten years; it was closed and sold to Benjamin Walton who
converted it into a dwelling, ca. 1912-14.
The Lyceum House is a frame building 30' by 40' erected in the
1840's on land purchased from Enoch Lewis. Until 1884, it was the
only place within a wide radius where public gatherings could be
held for the discussion of the topics of the day. It was the
scene of spirited debates, lectures, educational gatherings and
social functions. In 1884, it was conveyed to the New Garden
Township to use for Township meetings and as a polling place. In
1966, the building was purchased by the adjacent property owner
(288).
This stucco covered brick house was built about 1762, by Isaac
Jackson, the clockmaker. In 1808, he willed it to his daughter
Alice and her husband, Enoch Lewis. During the Lewises' tenure,
the house was enlarged to accommodate a boys' "mathematics
school," and was a safe house on the Underground Railroad.
Today it is a group home for mentally handicapped women.
Sunny Dell School, now a dwelling, was built in 1862 on one
acre of land near Sunny Dell Road and the Gap Newport Pike. The
average daily attendance in 1886 was 24 students. The Kennett
Consolidated School District was formed in 1930, and resulted in
the closing of all the one-room schoolhouses in the District,
including Sunny Dell.
George W. Taylor purchased this farm in 1867, and subsequently
built the stone house and barn. He spent his life promoting the
Free Produce Movement (manufacturing and marketing goods made by
non-slave labor). Today the house is used for offices.
Chestnut Run School, a stone structure built for a
"paupers' school," opened in 1810, with five students.
Built on land purchased from Jonathon and Catherine Moore in
1808, the school was designed for children between the ages of 5
and 12, whose parents could not provide them with an education.
Today, restored as a storage building, the schoolhouse is on the
same property as a brick house owned as late as 1883 by Edward
Taylor.
The Daniel Sheehan house served as a home, country store,
apothecary, and post office; the post office was established on
December 8, 1868, when the area became known officially as
Kaolin. For many years, the store/post office was a gathering
place in the community. It closed as an economy measure in 1925,
during the Hoover Administration. When Daniel Sheehan moved
across the road, the store was converted into a two-family house,
as it remains today.
