The Slate Roof House

The Slate Roof House

The Slate Roof House was one of two residences occupied by William Penn during his second visit to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1699-1701. The house stood on 2nd Street south of Chestnut from ca. 1687 until its demolition in 1867.

Built for Barbadian Quaker merchant Samuel Carpenter, the house was located near the heart of the colonial city and occupied a small hill overlooking the nearby Delaware River. Built of brick in the Jacobean style, it featured a facade of two projecting wings flanking a recessed central entrance. Notable at the time for its large size, it received its moniker due to the rarity of slate roofs in early colonial Philadelphia. For two years, Penn rented the house for use as a city residence while maintaining his country house north of the city at Pennsbury Manor.

In this house General John Forbes, second in command, and afterwards successor to General Edward Braddock, died, and from it was borne to the grave, with military honors. In after years, it was the temporary abode of John Adams, John Hancock, and many other distinguished members of the First Continental Congress, and also of Baron Johann de Kalb, who fell, fighting for American independence, at the Battle of Camden. The brave General Charles Lee also breathed his last in this house, and was buried in Christ Church Burial Ground.

The house was altered for commercial use during the 19th century and, despite protests from historians, was demolished in 1867. It was replaced by a commercial building that stood until 1976. In 1982, Welcome Park was built on the site and features Penn’s plan of the city laid out in slate tiles as well as a bronze model of the house located at the rear of the park.

Sources

* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pa/philadelphia/watsontoc.htm Watson's Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, 1857]
* [http://www.frommers.com/destinations/philadelphia/0023020034.html Frommer's Philadelphia Walking Tour]
* [http://www.philaathenaeum.org/ The Athenaeum of Philadelphia]

External links

* [http://www.libraries.psu.edu/do/digitalbookshelf/27843260/27843260_part_025.pdf#search=%22%22slate%20roof%20house%22%22 Penn's House]
* [http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_welcome.htm Welcome Park]


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