Editing Ambler, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
===Lenape===
{{Further|Lenape}}
The historical territory of the [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American tribe]] was in the [[Delaware Valley]] in an area spanning  from [[Cape Henlopen]] in [[Delaware]], north to the lower [[Hudson Valley]] in southern New York. The area in the south, including present-day [[Philadelphia]] and nearby Ambler, was the home of [[Unami language|Unami-speaking]] Lenape.<ref name=Lenape>{{cite web|title=Introduction to the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware Indians|url=http://www.penntreatymuseum.org/americans.php|website=Penn Treaty Museum|access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> The Lenape established a peace treaty with [[Quakers|Quaker]] [[William Penn]] in the 1680s.<ref name=Encyclopedia>{{cite web|last1=Newman|first1=Andrew|title=Treaty of Shackamaxon|url=http://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/treaty-of-shackamaxon-2/|website=The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia|publisher=Rutgers University|date=2013|access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref>

===Harmer family===
[[File:Map of the original grant of land from William Penn to William Harmer, now Ambler, Pennsylvania.tif|thumb|The original grant of land from [[William Penn]] to William Harmer]]
William and George Harmer are listed among the [[Quakers]] who immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1682.<ref name=Myers>{{cite book|last1=Myers|first1=Albert Cook|title=Quaker arrivals at Philadelphia, 1682-1750; being a list of certificates of removal received at Philadelphia monthly meeting of Friends,|date=1902|publisher=Ferris & Leach|location=Philadelphia|pages=5–6|url=https://archive.org/stream/quakerarrivalsa00myergoog/#page/n18/mode/2up|access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> In 1716, William and George Harmer purchased a 408-acre tract from William Penn, an area including most of what now is Ambler Borough.<ref name=SpacePlan>{{cite web|title=Ambler Open Space Plan|url=http://www.montcopa.org/DocumentCenter/View/2078|website=Montgomery County, PA|publisher=Ambler Borough|access-date=24 September 2015|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222212340/http://www.montcopa.org/DocumentCenter/View/2078|url-status=dead}}</ref> They are credited as the first landholders to actually settle in the area.<ref name=Bean>{{cite book|last1=Bean|first1=Theodore Weber|title=History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania|date=1884|publisher=Everts & Peck|location=Philadelphia|pages=1092–1093|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofmontgom00bean#page/1092/mode/2up}}</ref>  William Harmer built a [[gristmill]] powered by the [[Wissahickon Creek]], "the first commercial venture in the Ambler area".<ref name=HarmerHouse/> He also built a stone dwelling with casement windows and diamond shaped leaded glass, near what is now the intersection of Butler Pike and Morris Road. After his death in 1731, the house, mill, and property were sold to Morris Morris and his wife Susanna Heath Morris.<ref name=HarmerHouse>{{cite web|title=The History of the Harmer-Morris-Detwiler-Zabriskie House|url=https://www.angelfire.com/pa5/wvhs/zabriskiehouse.html|access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref>

===Wissahickon===
{{Main|Wissahickon, Philadelphia}}
Residents sought permission from [[The Crown]] to build roads in the area. The first road built in Ambler, now known as Mt. Pleasant Avenue, was developed in 1730. It went from Harmer's Mill to North Wales Road, which is now [[Bethlehem Pike]].<ref name=SpacePlan/> [[Butler Pike]] was created in 1739, and went through the town, which was known at that time as the [[Wissahickon, Philadelphia|Village of Wissahickon]], named after [[Wissahickon Creek]].<ref name=Quattrone/>{{rp|7}}

The area at the crossroads of Butler and Bethlehem Pike was roughly the village center. It was first known as [[Gilkison's Corner, Pennsylvania|Gilkey's Corner]], named for an inn which was built around 1778 and managed by Andrew Gilkinson (or Gilkeson). After 1878, the area was known as "Rose Valley".<ref name=Hough/>{{rp|32}}

As of 1790, Jonathan Thomas purchased half an acre of land from Gilkinson and sited a [[tannery]] at the intersection,<ref name=Hough>{{cite book|last1=Hough|first1=Mary Paul Hallowell|title=Early History of Ambler, 1682-1888|date=1936|publisher=Harry Hellar Kelly|location=Ambler, PA|url=http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hough/ambler/ambler.html}}</ref> causing a nearby creek to be nicknamed "Tannery Run".<ref name=SpacePlan/> As of 1810, the tannery was sold by his son, David Thomas, to Joseph Rutter.<ref name=Hough/>  As the "Rose Valley Tannery", it is mentioned as being one of the oldest in the county.<ref name=Wiley/> It later became the property of Alvin Faust and the firm A. D. Faust Sons.<ref name=Hough/><ref name=Wiley>{{cite book|last1=Wiley|first1=Samuel T.|title=Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with an introductory historical sketch|date=1895|publisher=Biographical Publishing Company|location=Philadelphia|page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicalport00wile_2/page/n696 571]|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalport00wile_2|access-date=25 September 2015}}</ref>

Between 1750 and 1850, industries developed throughout the watershed, using local waterways to provide power and carry away waste. The area supported nine mills, producing flour, timber, paper and cloth.<ref name=Quattrone>{{cite book|last1=Quattrone|first1=Frank D.|title=Ambler|date=2004|publisher=Arcadia|location=Portsmouth, NH|isbn=978-0738534831|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iX1Srw9aDBUC&pg=PA7}}</ref>{{rp|7}} They are identified by Dr. Mary Hough as Plumly Mill (first owned by William Harmer), Fulling Mill (owned by Andrew and Mary Ambler), Thomson's Mill, Reiff Mill, Wertsner Mill, Hague Mill, Burk Mill, a Silk Mill, and a Clover and Chopping and Saw Mill.<ref name=Hough/>{{rp|9–32}}  However, as steam power replaced water power in the 1870s and 1880s, the mills were unable to compete, and were abandoned.<ref name=Hough/>{{rp|27}}

=== Mary Johnson Ambler ===
{{main|Great Train Wreck of 1856}}
[[File:Mary Johnson Ambler 1805-1868.jpg|thumb|[[Mary Ambler]], who turned her Ambler home into an impromptu hospital following the [[The Great Train Wreck of 1856|Great Train Wreck of 1856]]]]
In 1855, [[Wissahickon station]] became a stop on the North Pennsylvania Railroad line.<ref name=Quattrone/>{{rp|7}} On July 17, 1856, the town was the site of a disastrous [[List of pre-1950 rail accidents#1856|train accident]], known as the [[Great Train Wreck of 1856]]. The northbound ''Shackamaxon'', a picnic excursion train, and the southbound ''Aramingo'' collided head on, killing 59 people instantly, and injuring another 86 passengers. [[Mary Ambler]], a local [[Quakers|Quaker]] resident, walked two miles to the crash site, bringing medical supplies and directing rescue efforts.<ref name=Borough>{{cite web|title=Mary Ambler and the Great Train Accident|url=http://www.boroughofambler.com/historical|website=The Borough of Ambler|access-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925121910/http://www.boroughofambler.com/historical|archive-date=2015-09-25|url-status=dead}}</ref> She turned her house at Tennis Avenue and Main Street into an impromptu hospital for nursing the survivors.<ref name=Borough/><ref name=Address>{{cite web|title=Mary Ambler: Heroine of the Great Train Wreck|url=http://historicalwiss.weebly.com/mary-ambler.html|website=Historic Wissahickon Valley|access-date=25 September 2015}}</ref> Thirteen years later, in 1869, the railway company renamed the station Ambler in her honor. The post office followed suit, and when the borough was formally incorporated on June 16, 1888,<ref name=Dougherty>{{cite news|last1=Dougherty|first1=Bernadette|title=Letter: Happy 125th birthday, Ambler!|url=http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2013/06/25/ambler_gazette/opinion/doc51c223636dc29470174209.txt|access-date=28 September 2015|work=Ambler Gazette|date=June 25, 2013}}</ref> it too took the name of Ambler, in honor of Mary Ambler.<ref name=Quattrone/>{{rp|7}}

=== Keasbey and Mattison ===
{{main|Keasbey and Mattison Company}}
[[File:Keasbey and Mattison plant Ambler PA 1900.jpg|thumb|The Keasbey & Mattison Company plant in Ambler, {{Circa|1900}}]]
In 1881, the [[Keasbey and Mattison Company]], whose business included the manufacture of [[asbestos]], moved to Ambler from [[Philadelphia]]. Ambler's location along the railroad line was a primary consideration in the location of Keasbey and Mattison Company in Ambler, as it meant that raw asbestos could be easily brought in from [[Quebec]] and finished products sent out to markets.  Another consideration was the availability of [[magnesium carbonate]], from local [[Dolomite (rock)|dolomite]] mines.<ref name=Kennedy>{{cite news|last1=Kennedy|first1=Joseph S.|title=How A Physician Met A Pharmacist, Found A Fortune In Ambler Dr. Richard V. Mattison And Henry G. Keasbey Turned The Tiny Burg Into A Thriving Company Town|url=http://articles.philly.com/1999-09-05/news/25488937_1_ambler-magnesium-local-historian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204140359/http://articles.philly.com/1999-09-05/news/25488937_1_ambler-magnesium-local-historian|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 4, 2011|access-date=5 August 2015|work=Philly.com|date=September 5, 1999}}</ref> The original K&M factory was built as of 1883.<ref name="O'Hara">{{cite book|last1=O'Hara|first1=L. M.|title=The town that asbestos built: The industrialization of Ambler, Pennsylvania (Honors Thesis)|date=2001|publisher=Pennsylvania State University|location=University Park, PA}}</ref>

When the company arrived, the town consisted of "70 houses, 250 residents, a drug store, general store and a few other businesses."<ref name=Toll>{{cite book|last1=Toll|first1=Jean Barth|last2=Schwager|first2=Michael J.|title=Montgomery County, the second hundred years|date=1983|publisher=Montgomery County Federation of Historical Societies|location=Norristown, PA|isbn=9780961241827|edition=1st}}</ref> Keasbey and Mattison invested heavily in the town, bringing in Southern Italian stoneworkers to build 400 houses for workers and managers, as well as offices, an opera house, the Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church,<ref name=Trinity100>{{cite web|title=A History of Trinity Episcopal Church, Ambler: The first hundred years, 1898-1998|url=http://trinityambler.net/general/his.pdf|website=Trinity Ambler|access-date=28 September 2015|archive-date=29 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929113932/http://trinityambler.net/general/his.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Conroy>{{cite news|last1=Conroy|first1=Theresa|last2=Price|first2=Bill|title=Fire Destroys Upper Dublin Church|url=http://articles.philly.com/1986-06-17/news/26044775_1_church-roof-brown-smoke-church-organ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910115301/http://articles.philly.com/1986-06-17/news/26044775_1_church-roof-brown-smoke-church-organ|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 10, 2015|access-date=28 September 2015|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=June 17, 1986}}</ref> and Mattison's personal estate, [[Lindenwold Castle]].<ref name=Distillations/><ref name=Ciccarelli>{{cite news|last1=Ciccarelli|first1=Maura C.|title=When Man's Home Really Was His Castle|url=http://articles.philly.com/1987-08-23/news/26170910_1_grey-towers-glencairn-castle|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418013442/http://articles.philly.com/1987-08-23/news/26170910_1_grey-towers-glencairn-castle|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 18, 2015|access-date=5 August 2015|work=Philly.com|date=August 23, 1987}}</ref> Many of the Italians stayed in Ambler, helping to form its cultural identity. [[Maida, Calabria]] is the town's sister city today.<ref name=Maida>{{cite web|url= http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2010/09/27/ambler_gazette/news/doc4c9b5f4a6488f389920805.txt|title=Ambler forms twinship with Maida, Italy|access-date=2012-12-30}}</ref>  The company also employed African Americans, originally from West Virginia, in the less-desirable wet-processing areas of the asbestos plant. They tended to settle in west and south Ambler.<ref name=SpacePlan/><ref name=Kennedy/>

By [[World War I]], Ambler was known as the "asbestos capital of the world".<ref name=Burke>{{cite news|last1=Burke|first1=Richard|title=A Bitter Legacy Left By Nicolet Asbestos Waste Stays In Ambler|url=http://articles.philly.com/1987-07-27/business/26199519_1_asbestos-waste-asbestos-products-asbestos-fibers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919180617/http://articles.philly.com/1987-07-27/business/26199519_1_asbestos-waste-asbestos-products-asbestos-fibers|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 19, 2015|access-date=7 August 2015|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=July 27, 1987}}</ref> However, the [[Great Depression]] took its toll, and the company was sold to an [[England|English]] concern, [[Turner & Newall]] (T&N), in 1934.<ref name=Distillations/>  The plant continued to operate under the K&M name.

In England in 1924, doctors reported the first case of [[asbestosis]], a chronic illness caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibers.<ref name="cooke">{{cite journal|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.3317.147
|author=Cooke WE |title=Fibrosis of the Lungs due to the Inhalation of Asbestos Dust |journal=[[BMJ|Br Med J]] |volume=2 |issue=3317 |pages=140–2, 147 |date=1924-07-26 |pmc=2304688|pmid=20771679}}</ref>  By the 1950s, evidence linking asbestos to cancer was mounting.  Richard Doll, an epidemiologist at Turner and Newall, reported (in spite of company pressure) that people exposed to asbestos for 20 or more years had a 10 times higher risk of developing [[lung cancer]] than the general population. Also, a formerly rare and almost always fatal cancer, [[mesothelioma]], was reported in epidemic proportions near asbestos mines in [[South Africa]]. In the 1960s, the ''British Journal of Industrial Medicine'' indicated that simply living near an asbestos factory, or in an asbestos-insulated building, increased mesothelioma risk.<ref name=Distillations/>

Turner & Newall operated the factory until it closed in 1962, then sold the property to [[CertainTeed|CertainTeed Corporation]] and Nicolet Industries.<ref name="GPO">{{cite journal|date=5 September 1996|title=National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List|journal=Federal Register|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|volume=61|issue=173|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1996-09-05/pdf/96-22378.pdf}}</ref> By 1973, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), began to restrict the use of asbestos, stopping the sale of insulation spray in 1973, and of solid asbestos insulation in 1975.<ref name=Distillations/>  In 1974, Nicolet held a competition, offering a $20,000 prize for the proposal of a "feasible commercial application" for its waste chalk piles.<ref name=elephant>{{cite journal|title=The White Elephant|journal=Distillations Magazine|date=2015|volume=1|issue=3|page=48}}</ref> Nicolet filed for bankruptcy in 1987.<ref name=Burke/> By 1989, most remaining products were banned, under the 1989 Asbestos Ban and Phaseout Rule. Although the Ban was struck down in 1991, few asbestos-based products remain in the domestic marketplace.<ref name=Distillations/>

[[Federal-Mogul]], an American automotive supplier, purchased the remaining assets of Turner & Newall in 1998.<ref name=Mogul>{{cite news|title=Federal-Mogul Completes T&N Acquisition|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/federal-mogul-completes-tn-acquisition-77016567.html|access-date=25 September 2015|work=PR Newswire|date=March 6, 1998}}</ref>  As health concerns about asbestos became widely known, it too found itself in [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11]] bankruptcy due to asbestos [[legal liability|liability]].<ref name=Chapter11>{{cite news|title=Federal-Mogul Corporation Files Voluntary Chapter 11 And Administration Petitions to Resolve Asbestos Claims|url=http://investor.federalmogul.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=97066&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=564359&highlight=|access-date=25 September 2015|work=Federal Mogul Press Release|date=October 1, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117004046/http://investor.federalmogul.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=97066&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=564359&highlight=|archive-date=17 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Legacy of asbestos ===
[[File:Wissahickon Waterfowl Preserve.jpg|thumb|The reservoir parcel of the [[BoRit Asbestos|BoRit Asbestos Superfund Site]] was remediated and repurposed as the Wissahickon Waterfowl Preserve<ref name=Patnode>{{cite web |last1=Patnode |first1=Kathleen |title=Transforming an Asbestos Waste Site into a Wildlife Haven |url=https://www.fws.gov/ecological-services/highlights/02222016.html |website=www.fws.gov |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |access-date=18 January 2021}}</ref>]]
A 2011 study by the [[Pennsylvania Department of Health]] reviewed data from 1992 to 2008, and reported that mesothelioma was diagnosed 3.1 times more often in Ambler residents than in other Pennsylvania residents. The higher rates were attributed to previous asbestos exposure in the factories.<ref name=Distillations/>

In Ambler, where more than 1.5 million cubic yards of asbestos waste were discarded in a 25-acre area known as the "White Mountains",<ref name=Distillations/> contamination remains an issue.<ref name=REACH>{{cite web|title=REACH Ambler: From factory to the future in Ambler, Pennsylvania|url=https://reachambler.sciencehistory.org/|website=REACH Ambler|publisher=[[Science History Institute]]|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref> From 1973 to 1993 the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|United States EPA]] oversaw remediation of the [[BoRit Asbestos]] waste dump,<ref name=BoRit/> also known as the "Ambler Asbestos Piles".<ref name=Distillations/>  It was proposed to the National Priorities List (NPL) as a [[Superfund (environmental law)|Superfund]] site on October 10, 1984, and formally added to the list as of June 10, 1986. Various remedies were completed as of August 30, 1993 and the site was consequently deleted from the National Priorities List on December 27, 1996, after remediation.<ref name=AAP>{{cite web|title=Ambler Asbestos Piles|url=http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/PAD000436436.htm|website=United States Environmental Protection Agency|access-date=29 September 2015}}</ref>  The site is reviewed every five years by the EPA.<ref name=Distillations/>

Local government has made redevelopment of the sites a priority. A 2005 proposal for a 17-story [[Condominium (living space)|condominium]] tower was withdrawn after community opposition to the project. One of the concerns was asbestos waste at the location. In 2009 the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)]] designated the proposed development as part of a second Superfund site, the BoRit Asbestos Site.<ref name=Distillations/>  The site includes an asbestos waste pile, an 11-acre pond and a former park.<ref name=BoRit>{{cite web|title=BoRit Asbestos Site|url=http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/PAD981034887.htm|website=United States Environmental Protection Agency|access-date=28 September 2015}}</ref> The EPA estimated that it would complete the initial cleanup phase at the BoRit site as of 2015.<ref name=Distillations>{{cite journal|last1=Reiny |first1=Samson |title=Living in the Town Asbestos Built |journal=Distillations Magazine |date=2015 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=26–35 |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/living-in-the-town-asbestos-built |access-date=22 March 2018 }}</ref>

In 2013, Heckendorn Shiles Architects and Summit Realty Advisers successfully converted the derelict factory and smokestack of the Keasbey & Mattison company into a LEED Platinum Certified multi-tenant office building, the Ambler Boiler House. The adaptive reuse project won support from the EPA's Brownfields Program and the EnergyWorks program. The renovations cost $16 million, and have resulted in a building with substantial green features including a grey-water system, geothermal energy, solar panels and a reflective roof system, and high-efficiency glass.<ref name=Distillations/><ref name=Mercier>{{cite news|last1=Mercier|first1=Dominic|title=Generating New Life At The Ambler Boiler House|url=http://hiddencityphila.org/2013/03/generating-new-life-at-the-ambler-boiler-house/|access-date=28 September 2015|work=Hidden City Philadelphia|date=March 29, 2013}}</ref>