Editing Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
===17th century===
Present-day Plymouth Meeting was originally settled by members of the [[Religious Society of Friends]], or Quakers, who built the [[Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse]] in 1708. They sailed from [[Devon]]shire, England, on the ship ''Desire'', arriving in [[Philadelphia]] on June 23, 1686. The settlement takes its name from the founders' hometown of [[Plymouth]] in Devon.

===18th century===
In 1754, Benjamin Davis received a license to keep an inn on Ridge Pike at Plymouth Creek. This inn, the Seven Stars, was shown on maps as early as 1759. It was demolished in 1975 to make way for the Midcounty Expressway.

Early records indicate that one person was elected as "road supervisor" and tax collector. The roads were mostly dirt, and repair and maintenance was often auctioned off to the lowest bidder, usually a farmer who had large properties and kept many men and horses, and the smaller farmers worked on the roads for them.

Tax records show that many taxpayers worked out their taxes on the roads. From 1846 to 1854 the road supervisor was paid one dollar per day for his work as supervisor and collector of taxes. Men working on the roads received $.80 per day and boys received $.40 per day. For the use of a double team of horses with a wagon or cart, one was paid $1.75 per day.

During the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], in May 1778, the Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse served as a temporary military hospital. General [[George Washington]], then at [[Valley Forge]], learned that a British force intended to seize the area and cut off movement of the [[Continental Army]]. He sent [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Marquis de Lafayette]] and 2,100 troops to counter. They camped around the meetinghouse on the night before the May 19 [[Battle of Barren Hill]]. The next morning the British arrived with a massive force of 16,000, and tried to cut off any escape route. Lafayette instead took advantage of the Americans' knowledge of local roads, and escaped with minimal casualties.

<blockquote>Plymouth Meeting House is the name of a village situated at the intersection of the Plymouth and Perkiomen turnpikes, on the township line.  On this [Plymouth] side is the meeting house, school house and four houses; and in Whitemarsh two stores, a blacksmith and wheelwright shop, post office and twenty-four houses. The houses in this village are chiefly situated along the Perkiomen or Reading pike, nearly adjoining one another, and being of stone, neatly white washed, with shady yards in front, present to the stranger and agreeable appearance. In the basement of the Library building the Methodists hold worship. This is an ancient settlement, whose history dates back nearly to the arrival of William Penn, and is marked as a village on Lewis Evans' map of 1749. The post office was established here before 1827. In 1832 there were but ten houses here. &mdash; ''History of Montgomery County'' (1858).<ref>William J. Buck, ''History of Montgomery County within the Schuylkill Valley'' (Norristown, PA: E. L. Acker, 1859), p. 81.</ref></blockquote>

===19th century===
[[File:Abolition Hall PM Montco PA.jpg|thumb|[[Hovenden House, Barn and Abolition Hall|Abolition Hall]], Butler Pike, north of Germantown Pike]]
The post office was established here before 1827. In 1832, there were but ten houses here. &mdash; ''History of Montgomery County'' (1858).<ref>William J. Buck, ''History of Montgomery County within the Schuylkill Valley'' (Norristown, PA: E. L. Acker, 1859), p. 81.</ref> Slave holding was condemned by the Society of Friends in 1754. 

Few slaves were held in Plymouth Township, and only one remained by 1830. The Maulsby and Corson families were early [[Abolitionism|abolitionists]], sheltering runaway slaves beginning in the 1810s and turning their properties into stations on the [[Underground Railroad]].<ref>Hiram Corson, M.D. "The Plymouth Group," ''The Abolitionists of Montgomery County'', (Norristown, PA: Historical Society of Montgomery County, 1900), pp. 41-43.[https://books.google.com/books?id=6RkVAAAAYAAJ&dq=george%2C+who+knew+no+fear+when+in+the+right&pg=PA42]</ref> The [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850]] increased the penalties for giving assistance to an escaped slave to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine. It allowed slavecatchers to pursue a fugitive across state lines into every U.S. state and territory. Local resident George Corson was involved in hiding [[Jane Johnson (slave)|Jane Johnson]], whose 1855 escape exposed a [[loophole]] in the federal law.<ref name="LOC">Phil Lapsansky, [http://www.librarycompany.org/JaneJohnson/ "The Liberation of Jane Johnson,"] The Library Company of Philadelphia, 2003.</ref> When the doors to local churches and schools were closed to Abolitionist speakers, Corson built Abolition Hall (1856) on his farm at Germantown and Butler Pikes. The hall could accommodate up to 200 people, and hosted speakers such as [[Frederick Douglass]], [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]], [[Lucretia Mott]], [[Abby Kelley|Mrs. Stephen Foster]] and [[William Lloyd Garrison]].<ref>{{cite web| url = {{NRHP-PA|H000564_01H.pdf}}| title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse| access-date = 2015-06-18| author = Helen Reichart Mirras| format = PDF| date= December 1969}}</ref>

In the late 19th century, Abolition Hall became the art studio of painter [[Thomas Hovenden]]. Married to George Corson's daughter, Helen (Corson) Hovenden, Hovenden was best known for painting realistic scenes taken out of American life as he experienced it in the farmlands of Plymouth Meeting. His depictions of everyday life during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] seem like photographs rather than oil paintings. One of his most famous paintings,“Breaking Home Ties,” (shown below) as well as several others, can be seen in the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]]. Hovenden succeeded [[Thomas Eakins]] as the principal painting instructor at the [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts|Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts]] in 1886 after the latter was forced to resign for inappropriate use of nude models.

Growth continued for Plymouth Meeting during the 1900s which led to the advent of the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]], the Plymouth Meeting Mall, high-rise and garden apartment complexes, industries and office buildings.

What is now [[Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Germantown]] Pike was ordered laid out by the Provincial Government in 1687 as a "cart road" from Philadelphia to Plymouth Meeting. The actual road was finished in 1804, at a cost of $11,287. A road from Plymouth Meeting to [[Gwynedd]] appears to have been built in 1751. What is now Chemical Road, following Plymouth Creek, was opened in 1759 to provide access to a new [[gristmill]].

In the early 19th century the Hickorytown Hotel, on Germantown Pike opposite Hickory Road, was a prominent road house. Robert Kennedy, an officer in the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolution]], operated the inn in 1801. In 1806 it was kept by Frederick Dull and in 1825, Jacob Hart. In the beginning of the 19th century it was a training place for the 36th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Militia and the Second Battalion of Montgomery County. The Friendship Company for the Protection against Horse Stealing was organized there in 1807. Township elections were held there, and a post office was established there in May 1857. The Plymouth Meeting Post Office appears to have been established sometime prior to 1827.

Among early industries in [[Plymouth Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania|Plymouth Township]] was the Hickorytown Forge operated by the Wood family, and a forerunner of the present Alan Wood Steel Company. The name Plymouth Furnace appears in the records about 1847 and was engaged in the manufacture of nails.

In 1863, a company named Plymouth Iron Company was organized with a capital of $30,000.00. The company purchased the property of Colwell Furnace, which is located just west of the present Colwell Lane adjoining the development known as Farmview Village.

The Plymouth Railroad was built in 1836 to serve some 20 [[lime kiln]]s operating along the route between Conshohocken and Cold Point. In 1870, the line was acquired by the [[Philadelphia and Reading Railroad]] and was rebuilt and extended to [[Oreland, Pennsylvania|Oreland]] at a junction with the [[North Pennsylvania Railroad|North Penn Railroad]]. The line was abandoned by the 1970s.

Prior to the building of the Plymouth Railroad, the Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown Railroad was built along the [[Schuylkill River]] through Plymouth Township and commenced operation in 1835. For most of its history, this railroad was part of the [[Reading Company|Reading Railroad]] system. Today these tracks are [[SEPTA]]'s [[Manayunk/Norristown Line]].

The Schuylkill Valley Division of the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] was built parallel to the Reading Railroad tracks along the [[Schuylkill River]], opening for service in 1884. Rail service ended in the 1970s and the track-bed is now occupied by the multi-use (pedestrian and bicycle) [[Schuylkill River Trail]].

The [[Trenton Cutoff]] branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad was built in 1891. The Trenton Cutoff is now owned by [[Norfolk Southern]] and is known as the [[Morrisville Line]].

In the 1890s, electric trolley lines were built through Plymouth Meeting. The trolleys that ran on the shoulder of Germantown Pike connected Chestnut Hill and Norristown. The trolley on the shoulder of Butler Pike was a short shuttle known as the Harmanville Dinkey, running between Germantown Pike and Ridge Pike (0.7 miles). Dinkey passengers transferred to Conshohocken-bound trolleys at the corner of Ridge Pike and Butler Pike.

===20th century===
For most of their existence, the trolley lines were operated by the Reading Transit & Light Company (no relation to the Reading Railroad). In addition to passengers, during the 1910s freight was handled by the RT&L trolleys; an abandoned wooden track-side freight platform near the northwest corner of Germantown Pike and Butler Pike survived into the 1950s. The Harmanville Dinkey was replaced with buses in 1927. The Germantown Pike trolleys ceased operation in December 1931. The trolley that ran from Norristown to Conshohocken through Black Horse, Seven Stars and Harmanville was replaced with buses in September 1933.<ref>Harry Foesig, ''Trolleys of Montgomery County Pennsylvania'', 1968, ASIN: B0029HAHZU (no ISBN)</ref> The roadside trolley tracks were quickly torn up and the adjacent two-lane Ridge Pike, and Butler Pike south of Ridge Pike, were widened to accommodate ever-increasing motor vehicle traffic.

The first school in the township was established by the Plymouth Meeting Society of Friends in 1780, although some records indicate an earlier school. A school was established at Cold Point in 1821. Public schools, established under the system authorized by the legislature in 1834, included Cold Point School, Plymouth Valley School, the Eight Square school, the Sandy Hill school and the North Star school.

Plymouth became a township of the first class in January 1922. Isaac J. Sheppard became township secretary from that time until his retirement in 1952. Under the new form of government the board changed from "road supervisors" to "Township Commissioners".

In 1925, the Board of Health was organized. [[Plumbing]] inspection began in 1934. In 1939, Plymouth adopted a "modern" [[zoning]] ordinance. A [[building code]] ordinance was adopted. In 1947, the first [[subdivision (land)|subdivision]] ordinance was adopted. In 1952, the Township Planning Commission was created, and a Recreation Committee was established to study recreation needs.

Plymouth Township adopted a Home Rule Charter in 1972. This allows a municipality to take any governmental or administrative actions it requires, unless such actions are prohibited by general laws of the [[Pennsylvania|Commonwealth]].

The [[Plymouth Meeting Historic District]], [[Alan West Corson Homestead]], [[Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse]], and [[Hovenden House, Barn and Abolition Hall]] were listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1971.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>