Editing Ambler, Pennsylvania (section)

===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}}