By Ed Dybicz
Special to The Courier ~ 1960
KING OF PRUSSIA- The Upper Merion Cultural Center on Moore Road, Port Kennedy, is located in a historic house, once the headquarters of Gen. Peter Muhlenberg of Revolutionary War fame. It is also is the place where George Washington stayed on July 30, 1787.
John Moore, original owner of the farm, died Jan. 1, 1778, soon after units of the Continental Army came to his house and his widow, Jane Moore, therefore lived at these premises which were surrounded by 200 acres of land.
Gen. Muhlenberg’s brigade, constituting a part of the front line of the camp, occupied the Moore Farm and adjoining tracts. The region was not hilly woodland like Valley Forge where the greater part of the American Army was stationed. Most of the land was cultivated. Mashilmac Creek, also known today as Trout Run, cuts through the property. Entrenchments and redoubts could be seen as late as the 1850s.
Muhlenberg was a brilliant figure of American History and achieved fame in three fields: as a popular clergyman in the Lutheran and Episcopal churches; as an intrepid commander in the Revolution; and as a member of Congress, both in the House and Senate.
Muhlenberg’s most stirring and impressive episodes came in 1776 when he ascended the pulpit and preached a blazing sermon in which he declared. “There is a time for preaching and praying but also a time for battle and that time has now arrived.”
He then flung aside his ministerial robes to reveal a uniform of the Continental Army.
According to records of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, Washington made several visits in time of peace to the area. Most memorable was his last visit to Upper Merion when he came to see the old camp grounds at Valley Forge and went fishing in Port Kennedy.
An entry in Washington’s diary for July 30, 1787 reads: “In company with Gouverneur Morris and in his phaeton with my horses, went up to one Jane Moore’s in whose house we lodged in the vicinity of Valley Forge, to get trout.”
A recent Inquirer post/article, “Once ‘sleepy’ King of Prussia is booming with development,” included a link to one of our facts about the Moore-Irwin House. Search our site for more facts about this local treasure.