Copy of facts published on Facebook and previously in the Upper Merion Township e-Newsletter.
The Kennedy Mansion, at the eastern edge of Valley Forge National Historical Park, was built in 1852 by John Kennedy as an Italian villa-style residence. From 1911 to 1936, the mansion was owned by the Supplee family. In 1978, the National Park Service acquired the mansion through eminent domain and eventually placed it on the National Register of Historic Places.
As reported in Fortune magazine in the late 1950s, the three Upper Merion Township Supervisors had clear ideas of what they wanted for the community: a strong industrial base made up of light, clean, research-type plants, restricted commercial building of a type that would not cheapen the neighborhood, plenty of open space, and new housing, but not so much that
A famous old white oak tree once stood on Gulph Rd in front of the Wawa. It was there 100 years before William Penn arrived in 1682 and under which Washington’s Army passed on its way to Valley Forge in 1777. In 1933 the tree was named “The Drinker Oak” to honor the memory of Dr. Henry Sturgis Drinker, former
Colonial Village originated through the efforts of developer, J. Howard Mecke, Jr. in the Martin’s Dam section of UM in January of 1929. Landowners at the time consisted of Gardiner L. Warner (176 acres including Sunny Creek Farm), Frank Hughes (50 acres), Edwin Thomas (26 acres), Elvira Castle (21 acres) and Mrs. George Park (18 acres). Back in the days