Wissahickon Valley Park

An engraving drawn from the c. 1920 photograph of Valley Green Inn: the inn as it was photographed, and before it a tea party at dusk, the talking board among the tea things, two of the guests translucent

PHILADELPHIA · NOVEMBER 3, 1874 — HIGH 57°, LOW 37° · NO RAIN RECORDED

Welcome, traveler. In its day, this valley was one of the great resorts of the world. All Philadelphia came out to it — by carriage, by train, on foot — to dine at its inns, boat its creek, and walk its shaded drives. Armies moved through it in the Revolution. Its mills ground the city's flour, wove its cloth, and made its paper. The Andorra Nurseries covered its hillsides with trees that went out to gardens across America.

Most of that world is gone. This house keeps what can be kept — the inns, the people, and the wonders. It is a work in progress: we are rebuilding that valley here, story by story, so those who come after us can see what a place this was.

@wissahickon_valley_park

This page is unofficial and is not related to any official park or city page.