FAIRMOUNT PARK MINI TOUR

We hope you enjoy this self-guided tour of a small selection of the historic resources of Fairmount Park. We've included some information about additional self-guided tours of the park at the end of this document.

CHAMOUNIX MANSION 3250 Chamounix Dr 1802, expanded 1850s

Chamounix was built circa 1802 as merchant George Plumsted's country retreat. The house was built as a small, two-story dwelling with a 10-foot diameter bow on the south side and the main entrance on the east side with a beautiful view of the river. Photo: Fairmount Park Conservancy In the 1850s the property was purchased by Topliff Johnson, a bookseller, who redesigned and expanded the house to better suit his large family. Porches were added onto all sides of the home, and the main entrance was shifted to the west elevation. Johnson died the same year he purchased the property, but his family remained in the home and became it's first full-time residents. The home was sold to the City of Philadelphia in 1871 and became part of Fairmount Park.

Photo: HABS Survey PA-1653 It functioned in a variety of uses since the city's acquisition, including a summer camp and a clubhouse for the Road Drivers' Association of Pennsylvania. The property was vacant from 1959 and c aught fire in 1962. The city took on the restoration of the historic home and in 1964 the house became a youth hostel operated by Hosteling International. This use continues today, with 77 beds available for travelers. Page 1 FAIRMOUNT PARK MINI TOUR

STONE ARCH BRIDGE AKA CHAMOUNIX TUNNEL Trolley Trail, west of Chamounix Mansion circa 1875

The Chamounix Tunnel was constructed circa 1875 as part of the Fairmount Park trolley system.

The Fairmount Park Trolley Company operated for 49 years, from 1897 to 1946, Photo: Curbed.com circling West Fairmount Park in a scenic route with 16 stops including Memorial Hall, Belmont Plateau, and Chamounix. After the company ended operations, much of the equipment was sold off but some of the infrastructures remains including this beautiful skew arch bridge.

Today, parts of West Fairmount Park that were part of the trolley route are being converted to a walking and biking trail. This

Photo: Samantha Melamed, Philadelphia Inquirer project is a collaborative effort of the Belmont Plateau Trails Alliance, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, and the City of Philadelphia's Department of Parks and Recreation.

Page 2 FAIRMOUNT PARK MINI TOUR

BELMONT MANSION AND UNDERGROUND RAILROAD MUSEUM 2000 Belmont Mansion Drive 1745

The property on which Belmont Mansion sits was purchased by William Peters in 1742. Peters was a lawyer and land management agent for

Photo: The Philadelphia Sun the Penn family.

The home was expanded multiple times in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1762, a beautifully detailed ornamental plaster ceiling was installed in the great hall.

Belmont Mansion was acquired in 1869 by the City of Philadelphia as part of the assemblage of Fairmount Park. The property was used as a public entertainment facility until 1986, when the American Women's Heritage Society assumed management of the site. After extensive renovations, the Mansion reopened as an Underground Railroad Museum and available for event rentals.

Photo: @DanWisniewski via Instagram

Page 3 FAIRMOUNT PARK MINI TOUR

SHOFUSO JAPANESE HOUSE AND GARDEN Lansdowne and Horticultural Drives West Fairmount Park 1953

Shofuso is a 17th century-style Japanese house with associated residential gardens that reflects

Photo: G. Widman for Visit Philadelphia the history of Japanese culture in Philadelphia. Built as an example of shoin-zukuri architecture, Shofuso exhibits the historical style in terms of key details and classical proportions.

The building was constructed in Nagoya, Japan in 1953 and was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for two years. The house was part of an exhibition called "House in the Garden."

Following the exhibition, the house was moved to Philadelphia and reassembled at the current site in 1957-58, where there has been a continuous Japanese presence since the 1876 Centennial Exposition, when the first Japanese garden in North America was installed behind a small Japanese bazaar.

Shofuso is managed by the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia.

Photo: Trpnblies7 via Flickr

Page 4 FAIRMOUNT PARK MINI TOUR

PAVILION IN THE TREES 1993

Pavilion in the Trees is a tucked-away gem offering a serene connection to nature. Sculptor Martin Puryear designed the structure as part of a public art program.

"Inspired by the universal childhood longing

Photo: Fairmount Park Conservancy for a treehouse, Pavilion consists of an open structure supported by a series of posts.

All of the materials – western red cedar, heart white oak, heart redwood – were selected for their natural durability. A sixty-foot walkway leads across a natural basin to an observation platform – a square deck covered by a latticed canopy – that rises twenty-four feet above the ground. Situated high among the treetops, the work has become a much-favored place to relax and contemplate nature from a bird’s-eye view." -- Association for Public Art

There's a video on how to find the secluded pavilion. Visit our links here: Photo: Philly Love Notes https://linktr.ee/PAGP

Page 5 FAIRMOUNT PARK MINI TOUR

FURNESS GATE 1876, moved to this location 1886

Frank Furness designed a stone arch for the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, which was displayed adjacent to the Connecticut House. Connecticut was famous for Portland brownstone, of which the arch is constructed.

The arch was moved in 1886 to Kelly Drive, near the Strawberry Mansion Bridge, and served as a visual landmark for untold numbers of people traveling along the scenic roadway.

Over many years, the arch became obscured by overgrown foliage and suffered the effects of neglect and graffiti. In 2012, a student in PennDesign's program in historic Photo: @chuckseye via Instagram preservation, Brett Sturm, was assigned this arch for a project for their masonry restoration class taught by distinguished Professor Frank Matero.

This project extended to involve research into understanding why this location was selected. Sturm notes, “It was part of a whole different landscape in terms of how people used and accessed Fairmount Park, people would get on steamboats at the Waterworks and ride up the Schuylkill, just for fun, and there was actually a steamboat landing where today, the Strawberry Mansion Bridge is. Riders would disembark from boats, walk up a set of stairs that led from the river, and then cross under the Furness arch to take a second flight of stairs up to Strawberry Hill Mansion."

PennDesign students worked together to trim back the overgrowth, remove graffiti, and restore the arch's visibility for pedestrians along the river trail and those traveling along Kelly Drive. Photo: @city_of_architectural_love via Instagram

Page 6 FAIRMOUNT PARK MINI TOUR

STRAWBERRY MANSION 2450 Strawberry Mansion Drive circa 1783–1789, with later expansions

Strawberry Mansion, originally named Summerville, was constructed c.1783–1789. Commissioned by Judge William Lewis, who was born into a Quaker family in 1751, for use as a country house on the east side of the Schuylkill River.

Lewis was a lawyer that consistently defended other Quakers against charges of treason after they refused to

Photo: HABS Survey PA-1668 fight in battle or pay taxes. In doing so, he helped create the foundations of Conscientious Objection. Lewis was appointed to federal judicial positions by George Washington and also advised Alexander Hamilton on the first national bank. His most important achievement was his role in the drafting and passage of "An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery" in 1780. This legislation was the first legal action towards the abolition of slavery in the United States.

The property changed hands several times over the years. From 1846 to 1867, farmers were renting the mansion and served strawberries and cream to the public. This is the origin of the name "Strawberry Mansion."

In 1871, the property was sold to the City of Philadelphia and became part of Fairmount Park. A group called The Committee of 1926 restored the mansion between 1927 and 1931. This same non-profit organization continues to maintain the building and offer tours of the property, as well as making it available for private event rentals. Photo: HABS Survey PA-1668

Page 7 FAIRMOUNT PARK MINI TOUR MAP OF SITES ON THIS MINI TOUR

Fairmount Park features many more historic sites and cultural resources than we included here. Resources for additional tours: Philadelphia Architecture, A Guide to the City by John Andrew Gallery (available at your local bookstore)

A two mile walking or biking route around the Horticulture Center: https://www.associationforpublicart.org/tours/around-the-horticulture-center/

A three mile one-way walking or biking tour along Kelly Drive: https://www.associationforpublicart.oarg/tours/along-kelly-drive/

For a video on how to find the Pavilion in the Trees and a map of the Trolley trail visit our links here: https://linktr.ee/PAGP

Follow us on Instagram to see more photos of these buildings @presalliancephl and tag us in your photos when you visit them! Page 8