I HIRFS T14DU )*FvI s s a h 10c k o n f;-xoG4881 F3it FEDEPAL WRISTEP5 W PA PH I LA. PA. PPCUECT I I r A- - THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE COLLEGE LIBRARY ,li J j I ! ;I i :I - -,, , --i - : , *1, 1 American Guide Series HIKES THRU THE WISSAHICKON 0~~~ ..; , _ 0. ? 0 - ' Compiled by The Federal Writers' Project offiNo 24 Works Progress Adminisiration Copyright 1936 I~f t o NOTE THIS brochure, 3 Hikes Thru the Wissahickon, has been selected from the Philadelphia Guide, one of the American Guide series of regional, state, county and city guidebooks being compiled by the Federal Writers' Projects of the Works Progress Administration. The Philadelphia Guide, now being carried to completion by 130 writers, editors and research workers, will appear as a compre- hensive volume of approximately 450 pages of text, 150 pages of maps and illustrations, and 50 pages of indices, bibliography, chro- nology and other informative material. It is designed to present an accurate and inclusive picture of Philadelphia, with its rich historic past and varied contemporary culture. ARCHITECTURAL BEAUTY Of Walnut Lane Bridge is detailed in this fascinating view from an unusual angle. 190108 The name, Wissahickon, lent by the creek to that section of the park through which it flows, from City Line to the Schuylkill, is of Indian origin. It is derived either from the Delaware word, "Wisauck- sickan," meaning "yellow-colored stream" or "Wisamickart," the Delaware word for "catfish creek." The latter is the likelier because of the abundance of catfish it once supplied for Philadelphia's famous catfish and waffle dinners. Though the Wissahickon's 1200 acres comprise less than one third of the total area of Fairmount Park, this section is longer than the main body of the park, extending for six and one-half miles, and its surpassing charm has been immortalized in song and story. Whittier wrote of the Wissahickon in his ''Pennsylvania Pilgrim;" Poe in his sketch, "Morning on the Wissahiccon;" Fanny Kemble, famed English actress, visited the valley in 1832, while appearing at the old Walnut Street Theatre, in Philadelphia, and sang its praise in her book on the United States; Christopher Morley, a native son and a contemporary, has endeavored to portray the valley's beauty in his writings. Yet its story is untold; the song unsung-nor can the nature- lover retrace his own steps over the trails, however often, without observing new depths and new facets of its charm. Perhaps no more apt impression can be obtained than that presented by the contemporary Philadelphia poet, Tom Daly: "There earliest stirred the feet of spring, There summer dreamed on drowsy wing, And autumn's glories longest cling Along the Wissahickon." FOREWORD THE Wissahickon Valley, untouched by glaciation which leveled other areas, has remained through the centuries unspoiled-in fact, enhanced-by successive occupations of red men, mystic monks and millers. Today, but for such mementos of past epochs as the picturesque ruins of a few old mills and the legends of Indians and Pietists, the valley is again the rugged, uninhabited wilderness that it was before the power resources of its tiny torrent and the seclusion of its rocks and trees drew white men to its fastnesses. The valley owes its inherent beauty not alone to its great age but io the hardness of its underlying rock, which is a part of the Appalachian mass, believed to be one of the foundation strata of the North American continent. Through this rock, reaching an altitude of 400 feet in the sur- rounding area, the spirited Wissahickon Creek has cut a narrow, irregular gash from 100 to 200 feet deep. The hard rock has retained the steep sides of the cliff-shadowed valley and its deep, narrow tributary gorges. It is acknowledged the most beautiful section of the great 3,845- acre Fairmount Park system, which begins a stone's throw from City Hall and extends northwestward in ever-increasing width along both banks of the Schuylkill River until it reaches Columbia Avenue. The park attains its greatest breadth at this point and narrows gradually as it nears the Falls of Schuylkill, where the river swings abruptly west- ward, leaving to the park in its stead the scenic charm of its tributary, the Wissahickon. W 155AH KU-KN Hike No. 1 / , Iw . LEGEND 1. Waterfall 2. Canoe House 3. Hermit's Lane Bridge 4. Henry Avenue Bridge 5. Shur's Lane Bridge 6. Rittenhouse House 7. Walnut Lane Bridge 8. Kitchen's Lane 9. The Monastery 10. Car Loop HIKING TOUR No. I (Approximately 4 miles) ROUTE: Take Route 61 trolley car marked "Manayunk," northbound, at 9th and Market Sts., to the entrance of the Wissahickon Gorge at Ridge Ave. and Wissahickon Drive. Enter the path left of the falls and proceed along the creek. Returning: Leave the park at Kitchen's Lane and walk right to Wissahickon Ave. Turn left to Carpenter's Lane and at Wayne Ave. take Route 53 trolley, southbound, to Broad St. and Erie Ave., then Broad St. subway to City Hall. THE WISSAHICKON VALLEY extends 61/2 miles from Ridge Ave- nue on the south to City Line on the north, with Manayunk and Roxborough on the west and Germantown and Mt. Airy on the east. Its northern extremity cuts through Chestnut Hill. (See map.) Centuries of constant erosion created the rugged gash called the Wissahickon Valley, and its chief artisan was the creek that sparkles in its depth. In autumn the foliage on its ridges and slopes blazes with varied color. In winter the ice-covered shrubs and whitened tree boughs form a vista of vigorous beauty. To the people of Philadelphia the park offers a place of recrea- tion and rest from the routine of metropolitan life. Bridle paths and foot-trails are numerous. Bridges of wood and stone high and low, ancient and modern, span the stream at intervals along its winding course. Except for a mile on Wissahickon Drive, where it parallels the creek north of Ridge Avenue, automobiles are barred from the valley, though park guards are inclined to be lenient with visiting motorists unaware of this restriction. Persons coming to the Wissa- hickon by motor are permitted to park in the valley near points of entrance, but only horses, carriages, and pedestrians are allowed to traverse the drives along the stream. To the right of the Ridge Avenue entrance the creek cascades over a dam in a thin sheet of silver before it empties into the nearby Schuylkill. Here the leftward path leads along the creek in the shadow of great overhanging rocks. Wooded cliffs loom high over the valley on the left. Along the opposite side of the creek winds the traffic of Wissahickon Drive. Above the dam, like an ancient Roman viaduct, the stone bulk of the Reading Railroad Bridge spans creek and drive. A short dis- tance beyond, the creek's flow is impeded by a small waterfall. On the left, a few hundred feet farther up, is a CANOE HOUSE, open from the beginning of April to late autumn. (Canoes, 75c. per hour, $1.25 for 2 hours, $1.50 for 3 hours. Rowboats, 50c. per hour. Daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.) A cable ferry crosses to the drive in front of the old WlSSAH!CKON HALL. This structure, formerly one of the numerous taverns and inns in the valley and a rendezvous for gay sleighing and carriage parties from the city, is now a station for park guards. Like other inns and taverns along the Wissahickon, it specialized in catfish and waffle dinners. Old-timers still sniff reminis- cently when passing. The cable ferry is a small flat-bottomed boat fastened to a pulley cable stretching from landing to landing. It is operated by hand, and accommodates as many as 10 passengers. Those wishing to reach the canoe house are carried free. Others pay 5 cents each for the trip. This primitive transport method lingers here almost in the shadow of a modern bridge across which railroad traffic roars, while not far distant the stacks of great industrial plants plume their smoke against the sky. Since catfish have virtually vanished from the stream, trout fish- ing has become the Wissahickon angler's chief sport. In winter, skaters by the hundreds glide up and down the creek from near the falls to Henry Avenue Bridge. North of the canoe house the path follows the gentle undula- tions of the ridge before descending finally to HERMIT'S LANE BRIDGE, a small stone span arching the stream. The trail swings left at the bridge to follow Hermit's Lane to the HERMITAGE ESTATE on the hill's crest. Opposite stands the HERMIT LANE NURSERY, on the right side of Hermit's Lane. Here the way turns along the Hermit- age. A few yards beyond the fence corner a narrow, obscure path to the left leads downward about 150 yards to a cave. A spring bubbles from the rocks close by. Johann Kelpius and his Pietist followers here founded the "Society of the Woman of the Wilderness." Popularly the group was called the "Hermits of the Ridge." A mystic of Siebenburgen, Germany, Kelpius came to America in 1694 to await the millennium, which he expected would arrive about 1700. With a group of de- votees from Germantown he founded a colony on the Wissahickon, where members of the group practiced and taught magic, divining, and healing. They also cast horoscopes, and, according to The Rev. Henry Muhlenberg (Saschse's "German Pietists of Provincial Pennsyl- vania, 1694-1708"), "at the same time practiced alchemy." Kelpius engaged in gardening and developed the first botanical garden in what is now the United States.