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Historical Society of  the Phoenixville Area

204 Church St, Phoenixville, PA 19460

hspa@verizon.net   610-935-7646

www.hspa-pa.org   or   www.phoenixvillehistoricalsociety.org

Phoenixville Architecture

Please click here to view two articles with illustrations about Phoenixville's old buildings written by Miriam Clegg.

This 1910 postcard shows a view of Main Street looking north. Trollies ran to Valley Forge and Strafford.

Phoenixville has the largest registered historic district in Chester County. Many homes have been maintained and improved and are shown in the current photos below. Many stores in Phoenixville have retained their Victorian facades.

This Mont Clare home was built in 1846 by Joseph Whitaker, the Phoenix Iron Company owner, on a hill overlooking the Schuylkill River in what is now the Borough of Mont Clare.  It is a colonial home with gable-end chimneys.  The front facade was originally the back door.

The Dismant House was built around 1890, and is an example of the late Victorian style with a turret, several gables, and tall slender chimneys.

This Whitestone was built in 1858 by John Griffen, Phoenix Iron Company Superintendent.  Its style is Italianate, with a central tower and a large window area.

The Chester Hotel was built in 1894 as a hotel.  It was of the late Victorian style, and it had forty rooms with both gas and electricity.

Nailers' Row or Puddler's Row is an example of Phoenix Iron Company housing built for its workers in 1847.   About 100 of these homes were built.  Most of these homes are still occupied.

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Above is an example of a Dutch colonial revival.  This duplex was built in 1886. 

This Main Street house is of the Second Empire style from 1890, and it features a mansard roof.

Above is the Phoenixville Public Library in 1907.

Above is Phoenixville's oldest home that dates from 1732 and it features interior plaster made from mud and horse hair.

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