Springfield Inns (From Chestnut Hill to Whitemarsh)

History index

Wheelpump Inn

c. 1725, licensed 1742 10½ milestone

• Probably began as private dwelling. Licensed by 1742.
• 1798 Tax: 50' x 30', 2 story stone with a frame barn.
• A "commercial" inn.

Ottinger's

1743 east side of Pike

• Originally a private dwelling then opened as a "gentlemen's" inn to serve those traveling by state or horseback.
• Probably not in the house that still stands, but demolished.

Evening Rest

1746 west side north of Ottinger's

Eagle

1762 or by 1760 11½ milestone, west side of Pike

• Later known as "Slifer's"
• 2 ½ story stuccoed stone building measuring 50' x 33' with a kitchen measuring 25' x 13'. It had two stables, one 30' x 25' of stone and one 40' x 12' of frame.
• This was a "commercial" inn.
• The Black Horse and the Eagle were alternately owned by the same two men, Abraham Slifer and Michael Baum in the 1800s.

Black Horse

1744/1833 11½ milestone, east side of Pike

• Built by Abraham Wakerly in 1744 consisting of a 2 ½ story, one over one room building measuring 16' x 18' with a 1-story kitchen attached in the rear measuring 15' x 15'. The first section served farmer, lime-carrier, and traveler, and after 1763 stagecoach passengers. With the growth of trade and travel, a new owner Jacob Meninger, added a 3-story addition on the north end in 1833. Between 1880 and 1908, three 1-story frame additions were added to the rear by McCloskey. Overall size is now 54' x 33'.
• Had a stone barn measuring 52' x 30'. Shortly after 1798 a frame barn was added that measured about what the stone barn did.
• With the 1833 addition, the Black Horse rivaled the Eagle in size.
• This was a "commercial" inn.
• The Black Horse and the Eagle were alternately owned by the same two men, Abraham Slifer and Michael Baum in the 1800s.

Wagon & Horses

(Today, Halligan's) 1765 sw corner of Bethlehem Pike & West Mill Road.

• Built by Christopher Rex
• Was a "commercial" inn
• Later known as "Kline's"
• By 1798, it was listed as a 2 ½ story, stone, 30' x 20' with a stone barn measuring 65' x 25'
• Also known as Central Inn, Farmer's and Citizen's, and Block and Cleaver

Mason's

c. 1744 directly across from Wagon & Horses

• Began as a private dwelling and became a "gentlemen's" inn.

Green Tree

1811 e side of Pike, near Whitemarsh line

• Built by John Bitting
• Was a "commercial" inn
• Comparable in size to the other "commercial" inns

Bethlehem Pike or the "Great Road" was petitioned for in 1698 and opened in 1703. Part of a highway system from Philadelphia to the Moravian settlement in Bethlehem, it was completed by 1734. Starting from the Germantown Pike in Chestnut Hill, it runs for a mile and a half through Springfield Township. Eight inns were located along this stretch with the most centrally located of these at the 11 ½ milestone were the Black Horse and the Eagle. Over this road, local lime was carried to the city and grain was carried from as far away as Salford to be ground at a number of nearby mills on the Wissahickon Creek. By 1763 a stagecoach line ran between Philadelphia and Bethlehem and by 1820 nine stage lines traveled through Flourtown daily. As Flourtown was approximately 10 miles from the city and horses were rested or changed at about 10-mile intervals, this was the first stop outward bound and the last stop inbound. With the most extensive accommodations for farmers and lime carriers as far as stabling went and with blacksmiths, wheelwrights and harness makers immediately adjacent the Black Horse and the Eagle captured the major portion of the commercial trade.

Inns served farmers and lime carriers to 1763 when it picked up the stagecoach traffic. After 1901 it served the trolley lines until they were discontinued in 1926.