| The Lilacs | |
|---|---|
 Southwest corner of c.1711 house with the attached 1832 section to the northeast | |
| Location | 3600 Greenland Dr, Philadelphia |
| Coordinates | 39°59′55″N 75°11′47″W / 39.9987°N 75.1965°W / 39.9987; -75.1965 |
| Built | c.1711, 1832 |
| Governing body | Philadelphia Parks & Recreation |
| Owner | Morten Garret (original), City of Philadelphia (current) |
| Philadelphia Register of Historic Places | |
| Official name | The Lilacs |
| Designated | June 26, 1956 |
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Designated | February 7, 1972 |
| Reference no. | 72001151 |
  Location of The Lilacs in PhiladelphiaShow map of Philadelphia The Lilacs (Philadelphia) (Pennsylvania)Show map of Pennsylvania The Lilacs (Philadelphia) (the United States)Show map of the United States | |
The Lilacs is an early 18th-century farmhouse located in northwestern Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. The house has a large addition constructed in the early 19th century. The name was derived from the many lilac bushes on the property.
The original owner was Morten Garret who bought a 151-acre (61 ha) plot of land in 1711. The farmhouse was built in two sections with the southern section constructed by Garret sometime shortly after the land was purchased. The attached section was added by Garret's descendants in 1832, as an extension from the northeast wall of the original house.
The house was owned by the Garret family until the city purchased the land in 1869 to expand Fairmount Park. A rowing club called the University Barge Club began using the house sometime after 1871 as its upstream social clubhouse along the Schuylkill River. In the 1990s, the house was used as a halfway house for juveniles.
As of 2018, a sign at the driveway entrance to the house stated Outward Bound—Lilac House—3600 Greenland Drive. The same organization leases and maintains the Porter's House of the demolished Sedgeley Mansion, also in Fairmount Park on the opposite side of the river.
The Lilacs house is registered on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places and is an inventoried structure within the Fairmount Park Historic District entry on the National Register of Historic Places.
See also
- List of houses in Fairmount Park
- National Register of Historic Places listings in West Philadelphia – an inventoried structure within the Fairmount Park listing
- Outward Bound USA
References
- ^ "Fairmount Park Trail Master Plan". issuu.com. Andropogon Associates, Ltd (for the Fairmount Park Commission). December 31, 2000. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
- ^ "Resources Listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Without Official Addresses" (archive). phila.gov. Philadelphia Historical Commission. April 9, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
- ^ "National Register Information System – Fairmount Park (#72001151)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2017. (archive)
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form". (archive) by George B. Tatum of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. dot7.state.pa.us. National Park Service document via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Cultural Resources Geographic Information System, the Department of Transportation website and the records of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. January 11, 1972. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
- "Satellite map". zoom.earth. Zoom Earth. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
- "University Barge Club history" (archive). universitybargeclub.com. University Barge Club. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- "Sedgeley (Porter's House)". fairmountpark.org. Fairmount Park. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
External links
Media related to The Lilacs (Philadelphia) at Wikimedia Commons
