Tulpehocken Station Historic District

Tulpehocken Station Historic District is a residential area in Germantown with about 37 important buildings built between 1850 and 1900. The homes show different styles like Carpenter Gothic, Italianate, and High Victorian, which reflect how Philadelphia's suburbs grew during this period.

The Pennsylvania Railroad built Tulpehocken Station in 1878, making it easier for people to travel between the city and the suburbs. This led wealthy families to move to Germantown, and many new homes were built around the station in the following decades.

The homes here show how middle-class families lived and built their houses during the 1800s, with each style reflecting what was fashionable at the time. Walking through the streets, you can see how people expressed their status and taste through their architecture.

The district is easy to explore on foot and spreads across several connected blocks where you can see the homes from the public streets. The best time to visit is during daylight hours when the sun highlights the details of the buildings.

The Ebenezer Maxwell House was built in 1859 and shows an earlier building style, while the Charles Currie House from 1899 displays a completely different later style. These two houses sit near each other and reveal how taste in architecture shifted dramatically over 40 years.