The 1785 Thomas Leiper House at 521 Avondale Road, Wallingford will open for the season on Sunday, May 4th between 1:00 and 4:00 and will be open every Saturday and Sunday through December.
A knowledgeable tour guide will show you around the house and tell you about the Leiper family, who brought the name Strath Haven to this area in 1785.
Angela Hewett, a founder of the Nether Providence Historical Society in 1987 and its long-serving president, and long-time head of The Friends of the Leiper House was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this month by the Heritage Commission of Delaware County at its 46th annual Preservation Awards ceremony.
Angela, also a founding member of the Delaware County Historic and Preservation Network, has researched the Leiper family extensively and edited two award-winning booklets of correspondence between Mr. Leiper, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.
She actively contributes to the Leiper House’s art and archival collections and documents the ongoing histories of the Leiper and Furness families. Angela is the go-to person in Nether Providence for all historical matters. She manages the Leiper House’s care, organizes events, recruits and trains docents, and collaborates with local garden clubs for holiday decorating and garden displays.
Angela’s long-term commitment reflects her passion and dedication to preserving and sharing the history of Nether Providence and Delaware County.
We are grateful for her leadership and for all she has discovered and documented about the Township.
The 1785 Thomas Leiper House at 521 Avondale Rd., Wallingford, is now open for guided tours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. A guide will show visitors around the house, tell them about Mr. Leiper and his family, and about the other historic buildings on the property.
Mr. Leiper was a wealthy tobacco merchant in Philadelphia and built this house as his summer home. He was born in Strath Haven, Scotland in 1745, and came to America in 1763. He had mills and a stone quarry on his almost 800 acres along Crum Creek.
The house stayed in the Leiper family until 1960. It is now owned by Nether Providence Township and managed by The Friends of the Thomas Leiper House, Inc. There is no charge for tours, but donations are always appreciated.
Local garden clubs have lent their considerable talents to beautifully decorating Leiper House for the holidays. Swarthmore Garden Club, Providence Garden Club, Rose Tree Garden Club, Springfield Garden Club, and Country Gardeners have each embellished a room in the historic country home of Thomas and Elizabeth Gray Leiper.
Built circa 1785, the estate was named Strath Haven after Leiper’s birthplace in Strathaven, Scotland, and includes a three-story mansion house and several outbuildings. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
Saturdays & Sundays, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, December 2 – 17
Swarthmore resident Kevin Connell walked the grounds at Leiper House with his metal detector and discovered lots of interesting artifacts; old coins, keys, tools, and more.
The treasures will be displayed at the Leiper House on Saturday, December 3, between 1 and 4 PM. Mr. Connell will be on hand to share what he has learned about them.
The Helen Kate Furness Free Library is celebrating its 120th anniversary with a talk about Helen Kate Furness herself, on Saturday, October 22 from 1:30-2:30 pm at the Library.
When Helen Kate Rogers married Horace Howard Furness in 1860, her father was a millionaire and one of the wealthiest men in Philadelphia, the second-largest city in America. At her death in 1883 at the age of 46, she was described as “a lady of great loveliness of character, of a very sweet and gentle nature, and of rare charms of mind and person.” Come hear about Helen Kate Furness, and what we can learn of her from her writings and her portraits.
Harwood (Woody) Johnson, a resident of Wallingford, is on the boards of the Furness Library and the Nether Providence Historical Society, among others. He has a deep interest in local history and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in London.
The Furness Free Library was founded in 1902. It is located at 100 N. Providence Road, Wallingford, PA 19086
The Leiper House will open for the season on May 7. On Saturday and Sunday, from 1 until 4, visitors may tour the house and explore a display that focuses on Mrs. Leiper, mother of ten – a suitable exhibit for Mother’s Day weekend.
It is with great sadness that the Nether Providence Historical Society announces the death of J. Mervyn Harris, our founder and first president. Merv died in April at age 87. Acknowledged as our township’s primary historian, he served on many historical boards county-wide.
Merv graduated from Nether Providence High School in 1952 where he was senior class president. He went on to Pennsylvania Military College, now Widener University, where he was again senior class president. After some years in the military, he came back to Nether Providence and served on its Board of Commissioners. He was later elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives where he served for 4 years, from 1965-1969.
Merv was chairman of our township’s Tricentennial committee in 1987 and founded the Nether Providence Historical Society that year. He was also a member of the Delaware County Historical Society and served as president of that organization. And he was vice-chairman of the Delaware County Heritage Commission. In 2019, that group awarded Merv a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Many township residents know Merv as author of the very readable book, A Brief History of Nether Providence. Published in 2010, the book is still available for sale at Furness Library, the Leiper House, and the township offices.
Merv’s love of local history and his vast knowledge of it, and his willingness to share it, have helped so many of us better understand where we live. His kindness touched many people.
The Friends of the Thomas Leiper House announced today that the organization’s annual holiday event will not take place in 2020.
“We’re sad to miss a year of what is always a lovely holiday tradition,” said Angela Hewett, Curator of The Leiper House, “but, it involves preparations by teams from five local garden clubs and lots of visitors in and out of small Colonial era-sized rooms, we knew there was no way to safely put on the event this year.”
The group is looking forward to planning their outdoor summer event and next year’s Colonial Christmas Open House.
Angela Hewett, President
Jonathan Jackson, Treasurer
Mimi Haggerty, Secretary
Stephenie Bailey
Shirley Cook
Donna Ferruzzi
Mary Ann Fiebert
John Isselman
Harwood Johnson
Jane McNerney
Nether Providence Historical Society 