| To preserve the history of the Ambler, Upper Dublin area and above all, to promote the study of history, dealing with our area. |
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Here are some useful links. |
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Spring is here!
Click on the button to go to their site!
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The Society’s 8 p.m. meetings (with programs) are held at
the headquarters at Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike,
Fort Washington, PA the third Tuesday of every month,
September thru November and January thru May, weather
permitting The phone number to call for information,
215-646-6065
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The Officers of the Historical Society of Fort Washington President: Renee Webb The Ambler Gazette's are now on-line. Vice President: Robin Costa 1894 thru 1944
Corresponding Secretary: Gwen & Dick Meyer Recording Secretary: Carol Lohkemper Treasurer: Ingrid Rivel Our location is: The Clifton House 473 Bethlehem Pike Fort Washington, PA 19034 telephone (215) 646-6065
We are open on Wednesday's from 2:00PM till 4:00PM. We are closed in July or August. Open by special appointment only.
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Photos from the Victorian Tea!
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Liberty Bell and the American Revolutionary War Allentown holds historical significance as the location where the Liberty Bell (then known as the Pennsylvania State House bell) was successfully hidden from the British during the American Revolutionary War. After George Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless, and that city prepared for British attack. The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ordered that eleven bells, including the State House bell and the bells from Philadelphia's Christ Church and St. Peter's Church, be taken down and removed from the city to prevent the British, who would melt the bells down to cast into cannons, from taking possession of them. The bells were transported north to Northampton-Towne, and hidden in the basement of the Old Zion Reformed Church, in what is now center city Allentown. Today, a shrine and museum in the church's basement, known as the Liberty Bell Museum, marks the spot where the bell was hidden. After the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, Hessian prisoners-of-war were kept in the vicinity of present-day Seventh and Gordon Streets. The Old Zion Reformed Church, and a house near James (now Eighth) and Hamilton Streets, served as hospitals for injured and sick Continental Army troops. In 1777, a factory manufacturing paper cartridges for muskets was relocated here from nearby Bethlehem. That same year, a shop of sixteen armorers was established along the Little Lehigh Creek, and employed in the repair of weapons and the manufacture of saddles and scabbards.
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