National Historic Landmark

Johnson, John, House

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Listed
January 13, 1972
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
72001162

About this property

The John Johnson House (also known as the Johnson House) is a National Historic Landmark in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, significant for its role in the antislavery movement and the Underground Railroad. It is located at 6306 Germantown Avenue and is a contributing property of the Colonial Germantown Historic District, which is also a National Historic Landmark. It is operated today as a museum open to the public. Philadelphia, especially its Germantown section, was a center of the 19th-century American movement to abolish slavery, and the Johnson House was one of the key sites of that movement. Between 1770 and 1908, the house was the residence of five generations of the Johnson family. The second and third generations were active in the Underground Railroad during the 1850s. Jennett Rowland Johnson, her children Rowland, Israel, Ellwood, Sarah, and Elizabeth Johnson, and their spouses were members of abolitionist groups such as the American Anti-Slavery Society and the Germantown Freedman's Aid Association. Through their associations with these groups, the brothers and sisters became involved in the Underground Railroad and used their home, along with the nearby homes of relatives, to harbor fugitive slaves on their journeys to freedom. The Johnson House is a representative station on the Underground Railroad, and the Johnsons were among the leading abolitionists of their generation. The house, then one of the largest in Germantown (then a suburb of Philadelphia), was built between 1765 and 1768 by Jacob Norr for Dirck Jansen, who owned the ground on which nearby Upsala was built. Jansen had it built for his son John Johnson, Sr. During the 1777 Battle of Germantown, fighting occurred nearby and the house still bears marks of musket balls and cannonballs. List of National Historic Landmarks in Philadelphia National Register of Historic Places listings in Northwest Philadelphia Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-7-7, "Johnson House", 4 photos, 13 measured drawings, 3 data pages Johnson House Historic Site collection on the Johnson Family from Johnson House Historic Site

Location

6306 Germantown Ave.
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
40.04331, -75.18122

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Mennonite Meetinghouse
Industrial
0.2 mi
Tulpehocken Station Historic District
Industrial
0.2 mi
Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers
Industrial
0.2 mi
Wyck House
Industrial
0.3 mi
Nugent Home for Baptists
Civil War
0.3 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Germantown (approach actions)
1777Revolutionary War
0.5 mi
Battle of Germantown
1777Revolutionary War
0.6 mi
Battle of Germantown — Chew House
1777Revolutionary War
1.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Johnson, John, House listed on the National Register?

Johnson, John, House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 13, 1972.

What type of historic resource is Johnson, John, House?

Johnson, John, House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Johnson, John, House a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Johnson, John, House has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Johnson, John, House?

The period of significance for Johnson, John, House is recorded as the industrial era.

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