Boelson Cottage; Friends of Philadelphia Parks

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

This cottage is one of the oldest structures in Philadelphia and was built between 1678 and 1684 in a Dutch and Swedish style which is now rare among remaining Philadelphia-area buildings from the colonial era. The land was deeded to a John Boelson or Jan Boelsen. At the time of the house's construction, this region along the Schuylkill River was extremely rural. As railroad and highway development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries transformed the area once again, it became a wealthy suburban enclave. For hundreds of years, the house was a private residence under a variety of owners, gaining monikers such as Aunt Cornelia’s, Pig’s Eye, Belmont Cottage, and Tom Moore’s House. The home is now the headquarters for the Friends of Philadelphia Parks.

Images

Boelson Cottage by Brian W. Schaller on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Perspective view along southeast elevation of cottage, ca. 1995 by Jack Boucher, HABS PA-5929 via Library of Congress (public domain)

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Boelson (also spelled Boelsen) Cottage is one of the oldest extant structures in the Philadelphia area. It was most likely built between 1678 and 1684, sited on land that was deeded to a John or Jan Boelson. Some sources give a much later date for construction. The architectural style is Dutch or Swedish in origin, which is now rare among existing Philadelphia buildings.

Once a rural area, this land along the Schuylkill River became a suburb for the city's wealthy and was divided by railroads and highways in the nineteenth century. It is possible that the cottage was used as housing for workers from the nearby Belmont Mansion. Over the centuries, the house has been known by many names, including Tom Moore Cottage, Pig's Eye Cottage, Belmont Cottage, and Aunt Cornelia's Cottage.

The cottage stands on land which is now part of Fairmount Park, which was established in the mid-nineteenth century and has grown since then. The National Register of Historic Places recognized the park in 1972.

A wood-framed addition to the cottage was added around 1950. Friends of Philadelphia Parks now occupies the building, renovating it between 1989 and 1990. The U.S. Historic American Buildings Survey documented Boelson Cottage in 1991; it placed the building's construction around 1800, which is inconsistent with the architectural style and historical sources.

Sources

Farber, Lauren. Boelsen Cottage, Architectural Data Form, HABS PA-5929. 1991. Accessed January 14th 2021. https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa2600/pa2608/data/pa2608data.pdf.

St. Stier, Jordan. Boelson Cottage, Atlas Obscura. Accessed January 1st 2021. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/boelson-cottage.

Tatum, George B. Fairmount Park [archived web file], National Register of Historic Places Inventory Form. January 11th 1972. Accessed January 14th 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107224808/https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/CRGIS_Attachments/SiteResource/H001364_01H.pdf.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A598,_Boelson_Cottage,_Fairmount_Park,_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania,_United_States,_2018.jpg

https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.pa2608.photos/?sp=1