Timeline of the Main House at Yellow Springs

Colonization of Yellow Springs

1600 – 1722

1630s – 1680s

• 1630s– Swedes and Finns begin to dwell as traders along the Delaware River to trade with the Indigenous peoples, including what would become Pennsylvania
• 1681– William Penn is granted the land we know today as Pennsylvania
• 1690– One of the oldest recorded permanent settlements in the area, now located at 1461 Art School Road, appears in records as early as 1690. Today, the site is home to the Fagley homestead, built in 1860 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although outside modern-day Yellow Springs, the property reflects the broader settlement of the Pikeland area and once contained a major iron deposit owned by Phoenix Iron Co.

Early 1700s

• 1700s– European settlers (especially German immigrants) began living on this land more permanently. The Hench property, for example, at 1446 Clover Mill Hill just outside modern-day Yellow Springs, is said to date to 1715 and was purchased by the Hench family, German immigrants who were part of a migration from Lehigh, Berks, and Montgomery Counties that began in 1709.
• 1705– William Penn granted a tract of over 30,000 acres to Matthias Vincent, who then leases over 10,000 acres, known as “Pikeland,” to Joseph Pike
• 1721– The “Iron Springs” are first noted on a map of the Township of Pikeland by Isaac Taylor.
  • Another house in the neighboring community of Yellow Springs, the Dietrich House (at modern-day 1337 Art School Road, previously known as Arkadia) has an original construction dating back to 1721.
• 1722– the American Weekly Mercury out of Philadelphia reports on a letter from New York about a mineral spring in the Great Valley about 30 miles away from Philadelphia. This mineral spring would later become known as “Yellow Springs”

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Colonial Era Tavern and Spa

1722 – 1770

• 1737- The “Walking Purchase” dispossessed the Lenape of vast territories in Pennsylvania and forces them out of their ancestral homeland

• 1761– James Martin acquired the license to the tavern and the 160 acres of property surrounding it. The tavern that was on his property is now part of the Washington, and is known as the Brick Room. The Main House would have been part of this purchase, and we believe the original structure was likely used as a dwelling house by this time.
• October 21st, 1762– James Martin and Caleb Harry advertise in the The Pennsylvania Gazette looking to lease the remaining part of the Yellow Springs Plantation. The “dwelling house” mentioned here is likely what is known as the Main House today, though this has not yet been confirmed.

•  May 5th, 1763– John Fairlamb, Sheriff, advertises the sale of the Yellow Springs Plantation (and Tavern) that previously belonged to James Martin. Notably, this advertisement indicates that the sheriff’s sale may have been for only half of the original property, though this is unclear. This advertisement ran in The Pennsylvania Gazette until at least May 19th, 1763.

• May 19th, 1763– Despite the Sheriff’s Sale of Yellow Springs being in effect, stage wagons from Philadelphia to Yellow Springs are advertised by John Cobble. These wagons would carry goods and people from Philadelphia to the spa.

• November 17th, 1763– Jonathan Durell, whose relation to Yellow Springs is currently being researched, places an advertisement about good entertainment at Yellow Springs and that the water is in “good order”. It is unclear who is the current owner of Yellow Springs at this time.

• May 31st, 1764– Advertisements continue for wagon services from Philadelphia to Yellow Springs.

• September 6th, 1764– Philadelphia silversmith John Bayly acquires the village and leases the property.

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The American Revolutionary War

1770 – 1781

• 1771– In April of 1771, the entire property of John Bayly is to be sold by the sheriff to pay off Bayly’s debts.
• February 27th, 1772– Dr. Samuel Kennedy and John Bayly advertised for a tenant at a house at Yellow Springs. This notice predates our earliest records of Kennedy’s purchase of the property and may suggest that the Kennedy family acquired Yellow Springs before 1774. Notably, Bayly was still connected to Yellow Springs at this time.

• 1774– Dr. Samuel Kennedy of East Whiteland purchases the Yellow Springs plantation after the property was sold in foreclosure. Though the Lincoln building has not been built yet, the land that it was on would be part of aa hospital complex at Yellow Springs that served the sick and injured soldiers from Valley Forge
• September 11th, 1777– Battle of Brandywine
  • In the aftermath of the Battle of Brandywine, soldiers fleeing the battlefield are treated and housed by several of the immigrant farmers whose properties neighbored Yellow Springs. Prior to this, in 1776, a Hessian soldier passing through Yellow Springs notes that several “Rebel Hospitals” being operated out of barns in Yellow Springs
• September 16th, 1777– Battle of the Clouds
  • Battle of the Clouds in Frazer is aborted by a nor’easter and the American army marches from Frazer to Yellow Springs to camp in the blinding rainstorm. George Washington stays in the tavern at Yellow Springs while 11,000 troops camp overnight on the Yellow Springs property and leave the next day for Warwick and Redding Furnaces (Elverson)
• January 28th, 1779– Advertisement to Let Property by Sarah and Montgomery Kennedy
  • In the newspaper the Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser, Sarah Kennedy (Dr. Samuel Kennedy’s widow) and Montgomery Kennedy (Dr. Kennedy’s brother) advertise that they are seeking tenants for a number of houses on the Yellow Springs property. The “dwelling house” described here is believed to be the Main House in the modern day.

• 1777-1781– Washington Hall and the Hospital Complex
  • From 1777 to 1781, the Yellow Springs property served as a major hospital complex for the Continental Army. The complex included Washington Hall, a general hospital built between 1777 and 1778 that also served as the headquarters of the Hospital Department; several “rebel” hospitals that operated from barns throughout the village as flying hospitals; and the supply depot for the hospitals of the Middle Department. If the unofficial hospitals described by the Hessian soldier mentioned earlier are included, medical operations at Yellow Springs date back to 1776.
• September 1781– Washington Hall is closed
  • Congress ordered the closure of the hospital complex and Washington Hall at Yellow Springs, despite requests from Dr. Otto, who assumed leadership of the hospital following Dr. Kennedy’s death, that it remain open.

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Fashionable Health Spa

1782 – 1867

• 1783– Captain Alexander McCaraher (a family friend of the Kennedy family) reopens the tavern at Yellow Springs (now the Brick Room of the Washington Building) and repairs “the baths and bath houses.”
• 1789– All of Pikeland Township (East & West) to be sold at auction to satisfy the debts of Andrew Allen owed to Samuel Hoare. 115 terre tenants (persons holding titles to the property but who were not the original debtor who incurred the lien) held land at that time. A man named John Harper operates the inn.
• 1793– the Tavern License for the Yellow Springs Inn (later known as the Washington Building) was granted to Frederick Holman. The tavern is run by Frederick and his wife, Margaret. It is believed that the Holmans lived in what is now the Main House, as the innkeepers were reported to have done historically.
• 1806– Col. James Bones acquires a property contiguous to the Holmans, who were leasing the inn that contained the original Yellow Springs tavern at this time, starting a competition that will continue for three decades.
• 1810– Yellow Springs profiled in The Portfolio, a national magazine. Bones offers to sell his property at auction but it never goes through. In 1816, Bones sells the inn that contained the original tavern (now known as the Washington Building) to Frederick Holman after less than half the lots were sold. It is believed that the Holmans were still living in the Main House.

• 1846– Dr. George Lingen acquired the Yellow Springs property and uses it as a homeopathic facility.

• 1856– Foreclosure sale of Dr. Lingen’s interests in Yellow Springs. August Snyder acquires the Springs.
• 1867– Village and Washington Hall is owned and operated by A. U. Snyder, Esq. It continues to serve as a hotel for visitors to the spa. However, the summer of 1867 was the final season that Yellow Springs served as a resort. After changing hands a number of times, Yellow Springs would eventually be purchased for use as a school for Orphans of the American Civil War.

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Pennsylvania Soldiers’ Orphan School

1868 – 1912

• The Yellow Springs property was sold to the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ Orphan School system. Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.

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Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: Country School

1916 – 1951

• After 1912, The Yellow Springs property was sold to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, who used the property as a country school for student artists. Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.

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Good News Productions

1952 – 1965

• Good News Productions, an evangelical film-making studio operated by Shorty Yeaworth, purchases the Yellow Springs Village. Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.

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Early Years and Formation of the Yellow Springs Foundation

1965 – 1978

• The Yellow Springs Association morphs into the Yellow Springs Foundation. These organizations would later become Historic Yellow Springs. Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.

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Historic Yellow Springs

1978 – today

• Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.

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Further research is ongoing!