Harriton House

Built in 1704 by Welsh Quaker Rowland Ellis, this handsome stone house is one of few that represent early American domestic architecture in the Philadelphia area. The name Harriton derives from the property's 1719 sale to tobacco planter Richard Harrison. Though a Quaker, Harriton brought tobacco culture and African slaves with him, creating the northernmost plantation operated on the slave economy prior to the Revolution. In 1774 Charles Thomson married Harriton's daughter, and spent his retirement at Harriton from 1789 until 1824. Thomson was the first and only Secretary to the Continental Congress. Today Harriton House has been restored to the period of Charles Thomson's occupancy, furnished with 18th century American decorative arts, including objects owned and used by Thomson. Originally a 700- acre estate, the House now occupies a beautiful 16-acre park.

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