Call Number:

2004.198

Repository:

Chestnut Hill Historical Society

Extent:

0.75 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

2004.198

Date:

circa 1905-1996

Creator:

Smith, Sallie L. O.

Abstract:

Henry Howard Houston (1820-1895) was a prominent Philadelphia businessman and philanthropist influential in the development of Chestnut Hill. After his death, he left a building and property in Chestnut Hill to the Philadelphia Cricket Club. The Sallie L. O. Smith Collection on the Henry H. Houston Estate, circa 1905-1996, includes correspondence and other materials concerning Philadelphia Cricket Club and the estate of Henry H. Houston.

Henry Howard Houston (1820-1895) was a prominent Philadelphia businessman and philanthropist. He worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad beginning in 1851, and became a high-ranking executive. Houston convinced the Pennsylvania Railroad to run the west line to Chestnut Hill, opening in 1884. As a property developer, he helped establish the affluent neighborhoods of Chestnut Hill and Germantown. In 1883-1884 he built the Wissahickon Inn in Chestnut Hill, which later became Chestnut Hill Academy. Brothers G.W. and W.D. Hewitt designed his mansion, Druim Moir, in Chestnut Hill in 1885-1886. He also paid for the Hewitt brothers to design St. Martin-in-the-Fields church, built 1888-1889, in Chestnut Hill. He donated a building and property in Chestnut Hill to the Philadelphia Cricket Club. Sallie L. O. Smith is a descendant of Houston.

This collection includes correspondence and other materials concerning Philadelphia Cricket Club and the estate of Henry H. Houston. There is property-related correspondence about leases, taxes and mortgages on the Philadelphia Cricket Club building, as well as administrative records of the club, including member lists and annual reports. The collection includes a site plan for the club grounds (dated 1905), and a canvas sign hung at "Druim Moir" (the Houston family mansion) during World War I, indicating the family's move to a smaller house on West Mermaid Lane after many servants left for military service.