The Johnson House

The Johnson House is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, dedicated 1995.

6306 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia

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Built in 1768 for John Johnson. This was home to three generations of a Quaker family who worked to abolish slavery and improve living conditions for freed African Americans. In the 1850s this house was a station on the Underground Railroad. Here and in smaller buildings on the property, men and women escaping slavery found shelter on their way to freedom.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

1752 · A map of Philadelphia and parts adjacent with a perspective view of the State-house… (Leiden University Libraries)
1755 · North America from the French of Mr. D'Anville, improved with the back settlements of… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1775 · A general map of the Middle British Colonies in America viz. Virginia, Maryland… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1780 · A new and accurate map of the province of Pennsylvania in North America, from the best… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1807 · Armees Americaine et Britannique en 1776 et 1777 dans le Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Armees Americaine et Britannique en 1776 et 1777 dans le Maryland, 1807, covering the location of The Johnson House, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Armees Americaine et Britannique en 1776 et 1777 dans le Maryland, 1807, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

More markers nearby

On the National Register nearby

John Johnson House90 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.