2023 Night of Light
Projection Site Building Histories
8202 Germantown Avenue (Fresh Market)
The barn of the Hartwell Dairy Farm was located behind the Kerper house at Germantown Ave. and Hartwell Lane.
8202 Germantown Avenue (Fresh Market)
German immigrants Julius and Catherine Kerper purchased the land in 1765. The family suffered great losses from British soldiers during the Revolutionary War, and Hessian soldiers captured but later released Kerper’s son, Jacob. The Kerper house was destroyed and rebuilt in 1795. A cider mill and dairy farm operated on the site. Caroline Kerper, a teacher at Jenks public school, was the last to live in the house. At that time, she was still using gas for lighting, heat from coal set in the fireplaces, and water drawn from a pump in the backyard. This was the largest Colonial house in Chestnut Hill, standing for more than 150 years until it was torn down c.1949 by George W. Scheetz, an automobile dealer.
The Koelle Ford dealer as it appeared c.1980.
Starting in c.1950, Carr Ford, Koelle Ford, and then Magarity Ford car dealerships occupied the lot until Magarity closed in 2008. It was bought by Bowman Properties in 2014, which built the current multi-use residential and commercial building in 2016 from a design by Runyan and Associates, Architects.
8238 Germantown Avenue (Moondance Farm Studios)
8238 Germantown Avenue as it appeared immediately after its 1968 “colonialization.”
After the Chestnut Hill Pediatric Group’s offices at 8238 Germantown Avenue closed c.2000, the building underwent renovations. Shown is the building as it appeared immediately after the renovations were completed, 2001.
Built in 1902 as a pair of 2-story stores and dwellings designed in a typical Philadelphia Row House style, these were consolidated in 1958 for the Chestnut Hill Pediatric Group. Major interior and exterior alterations were completed by the Pediatric Group during the “colonialization” of the Avenue, in 1968.The building was the home of JMS Gallery in 2003, and it currently houses Moondance Farm Studios and the offices of Bowman Properties, which owns the building.
8331 Germantown Avenue
This postcard from the late-1960’s shows O’Donnell’s Chestnut Hill Stationery store located at 8335 Germantown Avenue. This is one of a connected row of 5 2-story buildings built in 1926-27. Henry O’Donnell Sr. bought this building and opened O’Donnell’s Stationery here in 1954.
The O’Donnell’s also operated an office and computer supply and an art supply store here. In the 1990’s, O’Doodle’s Creative Stuff Kids Love was opened in the adjacent retail space. Although the two stores had separate entrances, their store spaces were shared. In c.1995, O’Donnell’s expanded to the south, by building what is now 8331 Germantown Avenue. At around the same time, Staples would open down the Avenue; this competition made it difficult for O’Donnell’s to remain open as a stationery store. In 1997 the family got out of the stationery business, and Fran O’Donnell became the sole owner of O’Doodles. The site was sold to Bowman Properties, in February 2001, Ten Thousand Villages occupied 8331 for almost 20 years, starting in 2003.
An undated photograph of O’Donnell’s Stationery/O’Doodle’s toy store/O’Donnell’s Office and Computer Supplies, 8335 Germantown Avenue, with O’Donnell’s Art Supply, 8331 Germantown Avenue, visible at the far right.
8517-8519 Germantown Avenue
At the left are 8517-8519 Germantown Avenue, shown in this 1990 panoramic photo.
8517-8519 Germantown Avenue was built by developer Isaac S. Currier in 1885, along with 8521 Germantown Avenue,and originally appeared to be a twin. In 1930, 8517 was the home of William Lee’s laundry, with Donald H. Gregory, paperhanger, next door at 8519.
Paul Scherr, architect, undertook alterations in 1955 which modified the appearance of 8519 Germantown Avenue and added the second floor to 8517 Germantown Avenue. Now the home of The Bone Appetite, 8517-8519 was Auritt’s Sporting Goods at least as early the 1970s and open until c.1994. The Bone Appetite moved in c.2010.
8450 Germantown Avenue
Kilian’s hardware store as it appeared in 2008.
The present two-story building designed and built by architect and contractor Melvin H. Grebe was built in 1925 for William Kilian, but may have an early-19th century “core” associated with a house and hotel (Donat’s Hotel) within it. Kilian’s used to have its hardware store across Germantown Avenue, at 8441 prior to 1925, when the present building at 8450 Germantown Avenue was completed. Kilian’s has since remained at its present location.
8333-8341 Germantown Avenue
Gabriel’s salon as it appeared shortly after the 1963 “colonialization” of its facade.
A similar view of the storefront of 8341 Germantown Avenue, as it appeared in 2020, long after the façade had been renovated, to reopen the storefront windows.
A panoramic view of 8333-8341 Germantown Avenue taken in 1990, with 8341 Germantown Avenue visible at the left.
Designed by the Penwood Company and built in 1926-1927 in a Spanish style by developer and contractor William Sher, the building at 8333-8341 Germantown Avenue consists of a series of five storefronts with apartments above. The exterior of the second floor has remained largely unchanged since its construction; however, many of the facades of the storefronts have been altered, including that at 8341. In 1963, the storefront of 8341 was “colonialized,” which involved the sealing of its windows with cinderblock. At the time, Gabriel’s French Beauty Salon occupied the storefront, where it would remain until c.1983. In the mid-1980s, Noodles café opened there; at this time, the windows previously sealed in were reopened. Noodles café, followed by Roller’s Express-O, and Rollers would then follow, with Roller’s remaining in the storefront today.
8512-8514 [8516] Germantown Avenue
The façade of 8512-8514-8516 Germantown Avenue, formerly the home of Blumenthal and Hayman’s grocery store, shortly before it was “colonialized” in 1956.
A similar view of 8512-8514-8516 Germantown Avenue, after the “colonialization.”
This one-story storefront at 8512-8516 Germantown Avenue was designed by architects Hodgens & Hill and was built in 1934 by the Philip Harbach Contracting Company for the Blumenthal and Hayman grocery market. It remained unchanged until 1956, when the façade was altered for Dorothy Bullitt’s dress shop, which had moved into the location in the early 1950s. Since then, the façade remains largely unchanged. As for the dress shop, it remained there until c.1991 and was replaced by Kay Bee Toys a short time later. After a series of businesses moved in and out of the storefront for a number of years, 8512-8516 Germantown Avenue has been the home of the Chestnut Hill Welcome Center since c.2018.