"Lukens, planning his town, first laid out Main street, and erected on it four houses. He planned the parallel streets of Walnut, Forrest avenue (then called Harts avenue) Race street (Water street), Ainsworth street and Spring Garden street. Several lots were sold for which he realized $50.00 for fifty feet front. Many sales were made, but he could find no one to purchase the north side of Butler avenue which was very discouraging; he thought it good business policy to dispose of the less desirable ones first. These lots were then thought objectionable locations for homes because of the steep decline of their banks and the stream of water which ran through their center."
- Mary H.P. Hough, Early History of Ambler
Brief History of the West Side of Butler Avenue
It was the year 1865 when Jonathan Lukens (1808-1886) purchased 36 acres of the west side of Butler Avenue from Isaac Thomas. He sought an opportunity to develop housings and businesses on the tract because of the sawmill that stood during Isaac Thomas' occupation. That sawmill was known as the Clover Mill that stood along Race Street.
Fun Fact #1: The sawmill was considered the first industry built in the town.
Architecture
Lukens first laid out Main Street where four houses were built. His home was built in 1867 by Ambler's well-known builder Albert Beck (1846-1919). It was unknown who built the other three homes, but we know all four buildings were built in the same architectural style: Gothic Revival.
The most notable features I found in all the four homes that classifies as Gothic Revival style:
Half-arched Gothic windows on the sides
Gabled roof with a pitched cross gable
Gothic arched windows on the front gable
Porch
Based on the color-codes of the 1886 map, the four homes were framed buildings, and we know that those homes were built some time before 1877.
"The Gothic Revival style in America was advanced by architects Alexander Jackson Davis and especially Andrew Jackson Downing, authors of influential house plan books, Rural Residences (1837), Cottage Residences (1842), and The Architecture of Country Houses (1850). This style was promoted as an appropriate design for rural settings, with its complex and irregular shapes and forms fitting well into the natural landscape. Thus, the Gothic Revival style was often chosen for country homes and houses in rural or small town settings."
- PHMC, "Gothic Revival Style 1830 - 1860"
Bibliography
"Erected A Town." Ambler Gazette. December 22, 1898. Page 2. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/wivp-gazett/id/341/rec/2.
"Gothic Revival Style 1830 - 1860." Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Last modified August 26, 2015. http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/architecture/styles/gothic-revival.html.
Hough, Mary P. H. "Early history of Ambler 1682-1888.” A Celebration of Women Writers. Accessed September 3, 2022. https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hough/ambler/ambler.html.
Scott, J. D. Montgomery County 1877, Gwynedd, North Wales, Ambler, Royer's Ford, Limerick Station, 1877.
Scott, J.D. North Pennsylvania Railroad 1886 Philadelphia - Bucks - Montgomery Counties, Ambler, 1886.
"Sketches of History. Facts Concerning the Early Days of Ambler." Ambler Gazette. January 22, 1903. Page 2. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/wivp-gazett/id/3072/rec/17.
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