Erdenheim Farm


Erdenheim Farm is a 450-acre working farm in Springfield and Whitemarsh Townships, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located just outside the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, it is bordered by the Morris Arboretum to the east, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club to the south, Carson Valley School to the north, and Corson's Quarry to the west. The Wissahickon Creek flows through the farm, and Stenton Avenue crosses it. All but 23 acres of the land is now protected from development by preservation easements.

Early history

In 1765, Johannes Georg Hocker, a German immigrant, paid £1,600 to buy 200 acres in Springfield Township west of the Wissahickon Creek. He named his farm "Erdenheim," meaning "Earthly Home."

Welch

created Erdenheim Stock Farm in 1861, on about 150 acres east of the Wissahickon Creek. He bred some of the finest thoroughbred racehorses in the United States. In 1872, he purchased the British stud Leamington, who sired the champions Iroquois, Harold, and Saunterer at Erdenheim. Welch expanded his land holdings to 280 acres, including the old Hocker farmhouse. By 1881, his stables held more than a hundred horses.
The road to Norristown forded the Wissahickon Creek at Erdenheim Farm. The circa-1866 construction of a bridge at Lancasterville Road led to the closing of the ford, and the diversion of Flourtown Road northward through the Lukens Farm.

Kittson

Welch sold the stock farm and its thoroughbreds to Norman Kittson for $100,000 in 1882. The property included a 1-mile racetrack, a 1/2-mile track, and a covered 1/8-mile track. To this, Kittson added the Lukens Farm, bringing his land holdings to about 400 acres.
Following Kittson's death in 1888, his Estate auctioned off the thoroughbreds.

Carson

Kittson's son Louis sold the stock farm and the Lukens Farm to Robert N. Carson in 1896. He had made his fortune in Philadelphia streetcar lines, first horse-drawn, then electrified. He altered the old Hocker farmhouse into a "rustic" summer house.
In his Will, Carson bequeathed 100 acres of the stock farm and a $5 million endowment to found Carson College for Orphan Girls, modeled on Philadelphia's Girard College for Orphan Boys.

Widener

, a grandson and heir of Peter A. B. Widener, lost his father and brother on the RMS Titanic in 1912. That same year, he purchased Erdenheim Farm from the Estate of Carson's widow. Widener had architect Horace Trumbauer alter and expand Carson's "rustic" house into a 60-room Colonial Revival mansion, "Erdenheim", and design a number of matching barns and outbuildings.
He became a major figure in thoroughbred horseracing, and served as president of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. His champions included Jamestown, winner of the 1930 Belmont Futurity Stakes; Eight Thirty, winner of the 1940 Massachusetts Handicap; and Jaipur, winner of the 1962 Belmont Stakes. He kept his thoroughbreds at Erdenheim Farm and Old Kenney Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. A. Jack Joyner was Widener's trainer, 1917-1932, and lived on Erdenheim Farm until his death in 1943. Bert Mulholland began working for Widener in 1923, and was his trainer, 1933-1967.
Widener wed Jessie Sloane Dodge in 1917. They were married for more than fifty years, but had no children. Upon his death in 1971, he bequeathed Erdenheim Farm and his entire Estate to his nephew, Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr..

Briar Hill

Widener's cousin, William McIntire Elkins, purchased an adjacent 95-acre tract and hired Trumbauer to design his mansion, "Briar Hill". Elkins's widow sold the mansion on 47 acres to Dr. Stephen J. Deichelmann in 1948, who converted it into Eugenia Hospital, a psychiatric facility. The land along Flourtown Road, she sold to Widener.

Dixon

Dixon raised thoroughbred horses, Aberdeen Angus cattle, and Border Cheviot sheep. His horses also competed in show jumping and dressage. He kept the farm largely intact for thirty years.
The farm is divided into five tracts:
The Hill at Whitemarsh, established in the early 2000s, as a retirement community, bought Eugenia Hospital, intending to demolish it and built a 55+ age group cluster-housing and luxury apartments. In 2001, Dixon sold about 50 acres of the Angus Tract to the retirement community. In reaction to this sale, a non-profit organization, the Whitemarsh Foundation, was founded to preserve Erdenheim Farm.
Since Dixon's death in 2006, his heirs have sold the land in a series of transactions. However, given the hard work of organizations and government entities such as the Whitemarsh Foundation, Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, Preservation Society, public and private foundation records illustrate that such work, just as the Wiedners and Dixon did himself, and donations from the McCausland family do work. The farm has remained undevelopmented since The Hill at Whitemarsh's construction, although 2018-2021 are in being executed for Hawk Ridge development, an area where agnus used to graze, but is owned by the Hill. However, a given the large majority of the farm, mostly untouched since the time of William Penn is preserved in perpetuity, the continuation of what is, the farm today, will live on, through philanthrophy, donations, and those who drive by. It is a lasting symbol of what American was, and still is today. Its location right on the border of Philadelphia county, Erdenheim Farm, "the central park" of our region, preserved for all to enjoy, will exist in its likeness for decades to come and enjoy.