The Rhoads of Ashley Farm

History Spotlight by Doug Humes

Photos courtesy of Newtown Square Historical Society

The Rhoads family in Marple is well known for starting and operating the oldest business enterprise in the country — a tannery — for close to 300 years. A branch of the family sprouted in Newtown in 1790 when Joseph Rhoads bought a 192-acre parcel and built a house for his family. His son William Rhoads Sr. married Anna Pancoast Levis in 1822, and he began building her a beautiful new home on the site, using timber harvested on the farm property. In 1825, they moved in to a three-story home with three chimneys, four 3rd-floor gables and a large front porch, descending to a circular driveway leading to the West Chester Road.

A large home, it had to be to accommodate the two sons and five daughters born there. It is said that each time a daughter was born, the parents planted an ash tree. The ash trees then multiplied on the property, leading them to call it the Ashley farm.

The beautiful Rhoad farmhouse, named “Ashley”

Like many local farmers, William Rhoads’ trip to the Philadelphia markets had to pass along the unpaved West Chester Road. Travel in that day was dusty and dirty in hot weather, muddy in wet weather, and rutted and frozen in winter. Like the potholes of today, the ruts could threaten the wooden wheels and axles of the farm wagons of the day. Rhoads took on the problem, gathering support and raising money to fund the Philadelphia and West Chester Turnpike Company, to build a plank road turnpike between the two places in 1848. He served as president of the Company from its inception until his death in 1863.

William Rhoads, Sr., who built the Ashley home

William Jr. lived on at the Ashley farmhouse, with his mother. He stepped into his father’s shoes as president of the Turnpike Company and continued the farm until 1887, when he sold the property to the Pennsylvania Hospital. He continued to live in the old house as the manager and superintendent of the farm until his death there in 1903.

1848 map showing Ashley farm on the north side of the West Chester Turnpike. The school across the street is the Octagonal School, built in 1842.

The grand old house lived on, in the operation of the Hospital farm, and then as the Dowden Convalescent Home from 1948 until 1989. Needing new and modern space, Dowden demolished the old house to build a modern nursing home that opened in 1990. Dowden closed in 2000, and the building was later renovated and now houses the Brynchester apartments.

The only remaining signs of the Rhoads? An old springhouse, perhaps some ash trees, and Rhoads Avenue.

For more history on Newtown Square, Delaware County, and Newtown Square Historical Society (NSHS) membership information and events, please visit the NSHS website: www. NSHistory.org. And see this magazine’s Calendar of Events for upcoming NSHS-sponsored events.