Greenville, at 3514 Lancaster Avenue, serves as a stunning symbol of West Philadelphia’s growth and transformation. Originally constructed between 1795 and 1799, the mansion, now the heart of the Old Quaker Apartments, is a powerful testament to the resilience of historic architecture in our City.
Construction of Greenville was conceived by Samuel Blodget, Jr., a politician, real estate developer, economist, and gentleman architect who would meet financial ruin and be unable to finish construction of the home. This mansion would be sited along the newly constructed Lancaster Pike, a prominent highway connecting Philadelphia with the West, and considered to be America’s first engineered road. Samuel and his wife, Rebecca Smith Blodget, would end up living intermittently within the unfinished building, in separate wings, until his death in 1814. Rebecca would ultimately seize control of the mansion after completion by Samuel’s debtors and trustees, thanks to the intervention of her lover, Aaron Burr. The Federal style mansion would then be transformed with Italianate trimmings during the 1850’s by subsequent owners.
In 1866, Greenville would come to serve as the Mission House of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. In 1876, the house was sold to the Pennsylvania Working Home for Blind Men (PWHBM), at which point the grounds would see their most dramatic transformation. In the 1890’s, factory and dormitory buildings for the PWHBM would be constructed to encompass the historic mansion. This working home enabled blind men to earn a living and make a contribution to society by learning a trade. PWHBM would occupy the site until 1979.
In the early 20th century, the complex sat at the confluence of the Black Bottom, Powelton Village, and the growing campuses of Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania. The areas immediately to the south of Greenville would be dramatically transformed through wholescale urban renewal during this time.
Today, the complex has been adaptatively re-used for apartment living. With the towers of uCity Square and Drexel University now surrounding the mansion, it is incredible to think of the transformation that this building has been witness to during its 220-year history. And thankfully, through recent protection on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, that history will continue to evolve, just as West Philadelphia has, for many more years.
