Beth Sholom Synagogue
Frank Lloyd Wright's only synagogue, a National Historic Landmark on Old York Road in Elkins Park. Guided tours book online and are the only way to see the documentary The Story of Beth Sholom.
Tours in the burbs
Every tours spot we vouch for, across every town we cover. Cross a town line for the good ones. That's the whole point.
The picks
- Beth Sholom Synagogue
- Doylestown Historical Society
- Fonthill Castle
- Ghost Tours of New Hope
- Harriton House
- Historic Hope Lodge
- Historic Sugartown
- Historic Summerseat
- Historic Trappe
- Moravian Pottery and Tile Works
- Morgan Log House
- New Hope Railroad
- Parry Mansion Museum
- Pennypacker Mills
- Peter Wentz Farmstead
- PHS Meadowbrook Farm
- Taste Kennett Food Tours
- West Chester Railroad
- Wharton Esherick Museum
- Yardley Historical Association
Doylestown Historical Society
The borough's own historical society runs walking tours, lectures, and a research archive on Doylestown's past from its South Main Street home. Thirty years in, it is now marking America's 250th with new publications and programs.
Fonthill Castle
Henry Mercer's concrete castle: 44 rooms, 18 fireplaces, over 200 windows, poured by hand with the help of a horse named Lucy. Every surface is tiled — his own Arts and Crafts work alongside Persian and Spanish pieces he collected.
Ghost Tours of New Hope
A lantern-led walk that leaves the corner of Main and Ferry at 8pm, covering a mile of New Hope's ghost stories: the Lady in White down by the Delaware, the restless guests at the 1727 Logan Inn. Adele Gamble has been guiding these tours since the mid-'80s, working from the research of the paranormal author who started them in 1981.
Harriton House
An 18th-century stone house and working farmstead on Harriton Road, kept as a museum by the township. Guided tours, and public events out on the grounds.
Historic Hope Lodge
A Georgian mansion built between 1743 and 1748 by Quaker entrepreneur Samuel Morris, possibly with advice from Edmund Woolley, the architect of Independence Hall. Washington's Continental Army camped in the Whitemarsh Hills from November 2 to December 11, 1777; guided tours run most Sundays, April through October.
Historic Sugartown
Preserved 19th-century crossroads village with a general store, carriage museum, the circa-1805 Garrett House, and a working book bindery. Grounds are open daily 9 to 5 year-round; guided tours run Saturdays and Sundays May through November, with parking at 273 Boot Road.
Historic Summerseat
A 1760s mansion that served as George Washington's headquarters December 8 to 14, 1776, and was later owned by Robert Morris and George Clymer, both signers of the Declaration and the Constitution. The Historic Morrisville Society opens it for $7 tours the first Saturday of each month, 10 to 1.
Historic Trappe
Three museum buildings along West Main Street in Trappe, the next borough over from Collegeville: the Speaker's House, the Muhlenberg House, and Dewees Tavern, whose five galleries hold Pennsylvania German furniture, fraktur, textiles, and pottery. Open Fridays through Sundays in summer, with Muhlenberg House tours departing on the hour from Dewees Tavern.
Moravian Pottery and Tile Works
Henry Mercer built this tile factory between 1911 and 1912, and it still presses handmade Moravian tiles today. Tour the historic workshops and watch the craftsmen at work, or make your own 3-inch tile to pick up about four weeks later.
Morgan Log House
Log house museum on a Towamencin property established in 1708, covering life here from that year through 1960. Guided tours run Fridays through Sundays at noon, 1, and 2 from April to December, and the grounds are open sunrise to sunset at no charge.
New Hope Railroad
Heritage trains have departed the 1891 Witch's Hat station on West Bridge Street since 1966, rolling south through the Buckingham Valley on tracks first laid by the North-East Pennsylvania Railroad. The lineup now includes four-person pedal-assist rail bikes if you would rather ride the rails at 5 mph yourself.
Parry Mansion Museum
Benjamin Parry built this stone house in 1784, and it's now home to the New Hope Historical Society. The guided tour runs through 11 rooms, each furnished to a different era across the five Parry generations who lived here, so the place shifts from candlelight to electric bulbs as you walk it.
Pennypacker Mills
Governor Samuel Pennypacker's mansion, a circa-1720 house redesigned and enlarged in 1901 by architect Arthur Brockie, runs free guided tours starting on the hour and half-hour, Tuesday through Sunday. The rooms are still fully furnished with the antiques he collected chasing early Pennsylvania history.
Peter Wentz Farmstead
Restored 1758 Pennsylvania German farmhouse where George Washington headquartered in 1777, now a Montgomery County historic site with livestock and a kitchen garden. Guided tours run on the hour Tuesday through Sunday, suggested donation $2.
PHS Meadowbrook Farm
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's free public garden, where xeric beds and an herb garden sit alongside a stone wall garden of cloud- and espalier-pruned trees. Open mid-April through mid-October, with garden tours the third Saturday of the month, May through September.
Taste Kennett Food Tours
Guided walking food tours of downtown Kennett Square, hitting a handful of restaurants and shops in one afternoon. A good way to eat your way through State Street and pick up the town's history along the way.
West Chester Railroad
A heritage railroad running restored coaches out of the East Market Street station toward Glen Mills. Seasonal rides that pick up with the fall foliage and the holiday trains.
Wharton Esherick Museum
Wharton Esherick's hand-built hillside studio is the exhibit itself: a National Historic Landmark for Architecture holding his furniture, sculpture, and hammer-handle chairs. Tours run March through December, Wednesday to Sunday, advance reservations required.
Yardley Historical Association
Keepers of the Old Library by Lake Afton, an 1878 building where Yardley's deeds, maps, and old photographs actually live where you can see them. They also run walking tours down the Delaware Canal towpath, which is the version of town history you take on foot.
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