On this day in Graeme Park history, Elizabeth’s sister Mary Jane Graeme and her husband James Young passed away. Jane died in 1759 in childbirth with the couple’s fourth child. She was 32 years old. James outlived his wife by 20 years, passing away in 1779.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: This photograph of the parlor, taken by Frank Cousins, dates to sometime between 1865 and 1914 and is held by the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. It is one of a collection of 18 of his photographs held by the library featuring the interior and exterior of the […]
On June 14, 2014 we had a visitor who worked for Mr. Strawbridge in 1954 — he shared the following memories with us: Mr. Strawbridge was in his 70s and the visitor was 15 at the time of his employment. He was paid $1/hour and his job was to sweep out the fireplaces in the […]
As part of our 300-Year Celebration we’d like to collect your memories of and stories about Graeme Park. Did you tour the house or visit with Mrs. Strawbridge? Sneak over to hunt for ghosts when it was still an old abandoned house? Work or volunteer here? Please share your memories with us and we’ll share […]
Christmas in the colonies was celebrated differently, and sometimes not at all, by each ethnic group who settled here, bringing traditions from their homeland. Graeme Park was home to the Scottish Keith and Graeme families, Irish and German servants, enslaved workers, and later the Quaker Penroses. As you tour the rooms of the Keith House, […]
Join us Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays beginning April 30 to tour the historic Keith House at Graeme Park. A knowledgeable tour guide will lead you through the summer kitchen and three story preserved structure, engaging you with the history of the former residents of Graeme Park. Due to Covid restrictions, groups will be limited in […]
We were recently presented with a few artifacts that a park visitor had found on the grounds – a metal shank button and what appears to be a handle from a piece of furniture. Please note, as a state property, we do not allow digging or metal detecting, and any remains that may wash up […]
Governor William Keith, the first owner of Graeme Park, helped to rid the port of Philadelphia from the scourge of Blackbeard the Pirate. The Schooner Pursuit Historical Society will be here with their mobile museum to educate visitors on the difference between pirates and privateers, sign up recruits, and tell you about life at sea […]
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. (Attributed to Mark Twain) In the summer and fall of 1793 yellow fever gripped Philadelphia, the capital of the United States. Benjamin Rush, the most prominent doctor in Philadelphia, wrote to his wife Julia Stockton in Trenton on September 13, 1793. “My Dear Julia, Alive! And tho […]
Mention Graeme Park to a Horsham resident, and most will tell you it’s haunted! The stories of Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson’s ghost have been circulating since her death in 1801 and continue to be experienced by our staff and volunteers today. The Horsham police dread the nighttime alarms they are sometimes called upon to answer at […]