Headquartered in the Whitpain 1895 Public School, the Wissahickon Valley Historical Society serves to educate the public about the heritage and history of the people, institutions and events that have influenced and shaped the communities of the Wissahickon School District which encompasses Whitpain Township, Lower Gwynedd Township and the Borough of Ambler.
Founded in 1975 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, the Wissahickon Valley Historical Society’s purpose is to preserve the local historical buildings, artifacts and folklore of the historic Wissahickon Valley.
The Franklinville School c.1858 is a white stucco one-room schoolhouse on an acre of ground, located at 1701 Morris Road, Blue Bell, between Normandy Farms Estates and the Windermere Community. It is the only one-room schoolhouse open to the public in Whitpain Township.
The two-story schoolhouse has a Library containing deeds, wills, photos, books, maps and genealogies, a 19th Century School Room and a Museum of local artifacts, focusing on items, pictures and records from the early farms and our industrial past.
Featured
Sunday, September 14, 2025
WVHS 50th Anniversary Luncheon
1:00-4:00 at the William Penn Inn
$65 pp
Happy Anniversary WVHS – tickets are now available! The featured speaker will be historian and lecturer Michael Jesberger on “Blue Bell’s Skippack Pike and the Road to Valley Forge.” Celebrate history with us! Buffet lunch; cash bar, raffle baskets.
To donate or to purchase tickets ($65), please make checks out to “WVHS” and mail to PO Box 96, Ambler, PA 19002, or pay through Venmo or PayPal. For PayPal, click on the Donate button below, or go to https://www.wvalleyhs.org/donate/ Then at “Donate,” choose “50th Anniversary Tickets” and follow the prompts. For Venmo, please note “WVHS Anniversary Tickets.”
Campaign to Preserve the Franklinville School
Donations are needed for the Franklinville School. In the past two years, WVHS has replaced the electrical panel, added drainage from the crawl space, replaced the front porch floor, repaired the porch roof, and replaced the roof. WVHS has done its best to find and use grant funding. However, water is still causing damage to the Franklinville School’s walls. We need to repair broken windowsills and paint and seal the outside walls.
Please consider a generous gift to WVHS, marked for the Franklinville School. You can make your check payable to “WVHS” and mail to: WVHS, P.O. Box 96, Ambler, PA 19002.
You can also donate using Venmo or PayPal at: https://www.wvalleyhs.org/donate/
Thank you!
Join us for WVHS 50th Anniversary! It will be Sunday, September 14 at the William Penn Inn from 1-4
In the July issue of The Valley Crier you will find news about WVHS – and about history in the news:
Read about St. John Church and Grog Hill in the July issue of Stroll Blue Bell