The John Knowles House

According to records, the John Knowles House property of Washington Crossing PA was the northern most point of the First Walking Purchase made by William Penn from the Lenape Indians on July 15, 1682. The Walking Purchase included lands from the mouth of the Neshaminy Creek to Towssisink Creek (now referred to as Jericho Creek or Knowles Creek). The property was transferred to The London Company, a joint stock company chartered by the King of England; the first deeded sale of the property took place March 14, 1722.

The John Knowles House was built between 1725 and 1730. It was a Quaker style English cottage made of fieldstone and set on a fieldstone foundation. It had a brick basement floor made of ballast brick, reportedly moved to the site from Philadelphia. The construction was very similar and ran parallel to the Thompson-Neely House about a mile up the road in Washington Crossing Historic Park. The two houses represent the evolution of simple farmsteads of early settlers to a more substantial vernacular Georgian farmhouse with hall and parlor plans. The John Knowles House represents a pristine example of an early Quaker settler house that was the standard of the day. The house has been continuously occupied for almost 300 years.

Over the years, the house has been transformed. According to the home owners, initially a second floor was added, and then a much larger addition added around 1770. John and Mary Knowles were great, great, great grandparents of Audrey Knowles Stradling Thompson.