110 Elfreth's Alley

Though their facades appear slightly different today, all three houses originally looked like House 110.

Like its neighbors to the east, House 110 was initially home to people associated with the waterfront. Mary Robbins, the “widow” of shipwright John Robbins and the first owner of the house, rented her property to mariners and sea captains throughout the late 1700s. Later, two separate pewtersmiths, John Brumstrom and Parks Boyd, lived in the house. Boyd is representative of the caliber of artisan who lived on the Alley during the Colonial period – one of his pieces was recently auctioned at Sotheby’s for more than $6,000!

In the early 20th century, when the Alley was the home to immigrants from all over Europe, the Enisohns – a Russian Jewish family – lived in House 110. Widow Jenny Enisohn only spoke Yiddish; her sons Abraham and Harry ran a fruit store and daughter Fannie was a milliner.