115 Elfreth's Alley

Haines, the son-in-law of cabinetmaker Daniel Trotter, had purchased the lot, including a blacksmith’s shop and stable, in 1804.  Seven years later, those buildings were demolished and a pair of houses had been erected in their place.

House 115 was home to sea captains, a painter, a night watchman, and bartender over the past two hundred years.  However, the house holds a special place in the history of the Alley not for its association with a particular person, but with an organization.  It was in this house in 1934 that the Elfreth’s Alley Association was formed.  During the 1930s and 40s, Dolly Ottey operated The Hearthstone, a tearoom, out of House 115.  By serving chipped beef on toast (15¢) to local businessmen she and the Association were able to raise funds and awareness for the preservation of Elfreth’s Alley.

The Elfreth’s Alley Association was instrumental in first saving homes that had been abandoned or were in poor physical condition and threatened with demolition in this neighborhood that contemporary newspapers called a “slum.”  Rescued properties included the Museum Houses 124 and 126, House 108, which had lost a party wall when its neighbor to the east was demolished, and 1 and 2 Bladen’s Court, located directly behind House 115.  Then, in the 1950s, the Association brought their preservation fight to the national level when plans for I-95 called for the demolition of the entire street.  A National Historic Landmark since 1959, Elfreth’s Alley was one of the first historic sites in the country to receive this prestigious designation.