130 Elfreth's Alley

Clampfer, who already owned the lot to the west, then set about building the pair of houses that would become 130 and 132 Elfreth’s Alley.  The houses were completed by 1749; Clampfer and his family lived around the corner on Second Street and rented out House 130 as an income-producing property.  

Early renters included a nailer, carpenters, tailors, a hatter and a tobacconist.  In addition, Christine McLeod, a widow, ran a boarding house out of the building at the end of the 19th century.  Adam Clampfer’s granddaughter, Anna Maria, and her husband purchased the house in 1795.  The house passed through the hands of their son, George Washington Will, and a French baker before Barney Schumo, a turner, purchased the house in 1808.  Schumo lived in the house with his wife Phoebe and their seven children.  The Schumos also had a washerwoman named simply “Margaret” who lived in the rear of their house.

Later in its lifetime, House 130 housed the Irish O’Brian family, the Dorans, who were first generation Americans, and the Callahans.  Thomas Callahan ran a stable and was later a fireman.  Between 1880 and 1920, there were twelve firemen living on the Alley, many of whom served out of Engine Company 8, right around the corner from the Alley on Second Street (now the Fireman’s Hall Museum).