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History · Fort Washington

Fort Washington’s post office opened in 1878, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1990.

1878first post office
1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fort Washington’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fort Washington began

When was Fort Washington founded?

1878

The Fort Washington post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 3,699 in 19902020 census: 5,910148 years
Founding year: the first Fort Washington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fort Washington’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18936 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1999. Watch Fort Washington change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fort Washington’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fort Washington’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFederal - Fort Washington, PA - The Hig…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Fort Washington on the map, 1893 to 1999

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fort Washington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fort Washington on the 1893 USGS mapFort Washington on the 1952 USGS mapFort Washington on the 1966 USGS mapFort Washington on the 1973 USGS mapFort Washington on the 1983 USGS mapFort Washington on the 1999 USGS map1893Germantown sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fort Washington.

The story

How Fort Washington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fort Washington.

Read it all →

Prior to the American Revolutionary War, present-day Fort Washington was settled by German immigrants, including Philip Engard who immigrated in 1728. Engard purchased a 100 acres (40 ha) lot of land on what was to be named Susquehanna Road and Fort Washington Avenue. By the mid-18th century, the area came to be known as Engardtown, and Fort Washington Avenue was originally called Engardtown Road. The house built by Philip Engard is listed as the "Engard Family Home - 1765" in the Upper Dublin Township Open Space & Environmental Resource Protection Plan - 2005, as part of the Upper Dublin Historical Properties #25.

ChaptersAmerican Revolutionary WarGreat Train Wreck of 1856Incorporation into Upper Dublin Township

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Fort Washington, 1884–1923

Passages that mention Fort Washington, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Fort Washington is situated near the Upper Dublin line, at the intersection of the Spring House turnpike and North Pennsylvania Railroad. It contains two stores, hotel, post-office, railroad-station, coal and lumber-yard and about eighteen houses. The postoffice was removed here from Whitemarsh vil…
History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania1884 · page 1148Read the page →
Read the text

Fort Washington is situated near the Upper Dublin line, at the intersection of the Spring House turnpike and North Pennsylvania Railroad. It contains two stores, hotel, post-office, railroad-station, coal and lumber-yard and about eighteen houses. The postoffice was removed here from Whitemarsh village in 1873 and A. H. Cam appointed postmaster,- who still retains the position . Its title was changed from White-

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Spring Mill ; also the Schuylkill navigation for the same distance. The North Pennsylvania Railroad crosses the eastern angle near the Upper Dublin line for about a mile, with a station at Fort Washington. The Plymouth Railroad passes through its central part upwards of three miles, with stations a…
History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania1884 · page 1138Read the page →
Read the text

Spring Mill ; also the Schuylkill navigation for the same distance. The North Pennsylvania Railroad crosses the eastern angle near the Upper Dublin line for about a mile, with a station at Fort Washington. The Plymouth Railroad passes through its central part upwards of three miles, with stations at Plymouth Meeting, Williams and Flourtown. TheSchuylki.l Valley Railroad was commenced in 1883 r.nd fin-

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Conrad augers were first made by John Conrad in 1806, continuing until 1857, then moved to Fort Washington. The one-horse powers for threshing machines were made at Blue Bell by Samuel F. Shaeff in 1847. Mowing and reaping machines were first introduced and worked by Robert Findlay, of Centre S…
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania1923 · page 351Read the page →
Read the text

The Conrad augers were first made by John Conrad in 1806, continuing until 1857, then moved to Fort Washington. The one-horse powers for threshing machines were made at Blue Bell by Samuel F. Shaeff in 1847. Mowing and reaping machines were first introduced and worked by Robert Findlay, of Centre Square. This was of the Hussey pattern, and when operated it required eight men including the driver to operate it. So it will be observed that whatever the near-by farmer needed in way of tools and machinery, could be found of the real home-made

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Fort Washington, 1893 to 1992

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1989In the archiveFederal - Fort Washington, PA - The Highlands (1)
  5. 1992Born hereAndrew Sherk is born here
By decade

Fort Washington, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s3 items
Federal - Fort Washington, PA - The Highlands (1)1989Federal - Fort Washington, PA - The Highlands (1)Federal - Fort Washington, PA - The Highlands (2)1989Federal - Fort Washington, PA - The Highlands (2)Federal - Fort Washington, PA - The Highlands (3)1989Federal - Fort Washington, PA - The Highlands (3)
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Looking southeast towards collapsed garage; rear of house in distance. - Scheetz Farm, Garage, 7161 Camp Hill Road, For…2000Looking southeast towards collapsed garage; rear of h…LOOKING NORTHEAST ALONG STONE TERRACE WALL TOWARD SOUTHWEST ELEVATION OF HOUSE. - Scheetz Farm, 7161 Camp Hill Road, Fo…2000LOOKING NORTHEAST ALONG STONE TERRACE WALL TOWARD SOU…LOOKING NORTH ALONG THE DRIVEWAY OF THE SCHEETZ PROPERTY SHOWING SOUTHWEST AND SOUTHEAST ELEVATIONS OF SCHEETZ HOUSE; B…2000LOOKING NORTH ALONG THE DRIVEWAY OF THE SCHEETZ PROPE…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Federal - Fort Washington, PA - The Highlands (1)
Retake this viewFederal - Fort Washington, PA - The Highlands (1), 1989

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fort Washington’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Fort Washington

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Fort Washington, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,50020002020Peak: 5,910

Between 3,680 and 5,910 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fort Washington’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Upper Dublin Township1 historic placeA−AmblerIts storyB−Whitemarsh Township12 historic placesASpringfield Township6 historic placesA

Questions about Fort Washington’s history

What year was Fort Washington founded?

The Fort Washington post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.