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First People
Sweedish people were the first to migrate to Andorra.They settled where Ridge Ave. is today because it was a good place to harvest their crops. At that time, ridge was called Manatawney. -
Peter Rambo
The Court of Upland England voted Peter Rambo (a local Sweedish man) to be in charge of Manatawney. There are still Rambo's in Roxbourough. These people are recognized as Philadelphia's first family. -
William Penn
William Penn arrived in Roxbourough. He was surprised how well organized the crops were -
The Milling Began
The first mill in roxbourough was built by Richard Townsend. This is where grain was stored. -
Roxbourough Was Named.
-1707 Roxbourough got its name. The area was considered an ideal location for farming and milling. -
Founded
Roxbourough was founded. It was incorporated into Philadelphia by the 'Act of Consolidation.' -
Roxbourough Presbyterian Church
This is the church that I go to. It was founded as the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Upper Roxbourough. It's a really beautiful church. -
Purchasing the Land
King George 3rd of England granted money in the colonies to William Penn. He sold off pieces of this land to a lot of different people. The first people who bought Andorra/Roxbourough were land investors and farmers -
Henry Howard Houston (1820-1895)
This man was a self-made millionare, he managed the Roxbouorugh Railroad. Henry bought Roxbourough. He bought it as a mostly a wooded area. -
First Baptist church
The Manatawna Baptist church was organized on May 11, 1872, with 62 members. -
High Hopes
Henry Houston had hopes that wealthy Philadelphians would start buying estates in Roxbourough . He began planning to develop the railroads. These railroads were based on the Chestnut Hill and Mail Line railroads. -
Death
Henry Houstoun died. His son, Samuel Fredrick Houston (1866-1952) took over managment. -
Landscaping
Andorra Nurseries were established. This company sold trees and shrubs. This buisness came to be known as the Wissahickon Style of Landscape gardening. -
First highschool Built in Roxbourough.
Roxborough High school was built on the 24th of October on 6489 Ridge ave. and still stands there today (2011). Roxbourough High is a public school which means the touition is free. It started out as a neighborhood school but gradually transformed to a school in which children out of the neighborhood take buses to come all the way here from North Philly and other parts of Philadelphia. It has taken a downward spiral becoming crime and drug invested. -
Grace Lutheran Church
Located at Ridge and Roxbourough Ave was founded. It had its last service on September 19, 1999. It closed because attendence went down over the years and the church could not afford to go on. -
Construction
The two main roads in Roxbourough were constructed all during the 1930's. (Henery and Ridge Ave) This includes concrete arch bridges. -
The Great Depression
The Great depression hit all during the 1930's. Nobody was buying land. Samuel Houston had to hold on to Roxbourough until the economy recovered and people were out of debt and able to buy land once again. -
First Hospital
The Veterans Administration announced their idea to build the first hospital. -
Selling Roxbourough
Samuel Houstoun decsided that Roxbourough was way too big to sell in one piece so he thought he could sell it in a bunch of smaller pieces so houses can be built. -
Temple
Temple University announced plans to have a more surburban setting. Samuel Houstoun negociated with Temple in order to sell land to them. Temple turned Houston's offer down. -
Creation of Andorra
Houston wanted to start building up Andorra. It was designed to be "America's model community." Walter K. Durham was picked to design twin homes single family homes, and apartment buildings. -
Ceremony
Samuel Houstoun, who was now 83 years old, He welcomed a small crowd and gave a little speech. He advertised the sales of new housing and promised a good community. -
Major Construction
Most of the development in upper Roxbourough happened in the 1950's. There were more house being built and more stores going up. the houses have a suburban character, like larger front lawns, garages, and larger shopping centers. Local news sources referred to Roxbourough as a suburb of Philadelphia. -
First Radio Towers
In the 1950's, the radio towers went up for television and FM radio stations -
Samuel Houstoun died.
When Sameuel died, all of his land was left to his daughter and her husband. Andorra homes continued building to meet the high demands for houses that were planning to be built in the community. Anorra was getting really popular. -
First Civic Association
The first civic association of Roxbourough was founded in 1953, they were called "Andorra Homes Civic Association" -
Houstoun Playground!!
Samuel's daughter and husband donated land to build Houstoun playground, dedicated to Samuel Houstoun. There was a huge celebration that included hundreds of people. Bandmaster Captain Joesph Cifelli led the Philadelphia Police and Firemen's band. Becca and I played at this playground when we were younger and it was neat to see how it was started. Becca lives right up the street from this playground. -
The First Library!
People in the neighborhood were complaining how there wasn't any libraries near by, so the civic association designed to build one. It opened in 1975 called Andorra Library. -
CONSTITUTION
Andorra's first written constitution was drafted in 1991 and adopted March 14, 1993. -
POPULATION!
As of 1998,the population of Roxbouourgh was 64,716. 14% was between 0 and 14 years old. The population grows at a rate of 1.5% each year.
