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The Germantown Historical Society offers a range of publications about the history of Germantown, Mt. Airy, and Chestnut Hill, including the Germantown Crier, our twice-yearly journal, and a number of books. These can be ordered online below or by mailing a check with order form. The Germantown CrierThe Germantown Crier is the journal of the Germantown Historical Society. It appears twice a year and is an important benefit of membership in the Society. The Crier has appeared since 1949 and is full of useful articles about Germantown, Mt. Airy, and Chestnut Hill history. It is profusely illustrated from our collection and others. Our library has a complete index to the Crier. Back issues can be purchased for $10.00 (as available). New for Fall 2009! “The Science and Art Club of Germantown” celebrates its 130th Anniversary with author Gordon J. Howard’s exploration of the organization’s early years. Scholar Nancy Holst examines the ”Germantown Borough and the ‘Town Plan’ of 1849” while a photo essay features Pennsylvania Historic Markers found in Northwest Philadelphia. $10.00 plus $2.00 shipping.
The fall 2008 edition of the Germantown Crier features “The Life and Times of John B. Middleton.” Middleton, a Civil War veteran and long-time mail carrier, kept a delightful diary, including entries about his mail route, his family, illnesses, visiting the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, the weather, and local lectures and entertainments. $10.00 plus $2.00 shipping.
The 2008 spring Crier includes “A Poem Which Will Long Endure: The Walnut Lane Bridge at 100” by David W. Young; “Belfield Before Charles Willson Peale: 1684–1819” by James A. Butler; and “The History of Immaculate Conception Parish” by Dennis McGlinchey. $10.00 plus $2.00 shipping. Link to a complete list of back issues of the Crier Writers Wanted! NEW!Remembering Germantown: Sixty Years of the Germantown Crier.
Acta Germanopolis : Records of the Corporation of Germantown, Pennsylvania, 1691-1707 This 700-page volume contains the full text of Germantown’s 17th and 18th century town records in their original language of German, Dutch and Latin as well as in English translation, bringing some of these records to print and translation for the first time. It includes maps of early settlement and extensive appendices on the naturalization records of the first residents of Germantown and their landholdings through the year 1714. It is the product over fifteen years of labor by J.M. Duffin, Fellow of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania and a member of the Board of the Germantown Historical Society. Mr. Duffin has edited the book with detailed annotations and also contributed a comprehensive introduction on the current state of research on the origins of this settlement, while Professor Don Yoder of the University of Pennsylvania has written an informative foreword on Germantown’s role in the history of Pennsylvania and German immigration to America. $75 plus $10 shipping.
Mount Airy by Elizabeth Farmer Jarvis Published in 2008 by Arcadia Publishing as part of their Images of America series. Mount Airy remained rural for much of its early history, with a thriving mill community along the Cresheim and Wissahickon Creeks, yet accessible to Philadelphia via the Germantown Road. Two railroad lines brought new developments, such as Pelham, and important institutions. Many never-before-published images from family albums and historical archives show the area as it once was and how it grew to become a neighborhood celebrated for its racial integration. $19.99 plus $3.00 shipping.
Arcadia Publishing, Images of America SeriesGermantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill by Judith Callard Published in 2000, it features rarely seen images in the archives of the Germantown Historical Society, the book has a little bit of everything from Colonial times to the 20th century. Scenes of the Wissahickon, early mills, the Battle of Germantown, industrial development, the first railroad (one of the first in the nation), Civil War hospitals, Victorian homes, and modern day Germantown tell the area’s rich history. You’ll find African American churches, educational institutions such as Germantown Academy and Germantown High School, boys and girls clubs, stores and apartment buildings, as well as ordinary people at work and play. $18.99 plus $3.00 shipping.
Chestnut Hill by Thomas H. Keels and Elizabeth Farmer Jarvis
Chestnut Hill Revisited by Elizabeth Farmer Jarvis
Italians of Philadelphia by Donna J. Di Giacomo $19.99 plus $3.00 shipping.
Philadelphia Graveyards and Cemeteries by Thomas H, Keels $19.99 plus $3.00 shipping.
Philadelphia Trolleys by Allen Meyers and Joel Spivak $19.99 plus $3.00 shipping.
Other Items Growing Up in Alden Park by Richard H. MacNeal
A Farm in Jefferson County, New York: Charles Eberle’s Diary 1821–1825 by Jan Lundy and Judith Callard The Germantown Historical Society and the 4 River Valleys Historical Society in Jefferson County, N.Y. present this day-by-day look at the life of a farmer in upstate NewYork. Although the diary covers Eberle’s time in N.Y., there are numerous references to family members in Germantown and Philadelphia. In 1826, Eberle returned to Germantown and farmed there with his son Willliam. Illustrated. $29.95, plus $5.00 shipping.
Forgotten Images: Photography in Germantown 1840–1927
Magnets for the First Protest Against Slavery. $2.00 each postpaid.
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Pat Henning Library & Archives
Edited by Irvin Miller and Judith Callard, just published by The History Press. This lively collection of articles and reminiscences, profusely illustrated from the Germantown Historical Society’s photograph collection. includes the tales of tollkeeper Ann Shermer, who enforced payment with her trusty flintlock pistol, Samuel Harvey’s efforts to impose morality on Germantown, the renowned King of Prussia Inn, the beginnings of the railroad, the Potter’s Field, the trees on Market Square, delicious feasts, memories of a youngster’s play on the Pelham estate, and much more! $19.99 plus $3 shipping. 
Published in 2002. A fascinating photographic record of Chestnut Hill’s past, beginning as a rough-hewn village of farmers and millers, and, after the railroads arrived becoming a popular spot for Philadelphia’s wealthy. Magnificent estates grew up and nearby were hardworking communities of Italian, Irish, and German immigrants. $19.99 plus $3.00 shipping.
Published in 2004. People of all backgrounds crossed paths on Germantown Avenue—stone masons, gardeners, domestic servants, and chauffeurs. Shopkeepers saw to the needs of the wealthy and modest alike. The socially elite hired prominent architects to design their houses in the latest styles, leaving Chestnut Hill with a rich architectural legacy. $19.99 plus $3.00 shipping.
Published in 1998. A recollection of the author’s childhood and adolescent life in Germantown’s first luxury high-rise, the national landmark Alden park complex. $10.00 plus $3.00 shipping.
The catalog from a 1983 exhibit of Germantown photographs. $5.00 plus $2.00 shipping.
Magnets for Louisa May Alcott (born in Germantown). $2.00 each postpaid.