Louis Wernweg’s home once stood here overlooking the nail works. It was later purchased by Dr. Isaac Pennypacker. One of his children, Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker, who became PA’s governor in 1903, was born in the house that once occupied this corner.
John Vanderslice was a descendent of the Dutch Van der Sluys family who had settled near what is now Pawlings Road in Montgomery and Chester counties. Vanderslice bought a farm in what is now called “the north side” of Phoenixville. He became a very successful property developer because of this investment. He subdivided his property into many segments and over 100 homes were built here; especially for the many new workers who had emigrated from several European countries to work at the iron company. By 1860, the Phoenix Iron and Phoenix Bridge companies had 1,200 employees and many of them had homes and established churches on Phoenixville’s North Side.