In 1887 prior to the annexing which brought the Souderton Borough to its current size, the home located at 103 North Main Street (N.E. corner of Main and Chestnut) was the oldest building in the newly founded town of Souderton.
The original portion of this small farm house was built in 1834 by Henry Oberholtzer Souder and his wife Hannah Hunsberger Souder. The Souder’s owned a small plot of eight acres which Henry bought from his parent’s, and here the couple farmed, worked, and began raising the first 7 of their 10 children until 1856.
Henry O. Souder can certainly can be dubbed the ‘Father of Souderton’. The town would never have existed if Henry hadn’t taken a chance by following a whim. You see, Henry, like all farmers of that time, also had a trade. He owned a lumberyard where only during the warmer months of the year could he haul his lumber in carts pulled by teams of oxen over rutted roads from Point Pleasant to his business in Welshtown (later called Souderton). In 1852 Henry learned that the Philadelphia, Easton, and Water Gap Rail Road was planning to lay track in the far North East corner of Franconia Township. Henry contacted the railroad and he negotiated to give them part of his land for free, if they would divert its course through his section of Franconia Township. Well, how could anyone turn down an offer like that?
Early Indian Valley residents like Henry were rather thrifty and when he built his second home, he disassembled his barn which was located exactly where the tracks are today, and reassembled it behind his new house located further up the road. The original farmhouse was then occupied by the North Pennsylvania Railroad and eventually allowed to fall into a rather dilapidated condition. Eventually it was sold for private use.
Some may still recall when Godshall’s Music Store was located there in the 1930’s. At one time it was also home to the Odd Fellows. Today it is owned by James Gill of Am-For Auto Electric, and has been since the 1970’s. Curious and hopeful as to what was underneath, Mr. Gill removed the stucco from the outer walls in 1985. The entire home needed to be tuck pointed and many additional field stones were added where earlier doors and windows had once been. The result is the charming building that we see today. See just a few of the buildings many iterations featured on the back of this page!
Please get in touch with the Souderton-Telford Historical Society and share your memories about this building, one of the oldest in our community!
One of our primary goals is to educate the public about the local history of Souderton, Telford, and the surrounding communities. We can achieve this through a variety of opportunities including:
Placing historical signage throughout the community
Educational outreach opportunities
Historical walking tours
Historic preservation & conservation Curation of local artifacts
And many more!
