Location of this building
“This building, among the oldest in town, was owned by Henry O. Souder, who sold it along with the land to the railroad company in 1852. Tradition has it the sale influenced the railroad to choose a route that would benefit his business. The North Pennsylvania railroad was completed in 1857. The town that grew around Souder’s Station was given the name Souderton in 1887.”
The more modern look
Henry Oberholtzer Souder (1807–1887) married fellow Rockhill Mennonite member Hannah Hunsberger in 1834. Soon afterward, he built this modest farmhouse and its outbuildings on eight acres purchased from his father, Christian Souder. At the time, the property stood at what was the corner of Possum Lane and Water Street; then the eastern edge of Franconia Township.
As a music store
A lumberman by trade, Souder reportedly learned in the early 1850s of plans for the Philadelphia, Easton, and Water Gap Railroad, which was taking a planned route north. Seeking to expand his business, local tradition says he offered the railroad the use of his land if the line were diverted slightly westward to pass through this area. While the precise details of that arrangement remain uncertain, the future North Pennsylvania Railroad did in fact shift west – an event that proved pivotal in the founding and growth of Souderton.
Over the years, the Souder home served many purposes: housing the local railroad office, a grocery store, a cigar shop, and Godshall’s Music Store, among other enterprises.
And another business
