Welcome to the Morton Homestead

Welcome to the Morton Homestead. . The Morton Homestead, located on a two acre site at Lincoln Avenue (SR 420) and the north side of Darby Creek in Prospect Park, was purchased by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1937, at which time the Commonwealth completed a reconstruction of the homestead. Under a lease agreement, the Borough of Prospect Park is now maintaining the facility. The first recorded owners of this parcel, a portion of the original 275 acre property, were Jan Cornelius, Mattys Mattysen and Morton Mortonson. Mortonson acquired full title in 1694. The building as it sits today is a three part cabin identified as south, center, and north units. The Morton cabin is one of the oldest structures in Pennsylvania and one of the few surviving examples of seventeenth-century Swedish log structures in the Delaware Valley. Utilized originally as a personal residence, it was later a tavern and ferry building, welcoming visitors, travelers and locals. The Homestead remained in Mortonson ownership until the sale of the property to around 1784. ,

Morton Homestead was started by Morten Mortenson, a Finnish settler of 1654. The property, then located in the colony of New Sweden, remained for a long time in the hands of his descendants, the most noteworthy of whom was John Morton (1725-1777), chairman of Pennsylvania’s delegation to the convention at which adopted the Declaration of Independence, and a signer of that document. , The Morton Homestead is doubly significant: First for its architecture and also for its association with the Morton family, which was prominent in Pennsylvania in colonial times. , Architecturally, the Morton Homestead represents the type of dwelling the very earliest settlers in Pennsylvania built. The oldest part is a Swedish-Finnish log cabin built in 1654. An adjacent building of similar design was constructed in 1698. Both were originally one story. In the late 1790’s the two buildings were connected by stone walls and the whole roofed over with clapboard, forming a second story. The last changes were made in 1835, these being alterations to the upstairs room. The building contains late 17th furniture. (National Register 1970)

, The homestead as it sits today was constructed at various times. The initial structure constructed (pre 1666) remnants were found under the first (north unit) building during the restoration. The first building is thought to be constructed in 1654. Perhaps the second building was to be the Darby Creek Ferry House, first recorded in 1759. It may have been a ferry office, waiting room and public house while the earlier building served as a home for the ferry operator and his family. , The Morton Homestead is one of the oldest domestic houses in Pennsylvania constructed originally by Morton Mortonson in the 1650s. Originally constructed of Atlantic white cedar, it has survived over three hundred years of weather and change. Mortonson, a farmer, came to America in search of fertile land. He established a farm across from Tinicum Island along Darby Creek. His original dwelling was uncovered through archeologic excavation under the southern log section of the present structure (Historic Structural Report, Frens and Frens, PHMC, 1989). Some years later, a second log building was constructed close to the first and connected by a walkway. The second structure was most likely built in 1698, the date carved in the fireplace lintel. , The two buildings were connected with a stone walls and a second floor was added in the late 1790s. Further renovations to the second floor were completed in 1835.