i6 
Of the two remaining gardens of the better class of the 
formative period, the "Widow Deshler Garden," and the 
Dirck Keyser Garden, both were of the ordinary type of the 
period which succeeded, that is, they preserved box-bordered 
walks, which ran between beds devoted to "kitchen" and 
"flowering plants." The flower garden being inferior to the 
kitchen garden, for Germantown had not sufficiently advanc- 
ed to possess "mansions" or to support "estates," for as yet, 
it was necessary for beauty and utility to combine, to enable 
the progressive lover of the beautiful, while improving his 
property, and increasing his pleasures, to keep honest with 
himself and his neighbors, so to be able to stand before the 
world and posterity in the dignity of his worth. 
PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT 
1740— 1854 
The year 1740 marks about the beginnings of important 
movements in the progress of Germantown. As yet the 
tortuous pike continued a "dirt-road," — in "soft" weather, 
impassable, at all times trying to those who were compelled 
to use it, though a few desirable cross roads, "laid out" to 
mills and to other resorts, gave partial relief. The village 
continued to straggle along for a mile or more, composed in 
the main of low substantial stone houses which had succeeded 
the log dwellings of the first settlers, but "mansions" to 
adorn the landscapes were yet to come. Indeed, in the year 
given, there stood on the pike and near it, in Germantown, 
only the pretentious buildings previously named, with the 
addition of a few taverns and churches. 
But a young, industrious growing country made trade 
active, and the resultant required outlets of larger conveni- 
ence. Trade and industry brought "means," means helped 
culture, and these with natural advantages of location, gave 
opportunities which those equipped were prompt to accept, 
so that within a span of 63 years, or from 1740 to 1803, 
every large house upon "Main Street" from Negley's Hill 
to Mount Airy, all with worthy gardens, — and such public 
