Old Germantown Academy and Headmasters' Houses
The Old Germantown Academy and Headmasters' Houses or The Old Campus is an historic, American school campus, the original site of Germantown Academy, located at Schoolhouse Lane and Greene Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The academy moved to a new suburban location in 1965, and the site is currently occupied by the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. History and architectural features After the founding of Germantown Academy in 1759, the land for the campus was donated by Dr. Charles Bensell, a prominent Germantown landowner and later trustee of Germantown Academy. The first structure erected on campus was the old schoolhouse with belfry. It was built using local Wissahickon schist and was designed in the colonial style. Until the school's 1965 relocation, this school held the distinction of being the oldest school still operating out of its original building. The schoolhouse was replicated on the 1965 campus in Fort Washington. The bell that hung in the belfry was first ordered in 1770 and brought over from England on the tea ship Polly. Due to the tensions with the British crown in the early 1770s, however, the ship was unable