HistoricSiteMarkers
Colonial America

Keith House

Horsham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Marker Inscription

Built 1722 by Sir William Keith, Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, 1717-1726. Also called Graeme Park, for Dr. Thomas Graeme, owner after 1737.

Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Story

Sir William Keith built this country seat in 1722 while serving as lieutenant governor of colonial Pennsylvania, a proprietary official governing on behalf of the Penn family. After 1737 the estate passed to Dr. Thomas Graeme and became known as Graeme Park, one of the finest surviving early Georgian houses in the region. It stands as a rare window into the wealth and daily life of Pennsylvania's colonial governing class.

Why it matters

Few structures survive from the era of Pennsylvania's proprietary government, making this house a tangible link to how the colony was actually administered before independence.

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Related people

  • · Sir William Keith
  • · Thomas Graeme

Themes & tags

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