So Where Exactly Is Germantown?

I have discovered that there is a plethora of neighborhoods and towns all over the country with the name Germantown.  I have visited a few myself and wanted to share several with senior readers.

Philadelphia has a Germantown that is about 7 or 8 miles northwest from the center of the city. Called “Freedom’s Back Yard,” the neighborhood is rich in historic sites and buildings from the colonial era, a few of which are open to the public.

This neighborhood has National HIstoric Landmarks as well as Historic Places like the Colonial Germantown Historic District and the Rittenhouse Historic District. Senior visitors can enjoy a walk through each one.

With a population of over 85,000, Germantown in Maryland  is the third most populous city in the entire state, so it is far from being just a “neighborhood” like most others. It too is full of culture as the URL outlines.

 Seniors Find Germantowns All Over the Map

There is a Germantown in Tennessee located near the Mississippi River along the historic trails of the Chickasaw Indians. Germantown offers its residents a safe, attractive and energetic community. And how about throwing in a “village” in Wisconsin with lots of senior visitor attractions.

We find another in New York called a “town” that is nestled  on the east bank of the Hudson River 100 miles north of New York City and 40 miles south of Albany. Over 2,000 Germantown residents enjoy a quiet, family-centered life-style in the country with easy access to the river for boating, fishing and viewing spectacular sunsets behind the Catskill Mountains.

In Ohio the Twin Valley was a “valley of peace” for the various Indian tribes hunting here. The Shawnees had a settlement nearby as late as 1804. The first pioneers arrived in the area in 1798 and stayed about six years before most moved on. Germantown was settled in August, 1804, by German-speaking families from Pennsylvania.

 German Village Also Works

Actually I started out to write this blog to describe German Village that is a historic neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, just south of downtown. It was settled in the early-to-mid-19th century by a large number of German immigrants, who at one time comprised as much as a third of the city’s entire population. I knew this one personally as a grad student at Ohio State.

I’ll toss in a famous Academy with the name.  Germantown Academy, a K-12 institution originally named the Germantown Union School, is the oldest non sectarian day school in the United States and was founded on December 6, 1759.

Being half German (the other half Czech) I enjoyed discovering these Germantowns with you.  If you travel much you have probably come across a few neighborhoods called Germantown yourself. Just Google them and read on.  Hope you enjoyed your stop here today.  jeb