Meetinghouse One-Room SchoolHouse at Lower Skippack Mennonite Church

Christopher Dock, a German immigrant, settled in the Mennonite settlement of Skippack in 1718 and began teaching school there. With the exception of a ten year period when he farmed (1728-38) he taught school until his death in 1771. Find out more about Christopher Dock and the amazing legacy he left behind. Following his death, there was a 54 year period when no accounts of education in the area can be found. Learn about what happened next, a typical school day, and how much students paid each day to attend school until free school laws came into being in 1834.

The Skippack region, whose history has been preserved by Skippack Historical Society since 1967, contains one of the largest groups of historic structures west of Philadelphia, ranging from houses and inns to mills and churches. Some have been repurposed as restaurants or commercial space, and some are in various stages of disrepair. Many of these structures were built before the Revolutionary War and date back to the early 1700’s. A few buildings that George Washington and his troops would have marched past are still in existence.