Rowland House
Also known as: Shovel Shop
Why it's listed
Built reportedly in 1774 in Cheltenham Township and enlarged around 1810 to 1820, this stone house with white stucco on Ashbourne Road was once the Rowland Mansion and is locally called the Shovel Shop. The Rowland family owned it from 1796 until 1901, when it was sold to the Ames Shovel and Tool Company. Benjamin Rowland Jr. began making bed screws and then spades nearby around 1796, and the family's works grew into one of the largest shovel producers in the country, powered by Tookany Creek. The nomination states that the house may have been associated with a saw-making building along Ashbourne Road and that an archaeological dig in 1975 suggested a mill race ran beneath it. Family members also gave land for Cheltenham's first school, a Methodist church site, and the township's first post office, where Thomas Rowland served as postmaster from 1855. The Township acquired the building in 1934 and planned to open a museum on the shovel industry.
Significance in brief: The nomination ties the house to the Rowland family's shovel and spade works in the Milltown section of Cheltenham, which it describes as a major early American shovel producer. It also links the property to early mill sites on Tookany Creek, to the founding of Cheltenham's first school and post office, and to the surviving structure being one of two buildings left from the mill complex.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 79002301, listed October 25, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 300 Ashbourne Rd, Cheltenham |
|---|---|
| County | Montgomery County |
| Listed | October 25, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79002301 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1774-1928 |
| Architectural style | Typical American colonial architecture of the period (original section); early 1800s addition |
| Areas of significance | Industry, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Interior of the 1774 section was damaged by fire; exterior described as intact; township acquired the property in 1934 and a historical commission was overseeing restoration with plans for a museum. |
| Acreage | 0.2 |
| Coordinates | 40.05956, -75.09611 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 79002301.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q15273436
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.