Prior to 1868, Church Road did not curve below the lookout point to meet Bethlehem Pike, but instead ran straight up the hill and across the St. Thomas campus, ending at Bethlehem and Skippack. There are reports that during the American Revolutionary War, The Battle of Germantown had secondary skirmishes that reached down as far as our hilltop church. One such report, captured in “St. Thomas Whitemarsh: The First 300 Years” describes how General William Howe led the British soldiers in a conflict that forced the Americans camped at St Thomas’ campus to retreat down Skippack Pike.

The effects of the war closed St Thomas for the next nine years. During this time, all records were lost and the church was heavily damaged. Today, apart from some scars on gravestones, little evidence of this time period remains. Instead, this lookout point is casually nicknamed “Groundhog Hill” for the family of groundhogs that like to roam this hillside and field, along with deer that graze in the cool shadows of the beautiful St Thomas Carillon.

The three round stones you see are grinding stones from the old Farmar Mill (also known as Mathers Mill), a historic mill building. The mill was powered by the Wissahickon Creek and is located on Mather's Lane near Skippack Pike. The water-powered gristmill was built around the year 1690 by Edward Farmar, who also founded St Thomas in 1698.