Postcard with aerial view of Eden Hall

Among the landscape of Northeast Philadelphia, in the Torresdale neighborhood, lies Fleuhr Park. Filled with walking trails and athletic fields, a majority of this area once belonged to the Society of the Sacred Heart and their academy: Eden Hall.

Science class at Eden Hall

It would be impossible to talk about Eden Hall without briefly mentioning Saint Madeline Sophie Barat. Born in the French town of Joigny in 1779, Madeline was taught by her brother Louis, who was studying to be a priest. The French Revolution began ten years later, and made it hard to practice Catholicism. Her brother had been jailed for not swearing allegiance to the new revolutionary state. After being released in 1795, Louis continued to educate Madeline. It was her intention to become a Carmelite nun, but I would be impossible as many religious communities had been abolished in 1790. Upon urging from a priest named Joseph Varin, Madeline and three other women consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The new order's charism would be the education of girls, with Mother Barat declaring "how seldom are valiant women to be found! The Bible says that they are more precious than pearls and diamonds. Let us, then, labor with all our might to train such women, at whatever cost to ourselves."

Image of the property boundaries of the "Institute of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart" from "Atlas of the City of Philadelphia. 23rd & 41st Wards from Actual Surveys and Official Plans." Published by G. W. Bromley & Co.

The story of Eden Hall begins in 1841 in McSherrystown, Pennsylvania. It was here that a mission was opened by Mother Elizabeth Gallitzin, sister of the missionary priest Demetrius Gallitzin and former Russian princess. Conditions in McSherrystown grew worse when a wave of tuberculosis ran through the community. Seeking a new site for their school, Bishop Francis Kenrick recommended the community to see a site closer to Philadelphia. Originally, the sisters opened a temporary school and convent at Logan Square as they searched for suitable land. It seemed that prayers were answered when word of an estate for sale reached the ear of headmistress Mother Julia Adeline Boilvin. Eton Hall was owned by Captain John Barry (not the Revolutionary War hero), later by the Cowperthwait family, and was situated not far from other country estates along the Delaware River. In addition to a school and convent, the Sisters also had their own laundry facilities, a working farm and orchard, and an ice house, as they were semi-cloistered. On Convent Lane, to the southeast, stood the second location of Saint Katherine of Siena’s parochial school.

Students praying in front of the main altar of the Chapel

Aside from using the former mansion as a school, a chapel was also built, and has a connection to a prominent Philadelphia family. Not far away, on what is currently the campus of Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, was the summer home of the Drexel family: San Michel. During the summers, the Drexel children attended daily Mass at the chapel. Masses would be said by Rev. James O’ Connor, pastor of the nearby Saint Dominic’s. When he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of the Nebraska Territory in 1876, the Drexel family would visit him occasionally. It was during these visits that Katharine became awakened to the plight of indigenous Americans. Later, as Mother Katharine Drexel of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the care and education of Native Americans would be part of her charism. Even in death did Eden Hall and he Sacred heart Sisters mean something to Saint Katharine. Sister Consuela Marie Duffy, SBS, writes that

  Since the Religious Sisters of the Sacred Heart with whom Mother Katharine had many precious and intimate relations all through her life, could not  attend the funeral, they requested that on the return to the Motherhouse, a detour be made through the grounds on Eden Hall in Torresdale. The Religious and their students lined the driveway as the funeral cortege passed silently through the grounds. The children from Saint Catharine’s grade school recited the rosary, the students of the Academy sang In Paradiso, and the Religious stood with lighted candles in front of their building.

For 122 years, Eden Hall stood to educate girls from around the world. However, due to financial troubles, the school and convent closed in 1969. A few years later in 1976, wishing to protect the land from residential real-estate, Joseph C. Fleuhr Sr. bought the area and leased it out to various entities. Tragedy struck in December of 1981 when a fire destroyed the main building, causing the complex to be torn down. The only building left standing was the Chapel, which was demolished in 2007 following arson a year earlier. Today, there are very few reminders of Eden Hall. An aerial view of Fleuhr Park unveils the outline of the main building. In the nearby woods is evidence of the grotto that was located near the former cemetery.

Satellite image of Fleuhr Park with faint outlines of the former Eden Hall