History

The Old Tennis Court Farm stands on a portion of what was the estate of Edward White Clark, a prominent Philadelphia financier, in the area that was a greenhouse.

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1910:  Germantown Friends School (GFS) acquires part of the E. W. Clark estate to expand its outdoor sports program.  Tennis courts are constructed on the site of the garden.

1990-ish:  GFS relocates its outdoor sports program and the tennis courts are no longer used.

2008:  Robert Smith, Germantown Monthly Meeting member and community garden visionary, leads the initiative to convert the unused tennis courts to a community garden.

2009-2011:  Garden creation.  Water & power systems installed;  asphalt tennis courts removed; soil remediation and plot construction;  30 tons of compost/soil added.  The garden was opened for membership and is named the Old Tennis Court Farm (OTCF).

2011-2015:  OTCF is a successful garden providing benefit to garden members, the neighborhood and community at large.

2015:  GFS announces its intent to sell the property and advises that gardening will cease at the conclusion of the 2015 gardening season.

2016:  Garden closed.  Friends of Cloverly Park, Robert Smith and members of the garden community partner with Natural Lands, Neighborhood Gardens Trust & Germantown United CDC to negotiate with GFS the acquisition and preservation of the land.  Natural Lands submitted a grant application to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED) for the majority of the acquisition cost while Friends of Cloverly Park, Neighborhood Gardens Trust & garden members executed a community fundraising and written support initiative that was required as part of the grant application.   Written support was required from elected officials, community organizations & neighborhood leadership committees. 

Fall 2016:  DCED awards Natural Lands funding and community fundraising reaches its goal and the process of acquiring and preserving the garden begins.

2017:  Neighborhood Gardens Trust leases the property from GFS and the OTCF is cleared of overgrowth and gardening begins.

2018:  Natural Lands acquires the property from GFS and transfers title to Neighborhood Gardens Trust.  OTCF is saved and preserved for perpetuity as green space.

2018 to Present:  OTCF is a successful urban green space community garden providing benefit to its membership and the community at large.