Blue Bell Inn on Cobbs Creek

Picture above, J. Haigis, to right, B. Borders

Blue Bell (1766) 7303 Woodland Avenue. Built by Henry Paschall on the main stagecoach road between  Philadelphia and the southern colonies, the Bell was the scene of a battle in November 1777 between 2500 British under Lord Cornwallis and 28 Americans stationed as a pickett guard during the British occupation of Philadelphia and the seige at Fort Mifflin. The three story addition to the right was built about 1801 and taken down about 1940.  The picture is from the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) and taken in 1936. The 1766 Bell is the portion to the left.

Charles Lloyd became proprietor of the Blue Bell in 1837. An anti-slavery activist, he was the father of Frances Paschall Lloyd who was born at the Blue Bell. and kept a diary about 1853. She later married William Serrill and moved to the Lloyd house in Darby (where the school busses now park) on Main St..(below)

Battle at the Blue Bell (1777)

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More information about the Blue Bell

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Pictures of the Blue Bell

Blue Bell Postcard from the collection of Ed Springer

View from the 1904 Trolley Bridge looking across what would have been the Serrill back yard looking toward 1000 Main Street and the Darby Library.

sign and datestone below.. The "HP" is believed to stand for Henry Paschall