122 Elfreth's Alley

Potts and Andrew Edge, who built the house next door, mistakenly erected their houses on each other’s property.  From the beginning, the history of these houses and their residents are inextricably linked.  They are physically linked, too - Houses 120 and 122 share a “gossip door,” made up of a door in each house that opens into the other creating a passageway between the two homes.
 
Thomas Potts rented the house for a time to William Maudridge, a carpenter and ship-joiner who was one of the original members of Benjamin Franklin’s Junto.  Other early residents were associated with maritime trades and included shipwright Joseph Hill, an oysterman, pilot and captain.  In 1804, grocer and merchant Joseph Pryor, who had been renting House 120, purchased the house.  He lived in House 122 for over twenty-five years with his wife and eight children.   

Like its twin, House 122 has a tradition of serving as the home to police officers.  In 1880, renter William Wright worked as a police officer and had a police sergeant boarding with him.  Soon after, Constable James Murphy lived in the house for more than twenty years, raising five of his nieces and nephews on the Alley.