Morton Mortenson was an immigrant to New Sweden somewhere around 1654 from Finland which was part of Sweden at that time. Morten son and two other men were given ownership of over 700 acres of land along Darby Creek including the land where the Morton Homestead currently stands. He died in 1706 at the age of about 100 years old according to the Gloria Dei Church records.

The remains of the earliest structure were found by archaeologists under the south room of the house. Cuts in the bedrock measured 15 by 10 feet. No one knws for certain the purpose of this room. It could have been a building similar to the Swedish eldhus, a type of house built partially into the ground. Another possibility is a basty which is a steam bath or sauna. A third possibility could have been as a blockhouse to contain a person who had gone insane. One of the other owners of the property, Jan Cornelius, petitioned the Court of Upland to build a structure to hold his son who had gone quite mad. This building was demolished arund 1666.

The next structure on the site is what is now the north room of the cabin. The room is made of white cedar. Historians use the date above the fireplace lintel as the date of the cabin--1698. This room is a combination of English shaped design and corners joined with Scandinavian-style double notches.

The south room was built in the mid-1700's. By this time, the house was used as the Darby Creek Ferry House, serving the ferry across Darby Creek which was nearby. The center room of the house was created when both cabins were joined by stone walls.

Ferry service ended in the 1840's but the property continued to be inhabited through the 1930's. In 1937, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the property. The fireplace in the north room and some of the logs in the walls are original. The furniture pieces are reproductions of typical colonial style.

Morton Mortonson's great grandson, John Morton, was the signer of the Declaration of Independence that cast the deciding vote for Pennsylvania. He was born and lived on land close to his ancestor but not on the exact property. His house stood along Crum Creek near the current Boeing Corporation facilities. It was saved from being demolished when it was moved 18 miles down river to its current location at the Old Swedes Curch property in Wilmington, Delaware. The original house was built in 1690 and was a wedding gift for a young Swedish farmer, Andrew Hendrickson, and his new bride, Brigitta.