The Corridor
Volume XXII, No. 1
Newsletter of the Old York Road Historical Society
SPRING LECTURE SERIES
The Program Committee has arranged the following
presentations to be held on Wednesday evenings at
7:30 p.m. in the Parish House of the Church of Our
Savior at Old York and Homestead Roads. This season’s lectures are underwritten by a generous grant
from the Jenkinstown Lyceum. Lectures are free and
open to the public.
March 13 – Railroading on the North Penn. Railroad historian Dale Woodland will present a history
of the railroad line between Philadelphia and Bethlehem from 1856 to present day. The lecture will cover
this history of the various railroad companies that
built and owned the line include the North Pennsylvania, the Reading, Conrail, CSX, SEPTA, East
Penn, and Pennsylvania Northeastern. Disasters such
as the train wrecks at Camp Hill and Hatfield will
also be covered.
April 10 – General John Lacey and the Pennsylvania Militia. Historian Denis Cooke shares his research on the activities of the Pennsylvania Militia
during the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1777
and 1778. The talk will trace the movements of General Lacey in his assigned patrol area north of the
City which encompasses modern day Bucks and
Montgomery Counties, including the largest encounter between Continental Army and Militia detachments with British and Loyalist forces that occurred
on May 1, 1778, near the Crooked Billet Tavern in
Hatboro. The lecture will also touch upon the differences between the Continental and Militia soldier, the
plan for the militia while the Continental Army encamped at Valley Forge, and problems with the militia maintaining troop levels and supplies.
May 8 – Up the Lazy River: Historical Estates
Along the Delaware River in Northeast Philadelphia. Join Northeast historian Jack McCarthy for an
illustrated lecture on the mansions that were situated
along the Delaware River in Northeast Philadelphia
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. See images of and hear the stories behind many of the elegant, now long gone riverfront estates of Frankford,
Wissinoming, Tacony, Holmesburg, and Torresdale.
Spring 2013
SPRING OUTING
GIRARD COLLEGE
Sunday, April 21, 1:30 p.m.
Join us for a trip to Girard College and tours of the
campus’ Founder’s Hall and Chapel. Girard College
was founded through the bequest of Stephen Girard
(1750-1831) a highly successful Philadelphia shipping merchant and businessman who became America’s wealthiest citizen by the time of his death. His
will stipulated the founding of a school as well as the
dimensions and plan for its first building.
Founder’s Hall was built between 1833 and 1847 by
architect Thomas Ustick Walter and is often considered the finest example of Greek revival architecture
in America. After completing Girard, Walter went
on to design the dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Founder’s Hall was the school’s original classroom building. It has three main floors, each
measuring 14,000 square feet. The museum contains
wonderful artifact and archival collections including
the luxuriant furnishings from Girard’s home. The
collection is Philadelphia’s great intact single-owner
collection from the early national period (17801830). The original items include furniture, silver,
paintings, ceramics and textiles.
The tour will also include the Chapel which was
completed in 1933 by prominent Philadelphia architects Thomas, Martin & Kirkpatrick. The chapel,
which contains the fourth largest pipe organ in Philadelphia, is a non-denominational chapel with complex
pan-religious iconography. Seating 2400, it can accommodate the entire student body.
Bus departs the Jenkintown Library at 1:30 and
should return around 5:00. There is no handicapped
access to Founder’s Hall and stairs are unavoidable.
The cost is $35 for members, $40 for non-members.
Please register using the enclosed form.
The Annual Meeting of the Society will precede the May
lecture. Officer and Committee reports will be presented and
the Nominating Committee will present a slate of Officers
and Directors to be elected for the 2013-2014 program year.
New Research Library and Archives
Officially Open
With over 80 donors, dignitaries, and volunteers looking on, the Society officially cut the ribbon for its new research space at Alverthorpe Manor on Sunday afternoon, February 17th. The event drew nearly half of the campaign’s 100-plus giving units as well as many of the faithful volunteers that packed, moved, unpacked, cleaned and
re-shelved the Society’s collections. Nearly 600 boxes were required to relocate the Society and virtually everything was in place for the grand opening. The space we occupy on the second floor of Lessing Rosenwald’s fabled
mansion has been beautifully renovated and provides both a warm and sophisticated welcome to all those that will
pursue some form of local historical research using our unsurpassed collections.
Ribbons were also cut on the major rooms within the new space by or on behalf of the top campaign donors. The
Society raised over $64,000 with the campaign, the second largest amount ever raised by the Society, and in a mere
4 months. All in all, it was a very special day for those who attended and a milestone for the Society. We proudly
and gratefully acknowledge our major campaign donors:
DIAMOND ($15,000 AND OVER)
The Jenkinstown Lyceum
PLATINUM ($5000 TO $14,999)
Estate of Dorothy M. Frank
Allison F. & Henry W. Hallowell
Barbara S. & Baron Rowland
GOLD ($2500 TO $4999)
The McCalla Family
David B. Rowland
SILVER ($1000 TO $2499)
William David Barker
Janet M. & John B. Chapman
Nora & Michael F. Czerwonka
Doreen L. Foust
Barbara R. & Charles Kahn
Janet S. & Lewis Klein
Eileen A. Koolpe
Nancy R. Posel
Jean W. & Robert N. Reeves
Bonita W. & L. Vicente Rivera
Shirley D. & Paul M. Roediger
Patricia S. Scott
Elizabeth B. Smith
Mary & Jack Washington
Jeanne J. & Thomas J. Wieckowski
Estate of Wanda Wieckowski
BRONZE ($500 TO $999)
Chelten Hills Savings Bank
The Downs Foundation
Howard H. Frey
L. Michael Golden, III
Mershon & W. Mark Hinkel
June L. K. & Robert S. Hudson
Kiwanis Foundation of Jenkintown
Donald W. Maloney
Marcia H. & Donald A. Pizer
Katherine S. & Thomas D. Zoidis
In order to show off the new facility, the Society’s Board of Directors will host one member-only open house and
two open houses for the general public. The member-only event will be on Wednesday evening, March 20 from 7
to 9. The general public (including members) is welcome to come on Saturday morning, April 13 from 10 to 12
noon or on Sunday afternoon, May 5 from 1 to 4. Light refreshments will be provided. We ask that you r.s.v.p. by
calling the Society at 215-886-8590 if you are planning to attend so that we may have sufficient refreshments.
A Bit of History – The Kent Family Photo Album
by Thomas J. Wieckowski
On the eve of the Civil War, one
prominent newspaper urged action
against “the wholesale merchants
doing business in Philadelphia who
are enemies to the institutions of
the South. “ The firm of James,
Kent, and Santee & Co. was one of
the concerns pilloried for the abolitionist activities of its principals.
As we mark the 150th anniversary
of the great conflict, the paradoxes
and tensions that wracked our own
city at the time seem far-off and
incomprehensible. We may be
shocked that a reputable newspaper, such as the New York Times,
would have published such a libel
in February of 1860, but the city of
Philadelphia became known as both
the most racist city of the North
and yet the hotbed of protest
against the brutal system of slavery. The James, Kent and Santee
firm was the poster child for this
schizophrenic milieu. After the war,
the same newspaper would laud the
company as “the greatest wholesale
dry goods house in Philadelphia.”
A native of Morrisville, New Jersey, William C. Kent was a cofounder and principal of the firm,
having formed the company with
two young friends in 1840 after
eight years with a local textile firm.
While being firmly anti-slavery, the
partners nonetheless depended upon
the fruit of the South in developing
the cotton trade locally and nationally. The South produced abundant
cotton but the North, particularly
Philadelphia, had the manufacturing capability to make the usable
fabric that clothed the country.
Thus, an uneasy partnership between North and South evolved.
Among Kent’s innovations that
allowed the company to prosper
was the invention of the trading
device now known as “cotton futures.”
Typical of industrialists of the nineteenth century, Kent dedicated his
“spare time” to a variety of charitable and business causes including
serving as a vestryman at Christ
Church, trustee of the Home for the
Homeless, the Franklin Reformatory, Churchman’s Missionary Association for Seamen, and the
boards of the Union Insurance
Company, The North Pennsylvania
Railroad, The Northeast Pennsylvania Railroad, and Manufacturers’ Bank. Civic involvement included the Board of Trade, development of Center Square into City
Hall, The Great Central Fair of the
Sanitary Commission, and the finance committee of the Centennial
Exposition.
By 1853, Kent was wealthy enough
to begin purchasing land in the
countryside of the city for a summer estate. October purchases of
property in Abington Township
(later the lower half of Jenkintown)
were followed by purchases of land
in April, 1854, on the other side of
the Tookany Creek in Cheltenham.
The result was an uninterrupted
estate of almost two hundred acres
that extended from the point where
the Limekiln Road (today’s Walnut
Street in Jenkintown) turned north
on West Avenue, to Washington
Lane and Maple Avenue on the
south in today’s Wyncote. The estate was purchased for the princely
sum of $20,710 and some pennies.
Almost entirely wooded, the land
became known as Kent’s Woods
and contained no roads and only
one building, the old Webster farmstead off of Washington Lane. Not
interested in farming, Kent
promptly sold the Webster farm to
Joseph Heacock, blacksmith of
Jenkintown, the last sale of land for
a farm in what would become
Wyncote years in the future.
It is not known exactly what
prompted Kent to invest in such a
remote and inaccessible location,
but he must have known about the
new railroad that would soon come
through the area. Perhaps he had a
vision of the development that
would eventually consume the area
as a result. He proceeded to open a
quarry and construct a blocky federal style stone mansion on the
hillside overlooking the valley of
the small creek. He named the mansion Beechwood, and from the
porch he could see the ancient dam
and pond that pioneer Isaac Mather
had constructed in 1769 to power
his mill on Washington Lane, a
quarter of a mile to the east. The
dam and pond are long gone (the
site is today’s Ralph Morgan Park)
but the remnants of the quarry can
still be seen on the left as one
drives away from Jenkintown Station along Township Line Road. A
long wooded carriage way connected the mansion to the Walnut/West intersection to allow Kent
access to the all-important York
Road.
Construction of the North Pennsylvania Railroad was evident through
his property by late 1854 and the
new road opened on July 2, 1855,
as the Cohocksink engine pulled a
trainload of dignitaries through “an
exceedingly beautiful country.”
Kent was not on the Board of the
new road, but his partners, John O.
James and Charles Santee, were
founding members along with his
father, Rodolphus. He was elected
to the board in 1866 and became
the second largest shareholder when
a public offering of stock was made
village of Jenkintown demanded a
station giving them more convenient access to the railroad. The first
intrusion on Kent’s property, “Station Road”, now Greenwood Avenue, was constructed south from
York and North from Church Road
to meet the new “Cheltenham” station at the creek (see photo for the
original
Greenwood
Avenue
bridge). The development boom
was on!
The new railroad was immediately
successful. Intended to prevent
valuable commodities of the northeast part of the state from being
directed to New York, the road also
found use by wealthy industrialists
of post-war Philadelphia to conveniently escape to country estates in
the verdant northwestern countryside. Chelten Hills quickly became
the first outpost of the Gilded Age,
drawing the likes of Wanamaker,
Cooke, Lippincott, Sharpless, and
Starr to partake of the “clean air
and copious water”, and live in
“real country with few of the disadvantages usually attending country life.” Kent sold off estate-sized
lots steadily in the decades after the
war, totaling sixty-four sales by the
time of his death.
Kent left his estate in 1870, perhaps financially damaged by the
blacklist boycott during the war
and a major fire in 1866 that damaged the entire 200 block of North
Third Street that contained his
business. Two years later, entrepreneur and developer Richard J.
Dobbins purchased Beechwood and
turned it into a successful resort
hotel. In 1884, Dobbins added another building next to the mansion
increasing the capacity to three
hundred guests. The hotel operated
until 1912, became a school, and
was finally demolished for a modern apartment building, Beaver
Hill, in 1962.
Kent died in 1881 after moving
back to his downtown residence at
903 Clinton Street. His heirs sold
his last piece of land in 1885 on the
hillside across the creek from the
mansion to an investor from Chester County, Willis P. Hazard. It is
unlikely that Hazard even saw the
place as most of the development
was conducted by a new firm, Evans and Garner, of nearby Hatboro.
Today we can see a glimpse of
Kent’s Woods of the past, thanks to
the Kent family photograph album
that was donated to the Society by
descendent W. Kent Haydock of
Darien, Connecticut.
____________________________
Thomas J. Wieckowski has been a
Vice-President of the Society since
2007. He is also a member of the
Cheltenham Township Historical
Commission. He recently retired
from Drexel University after thirty
years where he was Associate
Dean of the College of Business
among other positions. He was
also Director of the Masters Programs in Business for the LeBow
College of Business. Currently, he
devotes his time to his lifelong
hobby, historical research and
writing, and is the author of Making Marathon, a history of the village of Wyncote.
Recent Collection Gifts
Local Programs of Interest
The Society received several important donations this
past fall and winter:
Saturday, April 6, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Community
Clean-up Day at the Elkins Estate. Help the Dominican Sisters reclaim the beauty of the estate grounds.
Bring work gloves and tools. On Sunday, April 7
from 1:00-3:00 p.m., guided tours of Elstowe will be
held. Tours are free for those who help with the
clean-up, $10 for all others.
 From John H. Deming, extensive runs of two architectural journals, Architecture, 1920-1936
(vols. 42-49, 51-73) and American Architect and
Architecture (1923-1931), which fills a gap in
the Society’s now complete run.
 From Jean Fesmire Doan, a Lower Moreland
school jacket, a collection of 100 postcards including a number of rare Huntingdon Valley
views, and several photographs.
 From Joan Valienta, 5 DVDs of movies taken
during the 1950s showing various Cheltenham
community events.
 From Carol Gillespie, an original 1919 linen map
showing the development of Glenside.
 From Rachel Brandt, several Lower Moreland
High School yearbooks and a few small objects
from Huntingdon Valley businesses.
 From Carol DiJoseph, several genealogical
books, a rare biography of William Penn, and an
atlas of Bucks County.
 From Frank Jarrett, three Philadelphia property
atlases, local ephemera, and a number of yearbooks for Southampton and Lower Moreland.
 From Sunny Friedman, the records of NOTICE
(Neighbors Organized to Improve Community
Environment), a neighborhood group concerned
about the late 1980s development of the former
Strawbridge & Clothier site in Jenkintown.
Old York Road Historical Society
515 Meetinghouse Road
Jenkintown, PA 19046215-886-8590
Research Hours
Located on the Second Floor of Alverthorpe Manor, the Archives is open:
Mondays, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Tuesdays, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Call for Special Appointments
Society’s Website
www.oyrhs.org
Saturday, April 27, 1:00-3:00 p.m., Pennypack
Trust, Pennypack Mills Walk. Meet at the Visitor
Center and walk down to the creek to learn about the
local mills that once stood along the Pennypack.
Trust members free, all others, $5.
Saturday, May 4, 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m, The Friends
of Nathaniel Boileau Farmstead 7th Annual Spring
Festival. Featured will be sheep herding dogs and
Revolutionary Soldiers, farm animals, live music and
free food. The Past Masters of Colonial Domestic
Arts will present their “Early American Pastimes for
Children.” The Penn’s Woods Puppet Theater will
offer performances of “The Walls Have Ears.”
Wednesday, June 26, 7:00-8:30 p.m., Briar Bush
Nature Center, “A River Again: the History of the
Schuylkill River Desilting Project” by Chari Towne,
Schuylkill Watershed Specialist with the Delaware
Riverkeeper Network. Society and Briar Bush members free, all others, $3.
Kerlin Farm Update
On February 12, Cheltenham’s historic home at Kerlin Farm was demolished. The central portion was
built circa 1700, by Everard Bolton, a Quaker who
came to Philadelphia in 1682 with William Penn.
Three major additions were made by the Jones (1790)
and Haines (1850 & 1898) families, creating a mansion with 4 common rooms, 14 bedrooms and 10
fireplaces. The abandoned house was purchased by a
developer in the fall of 2010. Two early attempts to
demolish the house were thwarted, but after a period
of cooperation with preservations, a Zoning Hearing
Board decision paved the way for demolition. A
summary of the house’s history with other links is
available at www.EdLandauRLA.com.
Membership Reminder
We are half way through our 2013 membership year.
If your mailing label does not read “2013,” you are
not current. Your support as we face increased rental
costs at Alverthorpe is most important at this time.
Also consider membership at the Patron level. Your
support is greatly appreciated.
THANKS TO OUR MAJOR MEMBERSHIP DONORS
The Society gratefully recognizes those who have so far supported our work for the 2013 program year through
membership at the Patron level and above. All those listed will be invited to this year’s Patrons’ Party.
BENEFACTOR
Eileen A. Koolpe
Joyce H. Root
David B. Rowland
Joseph C. Scott Foundation
SUSTAINER
The Jenkinstown Lyceum
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Kahn
Nancy R. Posel
CONTRIBUTOR
Mr. & Mrs. John B. Chapman
Lester Dubin
Mr. & Mrs. C. John Hobe
Mr. & Mrs. H. Lewis Klein
Mr. & Mrs. Richard J. Markham
Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Mills
Dr. & Dr. Melvyn P. Richter
Mr. & Mrs. Lincoln Roden
Mr. & Mrs. Baron Rowland
PATRON PLUS
Chelten Hills Savings Bank
Mr. & Mrs. Larry Eastwood
June P. Felley
Diane B. Foster
Mr. & Mrs. Louis M. Golden
James T. Gulla
Mr. & Mrs. Henry W. Hallowell
Barbara A. Jacobs
Mr. & Mrs. John B. Neff
Mr. & Mrs. Donald Pizer
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Pokrifka
Mr. & Mrs. L. Vicente Rivera
Josh Rosenbloom
Elizabeth B. Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Lewis S. Somers
Mr. & Mrs. Jack Washington
Thomas J. Wieckowski, Ph.D.
PATRON
Paul E. Aloe
Mr. & Mrs. John F. Bales
Kenneth Baum
Mr. & Mrs. Herbert V. Bell
Nan S. Bers & Harry J. Sears
Richard W. Bourbon, Esq.
Paul K. Bunting
James A. Butler, Ph.D.
Mr. & Mrs. Stephen W. Christian
Sandra Collins
Dr. & Mrs. Ronald H. Freidman
John F. Glynn
Francis R. Grebe, Esq.
Ruth Barton Harbison
Mr. & Mrs. Herbert L. Harris
George E. Harrison
Bryan T. Havir
Mr. & Mrs. Clyde R. Herr
Pauline Hornberger
Mr. & Mrs. Martin G. Kalos
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph W. Krzaczek
Mr. & Mrs. John Larish
Scott Laughlin
Mr. & Mrs. Albert P. Mainka
Matthew McCann
Martha C. McDonough
Elaine C. Meckling
Mr. & Mrs. Martin L. Mikelberg
Albert R. Paulbinsky
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Peff
Mr. & Mrs. Hugh T. Ryan
Robert Morris Skaler
Kenneth E. Thomas
Mr. & Mrs. Earl S. Vollmer
William B. Wiehenmayer
Mr. & Mrs. Laurence Withers
Patrons’ Party to be Held at Soroden
This year’s annual Patrons’ Party will be held Sunday, May 19, at Soroden, located at the corner of Susquehanna
and Rydal Roads. The house was built in 1911 for William P. Denegre, an early trustee of Abington Memorial
Hospital, who made his fortune in the textile milling business. The family left the property in the early 1930s and it
fell into disrepair before being purchased in 1945 by the Vollmer family who continue to live there today. The estate is situated such that it had splendid views of the original Huntingdon Valley Country Club, whose course extended from Old York Road through the valley to Cloverly Lane, save for a small break for Susquehanna Road.
Invitations will be mailed to all 2013 Patron and above members in mid-April. Invitations will allow for two tickets
to the party. Directions will be provided with the invitation. In order to receive an invitation, you must be a current
2013 Patron member or higher, a donor to the Annual Fund, or a donor of archival materials to the Society’s collections. Please consider an extra bit of support to help the Society and receive an invitation.