The Corridor - Old York Road Historical Society

The Corridor
Volume XXIV, No. 1
Newsletter of the Old York Road Historical Society
LECTURE SERIES
The Program Committee has arranged for the following presentations to be held on Wednesday evenings at
7:30 p.m. in Homestead Hall, the Parish House of the
Church of Our Savior in Jenkintown. The Parish
House sits directly behind the church at the corner of
Old York and Homestead Roads. The lectures are underwritten by a grant from the Jenkinstown Lyceum
and are open to the public free of charge.
March 11 – Wanamaker and Family: Gilded Age
Citizens and Residents - One of the most illustrious
citizens of Philadelphia’s Gilded Age was John
Wanamaker. His exploits spanned three careers: Merchant, Politician, and Civic Activist. Several of his
children, also residents of Chelten Hills, achieved
their own fame and fortune. This presentation by author and Society Vice President, Tom Wieckowski,
will review the accomplishments and lives of these notable citizens, and the Lindenhurst estate that was the
center of many of Wanamaker’s life events.
April 8 – Riding the Reading to Bethlehem – You
may remember when the Reading Railroad had service
from Philadelphia, through Jenkintown, to Bethlehem.
Steve Stewart, who taught American History in the
Abington Schools for 30 years remembers, and will
take us on a tour of the route as it was from 1930 to
1970. From the famous Reading Terminal, through
Jenkintown Junction and up the Bethlehem Branch,
the route covered the old North Pennsylvania Railroad
line, built in 1855. The North Penn System was taken
over by the Reading Railroad in 1879 and turned over
to SEPTA, in 1963. Join us for a ride on the Reading.
May 13 – John Sullivan and the Battle of Brandywine - On September 11, 1777, British General Sir
William Howe moved to capture Washington’s troops
arrayed along Brandywine Creek. The defeat of Washington allowed Howe to take Philadelphia unopposed.
Author Michael C. Harris will argue that while traditional history blames the American loss on General
John Sullivan, an analysis of the primary documents
paints a far different picture. Harris is the author of
Brandywine: A Military History of the Battle that Lost
Philadelphia but Saved America.
Spring 2015
- - SPRING OUTING - EASTERN STATE
PENITENTIARY
Sunday, April 26, 1:30 p.m.
Please join us for a private tour of Eastern State Penitentiary. Eastern State was once the most famous
prison in the world, but stands today almost in ruin, a
haunting world of crumbling cellblocks and empty
guard towers. Built in 1829, the prison was known for
its grand architecture and strict discipline. Prisoners
were kept in solitude; this was the world’s first true
“penitentiary,” a prison designed to inspire penitence,
or true regret, in the hearts of convicts. The system of
solitary confinement eventually eroded away until its
end in 1913. The prison continued until it closed in
1971. Many of America’s most notorious criminals
were incarcerated here, including bank robber “Slick
Willie” Sutton and gangster Al Capone. Please register for this trip using the enclosed form. The bus will
depart from the Jenkintown Library parking lot at 1:30
pm and return before 5:00 pm.
Huntingdon Valley Library Display Case
A new exhibit has been installed in the Society’s display case at the Huntingdon Valley Library on Red
Lion Road. Entitled, “Sketching the Pennypack” the
display highlights the artistry of landscape painter
Russell Smith (1812-1896) who found inspiration
along the banks of the Pennypack Creek. A number of
his pencil on paper works are on display along with
two photographs of Smith family members on the
Pennypack Creek taken by Russell’s son Xanthus,
himself an important 19th American painter. The Society is fortunate to own a number of works by Smith
along with a collection of photographs taken by his
son. The exhibition will be on view until the autumn.
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
2015-2016 program year.
William Penn Warrant Campaign
The effort to raise funds for the purchase and conservation of a William Penn signed land warrant has gone wonderfully well. With a goal of $5500, the Society raised just over $10,000. Enormous thanks to all those who
made a donation (all donors are listed below in alphabetical order). After several discussions, the Board has decided to use the extra funds for future acquisitions and conservation projects, with the emphasis on conserving
some of the wonderful items already in our collections
For those who have made a contribution of $50 or more to the campaign, we will have a special event on Sunday
afternoon, April 12 at Alverthorpe Manor (invitations to be mailed in early March). The warrant is presently at
the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia where it is undergoing conservation treatment before being matted and framed. It will be unveiled at the special event and then will hang in the Society’s
archives for all to appreciate. Again, many thanks to our donors who made it all possible!
Frank Ames
Leslie & Herbert Bell
Marla Benjamin
George Bishop
James Butler
William Chambres
Janet & John Chapman
Chelten Hills Savings Bank
Louise Cohen
Sandra Collins
Carole Covert
Shirley Davis
Karl Diehl
Charles Dirvin
Joy & Les Dubin
Sue & Edward Duffy
Doris & Robert Fanelli
June Felley
Diane Foster
Ann Frey
Howard Frey
Sunny & Ronald Friedman
Carol Gillespie
Eleanor Given
Frank Grebe
James Gulla
Allison & Henry Hallowell
Ruth Harbison
Linda & George Harrison
Bryan Havir
Carol & Bruce Henderson
Ellen & Clyde Herr
Mershon & Mark Hinkel
James Hornberger
Carol Ingald
Alison & Greg Jackson
Frank Jarrett
Barbara & Charles Kahn
Carol & Marty Kalos
Hannah & Richard Kaufman
Janet & Lew Klein
Eileen Koolpe
Brenda & Joseph Krzaczek
Liz & Ed Landau
Carol & Jack Lieberman
Dawn & Lin Magaha
Therese & Robert Maher
Donald Maloney
Ceil & Rick Markham
Nancy & James Marshall
Theodore McCalla
Matthew McCann
Molly McDonough
Elaine Meckling
Sandra & Martin Mikelberg
Edie Miller
Shirley and John Neff
Andrew Nehlig
Albert Paulbinsky
Marcia & Don Pizer
Lynn & Joseph Pokrifka
Amy Ragsdale
Stephen Rappaport
Diane & Lowell Reed
Bonnie & Vince Rivera
Geralyn & Linc Roden
Josh Rosenbloom
Barbara & Baron Rowland
David Rowland
Daniel Ryan
Myrtle & Hugh Ryan
William Schwarzchild
Patricia Scott
Aliki Seremelis
Joseph Silverstein
Robert Skaler
Betty Smith
John Stevenson
Margaret Sullivan
Ken Thomas
Susan Treadway
June Waltzer
Mary & Jack Washington
Jeanne & Tom Wieckowski
Millie Wintz
Recent Donations to the Archives
The Society is pleased to have received several significant gifts over the past several months, including the
following:
• Records of the Jenkintown Music Theater including production materials, scores and photographs,
from Dolly Kuykendall.
• Papers of John Merriam to be added to an existing
collection, from Robert Lockyer.
• Additional records from the Abington Civic Club
and the Kiwanis Club of Jenkintown to be added
to their existing collections.
• Poster of a painting by Ben Eisenstate of Willow
Grove Park presented at the opening of the Willow Grove Mall in 1982, from Howard Aaronson.
• Various works of art on paper by artists Russell
Smith (1812-1896) and his son Xanthus Smith
(1839-1929), from Joy Piscopo.
• Microfilm of Aurora General Advertiser (17901812), from Chestnut Hill College.
• Microfilm of The Philadelphia Inquirer (19832010), from Abington Free Library.
• Papers, clippings, ephemera and photographs pertaining to the Wyncote Players, the Keswick
Theatre and playwright Elliott Lester, from the Estate of Dorothy Spruill.
• A number of local and Philadelphia area books,
from Bill Schwarzchild.
OLD YORK ROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
515 Meetinghouse Road
Jenkintown, PA 19046
215 - 886 - 8590
Archive Research Hours
Located on the second floor of Alverthorpe Manor,
the archive 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
Thanks to the continued dedication of volunteers Leslie
Bell, Eileen Koolpe, Betty Smith, and Mary Washington, for
staffing the archive on a regular basis.
Society’s Website
www.oyrhs.org
Special Event: Herkness Real
Estate Books on Display
The Society and Penn State Abington are pleased to
host a special showing of the Herkness Real Estate
Book at the Penn State Abington library in the Woodland Building on Sunday afternoon, March 15 at 2:30
p.m.. The event celebrates the digitization of the
books. The Society also has a complete set of the
books on CD-rom at the archives. The books document the developments of Herkness & Stetson Inc. and
later Wayne and Malcolm Herkness who, more than
any other people, charted the development of Rydal
and Meadowbrook prior to 1940. Their realty books
chronicle in photographs, plot plans and blueprints the
houses bought and sold – and sometimes built – by the
Herknesses in Abington, Bethayres, Huntingdon Valley, Jenkintown, Lower Moreland Township, Meadowbrook, Rydal, and Upper Moreland Township.
These books are part of the collection at Penn State
Abington and were recently digitized and made available online through Penn State University Libraries.
The event will include a brief presentation about the
Herknesses and the digitization process from David
Rowland, Society President, and Dolores Fidishun,
head librarian at Penn State Abington. General discussion, Q&A and a reception will follow where
guests may view the original books and tour the library’s Ogontz School archive room. The event is
free and open to the public. We hope to see you there.
A Program of Interest
Pennypack Mills Walk, Saturday, Saturday, April 25,
1 - 3 p.m. Nearly 30 mills operated along the Pennypack Creek and many are long gone. However, evidence and ruins remain. This tour is sponsored by the
Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust and will meet
at the Visitors Center off Edge Hill Road. Contact the
Trust at 215-657-0830 for pre-registration information. Wear comfortable shoes for this hike.
Membership Reminder
We are mid-way through our 2014-15 membership
year. If the mailing label on your envelope does not
read “2015” or if you received a membership form,
you are not current. Your generosity, as we continue
to face increased operating costs at Alverthorpe Manor, is most important. Please consider renewing at the
Patron level or above. Your support is appreciated.
A Bit of History – Station and Bridge
By Thomas J. Wieckowski
Residents of Wyncote and Jenkintown gathered at Ralph Morgan
Park on a fine late June 2014 Sunday afternoon to celebrate the return of a new old friend. The new
version of the Greenwood Avenue
bridge connecting the two communities was scheduled to open, “finally” many would add, the following Monday.
The previous bridge spanning the
SEPTA railroad tracks had deteriorated over its seventy-two year
lifespan, necessitating its complete
removal. That bridge and its predecessor watched over the development of the two communities from
their infancy as country villages to
modern suburbs.
When the North Pennsylvania
Rail Road hacked its way through
the verdant countryside in 1854
and 1855, it placed stations at the
country roads that crossed its path.
The closest to the village of Jenkin-
town (there was as yet no
Wyncote) were the stations at
Washington Lane – named Chelten
Hills after the development of
country estates in the area by abolitionist, cotton merchant, and entrepreneur Edward M. Davis – and the
station at [Rices] Mill Road –
named Tacony. The main road we
know today as Greenwood Avenue
connecting the two communities of
Jenkintown and Wyncote did not
yet exist. In fact the area was considered remote countryside.
The first train on the line ran on
July 2, 1855. The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that its route ran
through “exceedingly beautiful
country, in which highly cultivated
farms and fields were agreeably alternated with majestic and parklike groves, hills, and dales, and
watered with sparkling brooks and
streams.”
Apparently the site was chosen
for its direct line to the center of
Jenkintown village and the locomotive watering station that had already been established there by the
railroad. Residents of Jenkintown
desired more convenient access to
the new railroad and petitioned the
president of the railroad to construct a new station in return for
their establishment of an access
road. Called Station Road, the new
road would be 50 feet wide with an
all-weather gravel center and a
“summer road” (compacted dirt) on
either side. The board of the railroad approved the request on July
13, 1859, and named the new station “Cheltenham.” The name lasted only until 1862 when Jenkintown residents again petitioned the
board, this time for a change in
name to “Jenkintown.”
The station was a simple whitewashed wood-frame structure. It
opened along the one-track line in
the fall of 1859. Access to the
building on the northeast side of
the tracks was from Station Road.
The North Penn’s chief engineer
Edward Miller designated the station an “accommodation” stop only; that is, a flag-stop dependent
upon a waiting customer. By 1869,
the success of the railroad demanded a second track, although the
original grading and bridges were
designed from the beginning to accommodate two lines. By this time,
Station Road, now renamed
Greenwood Avenue, was extended
southward to connect with an 1854
road that terminated at Church
Road next to Abraham Barker’s estate, Lyndon. (Today’s Curtis Arboretum.) Thus Greenwood Avenue evolved into a single stretch
from the center of Jenkintown to
the Limekiln Pike. This created the
fateful crossing of the road with the
railroad tracks on the southeast
side of the new station.
Continued growth prompted the
railroad to recognize the increased
patronage, as well as the affluence
of its customers, by constructing a
more fitting stone edifice in 1872.
The building included a waiting
room and an outdoor privy, as well
as a roof that protected the wood
platform below. Patrons also demanded that water for thirsty travelers be provided, particularly since
those coming from the city suffered
the “less perfect” water of the city.
Accordingly, a well was drilled –
right next to the privy.
In less than two decades, traffic
at the stop outgrew the station and
extensive renovations were made
that included raising the roof by
twelve feet, constructing two waiting rooms (for men and women),
and indoor toilet rooms at the rear
of the old waiting room. A baggage
house was added during this construction to the outbound platform.
Increased pedestrian accidents at
the station prompted the railroad to
construct a footbridge in 1895. It
ran from Beechwood Avenue overlooking the baggage house, across
the tracks, and down to the northern side of the inbound platform. In
order to encourage pedestrian use,
an iron fence was installed between
the tracks.
Increasing development, including the official founding of the new
village known as Wyncote in 1887,
brought traffic problems to the
once secluded Greenwood Avenue
railroad crossing. The problem may
have concerned residents for a
while, but public awareness did not
emerge until an article in July 1899
in the Public Spirit about the county’s plans to replace the rickety old
bridge over the Tookany creek. The
article in that newspaper opined
that, if a new bridge were to be
constructed over the creek, they
might as well continue northward
and “carry the street over the North
Penn railroad tracks and thus obviate a dangerous grade crossing.”
The article continued with the
opinion that “the railroad company
would help bear the expense as
they now must employ watchmen
at this point day and night.”
By the spring of 1900, the county
appointed a jury to consider the
matter of erecting a bridge that
would result not only in the taking
of adjacent property but also the
vacating of a portion of Greenwood
Avenue in the vicinity of the station. The panel included architect
Milton Bean, who was responsible
for many structures in the northwestern area of the city’s environs.
and John W. Pepper, surveyor and
constable Joseph Hunter; contractor Hugh O’Neill; state senator Joseph Heacock.
The proposal percolated for a
year, and the jury reconvened for
another hearing in the same location on Tuesday, April 30, 1901. In
the intervening year, the proposal
generated opposition and an alternative plan. The alternative, probably the work of neighbor and famous merchant John Wanamaker,
was to build a bridge connecting
the bend in West Avenue on the
Jenkintown side, with the bend at
The jury met in the “old drug
store” near the corner of Greenwood and Glenside Avenues on
Thursday, May 24. The first witness was Jenkintown physician and
owner of the general store and post
office at the Greenwood corner, Dr.
J. E. Peters. He summed up what
would emerge as the general sentiment of the community: the crossing was “very dangerous,” and he
had been “kept waiting on many
occasions” for trains to pass. The
witness list looked like an area
Who’s Who: financier Clement
Newbold; bankers Wharton Barker
the top of the hill on Glenside Avenue on the Wyncote side. This
route was duly considered, if unenthusiastically, at the hearing.
Opposition to a bridge stemmed
mostly from the Jenkintown Borough Council, which voted to officially oppose the new edifice, and
from Thomas Nicholson, owner of
the coal yard adjacent to the railroad station, who would have part
of his property covered by the
bridge and his access to his
Greenwood Avenue entrance compromised. In a seemingly modern
touch, Nicholson had sued to block
the bridge, but a court decision in
Norristown on January 7, 1901, declined to grant him relief. The chief
opposing claims were that the project would damage the businesses
located at Wyncote and depress
property values. (There were businesses on the Jenkintown side that
had to be removed for the ramp.)
The proposed bridge, with its angular route, was approved by the
jury in early 1902, and Joseph W.
Hunter, the Jenkintown entrepreneur and surveyor, began documenting the bridge-site in July,
1902. Excavations began in Nicholson’s coal yard in September
of 1902. Nicholson was awarded
$7,500 for his lost property, but
once again sued to obtain what he
considered a more suitable level of
compensation due to the “ruthless
destruction” of his property. And
once again, he was unsuccessful.
Logs, presumably from the remnants of “Kent’s Woods” nearby,
were used as vertical supports for
the span over the tracks, although
iron beams were used as the horizontal base of the travel surface. L.
M. Bean, the local liveryman on
Greenwood Avenue in Wyncote,
had the contract for hauling the dirt
fill for the Wyncote ramp in Au-
gust of 1903. Later in that month,
the stone retaining wall along Beechwood Avenue was rebuilt to
move the roadway (today’s West
Avenue in front of the train station)
further north to intersect the new
incline to the bridge. You can still
today see the bend in the stone wall
where the two subtly different
styles of stonework meet. By November, crushed rock was being
laid over the surface in preparation
for a macadam covering. Workers
were being paid $4 per day for
their labor.
Concerns about teams driving off
the carriageway and down the embankment led to the installation of
an ersatz fence made from logs
pounded into the ground at the
edge of the carriageway, topped
with old gas pipes in early November 1903. A surprising amenity was
added to the bridge on January 30,
1904, when a new-fangled electric
light was placed atop a telephone
pole at the center of the bridge.
With the construction of a stone
wall on the Jenkintown side of the
platform blocking off Greenwood
Avenue, concerns mounted that
pedestrians were being forced to
use the bridge, not designed for
that purpose, in order to cross from
one town to the other. The result
was a pedestrian tunnel that was also constructed through 1903 linking the outbound with the inbound
platforms.
Finally open for traffic in January of 1904 – with little apparent
fanfare – that bridge and its two
successors safely linked vehicular
traffic between the two burgeoning
communities of Wyncote and Jenkintown without fear of railroading
mishaps.
The station would survive until
1932 when society architect Horace Trumbauer was hired by the
Reading railroad, successor to the
North Penn, to design a new station
worthy of the affluent communities
surrounding it. The bridge lasted
another ten years after that and was
replaced in 1942.
______________________________________
Thomas J. Wieckowski is vicepresident of the Old York Road
Historical Society. He is a resident
of Wyncote and wrote Making
Marathon: A History of Early
Wyncote that traces the history of
the area from William Penn
through the Gilded Age.
______________________________________
Captions
1. Greenwood Avenue crosses the
tracks. The view looks south towards Washington Lane. Note the
hut for the full-time gate attendant.
2. The 1872 station lies alongside
the 1769 Mather Mill pond, site of
today’s Ralph Morgan Park. John
Wanamaker purchased the property
in 1887 and put his own men to
work dredging the “foul muck of
the malerial pond,” turning it into
an attractive stand of water.
3. The new Greenwood Avenue
bridge in the spring of 1905. Note
the wood pilings. The waterway in
the foreground is the millrace that
led from the Mather pond to the
Mather Mill which was located at
the Washington Lane crossing, one
half mile to the South.
War Monuments Conservation Fund
The Coates-Jordan American Legion Post #163 and the Society recently signed an agreement whereby the Society established an endowment fund with a gift of nearly $42,500 from the Coates-Jordan Post. Interest that accrues on the endowment will be used to maintain the various public war monuments in Abington and Jenkintown.
The Society looks forward to working with the appropriate municipalities and school districts to keep the identified war and veteran monuments in good condition.
The Coates-Jordan Post was founded by returning World War I veterans. The Post was based in Jenkintown and
owned a property on Cedar Road for a time. The proceeds from the sale of that building went into a fund that allowed the post to operate over the years. However, with a declining membership roster, the remaining members
recently decided to fold the post and turn the bulk of its assets over to the Society to create this endowment. In
its earlier days, the post was responsible for laying wreaths at the war monuments in Abington and Jenkintown
every Memorial Day.
The Society has created this endowment in furtherance of its mission to identify and preserve historic sites and
landmarks in its communities and to promote the history of this area, which includes honoring the memory of
those who have served or given their lives to their country in time of need. To the extent the endowment generates income above and beyond that needed to maintain the monuments in Abington Township and Jenkintown,
then funds can be used to support other local organizations and events for purposes that honor American war
dead and veterans or to maintain and preserve existing public veteran and war monuments in other locales within
the Society’s territory.
The Society wishes to express its thanks to the Post for funding this endowment and for its vote of confidence in
the Society to serve as steward for our local war and veterans monuments.
- - - YOUR HELP IS NEEDED - - Annually, the Society pays a visit to Montgomery Newspapers to get a copy of the previous year’s newspapers to
save in our archives. This year and without notice, the publisher decided not to save any of its newspapers for
2014. Thus, we are in a distressed state as we attempt to gather a year’s worth of local newspapers. Many of the
area libraries save the local paper for only a limited time.
At this point, we have collected from area libraries and others the Times-Chronicle, the Glenside News and The
Globe. However, the Public Spirit is not retained by the two local libraries that receive the paper and The Willow
Grove Guide is only retained for a couple of months. So we must rely on others who might have saved some or
all of these two newspapers for the past year. If you or anyone you know has any copies of the Public Spirit or
The Willow Grove Guide for any week during 2014 and is willing to donate them to the Society for permanent retention, please contact the Society at 215-886-8590. Thanks for your assistance!
Funeral Home Records Indexed
The Society holds the funeral home records for the Helweg Funeral Service of Jenkintown and the Baron Rowland Funeral Home in Abington. Both establishments were multi-generational and thus the records of deaths are
quite extensive. In order to make the best use of this resource, Board Member Leslie Bell developed a project to
index the funeral records. The Old York Road Genealogical Society was approached for volunteers to type identifying information into a spreadsheet that can then be sorted.
Genealogical Society volunteers Cathy Bolton, Barbara Hughes, Mary Ann Reynolds, Flossie Waring, Barbara
Wentling, and Margie White began to tackle this project in December 2013. For each death recorded, a volunteer
entered the name of the deceased, date of death, cemetery, volume and page number. The project was finally
completed in January 2015. The index contains some 9700 entries and will be used in conjunction with the numerous genealogical requests that come into the Society each year. The Society is grateful to the volunteers who
helped make these funeral home records easily accessible.
THANKS TO OUR MAJOR MEMBERSHIP DONORS
The Society gratefully recognizes those who have so far supported our work for the 2015 program year through
membership at the Patron level and above. All of 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
Mr. & Mrs. Michael F. Czerwonka
The Jenkinstown Lyceum
Mr. & Mrs. Louis M. Golden
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Kahn
CONTRIBUTOR
William D. Barker, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. John B. Chapman
Mr. & Mrs. Mark Hinkel
Kiwanis Club of Jenkintown
Mr. & Mrs. H. Lewis Klein
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph W. Krzaczek
Mr. & Mrs. Donald Pizer
Mr. & Mrs. Baron Rowland
Dr. & Mrs. Frederick Rude
Rotary Club of Jenkintown
Mr. & Mrs. Jack Washington
PATRON PLUS
The Rev. David R. Adam
Chelten Hills Savings Bank
Mr. & Mrs. Larry Eastwood
Mr. & Mrs. George W. Elkins
James T. Gulla
Mr. & Mrs. George E. Harrison
Barbara A. Jacobs
Mr. & Mrs. John B. Neff
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Pokrifka
Mr. & Mrs. L. Vicente Rivera
Elizabeth B. Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Wm. Weihenmeyer
Dr. & Mrs. Thomas J. Wieckowski
PATRON
Mr. & Mrs. John F. Bales
Pamela Bannon and Samantha
Hutcherson
Mr. & Mrs. Herbert V. Bell
Nan S. Bers & Harry J. Sears
James A. Butler, Ph.D.
Sandra S. Collins
Mr. & Mrs. Jan E. DuBois
Diane B. Foster
Dr. & Mrs. Ronald H. Freidman
Eleanor Given
John F. Glynn
Mr. & Mrs. Harold N. Grier
Rep. Kate Harper
Mr. & Mrs. Herbert L. Harris
Bryan T. Havir
Mr. & Mrs. Clyde R. Herr
Carol A. Ingald
Mr. & Mrs. Gregory A. Jackson
J. Theodore Jensen
Mr. & Mrs. Martin G. Kalos
Natalie Karas
Jeffrey Kenneth Kohn, M.D.
Mr. & Mrs. Edward C. Landau
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Maher
Martha C. McDonough
Elaine C. Meckling
Mr. & Mrs. Martin L. Mikelberg
Edie Miller
Andrew G. Nehlig
Albert R. Paulbinsky
Dr. & Mrs. Thomas C. Peff
Dr. & Dr. Melvyn P. Richter
Josh Rosenbloom
Mr. & Mrs. Hugh T. Ryan
Kenneth E. Thomas
Mr. & Mrs. John L. Waite
Patrons’ Party to be Held at Netherfield
This year’s annual Patrons’ Party will be held Sunday, May 17, at Netherfield, an estate that adjoins the Huntingdon Valley Country Club. The original farm house was built in the mid-18th century and was expanded several
times in the 19th century. In the mid-1920s, the owner W. W. Justice, undertook renovations and an addition designed by the architectural firm of Thomas, Martin & Kirkpatrick of Philadelphia. This signaled the transition of
the property from a farm to an estate. The current owners purchased the property in 2000 and restored the residence to top condition and made an addition to the structure. Invitations will be mailed to all 2015 Patron and
above members in mid-April. In order to receive an invitation, you must be a current 2015 Patron member or higher, a donor to the Annual Fund, or a donor of archival materials to the Society’s collections.