Chester County Catch-up (1/16/2023)

Monday, January 16, 2023

A sunny but cold day means time for a drive. We are off to see the last from a long list of historic properties in Chester County, PA.

Gunkle Spring Mill (1793) at 86 Moores Rd, Malvern, PA,
was the first of several mills built by Michael Gunkle

Springhouse at Gunkle Spring Mill

Anas platyrhynchos/Mallard ducks
on the Schuylkill Canal at
400 Towpath Road, Mont Clare, PA (KSS)

Lock 60 (c 1826?) has been restored
and is operational

Lock 60 includes a catch basin for rising water

Lockkeeper's House (1826-1839)

Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge (1915), a
closed-spandrel arch bridge: note one-lane Towpath Road

Former Phoenix Iron & Steel Works Foundry (1882)
at 2 Main Street, is now home of the Scuylkill River Heritage
Center and an event space that is popular for weddings

Unidentified product of the foundry

A giant gear from the foundry

Phoenix Column Bridge (1871) crossed French Creek to
connect company buildings and also as a sample
of what the Phoenix Bridge Company could offer

The Symbols of Steel Sculpture Garden
includes these Phoenix Columns arranged
from tall to short; these hollow columns
were patented by Samuel Reeves in 1862

Phoenix Bird Sculpture (by Doris Sams)
was made from wooden patterns
found at the Phoenix Iron & Steel Works

Former Mennonite Church (1873) at 204 Church Street, is
now home to the Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area,
after serving several denominations through the years

LuLu Boutique at 12 Main Street sponsors
the semiannual A Whole Lot of Lulu
Vintage Flea Market (April and October)

The mural (by Teresa Haag?) at the parking lot
site of the vintage flea market

Independent News Office Building (1856)
at 203 Bridge Street (with a mural by
Michael Webb and Meg Saligman depicting
the history and people of Phoenixville

Former National Bank of Phoenixville
(c 1925) at 225 Bridge Street, is now
an annex to the Colonial Theatre

Colonial Theatre (1903) is also the site of the July Blobfest,
to commemorate its part in the 1958 movie The Blob

223 Bridge Street typifies the many buildings
in town that have second-floor balconies

Odd Fellows Building (c 1910)
at 237 Bridge Street

Morris Cemetery (1867) at 428 Nutt Road features a
Civil War Monument (early 1870s) that lost the statue
of a soldier standing at the top to a lightning strike in 2011

Reeves Park (between S Main and Starr Streets, and
Second and Third Avenues) clock

Reeves Park War Memorial (1991)

Reeves Park Griffen Cannon that developed by
John Griffen and was manufactured at
Phoenix Iron Company between 1860 and 1865

Statue of David Reeves, founder and president
of the reorganized and incorporated
Phoenix Iron Company in 1855

Band shell at Reeves Park

Reeves Park Susquicentennial Pavilion (1999)

Behind the pavilion was this Peacemaker
Award plaque, sponsored by the area
Violence Prevention Network, with
awardees listed from 2003-2008;
has peace been achieved? (KSS)

Mount Zion AME Church (1880), a community gathering
place during the Berwyn School Fight (1932–1934),
at 380 North Fairfield Road, Devon, PA

In March 1932, two separate school districts, Tredyffrin and Easttown, imposed an official policy to segregate their public elementary school black children from white children (grades 1-8). The Black families and their supporters met at Mount Zion AME Church to plan how to fight for their childrens’ rights to equal education. The resulting boycott of the schools lasted two years and forced officials to rescind the segregation order. This event paved the way for the 1935 PA Equal Rights Bill.

The Mount Zion AME Church cemetery
had several graves of Civil War veterans

Roughwood (1819 as Lamb's Tavern, with additions)
at 107 Old Lancaster Road, Devon, PA

Cramond (1886, by McKim, Mead & White in
Classical Revival style) at 95 Crestline Road, Wayne, PA, is
now the Goddard School for Early Childhood Development

Strafford Railroad Station (1873 as Wayne Railroad Station,
moved here in 1883, in Eastlake/Stick style)
at 97 Old Eagle School Road, Wayne, PA

The following properties are part of the Waterloo Mills Historic District in Easttown, PA:

Davis/Gallagher Farmhouse (c 1800, in
Colonial Revival style) at 815 South Waterloo Road

Davis/Gallagher Farm Springhouse (c 1800)
at 825 South Waterloo Road

Richard Thomas House (1804, in Colonial style)
at 840 South Waterloo Road

Davis Tenant House (c 1820, in Colonial style)
at 855 South Waterloo Road; note the low stone walls

Wheelwright/Blacksmith Shop (c 1820, enlarged 1891, in
vernacular commercial style) next to 855 South Waterloo Road

Former Waterloo Mill (1796-1798, in vernacular style)
at 860 South Waterloo Road

Alexander Dairy Barn (c 1890, in vernacular style)
near 860 South Waterloo Road

Milton, PA (1/9/2023)

Monday, January 9, 2023

A historic and architectural walking tour of Milton, PA, which was founded in 1791 by Andrew Straub, who also built a grist mill. The name Milton is a shortening of Milltown. The West Branch Canal arrived in 1830, providing access to major markets. Later railroads brought more industry to the area, due to its location on the Susquehanna River.

Most of the architecture dates after the Great Fire of 1880.

Former Reading Railroad Freight Station (c 1890)
at 2 Filbert Street, is now the Borough Municipal Building

Former Pennsylvania Railroad Passenger Station
(c 1885, in Queen Anne style) at 1 Filbert Street,
now houses the Milton Police Department

St Joseph's Catholic Church (1883, in Gothic Revival style)
at 109 Broadway Street

65 Broadway Street was a residence for
Dr U Q Davis, who fathered three more
generations of medical doctors 

Trompe l'oeil murals (c 2008, by Pamela J Snyder)
along Arch Street at Broadway

Capitol Theatre Mural (c 2009, by Pamela J Snyder)
at 49 Broadway Street

Former St John's United Church of Christ
(1895) at 18 Arch Street, is the rare church
with a second-story sanctuary

Home (1923) of the The Standard Journal newspaper,
at 21 Arch Street

Fonda Mansion (1891, by Guy King in
Richardsonian Romanesque style) at 60 Walnut Street

The carriage house of Fonda Mansion

First Presbyterian Church (1887, by
Joseph Nesbit in Gothic Revival style)
at 47 Walnut Street

First Presbyterian Church Manse (1883, in
Gothic Revival style with Italianate details)
at 65 Walnut Street (photo by Google Maps)

Christ Episcopal Church (1849) at
21 Upper Market Street, was the only
existing church to survive the fire in 1880

George S Shimer House (in Queen Anne style)
at 216 North Front Street

Samuel J Shimer House (1890, in Queen Anne style)
at 228 North Front Street

Elmer Shimer House (1890, in Queen Anne style)
at 246 North Front Street

George and Elmer were sons of Samuel J Shimer, a lumberman and leading industrialist in Milton.

Townhouses at 243-241 North Front Street

Redneck Windchime at 243 North Front Street

Hull House (c 1863, in Colonial Revival style)
at 213 North Front Street,
was raised from street level after a flood

Murray House (1883, in Gothic Revival style with
Italianate elements) 201 North Front Street

Masonic Temple (1929, in Neoclassical style) at
117 North Front Street, was constructed with concrete

Former Hotel Milton (1895, in Queen Anne style)
at 101 North Front Street

Kent with a gargoyle water drain
at 101 North Front Street

McCleery Mansion at 45 North Front Street

Chapin House (1890s, in Colonial Revival style with
Queen Anne embellishments) at 50 North Front Street

US Post Office (1935, by the WPA in Art Deco style)
at 43 North Front Street

Entrance to the post office with a bronze
panel depicting an eagle below a
representation of the Susquehanna River

Bas reliefs of indigenous people and
modes of transportation

The post office interior has brushed aluminum
light fixtures and a terrazzo floor

Wilson House (1887, in Queen Anne style)
at 28 North Front Street

Unusual building at 15 North Front Street

Lincoln Park on Front Street

Odd Fellows Building (1892, as a post office
in Italianate style) at 12 South Front Street

Former First National Bank (1924, in Greek Revival style)
at 14 South Front Street

14 South Front Street has bas relief carvings of angels
(although they are often mistaken for soldiers)

Former Milton National Bank
(1920, in Neoclassical style)
at 23 South Front Street

Former J F Gauger Tailor Shop (c 1880,
in Neoclassical style with Italianate features)
at 36 South Front Street, was the first
commercial shop built after the 1880 fire

Mural: It's Not Where You (?), It's Where You're Going
(by JMikal Davis) at 45 South Front Street

Former Dreifuss Men's Store (1880s, in Gothic Revival style
with Italianate details) at 45 South Front Street

Cinn-ful of Treats Mural (by Chuck Webster)
at 54 South Front Street

Former Milton Trust and Safe Deposit
Company (1888, in Neoclassical style)
at 51 South Front Street

Bethany United Methodist Church (1880s,
in Gothic Revival style) at 107 South Front Street

Former Milton Water Company Building (1890, in
commercial Queen Anne style) at 114 South Front Street

Swartz Building (1881, with a marble veneer)
at 32-36 Broadway Street

Former Broadway House Hotel (1880s, in Italianate style)
at 46 Broadway Street, is now the YMCA

Elks Building (c 1890, in asymmetrical French Eclectic
style) at 48 Broadway Street

Chamberlin House (1863, in Second Empire style)
at 700 North Front Street, was constructed with
lumber cut to resemble ashlar blocks

Clinger House (1850s, in Italianate style) at
500 North Front Street, is the only home in Milton
with an intact cupola

Hetherington House (1804, in Federal style) at
355 South Front Street, was used as a stop
on the Underground Railroad

Cameron House (1842, brick addition 1860,
in Federal style) at 5340 PA-405, is now the home
of the Milton Historical Society