Continuing the story of Radnor in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the accompanying picture shows a group assembled on the porch of the General Store on King of Prussia road. The man in the center of the picture is Captain John G.W. Dillin, now a resident or Drexel Hill, who celebrated his 94th birthday on the 28th of July.

Famous for his extensive knowledge of guns, Captain Dillin has published a book widely read by sportmen, called “The Kentucky Rifle.” He was also an authority on rabies in a day when little was known of that disease. He published a 20-page treatise called “Rabies Past and Present.” which contained “the account of 35 cases of rabies in dogs, horses, cattle and swine, beginning 1864 and ending about 1922,” according to an advertisement concerning the pamphlet.

Of himself Captain Dillin has this interesting bit to say in the foreword of the treatise:
“I was born July 28, 1860, near Valley Forge (where my two grandfathers endured the hardships with General Washington) in a log cabin farm where I lived for 25 years. I acquired my three R’s at a little stone school house called Carr’s School, located near what is now the town of Wayne. I can remember that we used pokeberry juice for ink, and I hated school and took every opportunity to evade going. I quit school when I could read in the fourth reader.

“During my life time, I have been a farmer, storekeeper, lumberman, woodsman and big game hunter. I have soldiered with the National Guard of Pennsylvania, and have been both member and coach of many National Military rifle and revolver teams. As a naturalist, I am known as an authority on the extinct Passenger Pigeon. I am the author of the book entitled ‘The KentuckyRifle’ and am a lover of fiddles and firearms.”

The children standing on either side of Captain Dillin in the picture, include Dorothy Wolf, Ethel Morris and Ida Morris, all former residents of Radnor.

In the June 25, 1954 issue of “The Suburban,” an interesting old picture of Dillin’s store was published in this column. At that time it was stated that neither the date of the picture or the identity of the men or boys in it was known to your columnist. Ray Yocom now gives the date as 1898, and in the foreground of the picture are Tryon Lewis from Ithan, and to his left, his horse and buggy in which he made daily trips to Dillin’s store. The boy next to Mr. Lewis is Mr. Yocom. The gentleman with the cane and beard was Peter Pechin who owned a farm on King of Prussia road. His son was Nate Pechin, one time sheriff of Delaware County who passed away not so very long ago.

The picture was taken by Lucy Sampson, of Berwyn, according to Mr. Yocom. This is the first indication of the sex of the “photographic artist” who made several of the pictures already illustrating this column. It is interesting to know that “L.A. Sampson” was a woman in a period when women in any field of business were the rather rare exception. In the early 1900’s this picture of the Old Store made one of the very popular postcards of its time, as shown by the number which were mailed to Mr. Yocom in his California home, and which have been preserved by him all these years.

Another matter of slight confusion has been cleared up by Mr. Yocom’s notes. In the early 1900’s Charles A. Dillin, father of Oscar and John Dillin, operated a grocery store in the lower part of the old Red Lion Inn in Ardmore. Some records have stated that the Old Store in Radnor was once called the Red Lion Inn, an error which could easily be made because of the duplication of the Dillin name in stores in both Radnor and in Ardmore.

(To be continued)

Among the many fascinating pictures of old Radnor that have been sent to your columnist by Ray Yocom, of Long Beach, Calif., not many will bring back more nostalgic memories than this one of old Radnor School No. 4. The picture, Mr. Yocom writes us, was taken in 1896. It shows Miss Clara Thornbury, the teacher of that school at the time, and about 30 of her pupils.

Such a picture is a real find, since cameras were not the commonplace possession that they are now. When groups like this wanted to have a picture made of themselves, they had to arrange with “a photography artist” to stop by. This particular picture was made by just such an artist, L.A. Sampson, of Berwyn.

In the sedate and orderly crowd with eyes to the front, as “teacher” probably ordered, there seems to have been a sligntly disturbing element in the way of one small boy in the exact center of the picture.

Although Mr. Yocom cannot identify all of his schoolmates, he can name the following as being in the picture, in addition to himself: Cecilia Hobson, Sylvester Sullivan, Abe Hobson, Frank Quigley, Joe Casey, Eddie Layfield, Johnny Gallagher, Johnny Murray, Cliff Croll, Harold Righter, Dorothy Wolf, Margie Dillin and Emma Lane. (If any of our readers can add to this list, the names they send in will be printed in a column of a later date.)

A map dating back to 1873 that has been lent to your columnist by Paul Thomas, of “Radnor House,” shows that this small stone schoolhouse was in existence then, and probably for some years previous to that time. It is definitely one of the oldest school houses in Radnor township, dating back to a time when the children of the township obtained their education in one room school buildings in seven widely scattered districts.

This particular small school building has been preserved to this day, although in altered form and for other purposes. Standing still on its original site, on King of Prussia road, it is now J.J. Ryan’s gas station, located directly adjacent to St. Martin’s Sunday School building, which is located on the corner of Glenmary lane and King of Prussia road. At the time this picture of the old school was taken, the Shea family lived in a house that stood on the site of the present Sunday School building.

Among his momentos, Mr. Yocom has kept two of his early report cards, one for the school term of 1898, the other undated. It shows that Miss Thornbury taught her pupils a wide range of subjects, from reading to nature study. There was also spelling, writing, arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, physiology, music and drawing. In those days a teacher must needs be versatile, indeed, in her talents!

A note at the bottom of the report card states that “an average below 75 is not satisfactory,” a fact that apparently needed to bother young Ray Yocom not at all, since his average was always many points above that. On the back of the card were spaces for the signature of “parent or guardian.” Young Yocom’s were always signed by his uncle or aunt, Mr. and Mrs O.S. Dillin. Mr. Dillin was owner of the Old Store, with whom Mr Yocom spent all of his younger days.

In regard to the pastimes of a group of young people such a those shown in the picture, Mr. Yocom writes that while they apparently did not have much to do, they still “certainly found lots of fun for themselves… in the spring we could hardly wait until it was warm enough to go in swimming in the old Engine House Dam at Radnor, or the Fenimore Dam at Wayne.

“Then there was fishing in Gulph Creek and jigging for suckers at night with lanterns in the Darby Creek. Duch and Davy was our favorite game in the cattle pen at the railroad station… Fox and Geese in the old Radnor School yard. And we had the old swimming holes at the Gulph Creek… played some baseball, caddied at St. Davids Golf Club … I would trap for’ muskrats in Gulph Creek (never caught one though). All the boys had guns of some kind, we would hunt rabbits… of course, sledding and sleighing and skating on Mott’s Dam . . . shinny on the ice… we always cut our shinny sticks from shapely saplings in the woods… we also tried to ride cows out in the pasture, holding on to their horns for handle bars.”

And so Mr. Yocom’s memory travels back over a happy boyhood in Radnor – centering always round the Old Store, which was his home for some years. Next week’s column will continue with reminisences of the somewhat older boy, and his pictures.

(To be continued)

In May and June of this year several columns of “Your Town and My Town” were devoted to the story of Morgan’s Corners, as Radnor was called in days gone by. Following the column of June 25, when a picture of the Old Store was used, your columnist received letters from two old time residents of Radnor.

One was O. Howard Wolfe, now living in Milford, Pa., who, during the course of 65 years’ residence in Radnor Township, served first as president of the Radnor School Board, and later of the Radnor Board of Township Commissioners. Another was Ray Yocom, who left Radnor in 1906 after having spent the first 20 years of his life in Radnor.

Mr. Yocom has recently sent an invaluable collection of old pictures, letters and newspaper clippings. Two of these pictures are shown in today’s column, with more to follow from time to time.

A notation on the back of this picture shows that it was taken “about 1898” by L.A. Sampson, photographic artist, of Berwyn. To the left is O.S. Dillin, proprietor of the Old Store and to the right is John G. Dillin, his brother. The latter was an authority on rifles of that period, and had himself designed one.

The shelves and cases back of the counter, with the gas chandelier above, will doubtless stir the curiosity or our readers, just as they do that of your columnist. One resident of Radnor, whose memory goes back to the time of this picture, says that among the merchandise sold by Mr. Dillin were such staples as flour, sugar, syrup and molasses. Kerosene was also a staple, since lamps and candles were then the only means of home illumination. Calico by the yard was sold, and articles of clothing, including shoes.

In Mr. Yocom’s collection of old time pictures are several of this delivery wagon and of “Frank,” the whlte horse. Of the vehicle Mr. Yocom has written, “this was a beautiful wagon for those days… I remember so well when Uncle got it.” And be adds, “I loved to go along with the driver to deliver groceries.”

Reading from left to right, the men in the picture are Louis Goebel (now living in Berwyn), Charley Ryan, Ray Yocom, Tom Lane, Peter Pechln (with beard and Straw hat), Walter Campton and Harry Lienhardt. Peter Pechin was the father of the late “Nate” Pechin, sheriff of Delaware County, who died only a few years ago. Walter Campton’s father was at one time ticket agent at Radnor Station.

And of Harry Lienhardt, Mr. Yocom writes, “he delivered bread to us from their bakery in Wayne,”
and then he adds, “and they had good bread!” Founded in the ’80’s the original Lienhardt store remained in business in the middle of Wayne’s business block until few years ago, when it passed into new ownership, although still retaining the old name.

(To be Continued)

A little more than two years ago, in the summer of 1952, a long series of articles appeared in this column, tracing the history of Martin’s Dam, back to the time long before it was a popular swimming club. Naturally enough, the history of the dam developed into the story of that neighborhood and of the old mills and houses in that particular section of Chester Valley. However, it was some time after that series was published that three interesting pictures came into the possession of your columnist. Unfortunately only two are sufficiently clear to be reproduced.

On the back of the one that is too faded to include in today’s column is written “Swimming at the ’Old Cat Hole’, Martins Dam.” It shows the rope, the predecessor many times removed, of the one that now hangs from a branch of the tall tree in front of the bath houses, near the picnic table and fireplaces. But how different the background then from now! There seems to have been a crude platform, and there is a rowboat tied up to the platform. But there are no sturdily built docks, no lifeguard stands, no sliding boards, no floats. The background looks bare, indeed, to the eyes of a generation accustomed to all that has been done to “the old cat hole” in the last 30 years.

The other two pictures, shown above, are of the house across the from the dam breast, the first taken about 1906, when it was first purchased by George R. Park.

The second picture was taken a few years later, after Mr. Park had remodelled the house. It is now the property of Mr. and Mrs. C.B. Basinger, who acquired it recently.

In 1841, Richard Martin and his wife, Hannah, acquired the woolen mill near Zook’s Dam, as Martin’s Dam was originally called. The Martins moved their young family from Kensington into what was the original part of this house, the center part as it now stands. As the Martin family grew in numbers, Mr. Martin added first one wing, and then the other. It was this Martin family that gave its name to Martin’s Dam.

The original part of the house undoubtedly dates back to pre-Revolutionary days, with its great fireplace and wide triple doors, and with a huge baking oven in the basement under this fireplace. An old mill, once directly opposite the entrance to Martin’s Dam Club, was torn down by Mr. Park when he acquired the property in 1906.

The mill stone was used at the entrance to the house, to which Mr. Park added still a third wing.

After Mr. Park sold the historic old house, it was occupied for some years by Miss Isabel Maddison. As the present property of Mr. and Mrs. Basinger, it will be one of the historic homes to be visited by the Historical Society on October 16.

The excerpts given in last week’s column from the old Bryn Mawr “Record” were found at the back of the Saturday Club pictured above, Since only parts of the newspaper remained, and these so brown with age as to be almost illegible, and so frail as to crumble at the touch, it was difficult for your columnist to read the date on which it was published. In last week’s column it was given as May 9, 1891. Your columnist has since decided that the year was 1901, not 1891 The news is therefore 53, not 63 years old.

An interesting note was added to last week’s column by A.M. Ehart, editor of “The Suburban,” giving the information that the old newspaper must have been a copy of the Bryn Mawr Record, a periodical which has long since been discontinued.

This remarkably clear picture of the Saturday Club is especially interesting in that it shows the back of the building as it looked soon after it was finished in 1898. There are several old pictures of the front of the building, but this particular one seems to be the only one showing the rear view. It was taken from what now includes the rear yards of the Albrecht Flower Shop and the large building which houses the Wayne Beauty Salon on its first floor. The right rear side of the Club House now looks quite different from the picture, as it was enlarged some years ago to make the board room. Several windows were added, and a door replaced the window in the alcove.

The house just showing to the left of the picture is one across the street on West Wayne avenue, that was originally the property of Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Ware. It is older than the Saturday Club by several years. It was later occupied by Dr. and Mrs. H. Lee Scott, and quite recently, it has been remodelled into apartments. The home to the right of the club house, directly adjacent to it, has been for some years the headquarters of the Wayne Neighborhood League.

So much for the old picture. And now to continue with Radnor township news as given in the Bryn Mawr “Record” of May 9, 1901. Radnor High School had “just added lawn tennis to its list of out-of-door games,” the Board of Directors having granted permission to use that portion of the school grounds between the high school and the grammar school. The Athletic Association laid out four courts with others to be added as needed.

Just why tennis was considered particularly suitable for the girls it is now difficult to say. But “this form of exercise” was “introduced primarily for the purpose of giving the girls some kind of out-of-door exercise.” The regular indoor gymnastic work of the school was suspended for the balance of the school year in order to allow time for instruction in tennis.

Radnor’s relay team had just journeyed to Swarthmore on the previous Saturday “to take part in the races given in connection with the annual college games. Radnor easily won first place with Lower Merion in second place, and Norristown High School’s baseball team had just scored a victory over the Radnor team by a 38-13 score. The latter was soon to play Lansdowne High.

Mrs. Ralston C. Ware was president of the Saturday Club at this time. A musical program had featured the last meeting of the club, the program opening with a piano duet by Dr. George Miles Wells and Mrs. C.M. Custer. Other local musicians to appear on the program were Miss Jessie L. Fulweiler, Master Lucien Phillips, Reginald Makin, Mrs. David J. Hoopes and George B. Wilson. “The Fishermaiden,” a cantata, was sung by the “ladies of the Club Chorus.”

One of Radnor township’s leading citizens, John H. Converse, of Rosemont, had been given a reception at the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia in recognition of his services to the Presbyterian Church. An audience, numbering about 2500, was present, including Justices of the Supreme Court, many public officials, officers of financial institutions and numerous clergymen of several denominations. In presenting a silver loving cup to Mr. Converse, Dr. William Henry Roberts, of Wayne, spoke for the assembled clergymen.

Last, but not least among the articles in the Bryn Mawr “Record” of 53 years ago which attracted your columnist’s attention was “Local Historical Sketch,” apparently part VII of a series written by an unnamed writer about the “Original German Settlement Around Strafford.” The Old Eagle School, of which the writer of “Your Town and My Town” has told so much in these columns from time to time, is described more than 50 years ago as “one of the oldest school houses in the State, and so far as the writer has been able to ascertain, the only one distinctly preserved to the present generation.”

Then, as now, the historic aspect of the section of the country which we live interested the local columnist.

In preparation for the Saturday Club’s “Open House” on Thursday evening of last week, a number of old club treasures, reminiscent of days long past, were dusted off and polished up under the direction of the incoming president, Mrs. J. L. Vosburg, and her hard working committee. Among these treasures was a framed picture of the club house as it looked in 1898 which your columnist had brought to light from some desk corner.

In 1898 J.D. Lengel had just finished the club house architectural plans prepared by David Knickerbacker Boyd. Both men were long time residents of Wayne.

In order to have the picture in keeping with the attractive, newly decorated club house, a reframing job was in order. When the back of the old frame was removed, a folded newspaper, used to keep the picture firmly in place, came to light. It was so brown with age as to be almost illegible and so frail that it crumbles at the touch. The date was May 9, 1891. [This date was corrected in the following issue, 9/24/1954, to May 9, 1901.]

Only part of the newspaper was used and that part does not have the name in full. The only clue is that it was published in Bryn Mawr and that it was “The R…,” the rest of the name having been torn away. The editor of “The Suburban,” whose memory is long one, can give our readers in the following footnote information on the subject.

(The newspaper was the Bryn Mawr “Record,” founded in 1903 by the Suburban Publishing Company, to supplement its chain of Main Line newspapers, which extended from Downingtown to Overbrook. The editor was James E. Dougherty, a former postmaster at Haverford, and later manager of the Bryn Mawr Ice Company. The paper was discontinued in 1906, after “The Suburban” plant in Wayne was destroyed by fire, and further publication became impossible.

Mr. Dougherty was the father of the Very Rev. Joseph M. Dougherty, O.S.A., who became Provincial of the Augustinian Order four years this week.)

The interesting thing to local readers is that this 63-year-old Bryn Mawr newspaper contained so much news of Wayne and of Radnor township. There is a half-column of “Radnor Notes,” a quarter of one entitled “Round About Strafford”… Radnor High School rates a third of a column, as does the Saturday Club… there is a short story about a match between the St. Davids Cricket Club and Huntingdon Valley Country Club cricket teams. Players from the local club included Miss M. Dallett, Miss Benners, Mrs. Bergner, Miss Warren, Mrs. Hallowell and Mrs. Montgomery. This group had a “team total” of two as against their opponents’ team total or 49!

Then there are the Wayne advertisements, including one of the Wayne Title and Trust Company, when Louis H. Watt was president; F.H. Treat, vice-president; Harry C. Hunter, secretary and treasurer, and Christopher Fallon, solicitor and title officer. Another “ad” starts off: “Shall we send our Wagon for your Laundry bundle?” It was placed by the Wayne Laundry Company, which assured the customers that it “will suit you better than any other laundry has done or will do.” Is there anyone among our readers who remembers the Wayne Laundry, where it was located and by whom it was operated?

Various flowery advertisements of the Wayne Estate, as they were written in the 80’s and 90’s, have been reprinted before in this column. None, however, can equal in picturesque detail the one in this Bryn Mawr paper which states that, “Wayne is 14 miles from the city, away from the clang of the trolley, away from the hum of the town, though close enough to feel its contact and to reach its desired amusements by many trains and quick service over the best railroad system in the world; where wild flowers abound, and where the trailing arbutus peeps from behind the rocks on the slopes of the hills; where the air is redolent and invigorating with mountain odor and the recreations enjoyed by the people are innocent, healthful and in touch with the times.”

A front page article concerns a topic as timely today as it was 60 years ago – that of fines for “auto speeding.” But with a difference! For in 1891, Lower Merion was fixing a penalty for “exceeding 10 miles an hour.” This fine would be $10 for the first violation, and would be increased to $25 for the second offense and $50 for the third.

“The same conditions apply to bicycle riders,” the statement continues, adding “under the new ordinance, when a horse becomes frightened at an automobile the driver must come to a full stop.” And the paragraph concludes that “in adopting the new ordinance the commissioners followed the example of the commissioners of the adjoining township of Radnor.” Our township had evidently pioneered along the Main Line in the matter of speeding automobilists. It is interesting to note that even in early May “the departure from the city for the nearby country seats, seashore homes and mountains resorts” had already begun. “Society is leaving the city much earlier this year than in former seasons,” the Bryn Mawr paper continues. “Many homes in the fashionable sections of the city have been closed during the past two weeks, the families having moved to the country for the summer,” as have “Mr. N.F. Folwell and family.” Mr. Thomas Newhall, of Baltimore, “paid a flying visit to Strafford this week” and ”Mr. and Mrs. A. Horwitz are occupying one of the Smith houses.” All these are still interesting names to those among us who are really old timers.

The Strafford column concludes with the information that “the house lately occupied by Mr. Walter Pierson has been much improved and is now ready for the bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. McCurdy, when they return from their wedding trip.”

(Other excerpts from the old Bryn Mawr newspaper will appear in next week’s column.)

Because pictures always highlight the interest of “Your Town and My Town,” your columnist makes an earnest endeavor to find one or more for each week’s issue. Hope is still not lost for the desired illustration when none comes to hand in time to print with the story, for some reader may have put the right picture among his or her mementos. And this reader may be willing to send in the picture for use in a later issue.

So it was with Devon Inn, a brief history of which was given in the series on large fires which have occurred in this vicinity in past years. In the early morning hours of January 18, 1929, this famous Main Line hostelry burned to the ground. The pictures illustrating today’s column show two views of the Inn as it appeared in its heyday. They were sent to your columnist by James L. Kercher, of Conestoga road, soon after the story of the fire appeared in “Your Town and My Town” in the spring of 1952. The reverse side of this picture postcard of the Devon Inn describes it as the “social center or the Main Line,” located in “beautiful Chester Valley” and “open from May to December.” A. Stanley Stanford was proprietor at the time the postcard was made and K. Rush was associate manager. Among its attractions they list the Devon Horse Show, polo matches, kennel show, Rose Tree Horse Show, Belmont trotting event, Chesterbrook races, Bryn Mawr Horse Show and Devon fancy cattle show. And these are not all, for the list continues with the Horse Show Ball, Spring flower show, golf and tennis, private theatricals, Bal Masque, Autumn flower show, auto exhibition, the County Ball and Devon Inn’s beautiful Japanese Floral Cafe. This cafe was evidently located on one of the Inn’s wide porches, as shown in the second of today’s pictures.

The history of this old inn is an interesting one. The original structure, called the Devon Park Hotel, had been built in 1876 to house the overflow of visitors to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Three years later, fire destroyed the first building, but it was replaced soon after by a larger and more ornate structure, erected on the same site. This is the one shown in today’s picture.

For some years there was great rivalry between the Devon Inn and the Bryn Mawr Hotel for the patronage of fashionable Philadelphia summer boarders. Located on the site of what is now the Baldwin School, the Bryn Mawr Hotel was owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad. This rivalry ended in a complete victory for the Devon Inn, when the Devon Horse Show made its initial bow. The show immediately became a nationally famous event, with entries and visitors from all over the United States. The socially elite from New York and the Long Island Colony, from Boston, Chicago and many other cities throughout the country filled the Devon hostelry to capacity each horse show season.

When the Bryn Mawr Hotel burned to the ground, the Devon Inn lost its only serious rival. The popularity of the latter continued for some years. Then in 1924 the property was sold and the building converted into the Devon Manor School for Girls, but two years later the Devon Park Hotel Company had to resume possession of the property.

After another two years Major Milton G. Baker (now Major General Baker) acquired it for the Valley Forge Military Academy, which he was just organizing. After expenditures of more than $200,000 on renovations to the building, the school opened in September, 1928, with an enrollment of about 150, and many more were expected for the next year, since the building could easily house several hundred students. But the military academy was destined to remain in its original building only a few short months.

Early in the morning of January 8, 1929, a fire, starting as a small and apparently inconsequential blaze, in the fourth floor of the building soon swept through the entire structure, levelling it to the round. By dawn only the smoldering jagged sections of the brick walls remained.

These grim reminders of the fire pointed skyward for more than a year afterward when in April, 1930, they were shattered to the ground by the force of the Devon fireworks explosion. And thus ended the story of the most fabulous hotel the Main Line has ever known.

In view of last week’s article in “The Suburban” on the giant shopping center planned on a 93-acre farm in King of Prussia, it is enlightening to study the picture at right, originally printed in the Philadelphia “Inquirer” of June 23, 1954.

This picture has been made available to your columnist by the “Inquirer” through the courtesy or Paul McC. Warner, editorial page director. Mr. Warner lived for many years on Midland avenue before moving to Daylesford, where Mrs. Warner and he have remodeled the famous old “Blue Bell” tavern into a charming home.

Last week’s “Suburban” described the retail store area of this tremendous shopping center as being “visible from four main highways fronting on Route 23 near 202, between interchanges serving the Schuylkill Expressway and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.” This explanation becomes very clear when the sketch to the right of the picture, of the old King of Prussia Inn, is studied.

A landmark since Colonial days, the inn was saved from destruction at the request of historical groups when the State Highway Department widened Route 202. It was feared that the structure would have to be moved or demolished for the widening of the highway, but after its purchase by the Department, plans were changed to split the newly located Route 202 so that the inn could remain on its original site.

Various plans to restore the historic inn have been considered, but, as the tentative figures for this have been almost prohibitive, these plans have not materialized. The recently formed citizen’s group is asking the highway department for permission to use the building as a community center and a library site. There is no library in Upper Merion township at present.

The above picture of the King of Prussia Tavern, reproduced from a book on Valley Forge, issued under the direction of the Valley Forge Park Commission in 1905 was probably taken in the latter part of the 19th century. It shows plainly the famous sign, painted ln 1709, presumably by Gilbert Stuart, bearing “the image of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, sitting erect in his blue coat and his buff knee breeches upon the back of a high headed chestnut charger, his cocked hat slightly tilted in a rakish style.” This description in Harry Emerson Wilde’s book, “Valley Forge,” continues, “the signboard was a relic of the days when Frederick had helped both Britain and the colonies in the Seven Years’ War against the French.”

The famous sign was lost for a time, but later recovered from the waste pile in the blacksmith shop
which stood a few rods away. Now safely boarded up against the elements, the historic old inn, so sturdily built some 250 years ago, waits the decision of the Highway Department and of Upper Merion township as to its ultimate fate. Those to whom all that pertains to the Valley Forge neighborhood is sacred can only hope that this building which, according to historians, often sheltered George Washington and his officers, may be preserved for posterity.

(The next column of “Your Town and My Town” will not appear until Friday, September 3, when the writer returns from her vacation.)

In the course of a few days last week your columnist received two letters, in regard to the Old Store at Radnor, that are of such interest that she is using them in this week’s column. The first came from O. Howard Wolfe, who lived in Radnor for 65 years before moving to his present home in Milford, Pa. Still loved and remembered by the community which he served, Mr. Wolfe will always be regarded as one of the most outstanding citizens that Radnor township has ever had.

Although Mr. Yocum left Radnor 48 years ago he, too, will be remembered by old timers who lived in Radnor when he was growing up in the Old Store with his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Dillin.

To both of these men your columnist extends her sincere thanks for the interest they have shown in the story of Radnor and her appreciation of what they have written in regard to “Your Town and My Town.” Letters giving information such as these do will always find a place in this column, as will any pictures sent to Mrs. Patterson.

Mr. Wolfe’s letter follows:
“l have been reading with great interest and enjoying your articles about ‘Morgan’s Corner’ and old time Radnor where I lived for 65 years. So far as I know I am the only resident of Radnor and a graduate of its High School who served both as President of the School Board (11 years) and President of the Board of Commissioners (eight years, and eight more as a member).

“Tryon Steele is probably one of the very few of us now living who knew intimately such old timers as Peter Pechin, Jim Donaldson and Oscar Dillin – just to name a few. Oscar Dillin was an unusual character in his own right and deserves a column of his own. He was the last of the old time country storekeepers who took keen delight, not in being able to advertise the endless list of merchandise he had for sale, but in producing articles which you ‘didn’t know he had.’ He was a unique and remarkable man in many ways.

“Did you know how ‘Morgan’s Corner’ got its name? If you look at a map of Delaware county you will note the shape of the northeast section which is Radnor township and see that it is a straight line right angle. This, I was told many years ago by George Righter, another old time character, was Morgan’s Corner and the name did not derive, as many think, from any road meetings or intersections.

“I believe it was the Pennsylvania R.R. which named ‘Radnor’ and ‘St. Davids’ and other stations along the line, (perhaps ‘Wayne’, too, instead of ‘Louella’). In my early days it was Ithan which was known as Radnor or, after the railroad came, as ‘Old Radnor.’

“You deserve great credit for your interesting and well written articles which have given me, for one, a profound feeling of nostalgia.”
O. HOWARD WOLFE
Milford, Pike Co., Pa.
–––––––
In his letter, Mr. Yocum states:
“My mother having passed away in 1886 when I was 18 months old, my uncle and aunt, Oscar S. Dillin and Emma Dillin, took me into their home, which was, as you call it, the Dillin Store. It was my mother’s wish that my aunt and uncle take me to raise, which they did, and this in itself only shows the kind of stuff of which those good people were made.

“Now, let me enlighten you a little on the picture (which appeared June 25). Next to the horse and buggy is one of the finest, in fact they are all fine! Tryon Lewis, Ithan; Roy Yocum, the boy; J.Y.N. Dillin, Oscar’s brother; Peter Pechin, with cane.

“Tryon Lewis would drive out from Ithan every evening for the mail.

“Ray Yocum just enjoyed his boyhood days.

“John Dillin is 94 years of age and living today at 325 Abbey Terrace, Drexel Hill. Peter Pechin had the farm on King of Prussia road, near Gulph Creek.

“Mr. Pechin would walk to the store for his mail every morning, as we had the post office at the store. He was the father of the late Nathan P. Pechin, former sheriff of Delaware county.

“You mention Shay’s house – I remember when old Pat Shay died they held a wake for Pat and as a kid, I’ll never forget Pat dead, sitting erect in a chair, in the front room of the house, with candles burning around him.

“I have quite a number of pictures and clippings pertaining to the old store which I prize very highly.

“George John Dillin wrote ‘The Kentucky Rifle’, of which he gave me a copy in 1946. I have a birthday card for Mr. Dillin, for July 28, when he will be 94.

“Could you tell me who was the ‘old timer’ who gave you the information regarding the picture. I have several pictures that were taken by Lucy Sampson.

“I left Radnor in 1906 – 48 years ago – so I will send along a snapshot taken last Sunday of myself now, at the age of 69 – so you call see the difference 50 years or so will make in a fellow.

“Mr. and Mrs. Louis Goebel, of Berwyn, send me ‘The Suburban and Wayne Times’ quite often and I get great pleasure out of your column.
RAY YOCUM
150 East 2nd Street
Long Beach, Calif.

“P.S. The Red Lion Hotel, or Store you refer to, was in Ardmore.
Charles A. Dillin had the store here for many years.
Charles Dillin was my Uncle Oscar’s and John Dillin’s father!
My Uncle Oscar ran the store at Radnor (‘Morgan’s Corner’) for nearly 40 years!
Samual Acre Campton was the Postmaster at Radnor Station when I left Radnor In 1906.
Horace Greeley said, ‘Go west young man, Go West.’ I did and learned the hard way – but after all Radnor was my home!”

In the year 1954, nearly 80 years after the Centennial was held in Philadelphia, it is indeed a rare occurrence to talk to anyone whose childhood recollections reach back to one of the greatest celebrations that the city has ever known.

George W. Schultz, an old-time resident of Wayne, who is now residing in the Anthony Wayne apartments, is one of the few people who really remembers the Centennial.

One day after your columnist had thanked Mr. Schultz for the loan of the handsome Centennial Portfolio, from which the picture of the Japanese Building was reproduced for last week’s column, he wrote a note in reply, part of which read:
“Yes, the Centennial Album is a rare thing now… I was 11 years old that year (1876) and well recall the main buildings and their contents, as my father took my brother, Lewis, and me out there two or three times. The Horstman firm (5th and Cherry streets) of which my uncle and he were both members, had a loom on exhibition, turning out small silk pictures of Independence Hall and of Masonic Hall, which they sold as souvenirs. These pictures, about 6” x 10”, were woven in colors.

“The foreigners working on their buildings were very strange to us – such as the Japanese and Chinese in costume with wooden clogs, sandals, etc… Also there were Dutchmen and Turks.”

It is interesting to compare Mr. Schultz’ recollections with the notes given in the Centennial Portfolio, not only in connection with the picture of the Japanese building in last week’s column, but also with those of another building known as the “Japanese Dwelling.” This house, during its erection, created more curiosity and attracted more visitors than any other building on the grounds. It was erected by native Japanese workmen, with materials brought from home and built in their own manner with curious tools and yet more curious manual processes. In fact the whole work seemed to be executed upon exactly reverse methods of carpentering to those in use in this country.

The building was put together without the use of iron. The different parts were mortised, beveled, dove-tailed and joined, and when it was necessary to use any other fastenings, wooden pins were employed. The woods are of fine grain, carefully planed and finished, and the house, which is the best built structure on the Centennial grounds, was as nicely put together as a piece of cabinet work.

So much for the “unique building” which was “one of the most noted curiosities of the exhibition.” While the information does not apply directly to the other Japanese building, from parts of which the Strafford railroad station was built, it is still both interesting and pertinent in that the two buildings were erected by the same group of Japanese artisans.

The “Japanese Bazaar”, as the Japanese building which we pictured last week was sometimes called, was built in order to create a market for articles less elaborate and less expensive than those sold in the Japanese section of the Main Building. When the Centennial opened, the “Japanese Bazaar” housed many thousands of these artistic, low priced souvenirs of the Centennial.

Perhaps only the most imaginative among the Philadelphia commuters waiting at Strafford station for the eastbound Paoli Local can even envision the fact that the lumber that has gone into the construction of the station could ever have helped to house the exotic Japanese collection. This lumber was, evidently, not originally designed for exterior walls, since there were none. The Portfolio describes the interior of the building as “a series of counters, shelves and tables, open to the air and light, protected only by the roof. The latter is in the usual Japanese style, covered with black tiles, those at the edges being painted black.”

The small piece of ground which surrounded the building was “fixed up in Japanese garden style with flower beds laid out neatly and fenced in with bamboo. Screens of matting and of dried grass divide the parterres… the garden statuary is peculiar. Bronze figures of storks six to eight feet high stand in groups at certain places, and a few bronze pigs are disposed in easy comfort in shady places.” Again, the imagination of the commuter must be called into play as he looks up to see the electric engine of his approaching “Local” with nary a sign of bronze pig or even a bronze stork on the landscape!

But even with these exterior decorations left on the Centennial grounds, the wonder still remains that the lumber once used in the construction of the Japanese building at the Centennial could have gone, first into a station, located at Wayne, which was later demolished and then the lumber again put to use in the present passenger station, as well as the shelter at Stratford. And the suggestion of the original Japanese architecture still survives these changes and the wooden pegs are there for all to see!