The first picture used in today’s column shows two pieces of motorized fire equipment that might well have their places of honor in some national museum had they been preserved for posterity. The Knox combined chemical and hose wagon at the right, which was purchased by the Radnor Fire Company in 1906, was the first piece of motorized fire fighting equipment to be put into operation in the United States.

Only one relic or this first fire engine has been preserved, the bell which was once attached to the front to warn all traffic of its approach. It now hangs on the wall of the upstairs assembly room of the fire house, where it is sounded to call fire company meetings to order.

The truck at the left is the first motorized pumper to be put into operation in the United States. It was the Knox-Waterous automobile gas-engine of the two-cylinder, air cooled type. It arrived in Wayne and was tested out in April, 1908. The two pieces of fire fighting equipment were the beginning of the Radnor Fire Company’s present efficient set-up.

The picture of the fire house as it looked in the early days is particularly interesting, showing that the left hand portion, where the engines were housed had a wide rear opening as well as a front one. Thus the engines could be driven out either onto the field at the rear or onto Audubon avenue at the front. This building was later moved backward from its original location and an addition was built to the front.

This picture, taken more than 45 years ago, shows several old timers seated in front of the fire house. They are (from left to right), William Bryans, Jack Clark, Charles Wilkins, Ed Holmes and Ralph Robson. Mr. Wilkins, father of Leslie Wilkins, one of the most interested and active members of the present fire company, was at one time the Fire Chief.

In May, 1912, a devastating fire occurred in the stable of the William T. Wright estate, located in the country south of Wayne. Due to a mistake in sending out the alarm from the Wright home, the fire had almost an hour’s start when the firemen arrived in the early hours of the morning. Realizing that the stables were beyond saving, the firemen worked heroically on the other buildings. Speed was important, in order to keep the flames from the garage, where a large quantity of dynamite was stored as well as boxes of fulminating caps and fuses. And in addition there was a large tank of gasoline under the floor of the building.

Tons of water were thrown on the blaze by the combined force of the Radnor and Bryn Mawr fire companies, their source of supply being a 36,000 gallon reservoir recently constructed on the Wright property. Dense smoke and intense heat almost suffocated the firemen who handled the nozzles in relays, being able to work for only a minute or two at a time.

Although horses, carriages, harness and other equipment were saved earlier by the neighbors and by servants on the Wright estate, the stable, a building which had been remarkable for its architectural beauty, was a total loss, with a value of about $50,000 placed on it. Most tragic of all was the death of Mr. and Mrs. James Stewart, employees of the Wrights, who lived in the second floor apartment of the stable.

The picture of the ruins of the once beautiful building is a remarkable one in the clarity and sharpness of its detail.

(To Be Continued)

The most gala day and the most tragic one in the 50-year history of the Radnor Fire Company are represented by the two pictures shown in today’s column.

The first picture was taken on Saturday, June 10, 1911, when the Delaware County Firemen’s Association was in the second day of its two-day session, with the Radnor Fire Company as host.

The second picture was taken on Thursday, April 3, 1930, when the Radnor Fire Company was among the first of those from miles around to arrive on the scene of the disastrous Devon fireworks explosion. But, before the Wayne siren could be sounded to call men and apparatus into action, the explosion had taken the lives of ten employees at the fireworks plant, among them four children under 16 years of age. It was the worst calamity ever to hit the Main Line.

Seated behind the wheel of Wayne’s first Chemical and Hose Wagon on Saturday, June 10, was Paul Comins, with Charles Wilkins beside him. The men at the rear or the truck were flag bearers.

At the time of this convention there were 29 member organizations in the Delaware County Firemen’s Association, the largest one-county organization in the entire United States. Most of these fire companies were represented in the big Saturday afternoon parade in Wayne, and many from other neighboring communities as well.

Captain Leonard Haskett, of the Radnor Township Police Department, rode at the head of the procession, to the music of many bands, for its five-mile march “over the broad, beautiful shaded avenues of Wayne and St. Davids.” Immediately behind him rode and marched those visiting firemen who were not in the Delaware county district. Among these were 65 volunteers from Malvern, several of them drawing the hose cart of their company and accompanied by their 27-piece band.

Other interesting participants in the parade were the Bryn Mawr Fire Company, with Fire-Chief Israel H. Supplee at their head and with their handsome steamer and combination truck. This first division of the parade also included, the “Darby Ram”, said to be the oldest piece of firefighting apparatus in existence anywhere. In great contrast to this was the new $7,000 auto truck of the Montgomery Hose and Steam Fire Engine Company, of Norristown, which made its first public appearance at this parade.

The second division of the parade was made up entirely of representatives from the Delaware county fire companies. Darby was chosen to lead it, since its fire company is one of the oldest in the country. Clifton Heights had the distinction of having the only ambulance in the parade. Last in line was the Radnor contingent, with its 45 men dressed in their green uniforms, black gauntlets and shining black puttees.

At the close of the march, which covered all the main streets of North and South Wayne, all bands, banners and apparatus were massed for a march from Louella avenue along Lancaster avenue to the Opera House corner, and thence to the school grounds, where refreshments were served.

Not fire, but explosion caused the wreckage of this house on Devon Hill on April 3, 1930. It was but one of a number of small houses just across the road from the fireworks plant that were so badly damaged that they had to be razed to the ground afterwards.

The largest individual property loss was to the Betner Paper Box Company (now the Betner Division of Continental Can Company) about a quarter of a mile distant from the explosion, where the entire interior of the plant was wrecked and 40 employees were injured. Other buildings that were severely damaged were the office of the Lobb lumber yard and the show rooms of the Packard Motor Company. Mrs. Charles M. Lea’s residence in Devon was damaged to the extent of about $50,000.

The immediate cause of the explosion was probably known only to a few of the many victims of this great tragedy. The plant had long been a community menace with its large quantities of black powder and other explosives stored on the premises. Unbelievable as it may seem, gas stoves were used in heating the plant and there were also gas jets in the drying room. At the inquest, the Coroner’s jury gave one or more or these factors as the probable cause of the explosion.

Fire companies from the entire general vicinity made record runs to the scene, with Radnor among the first to arrive. Once there they repeatedly risked their lives in the inferno of blazing fireworks. While the actual fire was confined to the plant itself, scattered debris started numerous field fires to add to the difficulties of the firemen. And once the fire was under control the work of clearing the grounds of explosive material had to be done by men especially qualified for the work.

The fireworks plant was never rebuilt. The cleared area is now the site of numerous small new homes which are reached by taking a right hand turn onto Conestoga road just west of the overpass of the P & W railroad on Lancaster Pike In Strafford.

Although the picture shown above does not tell as graphic a story of the 1914 fire in Wayne’s old Lyceum Hall as do several others that have been used in this column, it is otherwise the most interesting picture shown to date of Wayne’s busiest corner 40 years ago.

This edifice, remodeled several years ago, is now the Colonial Building. The original building, erected on the northeast corner of Lancaster and North Wayne avenues in 1871 by J. Henry Askin, was known as “The Lyceum” and later as the “Old Opera House.”

The horsedrawn vehicle, shown in the foreground of the picture, might well be called the forerunner of our present day station wagon, since a “wagonette” was a four-wheeled carriage designed for pleasure driving, with seating facilities for several persons. There were a number of them in use in Wayne for many years, and interesting examples of both those with a top and without one were shown in this column in April, 1949.

The fire which created such havoc in Wayne’s largest business building broke out about 1:30 A.M. on December 30, 1914, gaining its start in the second floor of the Gas Company’s office, directly adjoining the old Opera House on North Wayne avenue. At that time the Radnor Fire Company had but two engines, which were quickly called into service. Otis Hunsicker, one of the old time firemen, tells your columnist that the first fire engine to be built by the Hale Fire Pump Company of Conshohocken was still in the shop, complete except for paint. So dire was the need for it that it was called into use just as it was, with Charles J. Young in charge of it.

In addition, hurry calls were sent to Berwyn, Devon, Bryn Mawr and Merion No. 1. At one time eight streams of water were playing on the fire, the worst experienced in Wayne since the old Bellevue Hotel burned to the ground in March 1900. Losses from the Opera House fire were heavy, including $30,000 at the real estate firm of Wendell and Treat.

In spite of the destruction wrought throughout the building, extensive repairs were soon under way, with tenants returning to their former quarters with little delay.

The picture above shows the destruction wrought by fire on February 14, 1912, in the house then occupied by the George W. Hill family at 216 Walnut avenue. A notation on the original picture gives its origin as “hot ashes in outside shed.” Because of engine trouble, there was some delay in the arrival on the scene of Radnor’s two engines. However, they were soon joined by those from the Bryn Mawr Fire Company, who united their efforts with those of the local firemen to save whatever was possible. This included most of the contents of the house, except for some books and papers of Mr. Hill. Mrs. Hill, who was ill at the time, was removed to the home of a neighbor. After some hours of battling the flames the firemen left only to be recalled to the scene at 3 o’clock the next morning when fire broke out again.

Except for the fact that the motor had been changed and a radiator added, the appearance of this first piece of motorized firefighting equipment, as shown in this column two weeks ago, is little changed. Those riding on the truck (left to right) are Ralph Robson, William Bryan, Jack Clark and Charles Watkins.

No one living can remember the time when the building shown in our first illustration was not already an old landmark in Radnor township. Even before 1800 it stood back of what is now “The Old Store,” on King of Prussia road in Radnor, at its intersection with Belrose lane.

In those days the building, later to be occupied by “The Old Store,” was the historic “Red Lion Hotel,” a center of interest and of activity. The area, once known as Morgan’s Corner, was named for the Morgan family, whose ancestor, John Morgan, was among the first of the Welsh settlers to make his home in Radnor township.

Old records show that John Morgan was a taxpayer in Radnor township as far back as 1693. He married Mary Davis, daughter of Isaac Davis, of Tredyffrin township, and in 1718 they bought 350 acres of land in this township. Theirs was a large family, many of whose descendants still live in this vicinity.

Back in the days of the Red Lion Hotel in Morgan’s Corner, the eastern portion of the old building was used as part of the hotel. The western part of the building was not added until about 1875. It was then operated in connection with the general store, which by this time had succeeded the Red Lion Hotel. At that time, Belrose lane was merely a small private lane, not becoming a public road until some years later.

When the western addition was put on the original building, the new roof was built over the old roof, where they were joined instead of removing the latter. Today both roofs are there one on top of the other. Three huge feed bins were built in one room, so that when the grain was dumped on the second floor in unloading, it went by gravity through trap doors into the bins below. There it was shoveled into bags and sold.

Other purposes for which the building was used were the storage and sale of hay, harness, farm equipment of all sorts, and dynamite.

A well known Morgan’s Corner character called “Dynamite Dan,” who often slept in the hay loft of the building, was reputedly the only one who handled the commodity without fear.

His career came to an end one day when he was setting off a dynamite blast for a nearby farmer. To the present day, noises overhead that sound much like a man’s footsteps cause listeners to comment, “Dynamite Dan’s ghost is walking.”

When the feed and grain business was discontinued in the early 1930’s, the upper floor of the old building was often used for barn dances which are still remembered by many who enjoyed these festivities. Otherwise the building was not in active use except for a business in antiques, conducted for a time by Montague Lycett under the name of “The Old Barn.” In the summer of 1952, L. Rodman Page and William B. Thompson, owners of both the Old Store property and the building to the rear, sold the barn to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Thomas, residents of St. Davids.

In the space or a few short months these new owners did the picturesque remodeling job as shown in the second picture in this column. Equally attractive is the interior, in which is housed one of the most beautiful as well as one of the most unusual gift shop connections in the Philadelphia suburban area. Pictures and descriptions of it will be given in subsequent articles in this column.

Mr. Thomas’ business experience bas been a varied one, including the direction in 1951-52 of part of the technical program of the Economic Cooperative Administration in Washington, now the Foreign Operation Administration. To many this has been more familiarly known as the Marshall Plan. While in Europe for ECA and engaged in stimulating production and in encouraging exports to the United States, the many unusual products that were available excited the interest of both Mr. and Mrs. Thomas.

This interest, together with a desire to establish a base of operations near their home, “Sanctuary Hill,” St. Davids, for a business which would also encompass their own desire for foreign travel, led them to establish the shop at “Radnor House.” Here they have imports from Spain, Germany, Holland, France, Denmark, England, Norway, Portugal, and Italy, in addition to many American products.

(To be continued)

In continuing the story of the present day “Radnor House”, remodeled from the tumble-down building that stood on Belrose lane just back of the “Old Store” in Radnor, we are showing two views of the interior as it looks today. In both pictures the room is the same, the second picture showing in detail the original ceiling so carefully preserved by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Thomas when they started their work of renovation in the summer of 1952.

Two years ago the one-time combination stable and feed store was a dilapidated, broken down building. There were no windows, only openings in the old walls, and a five-foot area in one of the walls had rotted away over a 20-year period of time. Parts of the building had never been painted in all the years it had stood there.

On the second floor there were still some 25 tons of hay that had been stored there for so long that it was only fine powder. Half of the building had a dirt floor and, of course, there was no electricity, gas, water or plumbing.

On the outside the growth of weeds was so dense that part of the building was not even visible. In what is now the parking lot, there was a small lake which required several hundred loads of dirt to fill.

These were the liabilities. But there were assets, too, in the way of sturdy hand hewn beams, interesting old wooden peg joinings, hand wrought hinges and iron work, and nails of a kind that were not even made after 1820. With a certain amount of sturdy construction still remaining, it was possible, with ingenuity and patience, to do a job of remodeling that would make the old stable and feed store an interesting background for the treasures from many lands brought here later.

Before any changes could be made it was necessary to do a certain amount of fundamental cleaning up. First of all, there were several hundred bats to be dispossessed. There were loads of old bottles and odds and ends of antiquated store fittings, and broken pieces of furniture to be carted away. And there were the 25 tons of hay.

In the reconstruction new lumber was used only when it was necessary, thus retaining many of the old hand hewn beams. In the eastern section of the building, which a search of old deeds and records shows was built before 1800, the principal structural beam had no nails, the hand hewn log being tied together with pin and socket joints, reinforced with wooden pegs. The three-foot hand wrought strap hinges used on the doors had evidently been made by a local blacksmith.

The building itself had been constructed on a dry stone foundation, and one of the original stone ties from the old Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad had been used in the foundation of an addition to this section.

The room shown in the first picture is one that Mr. and Mrs. Thomas designate as the “pine room.” Less than two years ago, when they started the task of remodeling, this room still contained four horse stalls and was open to Belrose lane through these openings. The openings were barn doors with original hand wrought hinges. The floor was dirt, and the walls had no windows. Of especial interest in this picture are the long, heavy, hand-hewn ceiling beams, which show so plainly as they stretch the entire length of the room.

The second picture shows part of the same ceiling in more detail. This is part of the original construction, done some time in the 1700’s. In this room were found the hand-wrought nails of a type that were not made after 1820.

(To Be Continued)

In the left foreground of the picture (right) is shown one of the square upright posts of the one-time feed and grain store in Radnor, as carefully preserved as were the ceiling beams shown in last week’s picture. Its rough exterior shows that it was hand-hewn when it was put in place some 80 years ago, and is one of the picturesque reminders of the past in the remodelled interior of the present “Radnor House” on Belrose lane.

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Thomas, owners of Radnor House, designate this as the “West Room”, to distinguish it from the “Green Room”, which was part of the original structure. Noteworthy in the latter is the number of heavy hand-hewn ceiling beams held together by tongue and groove joints and wooden pins, which have been in place since the stable area was built in the 1700’s.

Today’s picture shows not only the interior of the “West Room”, but also the long hallway to the right of it, previously described.

We noted in last week’s column that the foundation of this building was of dry stone, in which one of the original stone ties from the old Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad had been used. Since then an interesting bit of information in regard to these ties has come to light.

Original these stone blocks, which were so heavy that four men were required to lift them, were hewn by inmates of “Sing Sing” prison. When these prisoners were unable to produce them rapidly enough to keep up with construction of the railroad, wooden ties were substituted. These were to be used until production could catch up with demand, but they were such satisfactory substitutes for the heavy stone that they were retained. When the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in 1857, much of the original track was relocated. The heavy stone ties then discarded are still to be found here and there along the Main Line, where they have been put to various uses.

In July 1952, after Mr. and Mrs. Thomas bought the old stable and feed store from L. Rodman Page and William B. Thompson, they traced ownership of the tract back to August 30, 1685. According to Smith’s Patent Atlas, a grant of land by the government was made to one David Davis. By January, 1686, Davis had deeded the property to William Thomas. The latter kept it for 21 years, and in April, 1707, deeded it to Owen Lewis. Then in rapid succession it passed to Evan Jones and to Richard Orme.

In 1734, the first Morgan came into possession of the property – the John Morgan from whom Morgan’s Corner, now Radnor, took its name. Various others of the Morgan family owned the property on King of Prussia road until 1812, when it was deeded to Elisha Moore, who five years later sold it to Abner Lewis. By 1842 “a tavern and tenements” were mentioned in the deed of sale as well as houses, out-buildings, barn and stable. By 1854 “15 1/4 acres and one porch” were sold by William M. Lowman and Sarah, his wife, of New York, to Isaac Palmer. This deed mentions “a public house”, and also the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, which apparently ran through the property at that time. (Ed. Note: The tracks ran alongside the oldest building of what is not the Radnor Inn.)

By 1878 W.W. Montgomery and Theodore D. Rand had acquired “a dwelling house, formerly a hotel, store and other buildings.” This property bordered the Pennsylvania Railroad and was so described. Very soon the Montgomery and Rand families had sold at least part of the property to Theodore F. Ramsay. Other families who came into ownership after that were the Yarnalls, the Dillins, the Torpeys and the Morrisons, bringing the ownership up to 1952, when Charles Morrison sold his interest to L. Rodman Page and William B. Thompson. Among these earlier names are many who have been connected with the settlement and development of Radnor.

Three of the old deeds, their ink faded with time, are in possession of Mr. Thomas. One of these interesting documents dates back to 1878, another to 1879 and the third to 1874.

(To Be Continued)

The first of the three interesting old deeds referred to in last week’s column, at present in the possession of Paul Thomas, of “Radnor House”, is dated February 20, 1878. It is the record of sale or what is now the “Old Store,” Radnor, and of “Radnor House.” This sale of the entire property was made in 1878 by William W. Montgomery and his wife, Rebecca, “of the Township of Radnor,” and Theodore D. Rand, “of the City of Philadelphia, to Theodore F. Ramsey, of the Township of Radnor.”

At that time $3750 bought “the two story messuage or store-house, stone stable and other buildings thereon erected, situate in the Township of Radnor aforesaid bounded and described as follows…” The ground was approximately that now occupied by the Old Store and Radnor House. It is interesting to note that “the said Theodore F. Ramsey hereby expressly covenants and agrees… that neither the said Theodore F. Ramsey nor his heirs nor assigns holding said lands shall at any time hereafter forever erect or maintain any building for the sale of intoxicating drinks, nor suffer any intoxicating drink to be sold in any building on said premises.” This seems a far cry indeed from the days when the present Old Store was the historic Red Lion Hotel and a gathering place for convivial souls of the neighborhood!

According to the next deed, these same premises were sold a year later by Theodore F. Ramsey and Sallie, his wife, to Effie G. Yarnall, “of the City of Philadelphia,” for $7,500, exactly double the price paid by Mr. Ramsey. The third old deed in the possession of Mr. Thomas is one of lesser importance, having to do with the sale of additional land in 1884 by William W. Montgomery and Theodore D. Rand “and wives” to this same Effie G. Yarnall.

Interesting as these three deeds are, they are antedated by almost 200 years by the record of a grant of land made by the government to one David Davis, the first owner of the property on which the Old Store stands. This was in August, 1695, five years after the original grant of 50,000 acres was made by Charles II of England to William Penn. In 1681, a Richard Daves (or Davis) obtained 5,000 acres of these 50,000 from Penn.

These Davis holdings were in what is now the Ithan section of Radnor township, and it was from this Davis that John Jarman purchased 100 acres on which the Ithan Store is located, at the intersection of Conestoga and Radnor-Chester roads. Here in this old stone building, John Jarman’s son was the first male child to be born in Radnor township.

Although it may be but a coincidence of names, it seems more than likely that this David Davis and Richard Davis were related, perhaps even brothers. At any rate, it is a matter of historic interest that the properties on which two of the oldest stores in Radnor township are located, the Ithan Store and the Old Store at Radnor, were originally owned by men named Davis.

Radnor township itself took its name from Radnorshire in Wales, whence came many of the Quakers of the colony founded by William Penn.

The homes of these early Welsh man were scattered through Radnor township. The first ones were built of logs hewn from great trees in the thick forests through which the Indians were still roaming.

Many of the sturdy small stone houses built shortly after, are still to be found. Two, particularly familiar to the motorists on Lancaster avenue, are located on the northwest corner of King of Prussia road and Lancaster avenue, at the Main Line Golf Club, and the other at the southeast corner of Radnor-Chester road and Lancaster avenue.

With the completion of Lancaster stone turnpike in 1794, travel between Philadelphia and Lancaster passed directly between the northern and southern sections of Radnor township. Then, with the completion of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in 1820, a station was immediately located at Morgan’s Corner, as that section of Radnor was then known.

The picture illustrating today’s column shows the Philadelphia and Central Railroad station at Morgan’s Corner as it looked in 1856. The road crossing the tracks at right angles is the King of Prussia road. This picture has been lent to your columnist by the Radnor Historical Society, which received it from Howard S. Okie of the St David’s Church Historical Committee.

(To be continued)

(Mrs. Patterson would welcome any stories and pictures of Morgan’s Corner, later known as Radnor, in order to make her account of this section of the township as complete as possible. Her telephone number is Wayne 4569.)

The original of the picture shown above has come into the possession of your columnist without any mention of the date or the identity of the men and boys shown in it. There is a notation, however, that the house was called the Dillin Store, which places it approximately, as the present Old Store at Radnor was sold to Oscar Dillin by Effie G. Yarnall, of Philadelphia, about 1880.

Mr. Dillin operated the store for some ten years with the help of his brother, John Dillin, an authority on rifles of that period, and had himself designed one.

After he bought the original building, Oscar Dillin built an addition to what in the early days had been the Old Red Lion Inn. The exact date of its building is not known, but in the old deeds, mention is made of the sale of a “tavern and tenements” in 1842. Mr. Dillin sold a large variety of articles, in addition to feed and grain, which were unloaded at the narrow door seen at the side of the building, just back of the quaint old horse-drawn buggy in the picture.

One of Radnor’s old time residents still recalls Mr. Dillin’s pleasant way of giving as much of his time and attention to the small boy or girl, with a few pennies to spend on peppermint candy or lemon sticks, as he did to his adult customers. And this same old timer still remembers how delicious these candies were.

Merchandise in the store included such staples as flour, sugar, syrup and molasses, as well as scrapple in season. Calico by the yard was also sold, and some articles of clothing. Kerosene was a staple, since candles and lamps were then the only means of house illumination available in rural districts, and the old timer reminds us that each lamp chimney had to be washed and polished after every using.

A map of Radnor, dated 1873, shows that Dr. G.P. Sargent then owned the large piece of property to the north of the Dillin store, later the location of the Casson Riding Academy. Next was a small white stone house, shown in the picture below, occupied by a Mrs Thomas and a Mrs. Blanchard. It is one of the earliest homes built by the Welsh settlers.

In this small edifice the service of St. Martin’s Church was held in 1879. With its trim exterior and fresh paint, the little house is a quaint and attractive one at present.

Next on the north, as shown on the 1873 map, is one of the earliest school houses in Radnor township, attended by many of its young people in days gone by. This is now Ryan’s gas station.

Adjacent to the school house was the home of the Shea family, on what is now the northeast corner of King of Prussia road and Glenmary lane, although at that time the lane was not in existence. The Shea house has since been demolished, and on its site is the Sunday school building of St. Martin’s Church.

As the original owner of this old picture gave it to your columnist recently, he nostalgically recalled the days in the 1880’s when teamsters, coming along the old King of Prussia road, would rein in their horses, rather than disturb a mother hen and her brood in the middle of the road. Now the automobile traffic on the old road is never ceasing, a far cry indeed from the days of the horse drawn vehicle.

(To Be Continued)

The first map shown in today’s column is part of a rare old real estate map of Radnor township made in 1873. The second map, which is a small part of the most recent Radnor township map, shows almost the same section as it looks 81 years later. The comparison makes an interesting one, especially in view of the location of the new Sydney V. Rowland School, the Wyeth Laboratories and the Main Line Golf Club, which is the site of the proposed new shopping center for this section of the Main Line.

The center of interest in the first map is Morgan’s Corner Station, the importance of which is emphasized by the fact that the size of the lettering on the map far exceeds that of any other point in the whole township.

Radnor Station of 1873 was considerably to the east of Morgan’s Corner, as is clearly shown on the map. According to old railroad records it was only a year after this map was made that Morgan’s Corner became Radnor, and the small station called Radnor on the map was renamed Upton. About a year after this the Upton Station was torn down.

The present Matsonford road, which joins the old King of Prussia road at right angles, just to the north of Radnor Station, was called Gulf road on the 1873 map. King of Prussia road takes the same course now as then, passing the Old Store, then the railroad, and after that making a rather sharp turn to the right before taking a straight course to Lancaster Pike. The first map shows that several of the houses that still stand on the right side of King of Prussia road at the turn were there in 1873, as they had probably been for many years before. This well-known turn in the road is marked by these houses on the right and by the high wall of the Chew estate on the left.

The Joseph Johnson estate formerly owned the large acreage later acquired by the Benjamin Chew family. This acreage extended from the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks to Lancaster avenue, and then from Lancaster avenue south almost to Conestoga road. A large plot, bounded by Lancaster avenue on the south, and by King of Prussia road on the west, has in recent years, been sold to the Radnor Township School District. The site of the new Rowland School, with its school field and the wooded section directly on the Pike is indicated on the second map. Between the Philadelphia and Western tracks and the school is the site of the Wyeth Laboratories, on which construction has recently been started.

Between the school and the laboratories a shaded double line on the new map indicates the course of a road, now under construction, running from Lancaster avenue in a westerly direction to King of Prussia road, at a point near Radnor Station. Interestingly enough the old map shows a road which was later abandoned running along almost the same course. (Ed. note: Known as the Radnor-Villanova road, this thoroughfare ran directly in front of the old Chew mansion, now abandoned.)

The ownership, in 1873, of the plot of ground now occupied by the Main Line Golf Club, is not quite clear on the old map. Part of it seems to have belonged to the estate of Sarah George, with a small portion in the possession of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The holdings at that time of Henry Askin, builder of the Louella House, were so great that his property adjoined the George holdings to the west.

(To be Continued)

(Mrs. Patterson is indebted to Paul Thomas, of Radnor House, for the use of the old map, and to the Radnor Township Engineering Department for the new map, especially marked by the department for use in today’s column.)

Your columnist spent an interesting evening last week with Mr. Tryon L. Steele of the Township Treasurer’s office, in his pleasant home on Brookside avenue, discussing Radnor as it was in the very early 90’s. It was at this period that Mr. Steele worked six days a week at the Old Store in Radnor, returning only on Saturday nights to his own home at the Tryon Lewis place, on Darby Creek, in Ithan.

The rest of the week he boarded at the Old Store. Ten o’clock was the closing hour on Saturday nights and he still recalls how dark and difficult the ride was between Radnor and Ithan, along an unlighted road, on a bicycle without a light. The first modern type of bicycle was just coming into use at that time, with the disappearance of the less practical and more dangerous “ordinary”, as the early type with the big front wheel was called.

Young Steele’s school days, spent first in the school in the Ithan store and later in the “new” school on the present Robert L. Montgomery place in Ithan, were over by then. Although he did not attend one of Radnor township’s earliest schools, that on King of Prussia road, (now Ryan’s service station) he still recalls vividly the small stone building as it looked in the early 90’s with Miss Buzby as one of the teachers.

As Mr. Steele and your columnist examined together the original of the picture of the Old Store, reproduced in the June 25 issue of “The Suburban”, he studied the group of men and boys shown standing in front of it. Although the picture antedates Mr. Steele’s time at the Old Store, he identified positively the man at the extreme right as Peter Pechin, father of the late Nathan P. Pechin, one-time sheriff of Delaware county. The man on the extreme left he thinks was Tryon Lewis, standing near his horse and buggy. These two were well-known to the young boy, who helped Oscar Dillin sell everything from groceries to shoes in the latter’s “general store.”

Like many another country stores of its time, this one at Radnor was a friendly gathering place for everyone in the neighborhood. Early in the mornings the farmers drove their wagons to Radnor Station to ship their milk into the city. Afterwards, they congregated in the Old Store for a bit of gossip and a discussion of the news of the day. Mr. Steele remembers particularly Joe Dillin, uncle of Oscar Dillin; John Neary, one or the nearby farmers on what is the Main Line Golf Course; Jim Donaldson and Peter Pechin.

Among the customers were Miss Martha Brown, who “was always around”; W.W. Montgomery, Theodore Rand, George Abbott Hunt, the Episcopalian minister; James W. Paul, who then lived in Hare’s lane in the large house that recently burned down. Others were “the Hare boys” from Hare’s lane, sons of Judge Hare; Howard Wolfe, who lived with his parents on Belrose lane, and often came in with his sisters, Katie and Dorothy, and Mr. Jamison, of Reading Market farm.

Except for an occasional bicycle, horse drawn vehicles were the only means of local transportation in the 80’s and 90’s. These vehicles varied, from heavy farm wagons to handsome carriages, with a horse and buggy like that shown in the picture the most generally useful and popular. They stopped at the Store, not only for food, feed and merchandise, but for mail as well, for during one Democratic administration, Oscar Dillon was handed what was supposed to be a real “political plum” in the way of the postmastership. Later, however, he was all too happy to relinquish the job and to let the postoffice return to quarters in Radnor Station.

By 1800 the original part of the Radnor Inn, which at one time had been the railroad station, was a summer hotel much like the Louella Mansion and the Bellevue Hotel.

There were two mills in the neighborhood. A somewhat late industry was an ice cream plant and to the south of the tracks, in the days when Radnor was still Morgan’s Corner, was an ice house where the Old Store always kept provisions behind unlocked doors.

John Morgan, son of James Morgan, has been mentioned earlier in this series as being one of the first Welsh Quakers to come to Radnor township. His wife was Mary Davis, daughter of Isaac Davis, of Tredyffrin township. They were among the forebears of many of the prominent families who were later to live ln Radnor township.

The name Morgan is found on lists of all the earliest literary and cultural organizations in this vicinity. “Morgan’s Corner”, as Radnor was called after the name “Brookfield” was dropped, was named for Billy Morgan, an old sea captain and descendant of John Morgan, who lived in the first farm house on the north side of Matson Ford road leading from Radnor station.

Your columnist once heard the late Nate Pechin tell, at a meeting of the Radnor Historical Society, an amusing story of this Captain Morgan and a prize Arabian horse which he owned. He was very anxious to show this animal to his mother, and, undaunted by the fact that this elderly lady was bed-ridden, he led the horse up the steps to the second floor. Apparently this was not too difficult a matter. But to return the animal to the ground floor was something else agaln. At this same meeting he told of his father, Peter Pechin, who as a boy knew a Joseph Smiley, of Radnor, who, “when he had been a young lad had accompanied his father to Valley Forge with corn for the Continental Army. An Indian trail to Valley Forge ran behind Ann Pechin’s spring house off King of Prussia road (the old Dorrance Estate). This trail was used by local farmers who went in secrecy up into the valley to take provisions to Washington’s army.

Still another bit of interesting information given his audience that night by Mr. Pechin concerned an iron ore hole worked in the early 19th century. This was in a hollow on Eagle road opposite the Dorrance place. After the ore was removed it was carried to Benjamin Brooke’s place ln Gulph Mills to be made into tools. This same Brooke was a retired Revolutionary War captain who lived at “Elderbrook”, the Henderson Supplee house on Matson Ford road.

(To be continued)

(Since pictures always add to the interest and to the attractive appearance of “Your Town and My Town”, Mrs. Patterson is very desirous of obtaining more to illustrate the story of Radnor. Perhaps if no really old ones are available, owners of old houses might be willing to submit pictures of these houses as they look today, with something of their dates, their various ownerships and their histories. Wayne 4569 is Mrs. Patterson’s telephone number.)