Swarthmore resident Kevin Connell walked the grounds at Leiper House with his metal detector and discovered lots of interesting artifacts; old coins, keys, tools, and more.
The treasures will be displayed at the Leiper House on Saturday, December 3, between 1 and 4 PM. Mr. Connell will be on hand to share what he has learned about them.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Delaware County, Historical Society, Leiper, Metal Detector, Nether Providence, Wallingford | Leave a comment »
The Leiper House will open for the season on May 7. On Saturday and Sunday, from 1 until 4, visitors may tour the house and explore a display that focuses on Mrs. Leiper, mother of ten – a suitable exhibit for Mother’s Day weekend.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Delaware County, Historic Homes, Leiper, Nether Providence, Wallingford | Leave a comment »
It is with great sadness that the Nether Providence Historical Society announces the death of J. Mervyn Harris, our founder and first president. Merv died in April at age 87. Acknowledged as our township’s primary historian, he served on many historical boards county-wide.
Merv graduated from Nether Providence High School in 1952 where he was senior class president. He went on to Pennsylvania Military College, now Widener University, where he was again senior class president. After some years in the military, he came back to Nether Providence and served on its Board of Commissioners. He was later elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives where he served for 4 years, from 1965-1969.
Merv was chairman of our township’s Tricentennial committee in 1987 and founded the Nether Providence Historical Society that year. He was also a member of the Delaware County Historical Society and served as president of that organization. And he was vice-chairman of the Delaware County Heritage Commission. In 2019, that group awarded Merv a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Many township residents know Merv as author of the very readable book, A Brief History of Nether Providence. Published in 2010, the book is still available for sale at Furness Library, the Leiper House, and the township offices.
Merv’s love of local history and his vast knowledge of it, and his willingness to share it, have helped so many of us better understand where we live. His kindness touched many people.
Filed under: Articles, In the News | Tagged: Delaware County, Historical Society, Nether Providence, Wallingford | Leave a comment »
Now known as Wilson Oil and Propane, the company has a long history on Rogers Lane in Nether Providence, evidenced by this early photo.
Filed under: Articles | Tagged: Nether Providence, Wallingford | 1 Comment »
Thomas Leiper House is participating in the Delaware County Arts Week.
On Saturday and Sunday, September 28 and 29 the Leiper House will be open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors can see original paintings of Leiper family members by famous artists. There are also old paintings of buildings that are no longer standing but were part of Leiper’s estate, “Avondale.”
Local artists Ursula Ippoliti and Dennis Goldsborough will display their paintings of notable Delaware County locations. They will have prints and notecards of their paintings available to purchase.
LEIPER HOUSE | 521 Avondale Road, Wallingford
Filed under: Programs & Events | Tagged: avondale, colonial, Delaware County, Delco, Historical Society, local history, Nether Providence, Thomas Leiper, Wallingford | Leave a comment »
Celebrated historian Nancy Webster will present A Brief History of Popular Street Foods, an exploration of sidewalk cuisine from American Colonial times through present day. Some will be familiar (we’ve been frequenting hot dog and pretzel vendors for ages) and others will be surprising.
Bonus: Samples of old-fashioned street foods will be available for tasting!
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: A highly engaging speaker, Nancy Webster was named Delaware County Historian in 1988. The Principal Planner with the County Planning Department for 25 years, she was head of historic preservation and won state and national awards. A Delaware County native, Nancy holds a BA from Harvard, and a double MA in American history and museum curatorship from the College of William and Mary.
Uniquely qualified to speak on this topic, Nancy is a member of the Historical Foodways Society of the Delaware Valley and chairman of the Foodways Committee of the international Association for Living History.
The program is free and open to the public: Thursday, April 27 at the Helen Kate Furness Library on Providence Road in Wallingford, starting at 7:30 pm.
RSVP:
Filed under: Programs & Events | Tagged: Colonial America, Delaware County History, Historical Society, History, Nancy Webster, Nether Providence, Philadelphia, Street Foods, Wallingford | 1 Comment »
You’re invited to The Friends of the Thomas Leiper House’s
annual holiday celebration,
Sunday, December 18th from 1:00 until 5:00 pm.
521 Avondale Road, Wallingford
Filed under: Programs & Events | Tagged: Delaware County, Historical Society, History, Leiper, Nether Providence, Wallingford | Leave a comment »
The library that bears her name has been a center of community life for more than a century, but who was Helen Kate Furness?
Join us for a look at the life of Helen Kate through her portraits.
Our speaker is Harwood Johnson, a member and past President of the Furness Library Board of Directors.
Thursday, November 10, 2016 at 7:00 pm at The Helen Kate Furness Free Library, 100 North Providence Road, Wallingford
The program is free and open to the public.
RSVP here:
Filed under: Programs & Events | Tagged: Delaware County, Evans Rogers, Fairman Rogers, Helen Kate Furness, Historical Society, History, Horace Howard Furness, Nether Providence, Pennsylvania, Wallingford | Leave a comment »
Chester Times, April 17, 1916.
The flower show became an annual event to which the public was invited every year on Palm Sunday.
Milton Horace Bickley owned, along with his father, a drug store at 4th and Market Streets in Chester. He purchased the 102-acre Cedar Lane Farm from James Miller in 1913 and called it Bickmore; a combination of his last name and his father, Mortimore Bickley’s first name. There, he raised a variety of flowers in 19 large greenhouses (300′ x 75′). There was a 75′ smokestack for the furnace used to heat the greenhouses.
The family also ran a poultry farm on the property. In 1916, there were regular advertisements placed in the Chester Times announcing “we have just installed a big hall incubator and decided to do some custom hatching. You can bring, or buy your eggs from us. We also have baby chicks for sale.”
Milton Bickley died in 1937.
In 1944, W. J. Messmer, a Chester florist, purchased the Bickmore nursery on the south side of Rose Valley Road. The purchase included 60,000 square feet of glass-enclosed greenhouses.
By 1954, the 15 acre site had been purchased by the Wallingford Development Company. When the nursery buildings were razed to make way for 22 houses, it took two blasts of dynamite to level the smokestack. The neighborhood was named Bickmore Hills. The first of the split level houses were completed by July and offered for sale at $15,590.
Bickley Druggist and Apothecary at 4th and Market Streets in Chester
Filed under: Articles, In the News | Tagged: Bickley, Bickmore, Delaware County, Historical Society, History, Nether Providence, Wallingford | Leave a comment »
Oak Knoll
Have you happened upon the ruins of an old fountain and steps while walking along the Leiper Smedley Trail?
Have you wandered the Swarthmore College woods and wondered about the trees and flowers you saw?
Mike Rolli, of the Crum Woods Restoration project at the College, is a graduate of Longwood Gardens’ horicultural program and has done much research into the historic significance of Crum Woods.
He’ll talk about the former Oak Knoll estate (which was razed to make way for the Blue Route) and its formal gardens. And, he’ll teach us about the diverse ecosystem that’s right under our noses in Crum Woods, one of the last remaining forested areas in Delaware County. Roughly 3.5 miles of walking trails extend over more than two hundred acres.
Click this link for an excellent map of Crum Woods Trails. The woods are open to visitors from sunup to sundown. Remember to “leave no trace” and keep four-legged companions on leash.
The program, presented by the Nether Providence Historical Society, is free and open to the public.
Wednesday, April 13th at 7:30 | The Helen Kate Furness Free Library
100 North Providence Road, Wallingford
To register, complete the contact form:
Filed under: Programs & Events | Tagged: Crum Woods, Delaware County, Historical Society, Nether Providence, Oak Knoll, Swarthmore College, Wallingford | Leave a comment »
Nether Providence Historical Society 