Come out to an intimate evening with the Washingtons, portrayed by professional living history actors Alisa Dupuy and Curt Radabaugh.
Sponsored by the Historical Society of Riverton and the Porch Club of Riverton.
Space is limited, reserve now!
Do you have a Riverton student in your family?
We are holding our two student contests again this year, and in this anniversary year the subject is Riverton’s Annual 4th of July Celebration.
There are two different competitions:
Entries are due May 31st, 2026!
Please click the flyer image below to enlarge it for full details. For questions, please reach out to Heather Huffnagle at heather.mary.macintosh@gmail.com
We’re sorry to report that Riverton’s most energetic and effective volunteer, Bill Hall, passed away peacefully at his home on Cedar Street on March 24, 2026.
Still a great conversationalist and with his trademark sense of humor in full force at age 101, he leaves hundreds of people with great memories of working with him on an astonishing variety of activities in Riverton and beyond in the larger world.
Bill met Nancy Ritschard in the 1940s while both were young avid sailors at the Riverton Yacht Club. Married for 72 years, their enthusiasm for sailing never waned, and Bill was RYC’s oldest member. Nancy passed away at age 93 in 2024.
Both were extraordinarily kind, with an irrepressible optimism that was at the same time completely realistic, an approach that brought out the best in everyone they encountered.
Here is a frame from a homemade film of the 1st National Duster Class Regatta at Riverton Yacht Club on September 7, 1946. Bill is in the middle with the red shirt and Nancy is wearing a green scarf on the deck of her Duster sailboat as it is getting its official measurement before the start of the first race.
Here’s a closeup of the handsome guy (age 22).
Bill and his many friends always seemed to be involved in unexpected projects.
That’s Bill on the left, followed by John Mustard, Knute Hunn, and Marcy Lippincott. It’s Spring of 1941 (Bill was 16) and the gang had bought a decrepit Model T Ford in Easton, Pa. for $25 and were towing it home to Riverton. They had gotten as far as Glenside when the tow rope chafed through. This precious photo is thanks to Roland Hunn (Knute’s son) who generously shared with us his scans from several family albums.
Read Bill’s wonderful official obit and be prepared to say “I didn’t know that!” over and over. He was one of a kind.
Family and friends are invited to visit on Thursday April 16, 2026, from 10:15 AM to 11:00 AM, followed by a funeral service at 11:00 AM, all at Calvary Presbyterian Church, 4th Street and Lippincott Avenue, Riverton, NJ 08077.
February 8, 1851 wasn’t much different from any other day …
… except that there was a very important real estate transaction, whose deed shows that:
“Joseph Lippincott (Farmer) and Beulah his wife of the Township of Chester in the County of Burlington in New Jersey” sold 120 acres of farmland to “Daniel L Miller Junior of the City of Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania (Merchant) … for and in consideration of the sum of twenty one thousand dollars lawful money of the United States of America to them in hand”.
The Clerk of Burlington County duly filed it permanently in Deed Book C5 starting on page 404, where it remains today for anyone to read. Here’s a copy we downloaded you can read yourself, in all it’s cursive glory, in the handwriting of a clerk who probably left this earth a century and a half ago.
This was the first tangible step in creating the “summer resort town” of Riverton, February 8, 1851.
Daniel Leeds Miller, Jr. was making this purchase in his name on behalf of nine other partners interested in carving a new town out of this farmland, which straddled the old road from the river to Moorestown (today’s Main Street and Riverton Road). Their intent was to create a corporation to develop it but in those early days that required an act of the legislature which took another year, so in the meantime the entire endeavor worked as a partnership.
The Miller family was represented in four of the ten founding households. In addition to Daniel, three of his sisters were included and that year those three all built houses next to each other on Bank Avenue (which already existed as a lane).
Daniel’s sister Elizabeth Miller was married to William Parrish (they built 311 Bank), sister Anna was the wife of Robert Biddle (at 309) and sister Rachel was married to Robert Biddle’s brother William and they built 307 Bank (demolished against strong public sentiment in the 1980s for the expansion of the then-Baptist Home).
Daniel had married Anna Pancoast Ridgway 8 years earlier at their Philadelphia Quaker meeting, a ceremony attended by most Riverton founders and a number of notable Abolitionists, including Lucretia Mott and her family, William Henry Furness, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. They lived in Philadelphia on Mulberry (Arch) Street between Front and Second.
All (or nearly all) of the founders’ houses were constructed that summer of 1851 even though all the land was still in Daniel’s name while waiting for the New Jersey Legislature to approve their “Riverton Improvement Corporation”. A few of his partners requested that he subdivide out their lots so they weren’t in the awkward position of owning houses on land owned by someone else.
Daniel and Anna Miller’s summer home here was the house which became 405 Bank Avenue. It apparently began with a design by architect Samuel Sloan similar to the others though acquired a Mansard roof third floor at some point. The Millers sold it to John Stokes in 1854.
Daniel and Anna built another summer home at the foot of Howard Street by the 1858 map by Parry, Sykes and Earl, which vanished from that spot by the 1860 edition, when a similar notation appeared at the foot of Fulton Street, as shown here in the 1890 Otto Koehler Birds Eye View of Riverton. There was complexity afoot at this time, involving litigation and foreclosures that would make interesting research.
Like our other founders, Daniel Miller was active in the Abolitionist movement but his business was primarily as a merchant in petroleum, with an office around Front and Walnut Streets, convenient to the steamboat wharf the Riverton boats used.
The Millers raised ten children, plus at least one who did not survive infancy. Daniel Miller died in this house in 1871 and Anna sold it in 1878 to move back to Philadelphia near Rittenhouse Square. In 1913 this house was moved, pulling back from the riverbank to face Fulton Street, where it still stands, carrying the house number 201.
“Discovering and Retelling Riverton’s Stories”
SAVE THE DATE! Wednesday January 21, 2026
Come early to be assured of a seat!
One of a series of events to commemorate Riverton’s 175th Anniversary year.
Riverton is more than just a place to live.
Our town is a tapestry woven with the threads of our shared history, beauty, and community spirit. To preserve the charm that makes our town feel like home, we need your financial support now more than ever.
Your contributions will help us maintain our historic archives and host events that bring us together, fostering a sense of belonging and pride in our beloved Riverton.
Let us come together to ensure that future generations can enjoy the same picturesque streets and vibrant culture that we cherish today.
Together, we can keep Riverton not just a place on a map, but a warm and inviting hometown filled with memories and joy!
Please consider making a year-end contribution now.
Suggested supporter donations:
Thank you!
HSR’s Board asks our supporters and friends and everyone who loves Riverton’s history to mark your calendars and …
Come out to Borough Council Tuesday 11/18/2025 at 6:30 at
Riverton Borough Hall.
This is an exciting moment for Riverton.
Getting many of the same protections enjoyed by many other historic New Jersey towns has been a two-step process.
After three years’ work at broad consensus-building among many constituencies, Riverton is in the home stretch.
In this time, the Mayors and Council supported two clear standards to safeguard our Historic District:
“No more teardowns!”
and
“Lose no more Historic Character!”
The first one (to stop teardowns) has now been in place for almost two years and we have not lost a single historic structure in that time.
Now it’s high time to complete the job in a way that is right for Riverton, because …
… we are still completely unprotected from shortsighted alterations to historic structures, which can seriously damage the character of any Historic District.
Borough Council has introduced a sensible ordinance that we agree will be great for Riverton and we urge your support. Why is it “sensible”? For starters, it doesn’t regulate paint colors, only applies to changes visible from the street, and allows substitution of modern materials that look like historical ones (with more allowance for things like roofing slates).
It’s all discussed on this page on the Borough’s website:
Read all about it there and on the pages it links to. You’ll see that it includes email addresses for the Mayor and the other members of Council’s subcommittee which drafted the Ordinance.
Please write to them with your comments and (hopefully) support. And it always helps to show up in person, so please, mark your calendars and …
Come out to Borough Council Tuesday 11/18/2025 at 6:30 at
Riverton Borough Hall.
Lose no more historic character!
Thank you!
“Discovering and Retelling Riverton’s Stories”
By Heather Huffnagle, Editor
Self-portrait with lighthouse in Pemaquid, ME, June 2006, 18”x24” oil on canvas
On Wednesday, October 8, 2025, nearly 70 attendees gathered at Calvary Presbyterian Church in Riverton to learn about the life and art of the late Reverend Richard Moore (1932-2017). Reverend Moore served as Calvary’s minister from 1967 until his retirement in 1994. Reverend Moore’s son Steve, his daughter-in-law Tricia, and grandsons Donovan and Nate curated the show of watercolors, oil paintings, pencil studies, and a few models of ships. These well represented the arc of Reverend Moore’s development as an extraordinary self-taught artist.
The program, hosted by the Historical Society of Riverton and Calvary Presbyterian Church, provided an opportunity for those who knew him to revisit his extraordinary legacy. For those who did not know him or his work, the event revealed a glimpse of a unique talent whose skills improved over time with the support of neighbors, friends, fellow artists, and patrons.
At the October 8 event, Steve Moore introduced his father’s work while standing by a painting of a docked battleship displayed on an easel gifted by a friend and fellow Riverton artist Ben Collins.
Reverend Moore’s living connection to the Riverton community was unmistakable at the event. Many in attendance remembered Moore fondly, and some brought Moore paintings from their personal collections. The Historical Society’s oldest member, Bill Hall, who recently celebrated his 101st birthday, was in attendance and provided a watercolor view of Jungfrau Peak from the Halls’ house in the Swiss Alps. The Halls and the Moores often traveled together; Moore’s travels were well represented in the show of his work.
A series of paintings reflecting Richard Moore’s love of travel.
Richard Caldwell Moore was born in Philadelphia in 1932, and raised in Upper Darby, PA. After graduating from Upper Darby High School in 1950, Moore received an ROTC scholarship to attend the University of Pennsylvania where he studied history – an interest he cultivated throughout his life and captured in many of his paintings. After graduating from Penn in 1954, he entered the Navy as a line officer for three years. He enjoyed his life in the Navy but felt a calling for the ministry and entered Princeton Seminary in 1957 where he met his future wife Toshii Shimoda. In addition to receiving a Master of Divinity degree like her husband, Toshii also enjoyed painting and music. It is not surprising that Steve Moore, his wife Tricia, and his children have pursued professions in the arts. (Steve and Tricia are architects, as is their daughter Veronica Moore; Donovan and Nate are musicians).
After graduating from Princeton, Moore rejoined the Navy for two years as a chaplain stationed out of San Diego. He was then hired, in 1963, as a minister at Galeton Presbyterian Church, in a small logging town in north central Pennsylvania. In 1967, he moved to Riverton to become pastor of Calvary Presbyterian, and soon after pursued his love of painting.
Everyone in attendance at the event was impressed not only with the high level of skill seen in the works on site, but also, Moore’s extreme productivity. What the crowd at Calvary saw on October 8th was a portion of what has been stored at his son’s house in Riverton. Steve Moore’s brother Bill has half of his father’s collection in his home in central Pennsylvania, and many of Moore’s works are in local homes and in museums. Bill provided slideshow-style videos of works within his collection for the event which included paintings of many houses in the Triboro area.
As a working painter myself, I’ve wondered how someone with a full-time day job, and rich family and social life could maintain such high creative output. I learned that Reverend Moore set aside Mondays, his day off, for painting. He credited his wife Toshii for allowing this luxury.
Pat Brunker, the HSR’s treasurer and member at Calvary recalled once stepping outside her renovated carriage house at the corner of Second and Thomas to see Reverend Moore studying her home with paint and paper in hand. Hers was one of many Riverton houses painted by Moore.
As Moore became more practiced and skilled with oils, the artist developed a keen eye for painting dynamic, detailed, and accurate maritime paintings. He retired from Calvary in 1994 and had a house built near a beloved cousin’s house in Hampton, VA in 1994. He spent the next ten years painting and traveling around the country and the world, visiting friends. He also received many commissions for marine subjects from naval ship associations and museums. The American Society of Marine Artists, an association of professional maritime painters and sculptors, elected him President.
It was during this period that he experienced the loss of 23 of his best paintings, both oil and watercolor, in a gallery fire in Portsmouth, Virginia. However, he was very philosophical about the loss, saying that they were subjects that he enjoyed pursuing and that he was finished with them. The one painting that survived was the Moshulu, shown at the exhibit.
In 2004, Richard and Toshii moved back to Pennsylvania, to Willow Street (near Lancaster), to be closer to family and new grandchildren. Moore continued to receive commissions during this time, most notably, a commission for four murals depicting the capture of a German submarine recently restored at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. At this point, Moore was in his 70s.
This fact is one of the keys to Moore’s legacy. He never stopped painting. And he continued to maintain a clear vision, with masterful brushwork. Moore’s last piece, a watercolor still tacked on its backer board, reflects this. It’s a fantasy, a collection of ships depicting the period during which sailing ships were being phased out and replaced by steamships in a medium that requires a confident, steady hand. At this point, Moore has use of only one eye, having lost sight in his other eye by this time.
The Historical Society of Riverton was honored to share his legacy with our community. We look forward to bringing you more stories about Riverton’s creative past to inspire generations for years to come. Special thanks to the Moore Family for their time and generous access to Richard Moore’s original works.
Heather Huffnagle, Editor
“Discovering and Retelling Riverton’s Stories”
The Art and Life of Reverend Richard Moore
A program for you! Wednesday October 8, 2025, 6:30 pm at
Calvary Presbyterian Church
Join the Historical Society of Riverton and the Moore Family for a program celebrating the art and life of one of Riverton’s most gifted and prolific artists.
Many original paintings will be on display, most from private collections and shown for the first time.
A talented, self-taught painter working in watercolor and oils, Rev. Moore was best known for his maritime works and was elected president of the American Society of Marine Artists.
Learn the stories behind some of Reverend Moore’s best works and get to know the man who never stopped learning, painting and inspiring others.
He painted watercolors of many historic Riverton houses and public buildings which are cherished by Rivertonians today.
Riverton has had a remarkable wealth of fine artists active in our little town and your Historical Society has been collecting images and biographies of all we can identify. Here’s our entry for Rev. Moore.
Our whole collection starts on this Local Artists page (use the dropdown box at the top to choose the one you wish to see). If you know of an artist (living or not) who isn’t in that list, let us know!
We hope that you will join us for what should be a great evening of reminiscences and enjoyment of beautiful artwork on Wednesday October 8 at 6:30.
“Discovering and Retelling Riverton’s Stories”
By Heather MacIntosh Huffnagle
At the end of every school year, one Riverton School social studies student is recognized for his or her excellence in history. The Historical Society of Riverton’s Betty Hahle Award was established in 2011 after the passing of the town’s first historian, Betty Hahle.
The award, which includes a $150 prize, was established as a memorial to this extraordinary leader who was the HSR’s president and the editor of its newsletter Gaslight News.
This year’s recipient well reflects the dedication and focus of the award’s namesake.
Rosemary Allen, Riverton School’s middle school social studies teacher, enthusiastically nominated Violet B., this year’s winner. During the award ceremony, Mrs. Allen praised Violet’s consistent excellence (she’s maintained an A+ average in history for three years), her love of reading, her active engagement in class and her acting skills in a classroom recreation of the Boston Massacre Trial.
During the May 27th award ceremony, Mrs. Allen described her experience with Violet over the years. “From the moment she stepped into my classroom in 6th grade, her quiet voice rose up to stand up for what’s right, to look out for the most vulnerable, and to ask truly difficult questions about our past and present history.
“Her actions and dedication are that of a true historian: a bulldog looking for the truth, an attorney searching for evidence, and a lifelong learner always looking for her next great read.
“I am so proud of all of her accomplishments, but most importantly I am counting on her to use her brilliant mind and beautiful heart to make history and make our world a better place.”
Mrs. Allen’s engaging teaching style inspired Violet to learn more about the past.
Violet explained “I realized that I connected with history when Mrs. Allen started teaching us in 6th grade. Before that, history was kind of boring and I didn’t like it very much. Mrs. Allen is an amazing teacher who really immerses her students in the past. I felt like I was in a whole other world.
“When I learned what accomplishments and crazy things people had done it the past, it made me feel like I was capable of doing anything.”
When asked what she liked about learning history, Violet noted “when we learn about history, we learn about the mistakes that people have made in our past. If we learn about these mistakes and learn from them, we are able to not make them again which makes our future even brighter.”
Well said, Violet. Congratulations!
— Heather MacIntosh Huffnagle
