Every artifact, photo, ephemera item, old newspaper clipping, etc. we get helps add another stitch to the fabric of Riverton history.
Recently, Colin Cattell, a Palmyra High School student who loves history, saw this single Kodachrome slide up for auction on eBay, bought it, then went to Phyllis Rodgers’ home and gave it to her for the Society. The HSR President reports that Colin was so proud of his find and would not take anything for it.
Classy, Colin.
According to the date stamp on the cardboard slide mount, photographer Bucky Reeves documented this 1979 Riverton fire that destroyed the Collective Federal Savings building that once stood next to Freddy’s Shoe Repair on Main Street.
This dovetails nicely with a number of photos posted here in 2011 from Mary Yearly Flanagan’s family album. Among them was this newspaper clipping that summarized the event.
Can a firefighter or resident add any further context for that incident?
You may know Colin’s dad, Mike Cattell, as the author of those cool Then and Now videos that show a vintage image of a local landmark morphing into a modern scene, matching sizes and perspectives perfectly.
Here’s one he did for Riverton and Palmyra.
Find Mike’s Riverside clip here.
We thank Colin for his generous donation of this slide and appreciate the fresh perspective his dad, Mike Cattell has given to some vintage local images. – JMc
9/24/2016: Friend of the Society, John Hartnett, sends in these 3 pix of the 1979 fire mentioned above. He writes, “This photo was taken by George Mathis who, at the time, lived in the apartment above what is now Milanese Pizza.”
photo by George Mathis
photo by George Mathis
photo by George Mathis
The Evans building, which my family referred to as The Riverton Center”, was a really cool building! My parents were part owners when it burned, and we spent alot of time playing in it. The view from the roof was amazing! My sister, Maureen, and I patched parts of the roof one summer. I was “too young” to play on the tracks that entered the back of the building. When it burned, the businesses in it included a hair salon (Florence’s hair fashion?), The New Leaf, Windmill Products, a chapter of the March of Dimes, and another business or two. The business on the far-right was the office of an attorney or an accountant ? What an awful day that was. I remember watching it burn and seeing the brick walls collapse. I bet my brother, John, knows more of its history than i do. He worked in it a lot as a teenager.