In summer our thoughts turn to trips to the Jersey Shore, and if there is one place that families are sure to enjoy, it is visiting the only elephant in the world “you can walk through and come out alive!”
This weekend, Margate’s famous Lucy the Elephant celebrates its 136th birthday on Saturday, July 22. Once a home, a tavern, and now designated as a National Historic Landmark, the unusual six-story high structure is listed on the National Park Registry of Historical Landmarks.
The Phillies may have the worst record in baseball this season, but there was a time in Riverton when the hometown team was quite formidable.
Riverton Journal, Aug 15. 1881, p3
The month of July has been linked with the game of baseball since Riverton’s early days, as the account at right from 1881 attests.
Sporting Life, April 15, 1922
The Riverton Ball Club mentioned in it was founded June 19th, 1865, a respectable two months after the end of the Civil War. Riverton Yacht Club followed suit almost two weeks later on July 1.
Over the years, the ball club utilized various loaned or leased lots in town, but found a permanent home on land purchased that is today bordered by South Broad Street, and Lippincott and Thomas Avenues. (1890 Bird’s-Eye View of Riverton)
The Union League Club in Philadelphia presented the Riverton Nine an award in 1890 as the best amateur baseball team in the area.
As participation in the game diminished, and the bicycling craze grew, the cycling club leased the land in 1894. (Read more details about the amateur Riverton ball team in the Sept. 2009 Gaslight News.)
Over the years, hundreds of Riverton children and adults have marked their participation in America’s National Pastime by posing for a team photo.
Let us add your Riverton/Palmyra baseball mementos to this gallery. Include a caption and identify players, if you can.
1938 Riverton Athletic Assn. Baseball Team – picture credit Francis C. Cole
Bob Beishline’s original photo of 1872 Riverton baseball team
The New Era, Oct 6, 1949, p1Prominent Philadelphia architect John Fraser designed the original church and was one of Calvary’s founders.
Riverton’s rich history is no more evident than in the origins of its houses of worship.
Calvary Presbyterian Church was already 75 years old when this article appeared in The New Era, Riverton’s hometown newspaper.
Everyone is invited to a history talk as part of the church service at Calvary Presbyterian Church, 300 Fourth Street, Riverton on July 9th at 10 AM. The PowerPoint talk will include all the early people of the church, which was founded in 1874 here in Riverton.
Find more photos of Calvary Presbyterian Church, as well as others, on our page Riverton Churches. We welcome more images of Riverton’s places of worship.
Thanks to HSR Board member, Pat Brunker for this notice.
Former resident and PHS grad, Ed Shoemaker, recently found our July 4, 2011 post and left a poignant comment.
In it, he articulates the sweet nostalgia that memories of Riverton can arouse even though years later and miles away.
Riverton’s Fourth of July was a major event as I, my brother and sister grew up on Lippincott Ave. We marched or rode bicycles or in dog-pulled wagons during all of our childhood years. As a drummer in the PHS band it was a thrill to march down Broad Street anticipating all the events afterward. Wish I could be there to see it all again.
Will you settle for some photos, Ed?
Here are some photos of Riverton’s 2017 July 4th celebration by Gary R. Weart, another fan of Riverton and a great friend of the Society. – JMc
We invite readers to say “hi” to Ed or Gary, or add your own remembrance of Riverton here. Include a captioned photo, if you wish. That dog pulling a wagon would be something to see! -JMc
