Teacher at Riverton School 1974-2019, author, amateur historian, Historical Society of Riverton Board Member 2007-2023, newsletter editor 2007-2023, website editor 2011-2023
Moorestown Community Band, L. Bruce Smith, conductor
The popcorn was popping and feet were tapping; the river was calm, and the music was lively as the Moorestown Community Band entertained members of the Historical Society of Riverton, residents of Riverview Estates, and other guests in Riverview Estates’ beautiful Rose Garden last Thursday.
Originally planned for Wednesday, but rescheduled because of rain, L. Bruce conducted the sixty member band as they played a variety of musical selections.
“Piper’s Rhapsody”, “Viva Italia”, an Italian song medley, “Abba on Broadway”, “Russian Sailors’ Dance”, “The Westerners”, a Western Theme medley, and that patriotic favorite, “You’re A Grand Old Flag” each lightened the mood of an appreciative audience on this overcast spring evening.
Donna Maratea, Director of Activities and part-time popcorn vendor
The HSR and Riverview Estates jointly sponsored this free concert.
Thank you to Riverview Estates’ Director of Activities Donna Maratea for another successful partnering with the HSR to bring a free program to Riverview residents, Society members, and the public.
The Historical Society of Riverton and Riverview Estates will be your hosts on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, for an entertaining concert by the Moorestown Community Band.
Founded in 1991 for people who were out of school and wanted to continue to play their instruments, the Moorestown Community Band started with twelve members. Since that time the band has grown to fifty-five members of all ages.
The troupe, directed by L. Bruce Smith, will entertain with a variety of musical styles including pop, Broadway, march, patriotic, classical, and music from abroad that appeals to everyone.
First, at 6:30 we need to conduct a meeting to do a little business that should conclude around 7.
Afterward, the spring blooms in Riverview Estates’ lovely Meditation Garden and the sun setting on the Delaware River will be the scenic backdrop for an enjoyable musical performance.
Please join the Historical Society of Riverton and residents of Riverview Estates for this free concert. Light refreshments will be available.
It seems for as long as anyone remembers, and farther back than that, Riverton has loved its baseball.
Pages here and in the Gaslight Newshave detailed Riverton’s rich baseball tradition which dates to the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and possibly earlier. Recent improvements in the playing field and grandstand at Riverton Memorial Park open a new chapter in Riverton history as the Riverton Athletic Association tries out its refurbished digs on Opening Day, April 12, 2014.
Grandstand Sept. 2011 – April 2014
Even so, we must acknowledge the achievements of past generations and realize that the loss of such a familiar touchstone of one’s youth might yet cause a nostalgic twinge, no matter how improved the venue.
Enjoy our virtual scrapbook of opening day photos and commentary by my former Riverton School teaching partner, Mrs. Susan Dechnik.
Click on the cover at left for the PowerPoint slides or here for the faster downloading PDF file.
Contribute your remembrances of the old grandstand, regale the younger generation with a bit of Riverton baseball lore, or tell us your impressions of the new grandstand and opening day.
– John McCormick
From across the miles, Gary R. Weart writes:
Great to see that the grandstand has beeen renovated. I remember riding bikes there in the 50’s and 60’s because it was a nicer facility than we had in Palmyra. We used to play pick-up games on that field. The wall of the grandstand was also great for “pepper,” as we didn’t have to chase the ball. Sometimes we stood at home plate and played a game “backwards” by trying to hit the ball up into the seats by lifting it just over the fence allowing it to fall in the seats for a “homerun.” We could also record an out on defense by catching the ball off the fence. A ball hit over the grandstand was recorded as an out. It was sort of a game involving bat control. We could play a game of 9 innings with just two people. Needless to say, I have many great memories of spending many hours at that old grandstand.
I also heard from a source that prefers to remain anonymous that it was a great place to make out.
An easy to miss sidebar on page 3 of the Society’s just published newsletter (see March 2014 GN #156) may be of interest to Riverton property owners.
A search of the records at nps.gov for Riverton Historic District, Burlington County, New Jersey directs the reader to two online files:
the 124-page online record for Riverton’s National Register of Historic Places Registration Form as filed with the National Park Service in late 1998 and approved in 1999, and
fourteen black and white photos representative of Riverton buildings.
Historic Riverton District application photo
If you search yourself, you can choose from jpg, Deja vu, and PDF files, but in case the site proves as troublesome for you as it did for me, I post here two direct links for viewing and downloading the PDFs for the Registration text file and the fourteen photos.
The lengthy application, splendidly prepared by Dan Campbell, Keith Betten, and Betty Hahle, serves to outline the history of the borough’s development and catalog thumbnail entries for many Riverton properties.
This entry in the Riverton National Register Historic District Inventory for the dwelling at 407 Howard Street is typical:
I did not know that.
There are 525 more descriptions of properties in the Inventory, some shorter, some much more detailed. Many include a builder’s and/or architect’s name and names of any notable previous owners. Captions for the photos appear on pages 29 and 30. Several maps at the end help you get your spacial and historic bearings.
You are sure to learn something new about the influences on Riverton’s growth and the history of some structures in the Borough, if not your own home. – John McCormick
Riverton Bicycle Track sketch, NY Times 6-9-1895_2
By now you know about the planned ride to celebrate the 1895 Tri-State Relay Race from the NY Times Building. Thousands of cycling enthusiasts attended the finish at the Riverton Athletic Association’s bicycle track right here in Riverton, NJ.
Quoting from my new friend, Rob Gusky’s Facebook page promoting interest in the event:
Plans are being made to recreate the spirit of this race by organizing a ride from the New York Times Building to Riverton on June 7, 2014. This 100 mile ride will be completed in one day and is a cooperative effort between a number of bicycle clubs and organizations across our region.
Rob keeps his followers up to date on developments with frequent updates as he manages the project from his home in Wisconsin. Despite the warnings your mom told you about meeting people on the Internet, Rob has been planning this event since last December with a growing number of people whom he has never met. The amateur cycling community has embraced the effort since Carlos Rogers said he was going to “set the wheels in motion to help make this happen.”
An early adopter, Rob had me on board as soon I heard the name Historic Riverton Century.
Previous posts here and here have expressed my enthusiasm for Rob Gusky’s creation of a bike ride with a historical theme as well as his laudable effort to fund and install a historical sign to mark the place where the bicycle race track once stood near the corner of South Broad Street and Thomas Avenue.
Anne Racioppi is the latest person to advance the project with her huge contribution of a truly exceptional official event logo. Rob broke the news to his Facebook followers this way:
Thanks to the help of Anne Racioppi, the Historic Riverton Century now has an official logo! Anne is not only a talented graphic designer, but she is also a cyclist and is planning to join us for the ride on June 7. We are now in the process of getting a jersey designed with this logo – let us know if you like the logo by liking this post. Here is a link to Anne’s site if you want to know more about her work – she responded to our call for volunteer help, what a great community we have here! https://www.facebook.com/anneracioppigraphicdesign
I had to “like” Rob’s post and look up this incredibly generous person. (I relate these Facebook exchanges only because I realize some visitors here do not have an account, so skip ahead if you heard this already.)
Anne very graciously commented:
The cycling community has given me so much help and love and support over the past 7 years of racing. I became an adult around these friends, many of which became family. Now that I’m out of the limelight I would love to continue giving back to this great community that gave me so much.
I followed the trail to Anne Racioppi’s AR Graphic Design Facebook page…
…and told her what I thought of her logo.
Hi, Anne – Thank you for contributing your considerable creative gifts to make this logo. Choosing to place the words inside an oval that is reminiscent of the old Riverton bicycle track is genius! The historic fonts and flourishes, dramatically framed title, along with an image of a rider extracted from the only known photo of the track, all combine to create a truly exceptional logo for the Historic Riverton Century. Warm regards, John McCormick
Lest you think she whipped up this logo in fifteen minutes with some autopilot computer program, she explains her process:
Rob wanted to pay homage to the very first race so the logo was designed as though it were from the time period. Letterhead Fonts has the best period fonts and Billhead, Booth, and Hensler were used here. Every piece of this was hand drawn and streamlining the rider (Arthur Augustus Zimmerman) was very easy thanks to the high res scan from Riverton’s Historical Society.
By now, I am reallyimpressed. (This, despite the error I introduced in 2009 with Zimmerman’s name. We actually do not know the names of any of the persons in this undated photo.)
For Anne to contribute to this project such a high quality and complex hand-drawn logo executed with top-drawer fonts is commendable, but it turns out, not all that remarkable.
I am learning that cyclists are a generous and close-knit community. And Jeopardy-smart. Anne’s contribution of her extraordinary talent to the cause speaks of the dedication to the sport and bond that occurs as these athletes work cooperatively toward the goal of creating something new.
Meanwhile, the clock is still running on the historical sign donation site, a jersey design for riders is in the works (participants buy their own), an application for the sign placement process has started with Borough Council, a Discover NJ History License Plate Fund Heritage Tourism Grant has been applied for, and publicity arrangements are moving forward.
Three months from today, on June 7, the first Historic Riverton Century will be, well… history.
The next day, Sunday, June 8, the plan is to commemorate the 1895 New York Times Tri-State Relay Race with a historical marker near where the race track once stood.
Ice boats, an ice auto, and Riverton’s own One-Man Polar Bear Club sure must have made life on the Delaware interesting in February 1920.
Charles Durborow, Distance Swimmer Plunges Into Icy Waters To Keep In Trim Date 1918-02-17 OregonianKeating Kodak ad, New Era, August 14, 1924
Wouldn’t it be something to find that ice auto under a dusty canvas sitting in a garage on the old Hollingshead property on Thomas Avenue? I’d settle for some home movie footage or even a couple of Kodak snapshots.
With these events happening over ninety years ago, can anyone now possibly have first-hand knowledge of either of the unique ice crafts or the extraordinary athlete pictured here in the icy Delaware River?
I say extraordinary because, evidently, this world-class swimmer in our own backyard we may never have heard of still merits occasional citation when great pioneering amateur distance swim champions are discussed.
Charles B. Durborow, Patriot, March 6, 1920, p19
I have come across photos of Charles Durborow before, but clearly, I did not take him seriously enough. Newspapers often referred to him simply as a bank clerk and showed him posing in frigid water clothed in swim trunks and a top, holding a chunk of river ice.
Durborow juggles coin, October 10, 1916, Rockford Morning Star, p9
One source attributed his conditioning to the development of his arms and shoulders from tossing around heavy sacks of coins in his career as a bank clerk. Further, it claimed that Durborow swam over 600 miles a year, every day of the year, even in winter.
To Riverton citizens and the community of water sports enthusiasts, however, he was much more – Riverton Yacht Club Secretary and Treasurer, Riverton Borough Clerk, Penn Athletic Club founding member, First National Bank of Philadelphia employee for 21 years, independent financial broker, amateur distance swimming champion of national and international renown, Beverly Yacht Club member, and Vice-President Middle Atlantic Association of the Amateur Athletic Union.
He even accompanied Riverton youths as they marked their transition from childhood to young adult by swimming across the Delaware River from the Yacht Club to the Philadelphia side.
Durborow to retire, November 2, 1912, Evening Star, p10Swim to Phila, New Era, June 24, 1921, p2
He was so frustrated with his failure to complete a crossing of the English Channel in 1912 that he called off a scheduled 34-mile swim from Sandy Hook to Coney Island and said that he “will quit the game for good.”
But he did not quit. The record books bear witness to his incredible swimming stamina and endurance.
Writing in Sporting LifeMagazine in 1916, James H. Sterrett called Durborow, “the world’s greatest distance endurance swimmer.” (The private nonprofit LA84Foundationoperates the largest sports research library in North America. Sporting Life is one of many publications archived there.)
Durborow obit, New Era, May 19, 1938, p2
Writing again for Spaulding’s Athletic Library 1917 publication, How to Swim, Sterrett characterized the 34-year-old, 210 lb. six-foot Philadelphia bank clerk as, “the foremost, long-distance and greatest mileage swimmer in the world.” See a list of Durborow’s accomplishments on p. 40 of How to Swim.
Searching for information about the marathon swimmer is made more difficult by the various ways writers mangled his last name. Durborrow, Durboro, Durburrow, and even Durbonard are some of the erroneous handles given to him by journalists.
One goal that continued to elude him was to swim the English Channel. A 1919 Rockford, IL Register Gazette newspaper article referred to a 1914 forced postponement of an English Channel swim “on account of the European squabble.” A planned crossing in 1919 was to be Durborow’s second attempt, according to the story, but he did not prove successful as his name is not on the list of swimmers who mastered the Channel.
Christ Church and Rectory
The Durborow family later moved to Edgewater Park after residing in Riverton from about 1907-1927. Mr. Durborow’s 1938 New York Times obituary explained that he passed away suddenly at age 56. Funeral services were held Riverton’s Christ Episcopal Church.
Long distance open water swimming still draws participants and fans. A Sept. 2013 National Geographic Daily News article, Greatest Swims: Five Epic Swims in the Wake of Nyad’s Feat, reminds us about Diana Nyad, the 64-year-old woman who became the first person ever to swim between Cuba and Florida unassisted by a shark cage. She accomplished the feat in just 52 hours, 54 minutes, and 18 seconds.
In that article, take note of Gertrude Ederle, the American swimming sensation who conquered the English Channel in 1926. Her experiences as a 15-year-old entrant in competitions at Riverton Yacht Club, among other places, helped hone her distance swimming skills.
As always, we welcome comments from anyone who can shed more light on this subject, and are open to suggestions for other overlooked Riverton characters. – John McCormick
Some South Jersey Downton Abbey devotees held on to their Season Four Finale buzz a while longer as they enjoyed afternoon tea themed to the famous British television drama series at The New Leaf in Riverton, NJ.
Phyllis Rodgers, obviously meant to live at Downton Abbey
Proprietor Mrs. Phyllis Rodgers and Historical Society of Riverton President planned the event as a fundraiser for the Society, and it drew a capacity crowd Sunday afternoon despite the expected arrival of another winter storm later that evening.
The Honorable William C. Brown took our coats. Where else but Riverton?
The New Leaf’s smartly attired butler hung up guests’ coats as Lady Phyllis invited arrivals to enjoy a champagne punch. (Riverton Mayor and HSR Board Member, Mr. William C. Brown, served as stand-in for Carson.)
Downton Abbey 101
Lady Phyllis warmed up the crowd, literally and figuratively, with trivia questions about the PBS hit series as Mrs.Hughes (played by Vicki) helped the maids serve Cook JoAnn’s piping-hot black currant tea and freshly baked lavender and golden raisin scones served with rose preserves and Devonshire cream.
Ever-attentive wait staff delivered to each table towers of delectable sandwiches and savories, each menu item cleverly named after show characters.
The main course, however, was the grand entrance of actress/historian Alisa DuPuy as she channeled everyone’s favorite dowager countess.
In her monologue, part English history lesson, part etiquette class, part stand-up routine, Lady Violet schooled all in attendance in the fine points of the British rules of male primogeniture and the lifestyles of the various social classes.
Lady Violet presided over a bingo game and another about lines delivered by characters during the course of the series’ four season run.
Altogether it proved a pleasant fix for our Downton Sunday habit since we will probably have to wait until January 2015 for the US première of Season Five.
Still, we felt compelled to play a part in the plan to help get to that goal for the sign. I came up with a choice of two different sizes of professionally made prints and offered them as “perks” for contributors at the Indiegogo Preserve Riverton’s History by Installing a Marker at the Bicycle Track Site. That brings the total number of incentives to eight.
By now you may have heard about Rob Gusky’s plan to come back to his old hometown in June to commemorate the 1895 New York Times Tri-State Relay Bicycle Race by riding from NYC to Riverton on June 8 with a few newfound friends he met on the Internet.
Undated photo, courtesy of Ed Gilmore. Riverton Athletic Assn. Bicycle track – note roof of old passenger PRR station in distance at right; roof of Zena’s (now Orange Blossom Café) near center
No kidding. He is serious. If he and his buds can pedal a hundred miles and leave us with a historical sign when it’s all over, then I think I can pitch in.
In 2008, Ed Gilmore lent me his bicycle track photo to scan. Recently I retouched that classic, though damaged image, and offered two print sizes to Rob as perks for donors who give toward the sign fund though the secure Indiegogo website page.
bike track perk, web resolution
One is an 11×14 inch professionally printed photo that very closely matches the proportions of Ed’s original photo. It’s just more contrasty ( a technical term), and I left in just enough scratches and dings to give it that patina of an old sepia cabinet card.
Available for a $35 donation.
For the other, I noticed that there was a horizontal sweet spot of that image that would make a great 10×30 inch panorama. Available for a $70 donation.
bike track pano perk web resolution
I also gathered together the latest bits about the long-gone Riverton track and bike races, old and new, and put them in a special 4 page issue of the Gaslight News and include a copy with each photo.
Suitable for framing, each photo is placed on Styrofoam board and wrapped in cellophane with the newsletter enclosed in the back. (These files, obviously at a lower resolution, illustrate the proportions.)
dining room table workshop
I urge you to visit the sites for information and please tell your friends. Not to sound too PBS, but if every person who thought “Yeah, Rob, that’s cool” or “liked” something about it on a page gave a dollar, the fundraising would be over tomorrow.
Every and any amount gets us closer to that goal.
What will be cool, I think, is that whenever you look at that sign you will be able to say you had a part in getting it done.
Phyllis Rodgers will have a display up at the New Leaf soon. You can see the special issue newsletter (at right) and posters I made to promote the race (at left) in the above photo. Note the size of the panorama. Both 11×14 and 10×30 prints will fit in standard size frames.
Somebody asked me what I do with myself now that I am retired. – John McCormick
With snow on the ground in Riverton for going on a month now, the humid heat of a Jersey summer seems a long way off, but plans are afoot now to shape the first weekend of June into a two-day celebration of competitive cycling with a nod to local history.
This past December Carlos Rodgers, already a Riverton history-maker as the originator and promoter of the Historic Riverton Criterium, emailed me and explained that an ex-Riverton resident, Rob Gusky, had reached out to him with a proposal for organizing a bicycle ride in 2014.
1895 New York Times Tri-State Relay Race medal
Since it will commemorate the 1895 New York Times Tri-State Relay Race from New York City to Riverton, Carlos drafted me to help with research as part of the team he was getting together to “set the wheels in motion to help make this happen.”
Do you see what he did there? An apt metaphor, Carlos!
Research, yes. I’m in.
Just don’t ask me to bike a hundred miles from NYC to Riverton.
Rob has christened Riverton’s newest bicycle race The Historic Riverton Century. A hundred-mile bike race is known as a “century.” Also cool is that he plans for it to fall on Saturday, June 7, the day before the Historic Riverton Criterium on Sunday, June 8.
As you can imagine, the logistics of pulling off a successful bike race over roads and highways from Manhattan to Riverton in today’s traffic are considerable.
To fast-forward to developments up to this point, through conference calls, emails, texts, and phone calls, Rob Gusky soon enlisted a cadre of amateur cyclists (and one amateur historian) to strategize a plan for overcoming the many obstacles to completing such a grueling race. Too, he began to also think of ways the event might benefit Riverton and promote its image to the region.
What started as Rob Gusky’s one-man quest to recreate the 1895 New York Times Tri-State Race in June 2014 has captured the imagination of everyone who visits the Facebook page he established less than a month ago. It serves as a kind of information-central showing the organization and planning for all aspects of the race as well as to promote public support for it.
Riverton historical marker, Broad & Main
It is absolutely the best place to keep up with all the progress as various team players do their part to ensure the success of this venture. Community approval and backing builds with every day as visitors drawn in by Rob’s infectious enthusiasm affirm their support with every webpage’s coveted “like”
Riverton Athletic Assn. bicycle track, New York Times, June 4, 1895
A separate piece of this ambitious undertaking is the dedication of a historical marker sign, similar to the one by the gazebo at Broad and Main.
The proposed sign will describe particulars of the Riverton Bicycle Track constructed on the old baseball field between Lippincott and Thomas Avenues and note the original 1895 race.
A foremost racing venue of its day, the Riverton track was dedicated on — what else– the Glorious Fourth of July, 1894.
Riverton’s Bicycle track – undated photo from Ed Gilmore
It featured a ticket office, a club-house with separate apartments and all conveniences for both men and women, bleachers, a grandstand with a 3,000 person capacity, and twelve arc-lights to illuminate night races.
(Past the fence in the distance you can see the rooftop of the old passenger train station. And through the trees, do you recognize the building that will later be home to Klipple’s Bakery, Zena’s Patisserie, and now the Orange Blossom Café?)
New York Times Building c1895
In June 1895, the Hudson County Wheelmen of Jersey City organized a spectacular 150-mile race pitting relay teams of the best amateur cyclists from New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey against each other.
The contest began on the steps of the New York Times Building (then at Park Row) and climaxed with racers crossing the finish line at Riverton’s own quarter-mile track. In addition, five distance cyclists who competed for special prizes by going the entire 150-mile distance left New York two hours before the first relay racers started.
GN Sep 2009
Rob found out about the 1895 race that ended right here in his old hometown by browsing through the pages here at rivertonhistory.com.
In 2009, my colleague Patricia Solin authored an article for the Society newsletter, “The Fine Grounds of the Riverton Athletic Association,” which described the 1895 race and the Riverton bicycle race track, characterized by experts as “the finest quarter-mile track in the country.”
Grand Bicycle Meet, 1894-07-04, Philadelphia Inquirer, pg. 8
The debut of the Historic Riverton Criterium in 2011, and its return in June 2012 and 2013 triggered several more visits to the HSR archives to report on Riverton’s cycling legacy.
Rob started an online effort to fund the installation of a historic marker at the site of the Riverton’s Bicycle Track where the Tri-State Relay Race finished on June 8, 1895.
Any tax-deductible amount that anyone contributes on the secure website will move the campaign closer to its goal of preserving this milestone in Riverton’s history.
Have I mentioned that Rob lives in Wisconsin? You have to tune in to this story, if only to see how he pulls it off.
There is so much more to know about this exciting enterprise but discover for yourself what is going on behind the scenes now so that we might all play a small part in actually making Riverton history.
PS: In case you missed it, the Programs & Event Tab directs you to the summary of the recent Feb. 12, 2014 meeting that featured a presentation by actor/historian Bob Gleason as Abraham Lincoln.
A droll Mr. Lincoln enlightened and amused a HSR meet on the eve of a severe snowstorm
We held our collective breath for days as we tuned in to weather reports about the approaching snowstorm. Had it tracked a bit differently the HSR Board would have had a lot of birthday cupcakes to eat by itself.
This week marks the 205th birthday of the 16th president of the United States. The folks attending the February 12, 2014 meeting of the Historical Society of Riverton had no trouble imagining that they were in The Great Emancipator’s presence – at least for an hour or so – as actor/historian Bob Gleason gave his mesmerizing first-person account of Lincoln’s life.
The Bank on Main provided a handsome setting to hear how Mr. Lincoln’s rose to our Nation’s highest office from humble beginnings. Our speaker’s liberal use of Lincoln’s wit and humor lightened the narrative of what was a difficult life filled with struggle. He is so totally immersed in Lincoln fact and lore he effortlessly charmed the assembly as he finished with answering a number of questions from the audience.
With so many members expressing a positive review of the performance, HSR President Phyllis Rogers immediately set about making plans to have Mr. Gleason return as Edgar Allan Poe. Here’s more information about the many personas of Bob Gleason.
We welcome member comments or questions, and will gladly add to this photo gallery any more pictures taken that evening.
The Bank on Main
Janet and Dennis DeVries receive their historic plaque for their home
Originally planned for Wednesday, but rescheduled because of rain, L. Bruce conducted the sixty member band as they played a variety of musical selections.
