You can write a stanza with the abcb rhyme scheme on the TTATA theme

 

I unashamedly stole this idea from the original TV program “Things That Aren’t There Anymore,” produced in 1993 by Philadelphia PBS station WHYY channel 12. As Bill Campbell stated in the introduction, “All of these places, and many more, defined the pleasures of life in the Delaware Valley… and they are all things that aren’t there anymore.”

While the WHYY program looked at Horn & Hardarts, Willow Grove Amusement Park, grand movie theaters, and the bygone Market Street department stores, we have our own version of Things That Aren’t There Anymore, or TTATA, that are no less significant or memorable to the scores of present and former residents who experienced them firsthand.

A generation born in the late 1800s must have been amazed by the progress seen in Riverton through the 20th century. In 1974, Therese Spackman Barclay Willits wrote a poem to her lifelong friend Marjorie Marcy Crowell on the occasion of her 80th birthday. The nostalgia she must have felt in composing a poem about “The Riverton of yore” is unmistakable.

That nostalgic tug is no less strong in the minds of Rivertonians alive today.

The difficulty in illustrating some of them is the lack of photos and written information. I have had some luck in the past with soliciting things from our readership.

Having heard stories of the Nelly Bly express train that once barreled through town at 60mph on the rails now traveled by the NJ Transit’s light rail line, I asked in a May 2009 newsletter for some help. Any image of the Nellie Bly train remained elusive until Pam and Don Deitz found a negative depicting the locomotive that Pam’s father, Benjamin Percival, had taken c1939. Find more about that discovery here.

Nellie Bly Atlantic City-NYC Express, c1939
Klipple’s Fine Pastries, undated photo courtesy of Jill and Hank Croft

Another hard-to-find photo for a fondly remembered business surfaced in 2016 when Jill and Hank Croft let us scan several photos of Klipple’s Fine Pastries.

Bob Foster’s Facebook post on Klipple’s Bakery

Bob Foster’s 2018 Facebook post served as icing on the cake when it showed a color photo of Klipple’s that elicited a flood of nostalgic memories.

The landmarks and businesses mentioned in Therese Spackman Barclay Willits’ “Rhyme of Old Riverton,” such as Dreer’s Nursery, the Lyceum, and the steamer Columbia, are those of an earlier generation. Today, a newer generation reminisces about the things that they experienced back in their day.

So I’ll ask the Universe again and try to crowdsource information and photos of three businesses in particular that readers continue to bring up in their comments – the Sharon Sweet Shop, The Victorian Thymes, and Mary Lou’s.

Kodachrome slide, Evans Bldg. fire, donated by Colin Cattell

I am convinced that some of the best examples of Riverton’s history lay tucked away in attics, junk drawers, garages, and basements forgotten in old family albums and shoeboxes of Kodachrome slides.

What scenes of your youth might motivate some lines in a ballad like the ones Therese Spackman Barclay Willits composed for her dear friend?

Let’s collaborate. In a poem with the rhyme scheme abcb, the second line rhymes with the fourth line, but the first and third lines don’t rhyme with each other. One stanza – four lines – you can do that! Send yours in a comment below, in a Facebook comment, or in an email. I’ll stitch them together. -JMc

ADDED 3/21/2023: My challenge to readers to compose a quatrain poem about a scene of their youth in Riverton was met brilliantly by Tom Parry. He wrote four, and together they depict a vivid scene from “back in the day.”

On the corner of Main Street and Broad,
Stood Cottington’s General store,
Was I in 6th grade or 7th,
Those details don’t come to the fore.

I went in with a friend, Mackie,
To buy a pack of cigs,
Came out with a pack of L&M,
Man, we thought we were the bigs.

 

 

 

 

 

The folks, they both smoked Winston,
Didn’t give it much of a thought,
But with their friends over one night,
I found out that I’d been caught.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom rarely lost her cool,
No yelling, no stomping the floor,
Just picked up my pack of L&M,
And said, ” Care of I have one of yours?”

With live-bird shoots outlawed, Riverton Gun Club members turned to trapshooting clay targets

Sport from the Pigeon’s Point of View, Punch, Jan 21, 1882

Sometimes, when researching Riverton’s history, we encounter a dark chapter.

The troubling part of the story below is not about the now illegal live-bird shooting competitions once held by Riverton Gun Club. It is rather about the tragic outcomes for two participating sharpshooters and the racist viewpoints of another.

Here is how another regular foray down the research rabbit hole led to some unsettling findings.

Riverton Gun Club Grounds, 1883, Riverton Gun Club History 1877-1906, detail p4
Riverton Gun Club, The New Era, March 7, 1919, p2

While working on the recent article about the acclaimed or infamous, depending on your viewpoint, Riverton Gun Club, I found a news clipping with a date that was a good deal after a 1906 court case that outlawed live bird shooting caused the club to disband in 1907 and sent it to Borough Historian, Roger Prichard with a question.

Rog – Have you come across accounts of shooting competitions at the Yacht Club? They are billed as Riverton Gun Club contests, but the original one was disbanded in 1906/1907. Might be something to write about. -John

Roger’s reply sent me off on another tangent to search for more evidence of Riverton Gun Club 2.0. His detailed reply follows below.

trapshooting opens at RYC, The New Era, Dec. 10, 1920, p2

John – Yes, this was the reason they moved the clubhouse back from the river (from the outer island to the middle island) in the Fall of 1920, so the shooting from the clubhouse would be more challenging. You’re right, I’m sure, that there was no formal connection with the old gun club except that the members were from some of the same families.

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Blue Rock 1890 ad, IMAGE: Rick Cicciarelli

The targets for these shoots were not live pigeons, as the Riverton Gun Club killed by the hundreds, but clay targets launched mechanically from the pier over the river.

new gun club, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 07 Feb 1906, p10

This 1906 news snippet is the first clue that enthusiasm for target shooting remained after the demise of the Riverton Gun Club.

By 1908, news reports told of the exploits of a group using the name Riverton Gun Club holding trap shooting matches. One contest was away in Haddonfield, but the report for the other against a Philadelphia team did not explain where the match took place in Riverton.

Another competition against a Merchantville club in March 1909 also occurred at an unknown location in Riverton. Names on the scoresheets included Fitler, Biddle, Thomas, and Stewart, also family names from the original club.

David H. Wright, who abhorred live bird shoots and fought for laws to stop them, had already bought the 23-acre gun club grounds and handsome clubhouse for $6,000 in May 1907, so it is unlikely that any gunning took place on his property.

By November 1911, Wright placed ads asking to sell the gun club grounds for $20,000.

West Jersey Trap Shoot League, The Courier-Post, 04 Aug 1913, p11

The Riverton Gun Club, North Cramer Hill Gun Club, and the West Collingswood Gun Club allied to form the West Jersey Trap Shooting League in August 1913. They held the first league shoot in Riverton on October 18, but where is unclear.

Interestingly, the publicity for the next month’s contest in Camden reminded readers that the West Jersey Trap Shooting League had united three sporting clubs, but for the first time, it listed the Riverton contingent as Riverton Yacht Club, not Riverton Gun Club.

In January 1914, the newspaper returned to referencing the Riverton Gun Club as it explained that the West Jersey Trap Shooting League planned three shoots, one in January at Riverton, one in February at Camden, and another in March at West Collingswood.

The Riverton Gun Club roster for a November 1914 match included Biddle, Mills, Purnell, Keating, Vaughn, Seckel, Reed, Frishmuth, Kimbel, Hendrickson, Chambers, Jones, Thomason, Alexander, and Hill.

And in April 1915, we’re back to calling the shooters The Riverton Yacht Club. The smaller roster includes Vaughn, Evans, Keating, Allen, Stackhouse, Mills, Reese, Frishmuth, Reinhard, Chambers, Toner, and Hills.

The December 1915 reporting inexplicably returns to naming the marksmen of the Riverton Yacht Club. Some Riverton players continued, new ones joined, and others returned after an absence, but it is the same core group of men.

In practical terms, the two club names had become synonymous.

Accounts of trapshooting competitions involving the Riverton Yacht Club, the Riverton Gun Club, or simply just Riverton persisted for several years.

Starting with accounts from February 7, 1919, we no longer see any mention of the West Jersey Trap Shooting League. And except for the April 22, 1921 Palmyra/Riverton shoot, the remaining publicity from Jan 1919-May 6, 1921 appears only to list Riverton sportsmen.

Several reports make it clear that the events took place on the pier or wharf of Riverton Yacht Club.

If only we had a photo of one of those contests!

The confusion over the locations of some of the trapshooting matches remains. The matches appear to have died out less than a year after all the fuss to move the clubhouse back on the pier.

Frederick S. Groves photo from Baltimore Sun Obit

Regular readers of this column may recognize the name F. S. Groves because of our unsuccessful efforts these past months to save the Groves Mansion from demolition.

Names, such as Frishmuth, Biddle, and Fitler, have often been central to other Riverton historical sagas.

Having more familiarity with those names than I do, Roger shared some sad information about two of these players and a disturbing story about another.

That clip (referring to the March 7, 1919 New Era clipping that set us off) also has names with a ton of awful connections.

detail, Klan Rebels, Courier-Post, March 18, 1926, p1, 25

“Dr. Mills” was the Charles Street Mills who lived in the Furness house at 106 Lippincott for decades and was the chairman or something of the Palmyra chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Nancy Hall said her father detested him. She said he had a sign on his desk that read “Great Doctor. Helluva man.”

Dr. Mills’ involvement in Klan activities came to light in 1926-1927 during an internal dispute over the mismanagement of funds within the organization.

Lest you think that the Klan was not a thing here…

Despite having great wealth and status, these two tragic figures took their own lives.

The Morning Post 20 Jan 1931, p1, 4
Frishmuth suicide, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 01 Sep 1923, p2

Frederick Stanley Groves Jr., the son of Frederick S. Groves Sr., grew up in the Groves Mansion and, around this time, built himself and his wife (the daughter of Arthur Dorrance) the phenomenal house and grounds where the Cinnaminson High School is now.

Terrible that it mentions his “new $500 trap gun” since he later shot himself to death (1931). He was a big game hunter.

Even worse was “Biddle” Frishmuth (I’m sure Robert Biddle Frishmuth 1889-1923). He was also a suicide, just 4 years later (than the March 7, 1919 article at the beginning)

Robert Frishmuth Biddle, HSR archival photo

The clipping I found… said – incredibly considering your New Era clipping – that “The shotgun that Mr. Frishmuth used to end his life was the “pet gun” with which he had won many trophies at trapshooting.” 

R

It’s not all good news at rivertonhistory.com. -JMc

Please support our work with your membership

 

Historical Society of Riverton
P.O Pox 112
Riverton, NJ 08077

January 30, 2023

Dear rivertonhistory.com Reader,

It’s membership renewal time for The Historical Society of Riverton! Still just $25, affordable for everyone (but additional gifts are encouraged if you can!)

And it is time that we all band together now to get solid protections for our architectural heritage. Just a few days ago, Superior Court struck down Riverton’s demolition ordinance, leaving us completely defenseless and allowing the destruction of the 1901 Groves Mansion on Lippincott Avenue to proceed. Riverton needs unified, passionate advocacy to get reasonable, powerful tools like other respected historic towns use to prevent teardowns. HSR is leading this charge, and we need you.

You’ve supported us so much already! As of today, we have raised $5,575 toward our $10,000 goal to fund more interpretative signs throughout town and programming to support our mission. In 2019, you helped us raise nearly $5,000 to support an annual award for excellence in history writing. In 2022, the HSR awarded our very first History Writing Prize to Ben Small of Palmyra High School. We’ll announce this year’s essay question on April 1. The winner receives $500, and their essay appears on our website.

This online resource, launched over twelve years ago, is a trove of content for anyone wanting to know more about historic Riverton. Fresh issues of Gaslight News are posted four times annually at rivertonhistory.com/gaslight-news/. Our website represents hundreds of volunteer hours and is our primary outreach tool.

This year, hundreds of professional volunteer hours have been spent with our archive of documents, photos, and artifacts. Our archives helped create the book Riverton (Images of America), published by Arcadia Press. Sales of the book support the Society, and to date, over $600 has been raised through sales. And the publication of this book has sparked more photo donations! Thank you for helping us celebrate Riverton’s incredible history and protect it for future generations. We greatly appreciate your support as we move ahead with our work this year.

Please go to our Contact and Membership page for a membership form and instructions on how to pay by mail or with PayPal.

Thank you!

Heather Huffnagle

Membership and Ways and Means Chair

Historical Society of Riverton

A descendant inquires about a Riverton Gun Club prize won in 1900

Paul Stryker, writing from NC, must have Googled “Riverton Gun Club” and landed on our page.

He asked about the value of a prize won by an ancestor at a shooting match in 1900.

We do love a history mystery.

Pressed for more information, Paul sent these three photos of an exquisite cut-glass crystal bowl with a tarnished silver rim, marked “Hamilton and Diesinger” and “sterling.”

The Gimbel Store, Philadelphia, PA
1208 Chestnut, Hamilton and Diesinger Bldg, philaphilia.blogspot.com

An internet search turned up Hamilton & Diesinger at 1208 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, manufacturers and retailers of sterling and silver-plated wares that dissolved in 1899 after eighteen years in business. Gimbel Bros. Department Store sold off what stock remained of the original company.

Piecing together bits from online newspaper archives and our own resources, it appears that Harry T. Ducker of Baltimore County, MD was an amateur marksman who inherited wealth from his father, George E. Ducker of Reisterstown, MD.

Ducker Best, Baltimore Shooting Assn., Baltimore Sun, Jun 01, 1906, p12
Ducker wins, Baltimore County Union, Feb 16, 1884, p3

Harry traveled so much that he usually stayed in hotels and did not have a permanent residence. Newspaper accounts of his many shooting matches span over 20 years from c1884-1906.

Harry Ducker, Riverton Gun Club History, between p28-29

Harry T. Ducker was a Governor of the Baltimore Shooting Assn., a member of Maryland’s State Game and Fish Protective Assn., a Pythian Knight who participated in tournaments, and a member of Riverton Gun Club, where he participated in several matches besides winning the bowl. His portrait is in the Riverton Gun Club History book.

Ducker wins punchbowl, The Sporting Life, May 26, 1900, p14

A check of the Riverton Gun Club History book and The Sporting Life newspaper confirms that Harry T. Ducker did indeed win a “…cut-glass silver braced punchbowl with a dozen glasses.”

Obituary for Harry Thomas Ducker, The Record, 26 Apr 1939, p2

The newspaper trail for Harry T. Ducker dims after his shooting competition days. He spent his last days in Englewood, NJ.

The obit for the retired linen importer made no mention of his exhilarating days as a competitive marksman.

Freeman Auctions glass fruit bowl 2011

Author and “social forecaster” John Naisbitt famously declared, “Value is what people are willing to pay for it.” So what will someone pay for this antique crystal punchbowl?

A 2011 auction listing for a much smaller Hamilton & Diesinger crystal fruit bowl is the only comparable item I found.

Please comment below or email us at rivertonhistory@gmail.com if you have an opinion or interest in Paul Stryker’s punchbowl. -JMc

 

 

 

 


We have covered the Riverton Gun Club before on these pages.

Riverton Gun Club History 1877-1906

A reader’s inquiry spurs a story on Thomas Dando

East Riverton – Then & Now

…and in the pages of our newsletter, the Gaslight News.

Click to access 121-Gaslight-News-Mar-2006-p1-6.pdf

…and in a slideshow, “Do You Remember?” that has a section about the Gun Club.

We love 102 Main Street!

Recently, Mrs. Mary Honeyford commented about a new Facebook profile photo I posted.

The historic home at 102 Main Street has attracted the interest of our web visitors since the first post I made in 2011.  Art Humphreys commented that his wife, Marion Stuart Humphreys, her brother Bob Humphreys, and sister, Barbara grew up at 102 Main St. (presumably before the Honeyfords owned it).

A search of our site reveals that while the topic of 102 Main has come up before, the information is strewn about in different places. This post is an effort to collect it together.

When the impressive home was to be featured on Riverton’s 1986 Candlelight House Tour, Betty Hahle, then Editor of the Gaslight News, did a deep dive into the provenance of the property.

102 Main St history by Betty Hahle 1986

This sheet summarizes her research.

You won’t have to squint if you open this PDF.

Following the scan of Betty’s sheet in the PDF is the readable text as well as a section about 102 Main copied from the 1999 Riverton National Register Historic District Inventory.

The house has a remarkable history going back to the very founding of Riverton.

Chalkley Gillingham, c1870

The following links and images will serve to illustrate Betty’s findings, quoted below.

“History: In 1851 this lot and that next to it (#16 and #17) on Plan of Riverton were assigned to founder Chalkley Gillingham, who lived in the area and did not build and move into the new village.

detail noting location of Gillingham lots – Plan of the New Town of Riverton
Charles Hall, June 22, 1853 Public Ledger Volume XXXV Issue 78 Page 4

Lot #16 was deeded to Charles Hall in January 1852 from Riverton Improvement Co (which officially incorporated March 1852). Hall thought to have put aside the liquor restriction in his deed (think he planned a hotel with bar), but lost his suit,…

Riverton Journal, July 15, 1881, p2

…and sold property back to the Riverton Improvement Co, which then built (or, possibly, continued to build) an “overflow” boarding house to supplement the Lawn House on the Riverbank. The new building was called “The White House.”

detail noting location of Riverton Co Bldg in 1860

Apparently the company kept an office in this building for a time, and the 1860 Stone & Pomeroy map labels the building as “Riverton Company.”

John Seckel, proprietor of the Lawn House, was instrumental in founding the Christ Episcopal Church* here. The first meeting of the church’s founders was held at the White House, according to church records, having gotten permission from D.L. Miller, Jr., one of the founders and the treasurer of the Company at the time. Later they met at the Lawn House stables, then moved inside when the season was over for boarders, and cold weather made outdoor meetings impractical. They continued to meet there until their church was erected, in 1860…

…In 1868 John Seckel purchased the White House, and his daughter Sallie ran it until it burned down in 1904…

…In 1905 Samuel J. Allen purchased the property, and the following year moved, with his family–wife Henrietta and sisters-in-law Bertha and Helen Robertson–into the new house, which had been built on the old foundation.”

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What connections to Riverton’s history does your home have? -JMc, Editor


* This Church Had Three Homes

Tracy and Nancy Brown, 2010 parade

ADDED 2/5/2023: Jim Lockhart and Tracy Brown asked about the “haunted house” notation on the old postcard.

Tracy remarked, “…What haunted house? Are these houses still here? Wish I lived near there these days.”

(Both Jim and Tracy did live here but moved away many years ago. You can take the kid out of Riverton, but you can’t… well, you know the rest.) Lots of former residents check in from time to time to check on the old neighborhood.

101 Main St., 6-24-2-22

Yes, the homes are still there. I don’t have the original 1908 postcard – just the scan – so I don’t know the name of the sender. Zoom in and see that the scribbled message refers not to 102 Main but to 101 Main, the house across the street. It sure looks awesome now.

Circling back to 102 Main, it’s also still there and definitely not haunted.

102 Main St., 2-5-2023

PS: I only recently realized that it might not be clear that larger views of many images are available.

Everyone knows that hovering your cursor over a picture and clicking will enlarge it.

After clicking reveals the larger view, if you see an “information icon” on the lower right side of your screen, click on that – then look for the “view full size” icon. Click on that to see the largest view. It doesn’t work with all uploaded images.

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Eagles Fever – Not just a Philly thing!

The entire region is caught up in Super Bowl mania. South Jersey has some of the most fanatical, loyal, and passionate Eagles fans anywhere, and the Riverton/Palmyra/Cinnaminson area has more than its share. A case in point…

Exhibit 1:

Hey, Riverton! How do you show your support for the Philadelphia Eagles? What’s your Eagles Experience? What are area retailers and vendors offering to fuel Eagles Fever? Add comments or send photos to rivertonhistory@gmail.com, and we’ll post them here.

The Eagles logo graphic on the Riverton Yacht Club photo came from a 24″ diameter wooden sign offered by World Trading, a seller on Etsy.

Glad to help

In December, Joe Makoviecki, a songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist in a folk music group called Jackson Pines, contacted me and asked permission to use an image from our website.

They needed a picture for the cover art for their single about the old Mount Holly Jail, part of their soon-to-be-finished collection of folk songs from the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.

Burlington County Jail House, Mt. Holly, NJ
Burlington County Prison, Mt Holly, NJ 1906

It seems that a Google image search for “Mt. Holly Jail” led him to rivertonhistory .com, where I had posted scans of Mt. Holly area postcards.

Pat McGrath (a postcard collector in Ohio with whom I’ve since lost touch) generously gave me nine of them in 2005, and there were two of Mt. Holly Jail.

How quaint – Joe found a picture on the web and actually asked permission to copy and paste it.

I was intrigued by the man’s civility.

As I pressed Joe for more details, I came away impressed with his commitment to reviving and keeping alive the authentic folk songs of the Pine Barrens. His search led him down the “…rabbit hole searching for and researching the origin of the folk songs and tracking down the stories behind [them].” He tells more about his motivation here.

Researching “down the rabbit hole” is my job description.

Ergo, I immediately commiserated and agreed to send Joe both postcard scans in higher resolution than what he found on the website, encouraging him to use either or both and alter them as he pleased.

I wished him good luck and asked him to update me on how things develop.

Joe just checked back with an update. His band has released the single “Mt. Holly Jail” and the album Pine Barrens: Volume One.

Clicking on the cover art or the titles above to listen to the single track or the other songs in the album. Follow the group on Facebook and Instagram.

Glad to help. I always wanted to be in a band. -JMc

1923

No, not the 1923 spinoff of the Yellowstone TV series – Riverton, NJ, one hundred years ago!

Unlike the Yellowstone Ranch depicted in 1923, Riverton’s 2,341 citizens (1920 US Census) benefited from many conveniences and municipal services typically available in a modern suburb.

original frame Evans Bldg., destroyed by fire 1979 – Paul W. Schopp Collection
1950s Collins Building, Main St., c1950s, J.S. Collins storefront at far right, color slide donated by Bruce Gunn

Two businesses, Joseph T. Evans (situated where Riverton War Memorial is now) and J.S. Collins & Son at 600 Main, each supplied coal, lumber, feed, and building materials for the growing village.

Established in Philadelphia in 1838, the seed, plant, and bulb firm of Henry A. Dreer relocated its trial grounds and greenhouses to Riverton in 1873. Over the years, Dreer’s expanded its nurseries based in and near Riverton to more than 300 acres.

Panorama of Dreer grounds, 1908 Dreers Garden Book

By 1923, it was the largest business of its kind in the East and a major employer in this area. To quote Betty Hahle, “People came from the world over to study horticulture at their Riverton nurseries and to see the gardens in bloom from Spring until late Fall. (See much more about Dreer here.)

Dreer Nursery detail, Sanborn Map Co, Riverton, Burlington County, New Jersey Sheet 13 New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1919, Retrieved from https://maps.princeton.edu/catalog/princeton-w0892c58s
Iris illustration from Dreer’s Garden Book 1912

Something else that came were Japanese beetles, probably as stowaways that arrived in the grub stage from Japan in a shipment of iris plants.

Discovered in 1916 by two men who were inspecting the nursery of Henry A. Dreer, the insects have been an agricultural scourge since.

The Borough’s purchase in late 1923 of 13.4 acres of land from Henry A. Dreer’s property helped create Riverton Memorial Park as a fitting memorial to members of the Armed Forces who served during World War I, thus affording a recreation space for generations.

Memorial Park, The New Era, 7-2-1931
Huge crowd at the Yacht Club, c1920s

Additional activities organized by the Yacht Club, Porch Club, Golf Club, and its houses of worship provided myriad ways to socialize and better the community.

Riverton Golf Club

It all combined to make Riverton an enjoyable place to live in 1923.

ROR frame 32042 Taylor’s Garage

 

A century ago, you could buy a new car at Taylor’s Garage located at Broad and Fulton.

(Bonus points if you can tell what is there now.)

Over at Broad and Lippincott, the Durant Sport Model available at Woolston’s may have been more to your liking.

Woolston auto showroom, The New Era, Jan 10, 1924, p2
Clinton Woolston Star Agency, RoR frame 11722

The next year, Woolston moved operations to a larger location at the newly erected Williams & Wright Building (1923) at Broad and Main.

This later photo of another dealership at that spot might clear up the location.

PHS band, 1944 July 4th Parade, HSR archival photo
Keating’s Drugstore, undated postcard

The American Store pictured to the right of the garage was one of the first tenants of the Williams-Wright building in February 1923.

Note Lawrence “Chappie” Keating’s Drug Store at the corner. (Can an auto buff date that automobile?)

Stiles Drug Store, Riverton, NJ, 1916 postmark

Other options for shopping within walking distance included:

Roberts Bldg. Broad & Main,1907

Built in 1890, Joseph Roberts’ Brick Store at The Point in Riverton replaced an earlier burned structure.

Roberts Bldg, RoR frame 16988

It provided fresh and canned fruits and vegetables, a wide variety of meats, and dry goods such as notions, chinaware, hardware, tinware, paint, glass, and other general merchandise.

It was said that you could purchase anything from a safety pin to a sewing machine at his store. (See more details about Joseph Roberts’ Store here.)

McAllister Victrola ad, The New Era, Nov 29, 1923, p2

You might have to trek to Palmyra, though, to purchase a radio or record player.

Palmyra Victrolas, RoR frame 32812

Camden’s Victor Talking Machine Company (later becoming RCA) introduced the Victrola in 1906, and radio emerged as a home entertainment medium in the early 1920s. The household that could afford one of these novel inventions in 1923 was indeed fortunate.

McAllister’s in Palmyra offered a Model 210 Victrola for $100. According to officialdata.org, $100 in 1923 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1,735.65 today.

Bitting Radiola Grand ad, The New Era, Jan 25, 1923, p2

Radiola Grand ad, Radio magazine Feb 1923, p8

RCA introduced its Radiola Grand in 1923.

There’s probably a reason that Robert C. Bitting did not display the $350.00 price tag for it in The New Era; adjusted for inflation, it was equivalent in purchasing power to about $6,074.79 today. (If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.)

Some things have not changed in a century. Riverton still is an enjoyable place to live.

new advertisers, The New Era, May 24, 1923, p7

Only one of these advertisers mentioned in the May 24, 1923 issue of The New Era newspaper is still in business 100 years later.

(We’re not counting The Public Service Corporation, which merged its electric and gas utilities into a single company, PSE&G (Public Service Electric and Gas Company), in 1928.)

If you guessed this business, then you win absolutely nothing except bragging rights about your extensive knowledge of the history of Riverton, NJ.

We cannot close without asking our readers to check those attics, drawers, basements, and family albums for the next discovery of Riverton’s history. -JMc

Happy Birthday to us!

We’re not great recorders of the history of our own organization.

The Historical Society of Riverton came into existence on June 4th, 1970. We look pretty good for 52½ years.

I figured out some of our early history after sifting through back issues of newsletters (it’s on our About page). We owe a great debt to those members who started the effort to preserve Riverton’s history.

I knew the origin of our twelve-year-old Facebook account because it’s there every time I open it (Page created – December 12, 2010). We started a YouTube channel April 9, 2014.

Our website, rivertonhistory.com, just turned 12, too – Illuminating Riverton’s Past was the inaugural post of this website on Jan 20, 2011. This one will be #559.

It got me thinking about earlier milestones and anniversaries that we might note and the accomplishments of members who have made the HSR what it is today.

Throughout our organization’s history, the members who organized programs and activities, started the newsletter, originated the first website, and served as chairpersons, editors, website managers, and board members have been such a self-effacing lot that retracing who did what and when has not been easily determined.

I couldn’t find a list of past HSR presidents, so I looked thru back issues of the GN, which often did not mention officers. Had to infer some of the dates. Here’s a start.

Historical Society of Riverton Presidents

    1. Betty Lockhart – 1970, 1971
    2. Lenore Probsting – 1972, 1973
    3. Marilyn Colozzi – 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977
    4. Betty Hahle – 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982
    5. Louise Vaughn – 1983, 1984, 1985
    6. Ed Gilmore – 1985, 1986, 1987
    7. Betty Hahle – 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991
    8. Dan Campbell – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
    9. Bob Bednarek – 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
    10. Priscilla Taylor – 2007, 2008, 2009
    11. Gerald Weaber – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
    12. Phyllis Rodgers – 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
    13. Bill Brown – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

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Historical Society of Riverton Editors

Same deal – I couldn’t find a list of past HSR editors, so I looked thru back issues of the Gaslight News.  A comparison of the two lists shows that sometimes the president also served as the editor.

    1. Marilyn Colozzi – 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 (Although the HSR started in 1970, Marilyn Colozzi started the newsletter.)
    2. Betty Hahle – March 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, May 1992
    3. Paul W. Schopp – Sept 1993, 1994, 1995, April 1996
    4. Dan Campbell – Sept 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, May 2003
    5. Gerald Weaber – Sept 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, Sept 2007
    6. John McCormick – Nov 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, June 2023

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Standing on the shoulders of these giants sure makes this job easier.

Imagine the loss if everything here disappeared.

Please help keep us going. Your support provides the means to maintain our archives and properties, fund program expenses, and manage a website consistent with our mission to preserve and promote Riverton’s history. -JMc

rev. 4/24/2023 -JMc

6th grade class photo, Westfield, 1925

6th grade1925 Westfield

Tom Kuensel, a Riverton resident since his early childhood, sent this 1925 photo of a sixth-grade class at a school identified as Westfield. His dad, Harry Kuensel, is in the front row, 4th from the left.

Some thoughtful ancestor wrote the names of his classmates on the back. The photo appears to be a modern inkjet copy of an undetermined date.

Cinnaminson Public School, 1939 New Era Anniv Issue, sec 5, p 2

Tom thought it was Riverton School, but I believe it is the same one depicted in this New Era newspaper photo.

Going by the description of the location on the Moorestown Road at Pomona Road, I believe Cinnaminson Memorial School must have replaced it.

It may take a person with a longer memory or better resources than I have to settle this.

Tom’s grandfather, Noah Kuensell, owned and operated Riverton Laundry on Rowland St. in East Riverton for over thirty years, starting in 1926. (He spelled his surname with two ls).

Tom established Root24, Inc., a plumbing company, in 1972 and has been a major sponsor of the July Fourth Parade for many years.

(Find more about Riverton Laundry in this March 12, 2022 post. Scroll down near the end.) -JMc

ADDED 1/3/2023: I told you that someone with a longer memory or better resources would settle the school’s location. Well, former Gaslight News Editor,  Lifetime HSR member, author, and professional historian Paul W. Schopp has both. He sends this correction, which I truly appreciate:

This school complex occupied the parking lot between the Cinnaminson Memorial School and Pomona Road. The 1870 school is the smaller brick building to which the 1923 structure is appended. Great photo from the New Era, John! Best regards, Paul W. Schopp