What did you think of the bike race? Here are some stills and video clips that I took. Just google Historic Riverton Criterium to find many more on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet.
2012 Criterium Cat 1,2,3 Race screenshot – see video clip below
2012 Criterium Cat 4 Race screenshot – see video clip below
2012 Criterium Masters 35+Race screenshot – see video clip below
There is plenty to see on the Historic Riverton Criterium facebook page. Say “hi” to the race founder, Carlos Rogers, and like, comment, or share while you are there so you get the scoop on the HRC 2013! – John McCormick
Borough officials and the Riverton Police Association held a dedication ceremony on Saturday, June 2, 2012, for a granite memorial and plaque for Officer Thomas C. Whitelock who was killed in the line of duty in 1976. (see an earlier related post here)
These images depict members of law enforcement, Borough officials, and many area residents as they remember Officer Whitelock’s selfless act of heroism and dedicate a fitting memorial to his memory.
Thanks to Jim Quinn for permitting the use of his photos. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
The mission of the Nam Knights is to honor the memory of American Veterans and Police Officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, to assist Veterans and Police Officers in their time of need, and to promote community awareness through sponsorship and participation in various community and fundraising events.
Riverton Police Chief John Shaw
Nam Knights is a military and law enforcement motorcycle club with 49 chapters in the US and Canada.http://www.namknights.org/
Leo “Smooth” Ethier, Vice-President of the Nam Knights, Delaware Valley Chapter http://www.delvalnamknights.org/
Retired Palmyra Lt. Howard Norcross recalled the events of January 14, 1976, which resulted in the death of Patrolman Whitelock as he blocked a subject from firing a second shot at Norcross.
Barbara Kazem, Whitelock’s sister, accepts flowers as Whitelock’s son, Tom, looks on.
After the Thomas Whitelock memorial service on Saturday I expect to man a display table of HSR propaganda and information inside the Porch Club. The display space there affords a chance to offer a wider selection of reproduction photo prints for sale than we are able to show at the New Leaf. If you ever have wanted a closer look at anything on the website it’s probably on my computer that I will have set up there so stop by and say hi. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
Just as the Porch Club’s Garden Tour starts tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., another more solemn occasion gets underway at the Gazebo at Broad and Main.
The Police Department and the Borough invites the community to the ceremony for the dedication of the plaque mounted on a granite foundation which will serve as a memorial for Patrolman Thomas C. Whitelock, the seven-year veteran Riverton police officer who was killed in the line of duty Jan. 14, 1976.
According to an article on Cinnaminson Patch, law enforcement from throughout the county, and dignitaries from the state, county and local government, will also be on hand as well as an Honor Guard and a bagpiper.
The Riverton Borough website has more information about Officer Whitelock and the ceremony here.
To make a donation to the Thomas C. Whitelock Memorial and its maintenance, contact the Riverton Police Association, Attn: Memorial Fund, 501 Fifth St., Riverton, N.J. 08077. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
Our Society’s Annual Meeting is next Tuesday June 5th at 7pm in the Riverton Public School.
Please join us for a brief business meeting followed by the new Historic Riverton Walking Tour led by board members Pat Brunker and John McCormick. We will end our walking tour at Nelly Bly’s Ice Cream Parlor for refreshments.
Gerald Weaber will lead a companion tour for residents of Riverview Estates beginning at 7:30pm via van. We still need one other volunteer to co-lead our van tour.
Please call me at 856-786-6961 if you are interested in joining us for the Historic Walking Tour or wish to serve as a volunteer to co-lead our van tour with residents from Riverview Estates.
HSR President Gerald Weaber
Gerald Weaber
President
Historical Society of Riverton
POB 112
Riverton, New Jersey 08077
856-786-6961
RPPC Riverton Post Office, 609 Main St. IMAGE COURTESY OF: Doug D'Avino of http://www.njpostalhistory.org
Readers of the Feb. 2012 Gaslight News and this blog may recall the articles about the many and varied incarnations of Riverton post offices. In the course of researching the articles, I crossed paths on the Internet with Doug D’Avino of theNew Jersey Postal History Society (NJPHS),and we commiserated on the difficulty of coming up with fresh newsletter content. We concocted a bargain in which he helped us by providing some facts and a vintage photo and we sent him our long-play version of Special Delivery–Riverton’s United States Post Office for use in his organization’s newsletter.
Front page of the May 2012 NJPHS Journal - the HSR is in good company here. Jean Walton put a good face on our work with her superb layout.
Jean Walton, the NJPHS Secretary, just sent me the link for their 60-page May publication. This prodigious award-winning quarterly journal explores the many aspects of New Jersey postal history. This issue includes a wide range of articles, both long and short, touching upon the broad range of our State’s postal history.
Our article is only a fraction of this fascinating issue which investigates a variety of themes including: From Guadalcanal to the Garden State; Women’s Suffrage in New Jersey; Early Scouting Post Cards Posted in New Jersey; NJ Central Hauls the Mail; Titanic Mail Clerk John Starr March, and much more.
As the interests of the NJPHS and some readers of of this may intersect, I bring this to your attention should you want more details about their organization, meetings, and projects. Click here for membership information.
And one more…
The NJPHS will hold its annual meeting over this Memorial Day Weekendat the Annual Exhibit of the North New Jersey Federated Stamp Clubs, Inc. (NOJEX 2012) on Sunday, May 27, 2012, in Secaucus, NJ. The three-day event is appropriately billed as “A World Series of Philately Exhibition.” Details here.
Finally, I find that collaborating with persons across the miles often helps fill in missing pieces of our own history puzzles. In communications with Jean Walton, layout editor for the NJPHS, she told me about a man who inquired of their organization last May hoping to find the story behind a Mosler safe he had acquired.
Mosler safe from a Riverton post office. But which one?
“I have an Mosler antique postmasters safe from the late 1800’s. Please help me find out information about it, ” he implores.
He adds:
It is about 5 1/2 ft tall x 3ft x 3ft. It weighs thousands of pounds. I think it may have been painted by a famous painter. The inside has the signatures of the old postmasters. I think it may have been painted by a famous painter. The inside has the signatures of the old postmasters. It says iverton, NJ Was there ever an iverton post office or was it originally Riverton? I am trying to put together the history of the safe. Is there a list of old postmasters? The safe is very interesting and I thought your association would be interested in knowing about it. Please write back Thank You – GK
Jean was unable to give a definitive answer at the time, other than to offer that it was indeed from Riverton. She kindly passed along to us what she knew and hopes that we may succeed in getting an answer. It is nice to know that I am not the only one with a lot of incomplete open files of information that I mean to get to one day.
If any reader has a clue about this safe, please send your thoughts. Seeing that list of postmasters would help narrow down things, but I have not yet been able to contact the person I only know as “GK.”
Front page of the May 2012 NJPHS Journal – the HSR is in good company here. Jean Walton put a good face on our work with her superb layout.
Mosler safe from a Riverton post office. But which one?
I love a good puzzle, don’t you. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
Last week my wife Linda and I browsed among the many yard sales during Riverton’s annual Treasure Day. As we passed Christ Church I noticed that the early afternoon sun might afford me the right light to finally capture the Tiffany stained-glass rose window with my camera. The exterior view gives little clue to the luminosity and spectacular color of the Tiffany, in particular.
Tiffany rose windowWhile these pics are not art quality, they may be the thing to “take you back” if you are one of those Rivertonians who has moved away from your hometown.
While we’re on the topic, I posted scans of a 1978 Burlington County Times article (2 parts) about the Tiffany window in the photo gallery below.
Finally, I went right to the source for the best photos and information about all the stained-glass in Christ Church–the church’s website, http://christriverton.org/ Here is a PDF that has plenty of historical information about the windows and excellent professionally produced photos.
Interior – Christ Episcopal Church, Riverton, NJ
Tiffany rose window
If you have been away for a while, what else about Riverton would you like to visit through these pages? – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
Here’s my first attempt at posting a Google custom map. This one is about Riverton, of course, but the theme is Riverton Post Office Locations. Click on the link and that should open a new window to a Google Maps page that shows the eight locations of the US Post Office in Riverton over the years.
Left-mouse-click on an icon to see a caption box pop up.
Icons on the map show addresses for each post office, and clicking on each one pops up a box with a caption.
Its navigation works like any other Google Map for moving, zooming, and toggling between views – Map, Satellite, or Earth.
But the biggest break I got was that all eight post office locations are along Main Street which was captured with the 360-degree, panoramic, and street-level imagery called Street View.
Grab pegman with your mouse cursor, drag him over to a Main Street location, and release.
To view street-level imagery in Google Maps, click and drag Pegman to the place you want to see.
When dragging the pegman icon, blue lines on the map showing Street View imagery will appear. If you do not see blue lines appear it is because that road was not photographed in Street View; pegman will not “stick” to such streets.
Google Street View - 304 Main Street
As long as you are here, you might want to look around your old hometown. Just know that Street View is only enabled for Main Street, Broad Street, and 7th.
If you picked up a cool collectible or Riverton related artifact at Treasure Day, please tell us about it by email or facebook. Send a scan or a photo so that we can at least share vicariously in enjoying your bargain.
While browsing through the great yearly Riverton town-wide yard sale that is aptly named “Treasure Day,” a man selling flowers by a table in front of Christ Church told me a visitor had asked him about the Riverton Walking Tour leaflet .
1989 Riverton Walking Tour pamphlet
Funny you should ask. We’re working on revising the 1989 publication. But first, some history.
In a blog entry for January 2011, called Betty’s Sage Advice I posted scans of the informative Riverton Walking Tour leaflet that has been available for many years at the Riverton Free Library for a quarter. The suggestion to produce a self-guided walking tour first grew out of an October 1979 Society meeting. HSR members Lenore Probsting and Louise Vaughn collaborated on producing the straightforward guide that debuted in May 1981.
By 1989, Betty Hahle weighed in with additional research and that revised edition has served our purposes well, but after more than twenty years, it too needs an update.
Betty wrote in 1981 that the Walking Tour “…. is by no means a complete list of all there is to be seen, but it is a good place to begin…”
After some discussion, several interested members met to discuss revising the Walking Tour. Still a work in progress, we have a draft of the text for the first tour and could use some input about what other information we could include.
Betty once told me to not forget to record the history that is happening today. Accordingly, we would like to include some facts about these properties and their occupants for the times in which we live as well as for the times of their construction and original occupants. If you know of a feature not listed in a place’s description, or a tradition, event, anecdote, or a famous or infamous person connected to an address, please submit your suggestions by email.
1. Historical Marker, Broad & Main Sts. (This will have a brief general history of Riverton.) Proceed along Main St.
2. 501 Main Street c.1860. Who would guess that this charming Gothic style home was once the site of F.C. Cole Dairy c. 1903-1940?
3. 410-412 Main Street c.1874. Second Empire brick dwelling with mansard roof. Front bay has round-top windows with ironwork cresting. Elaborate cornice with rosettes between brackets. Note the iron fence.
4. 408 Main Street c.1856. Italianate style, Eastlake front porch. First floor had been doctors’ offices from 1909. In 1930s the upper floors had a “lying-in” hospital in which many local births occurred. Now a private residence undergoing renovations.
5. 406 Main Street c.1855. Clapboard house with mansard roof. Turret with conical roof and curved windows on left side was originally an open porch. It was converted to office/waiting room when Dr. Marcy purchased it in 1887 (for $7500.!) Later it became a music room. Notice the use of narrow clapboard and shingles, complimenting each other. On right side is an oriel window, with scrolled brackets beneath. Notice also the chimney—it is wider at top than at bottom. Brick walk, herringbone pattern. Res. of Dr. Alexander Marcy starting 1887; remained in the family for almost a century.
6. 404 Main Street 1868. Italianate style, clapboard house. This house and its next door neighbor – No. 402 – are “sister” houses; both designed and built by local entrepreneur/ realtor/census taker/Civil War veteran, Edward Hackney Pancoast in 1868. Front door has fan-light and sidelights. Floor to ceiling windows with small iron balconies, added when veranda was removed.
7. 402 Main Street c.1868. Second Empire style. Concave mansard roof; floor to ceiling front windows; paneled shutters. For many years the Pancoast lived at 404 Main and operated this popular boarding house that was known as the “Home Mansion.”
8. 400 Main Street c.1853. Late Georgian style, clapboard home; mortise and tenon construction; front porch removed. Built for home of Squire Louis Ourt.
9. 305 Main St., Christ Episcopal Church 1884. Gothic style, Trenton brownstone, slate roof. Architect, John Fraser. Note genuine Tiffany window, west wall, given in memory of Louis A. Godey, publisher of Godey’s Lady’s Book, seven different iron and stone Celtic crosses on roof, boot scrapers on step, and wrought iron fence. (Electrified replica gaslights are new). Christ Church Rectory 1868. Second Empire style, Trenton brownstone, mansard roof and dormers. John Eraser, architect. Porch added 1883. (Parish House behind rectory by Fraser’s son, 1895.)
10. 308 Main Street c.1870. Second Empire architecture. Mmmm..good! From 1872, until his death in 1900 it was the home of Joseph Campbell, founder of Campbell’s Soup Company. Beautiful frame house with mansard roof covered with hexagon shaped tiles and edged with elaborate iron cresting. Notice carriage mounting block and hitching post at the curb.
11. 306 Main St., Riverton Library 1855. Small Carpenter-Gothic board and batten style cottage. Built for Dr. A. Willits; res. of George Senat 1863 to c.1900. Mrs. Sarah Morris Ogden purchased it in 1907, and donated it the next year to the Riverton Library Assn. in memory of her late husband, Riverton’s first mayor, Edward H. Ogden (1894).
12. 304 Main Street 1858. Victorian home of indeterminate style. Eastlake style decorative woodwork added to front porch in recent years. The town’s first telephone (1886) was installed there. Sara and Milton Cowperthwaite purchased the home in 1888 and promptly opened a combined drugstore and US Post Office in a room on the first floor.
13. 301 Main Street c.1852. Italianate style. One of Riverton’s earliest homes. In the 1930’s, owner Owen Merrill designed and built a simple sailboat in a room on the 3rd floor. He and some friends lowered the craft from a window, took it down to the river, and christened it a “Duster”. It became a world class sailboat.
14. 207 Main Street 1884. Queen Anne style 2½ story frame residence with hipped roof and cross gables. Note patterned shingles over clapboard, elaborate projecting bay windows, floor length windows on first floor, right side, and sweeping veranda. This house won an award in 1992 Burl. Co Freeholders for restoration,, rehabilitation, and preservation and planning.
15. 213 Howard St., PORCH CLUB 1909. This is the Adirondack style clubhouse of the Porch Club of Riverton, formed in 1890 by eight young women. Today it has about 170 members. The name was suggested because of the earliest meeting places; it is one of the oldest women’s clubs in NJ. The Club’s interest in the health and education of children brought about many positive changes.
16. 600 Fifth St., RIVERTON PUBLIC SCHOOL 1910. Riverton’s first one-room frame public school was built in 1865 on the site of the present school’s blacktop; a larger one replaced that in 1892. This brick structure was erected for $40,000. Additions came about in 1933, 1955, 1973.
17. 505 Howard Street, Riverton Fire Company 1890. In 1886 volunteers from Palmyra and Riverton formed Independence Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1 of Riverton and Palmyra, headquartered in Palmyra. After a disastrous fire destroyed Roberts General Store at Howard & Main Sts. and consumed several homes along Main Street in 1890, Riverton saw the need to form its own fire company— Riverton Fire Company No. 1.
Yes, this list has fewer items than the original Walking Tour, but we want to include a little more content for each place on the tour. A tour with ten fewer stops might be completed in less time. It looks like we’ll need to plan for at least one or two more tours and have a separate Children’s Tour. This first set of Walking Tour stops are mostly along Main and Broad from Broad to Third Street. Remember, it is a work in progress, and suggestions, corrections, and criticism are invited.
Athletes race along the streets of Riverton during the First Annual Historic Riverton Criterium 2011
Last June saw the beginning of a new Riverton tradition when cycling competitors from several states converged on the gaslamp lined streets of our village for the first Historic Riverton Criterium. Last year, many people didn’t hear about the race until it was over and they expressed regret at having missed all the fun.
No excuses this year—the word is out!
Given the hearty reception shown by racers, spectators, and residents last year, race promoter Carlos Rogers anticipates a bigger and better bicycling event for 2012 with more sponsors, more cyclists, and more prizes when the USA Cycling sanctioned contest returns Sunday, June 10, 2012, for its sophomore run through Riverton’s thoroughfares. The first race starts at 1 p.m., but come early and make a day of it.
To the uninitiated, a criterium is a bicycle race of a specified number of laps on a closed course over public roads closed to normal traffic. According to USA Cycling, it is the most popular form of competitive road cycling in the US but, until last year, most Rivertonians were unfamiliar with this exciting sport that brings the excitement of high-speed racing to Main Street, USA where the action unfolds to within feet of spectators lining the one kilometer course along neighborhood streets.
During a typical hour-or-so long match of 20-50 laps (depending on ability), racers speed by onlookers in the battle for supremacy that tests the athlete’s racing strategy and technique as much, if not more than, his conditioning and endurance. Cyclists accelerate to 30 mph or more on a straightaway and barely brake as they lean into a tight turn at an angle on those impossibly skinny tires that seem to defy the Laws of Motion.
Attacks and chases ensue as riders jockey for pack position. Those who find themselves at a rear position experience the “accordion effect” of having to slow down more than others as the pack bunches up going into the turn while others who spend early effort to stay out front may find that they have nothing left for the sprint of that last critical lap. Racers who cannot react to changing course conditions in a split second crash or get left behind.
No wonder they say that to be a truly good bike racer one has to “learn how to suffer.” Writers have compared the thrill of “crit” racing to being part Nascar, part Thunderdome, part Tour de France.
Accordian effect in play, 2011 Historic Riverton Criterium
Mr. Rogers, himself a former competitive cyclist, planned with USA Cycling officials, lobbied borough council, and worked with borough employees to bring this family-friendly event to his adopted hometown. In addition to providing cash prizes for the racers, last year’s meet benefited Riverton’s Memorial Park, the Shade Tree Commission, the Boy Scouts, and Palmyra Ambulance Association. Proceeds from this 2nd Annual Historic Riverton Criterium are earmarked to benefit the Riverton Free Library.
Carlos Rogers combines his years of business skill and bike racing experience to promote the Annual Historic Riverton Criterium which will again benefit local institutions
Whether one is aware of the nuances of competitive cycling or not, you will enjoy the experience of feeling the whoosh of riders careen by as fans cheer and clang cowbells in support of their favorites. Just as porch parties, cookouts, reunions, and good old-fashioned family fun go with Riverton’s Glorious Fourth festivities, Carlos hopes that the Historic Riverton Criterium generates the same kind of hometown celebrations. The bonus is that everybody wins in this race when proceeds benefit Riverton Free Library, an institution which serves so many area residents.
Conditioning and training are key for the competitors. However, it is the race promoter’s planning and preparation that are crucial to a successful, safe, and well-executed crit for athletes and spectators alike. Mr. Rogers has certainly done his due diligence in coordinating with Public Works, law enforcement, government officials, USA Cycling officials, and residents while enlisting the participation and support of athletes, sponsors, friends, and family through Facebook.
Course Map: Race route runs counter-clockwise, start/finish at 4th and Main Streets.
His twenty years of competitive cycling experience have given Carlos a perspective of things from the administration side. He remembers in his racing days holding off on registering until mere days before an event to provide options in case of injury or a change in his plans, but he admits, from where he now stands, waiting for sign-ups as the event draws closer is nerve-racking.
In the best tradition of the Ogdens, Grices, Biddles, Flanagans, Wrights and others who strove to improve Riverton during its early days, Mr. Rogers’ meticulous attention to detail, passion for the sport, and selfless desire to give back to the town and its organizations have added a new chapter to Riverton’s history and lore. He has established something worthwhile; the racers and spectators will come.
There are three tiers of sponsorship—Friends of the Race, $100; Secondary, $250;, Primary, $500. Contact Carlos Rogers for information how you can help support this event. carlos.rogers@hotmail.com The growing sponsor lineup so far includes (logos link to respective websites):
5-hour ENERGY
Bicycle Therapy, 221 south Street, Phila., PA
Holman Toyota-Scion, Route 73 N., Mount Laurel, NJ
What did you think of the bike race? Here are some stills and video clips that I took. Just google Historic Riverton Criterium to find many more on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet.
