Trains, Boats, Planes, and Fire Engines photographed by Jos. F. Yearly

Joseph F. Yearly and grandson Joseph B. - Little Joe - with RYC on right July 20, 1940

The rare images posted of the J.T Evans Coal & Lumber Building from Joseph F. Yearly’s picture album were only a part of the exceptional photographs which chronicled milestones of the Yearly Clan through the first half of the 20th century.

A fortunate by-product of that family photographic record is that it also documents how the scenery changed over time for the people in those photos, and it helps us imagine—or possibly recall–the Riverton of long ago.

Don’t think that family photos are of no interest to anyone else. Old photos, diaries, journals, scrapbooks, ledgers, even common advertising materials, bills and receipts, postcards,newspapers, and other such ephemera items can be invaluable clues to the historian when trying to understand the characteristics of a place such as Riverton.

If you care to respond to any photo, add information, or ask a question, please leave a comment. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor

Rev. 12/18/2011 – You have to be pretty sharp to find factual errors in old newspaper accounts, but professional historian and part-time HSR fact checker Paul W. Schopp is just that good. After I published the above text and images, Paul wrote to say that the Yearly photos are “a great collection images” and then he very generously added a good deal of factual information about several of them which may enrich your understanding and enjoyment. He pointed out a couple of errors: hence, this minor revision. To see Paul’s comment, just mouse-click on those tiny letters at the bottom of this post where it says “Comments.” JMc

Explore these hi-res photos of a procession at Broad & Garfield

J.T. Evans truck - detail from undated Broad and Garfield photo

I always learn something new about Riverton every time I speak to Carl McDermott. An expatriate of Cinnaminson Street, Riverton’s own Irish Row (Mar. 2010 GN ), Carl celebrated in October his 90th birthday at Riverton Country Club with 123 friends and relatives.

He and his wife Doris now live in Palmyra, and from time to time he leaves a comment on something that he finds here. On the post about the construction of Riverton’s War Memorial he pointed out that he had installed the electric for its illumination. Shortly afterwards he provided me with photos of himself and his two brothers, now passed, for display in our Veterans Photo Album. It was Carl who gave me the idea to interview his friend Franny Cole on the subject of Cole Dairy ( Feb. 2011 GN )which once operated at Fifth and Main Streets.

On a recent day the topic of our conversation was the pictures of the J.T. Evans Coal & Lumber Building from Joseph F. Yearly’s photo album that he was looking at on this website. He invited me to see a couple of photos and an old Riverton telephone book in which he thought I would be interested. Would I?

The photos are apparently of a funeral for a political or military figure which took place in Palmyra, date unknown. Writing on the back of one (not Carl’s) indicates that Palmyra mayor George W. Wimer is walking beside the band wearing a bow-tie and hat, and that the location is Broad and Garfield Streets.

Broad & Garfield - - Post # 136 - Mayor George Wimer bottom right with bow-tie and hat

Ray Fichter, the last man in the band on the right, married Marg McDermott, which is the reason that someone gave the photo to Carl.  As with other artifacts of uncertain provenance which have appeared here, we could use a little help from our readers on this one.

A George N. Wimer served as Palmyra’s mayor 1928-1931, so the “W” must be an error.  Inspecting more closely, I discovered a J.T. Evans delivery truck which I have also posted with the other Evans images sent in by Mary Flanagan.

Once I confessed to my friend Harlan, a fellow postcard collector, of losing myself in these old scenes. He said that he was finally glad to know that he wasn’t the only one.

Broad and Garfield

I post these two high-resolution scans made from the original 8x10s so that any others with such an inclination may do so. If you have an observation to share, please leave a comment. Kindly contact us if you have anything that you wish to give to our archives or loan for documenting and scanning.

I’ll save the scans of the Riverton-Palmyra phone book, c.1928-1929, for a future post and there are also more photos from the Joseph F. Yearly photo album in store. Be sure to come back again. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor

Rev.11/17 My friend Will Valentino of the Palmyra Historical and Cultural Society writes: “I wish I had some info on the funeral.  William Morgan died in 1929 and it was a pretty big deal. He was considered the emblematic Father of Palmyra at that time and Wimer was at the funeral .” You can read his award-winning local history column, “Back in Time” now published in the monthly community newspaper, The Positive Press. – JMc

Thank you to Moore’s Postcard Museum for over 90 additions to HSR’s online postcard album

Flanders Hotel - Ocean City, NJ
If a search for vintage postcards brought you to this website, then you will enjoy the blogger that I found, quite by a happy accident, while trying to help an architect in Lancaster, PA with his request for an image of the Flanders Hotel in Ocean City so that he could use it as a model for his firm’s annual holiday gingerbread display.

This is the short story of how a casual decision to aid the designers at Reese, Lower, Patrick, & Scott Ltd. in their creative Christmas confection resulted in a windfall of classic shore images for the HSR, most from the early 20th century–the “Golden Age of Postcards.”

I found a marvelous website called Moore’s Postcard Museum where I found two scans of the Flanders Hotel and emailed them to the architects to help them in their design project.

While I was there I browsed through the postcard categories which includes Halloween and holiday cards, artist signed Clapsaddle, Dwig, and Twelvetrees, Chicago World’s Fair,  and zodiac/months of the year cards. This blogger explains on the “about” page that the collection started with a shoebox of vintage postcards inherited from her grandmother.

I left a complimentary note in a “enter your comment” box and asked if I could display some of the images of shore points on our website.

The blogger promptly sent me an email giving permission and then sent several more emails with the following attached files. Enjoy a trip back to old Atlantic City and Ocean City via this bonanza of vintage images courtesy of Moore’s Postcard Museum. Visit the site directly to read the author’s knowledgeable bits that accompany each card. I already bookmarked the site as a favorite. The pictures will also be placed on the images pages under Atlantic City and Ocean City so you can easily find them on a return visit.

Readers, if you have one image, one story, or a hundred we would love to hear from you and add your voice to this burgeoning online archive. If I hear back from RLP&S about how that gingerbread Flanders Hotel turns out, I’ll let you know.  – John McCormick

Jos. F. Yearly’s photos recall the J.T. Evans Coal & Lumber business

001_1979-07-27 JT Evans Fire BCT - Paul W. Schopp Collection

The huge fire that taxed the firefighting resources of as many as six communities and destroyed the former J.T. Evans Coal and Lumber Building in 1979 closed the final chapter on a structure which had been a Main Street landmark since the late 19th century.

The J.T. Evans coal and lumber business had its origin sometime during the late 1800s as one of four locations of the I. W. Heulings’ Sons Lumber and Coal Dealers, later becoming A. C. Heulings & Bros. Lumber and Coal, changing ownership around 1900 to Riverton carpenter and builder Samuel Rudderow, who finally sold it to Mr. Evans in 1905. In its last days the property may be best remembered as the original site of The New Leaf plant shop run by Will Ann and Ray Szulczewski.

003_1895 Sanborn map detail - AC Heulings
004_1919 Sanborn Map JT Evans

These details from Sanborn Insurance maps show just how much Main Street real estate the J.T. Evans complex encompassed. (Note the railroad track on concrete piers that appears in the 1919 map which figures in photo #041.)

The Printing Shop indicated on the 1919 map at 607 Main Street was once the location of The New Era newspaper, now Freddy’s Shoe Repair. I thank Mr. Fred DeVece every time I refer to my treasured copy of the 1909 New Era Christmas issue which he gave me several years ago when I was teaching history at RPS.

005_1909 About Our Advertisers - JT Evans, Christmas New Era - courtesy Mr. DeVece

Case in point: Image #005  is a clipping from the “About Our Advertisers” page of the 1909 Christmas New Era gives a short history of the J.T. Evans enterprise, which at that point, was just four years old. “Thank you again, Freddy.” (Read more details about the 1909 New Era Christmas issue in Part One and Part Two.)

This early undated postcard from the Paul W. Schopp Collection shows the frame construction of the original building that lay underneath the red brick veneer that Joseph Evans added in 1937.

007_original frame Evans Bldg. - Paul W. Schopp Collection
An email from Mrs. Mary Yearly Flanagan with an invitation to view her grandfather’s photo album inspired this post about the Evans Building. Given the scarcity of picture postcards of that structure, the following scans made from the personal photographs of Joseph F. Yearly may be the best record we have of that establishment. Like the long gone Lyceum, the Lawn House, and the grandstand of the Riverton Athletic Association’s bicycle track, it is another part of life from Riverton’s yesteryears.

032_1947 Feb - J.F. Yearly photo

HSR member Mrs. Mary Yearly Flanagan, granddaughter of Joseph F. Yearly, has very generously provided these images for the enjoyment of our readers. She writes, “At least now, some of his photos are being shared – and that makes me feel good.  I passionately believe that old photos of historic significance should be shared & not just sit in someone’s attic – or worse.”

Future posts from the Joseph F. Yearly photo album will include more unique views of Dreer’s, Irish Row, and the riverbank — views which the tourists’ picture postcards missed.

My understanding about a person or a thing from Riverton’s past frequently emerges slowly as I gather bits and snippets of facts and information, often with the help of whomever else I can manage to enlist in my investigation. Joseph F. Yearly’s photographs, Mr. DeVece’s New Era issues, items from the Paul W. Schopp Collection, recollections of Mary Flanagan and her cousin, Joseph B. Yearly, and my own research have contributed to this article. As this examination is far from complete, you are invited to elaborate upon this essay.

Readers, please leave a comment with a memory, a question, or even a correction about this post.  If you have a related item such as a bill, product package, sign, advertisement, photo, or a scan of an item, that you wish to add to this growing archive, please contact us. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor

P.S. 2/14/2012 Many thanks to reader Jerry Mooney for finding the caption error on photo #041 runaway railroad car. It is indeed a photo of the Collins Bldg., also no longer. If any reader can send more details on the Collins Building or that incident, please contact us. – JMc

Just in – over 30 new vintage images of Riverton

Recently I received an email alert that notified me that I had won an eBay auction for an old Riverton postcard.  And I got two in a row! Quickly, I keyed in the PayPal information and then checked the mail each day to see if my treasures had arrived.

These are two of the rarest kind of postcard images – real photo post cards, or RPPCs for short. They were created by developing a photograph onto postcard-sized photo paper with a postcard backing. RPPCs often demand higher prices than mass-produced postcards because of the limited number of cards produced.

As any collector will attest,  it is a great feeling to acquire that elusive stamp, comic book, coin, baseball card, matchbook, or some such chotskie. Some anthropologists say that we collect to reminisce and remember the past. Certainly, that is a motive here, but we hope that the images and information displayed on this website will serve as testament to what Riverton’s men and women have built here since 1851 on this scant square mile.

Whether you collect sports team memorabilia or antique dolls, you know that feeling when you’ve discovered yet another variation on a familiar theme. Well, if you are here because you are a fan of Riverton, NJ, imagine that elation and multiply it times ten because in recent weeks we have received dozens of great vintage postcard and photo album scans to add to our images pages.

These have come just when I was starting to think I had seen all the Riverton cards there were. There are more views of the Yacht Club, the Porch Club, residential streets, and Dreer’s Nursery, plus some rare RPPCs including the Children’s Parade.  Altogether, it is a remarkable photographic record and we are fortunate that Mr. Mortgu has opened up his album to share in this way.

If you received a reminder postcard for our last HSR meeting, you caught a brief preview of the choice vintage photos which Nick has scanned for display here.

They will also being placed in with the rest of the Riverton images so they will be easy to find when you return. We invite you to leave a comment, factoid, recollection, or question.

Readers, if you have one image to donate or a hundred, know that you will be contributing to a continuing virtual archive which we hope will help tell the story of Riverton’s historic past to current and future generations. – John McCormick

Members brave the rain to hear Jane Peters Estes

HSR members returned to the familiar setting of the Riverton Public School library Tuesday evening to hear historian, Hagley Museum guide, and costumed presenter Jane Peters Estes’ compelling presentation, “The Battle of Gettysburg: Where Were the Women?”

The take-away from this meeting and the short answer to Ms. Estes’ rhetorical question is: The women were everywhere – it’s just not always written in our history books.

Members socialize and enjoy refreshments after the presentation. Jane even showed some of the ladies her bloomers and the crinoline cage under her dress.

Ms. Estes has distilled the best parts from her bibliography of over three dozen listed sources and she quotes from period newspaper accounts, letters, diaries, journals, and eyewitness accounts to make her powerful case.  We heard how women hid in basements, faced their foes on the battlefield, nursed the wounded, and buried the dead at Gettysburg. She lectured dressed as a woman of the Civil War era, right down to the bloomers and corset.

A rhinestone-studded pumpkin decorates a refreshment table loaded with Mrs. Kloos' famous white chocolate covered pretzel snacks, Mrs. Rodgers' pumpkin mousse cupcakes, Mrs. Waters' homemade ginger snaps, donut holes, and two kinds of cider.

Click here for a one minute excerpt from the presentation that explains how a woman could join the army and not be detected.

The presentation concluded and we mingled afterward for conversation and refreshments. It may have been for longer than usual, but there was much to catch up on since this was the first presentation of the season.

An evening’s seminar on the varied roles of women in the Civil War, snacks and apple cider, socializing among others with a passion for understanding and preserving history  –  priceless!  This is a great time to join as a new member.  – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor

 

A diversion for a rainy night in Riverton

Last week we sent out reminder postcards about this evening’s HSR meeting and presentation by Jane Peters Estes which begins at 7:00 p.m.

Her topic – The Battle of Gettysburg: Where Were the Women?

In future blog entries I will being showcasing more of the marvelous images used for the postcards which have recently been made available to our digital archive.

Mrs. Mary Flanagan has forwarded dozens of digital images taken from Joseph F. Yearly’s (her grandfather) photo album.  The picture of the J.T. Evans Bldg. is just one of the rare images of this nostalgic lot which will be posted here soon.

Mr. Nick Mortgu and I combed through his postcard collection recently and he very generously scanned every one of his postcards which we didn’t already have – over 30 exceptional representations of Riverton scenes.  The real photo postcard scan of the Riverton Yacht Club shown is one of those which will be the subjects of upcoming posts.

Meanwhile, I have been busy writing an extended version of the Lyceum article that was in the September issue.

I hope to see you at tonight’s meeting. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor

 

From the HSR Archives, Keating’s Drugstore mementos serve a double-scoop of sweet reminiscing for Mrs. Kloos

Keating’s Drugstore
Keating’s ad New Era 2-20-1936
Vintage Postcard Presentation by John McCormick, January 2009

I had heard a little about Keating’s Drug Store that once operated out of the corner property in the Williams and Wright Building at Broad and Main from audience members when I presented slide shows of old postcard images for the Historical Society.

Someone would mention the fountain Cokes or some other purchase and maybe a recollection of Mr. and Mrs. Keating, and the general consensus was that people had warmhearted feelings just remembering what it was like to go in there.

That’s Mr. Keating standing at the entrance. Can any reader help with a date by looking at the car?

Keating’s Drugstore B77.09.07

Keating’s New Era 11-2-1939
When I found these three circa 1924 photos of the place in our files I knew that seeing them might evoke some nostalgic memories from a Rivertonian, but I was quite unprepared for the spontaneous outpouring of memories that they produced from Mabel Kloos when I showed them to her. She wrote them down in an email to me:

I have many fond memories of Keating’s drugstore, as I passed it every school day for nine years, walking to and from Riverton School twice a day, in the late 40’s to mid 50’s. How could I ever forget Mr. and Mrs. Keating, better known as Blanche and Larry (Chappy) to the adult patrons!  Mrs. Keating always had upswept hair, and Mr. Keating had snow-white hair with glasses.

Keating’s Drugstore B77.09.09

On my way back to school after lunch, I would usually see some teachers and my favorite doctor, Dr. Mark, coming out the door, as they ate lunch there several days per week. Many days after school, a group of classmates and I would stop by Keating’s for a delicious vanilla coke that was most often made by Mr. Keating.  He would put our vanilla Cokes with lots of crushed ice, which he made at the fountain, into a triangular paper cup.  We never used a straw, just drank directly from the cup. Since we sipped it very slowly, it lasted us till we arrived home.  We just hoped the paper cup wouldn’t leak!!

Other times we would stop by and get ice cream cones.  My friends and I always liked it when Mrs. Keating made them for us, as she would give us a little extra ice cream!! When we became 7th and 8th graders, we would sometimes order a dish of ice cream that was served in a triangular paper cup and placed in a silver holder. That way, we could sit at the round glass top tables and admire all kinds of jewelry and other trinkets underneath the glass that one could purchase. The wooden chairs always fascinated us, as they had unusually-shaped seats.

Keating’s Drugstore B77.09.10

My last memory of Keating’s is when I would stop there with my grandfather, and he would ask for ice cream to go.  Mr. or Mrs. Keating would place a rectangular dish made of heavy cardboard on a scale, then scoop our favorite flavor(s) into the dish, place a piece of tissue-like paper over the top, and then place it into a brown bag to take home.  The ice cream just tasted sooo delicious!!

I would just love to be able to walk through the drugstore door one more time, but since it will never happen, I will live with my many fond memories of Keating’s.

Mabel Gnang, Riverton School Safety, 1954

In these circa 1924 photos Mr. and Mrs. Keating look different from Mable’s description because the couple had only been in business for about a year–young Mabel Gnang would know them over twenty years later.

Maybe one of you Rivertonians can help match up these names written on the backs.

The first two digits of the Index Accession Number of each item tell me the HSR acquired them 1977, I believe, from B. Terrell, a name that is on all three photos.

Artifact #B77.09.07: writing on the back shows Keating’s Drugstore, Lawrence Keating, and 35 years old, but that is crossed out. This one is easy since there is only one person in the photo.

Keating’s Drugstore photo backs,                                  left to right, 07, 09, 10

Artifact #B77.09.09: writing shows Keating’s Drug Store, about 1924, Walter Miller the cop, Blanche Keating, Lawrence Keating, Chick Seagrave, Harry Herman. Larry and Blanche and Officer Walter Miller I have figured out.  I think that Chick Seagrave is the young man seated next to Mr. Keating and the fellow standing at right is Harry.

Artifact #B77.09.10: writing shows Keating’s Drug Store, 1924, John Sotham, Blanche Keating, Lawrence Keating, Harry Hebrew. OK–Larry and Blanche, I get.  John Sotham must be standing at left, in front of Mr. Keating. The fellow on the right must be Harry. But Harry Hebrew or Harry Herman? Something must have been recorded wrong. Does a reader know? Please advise, and I’ll update the file.

Mrs. Mabel Kloos, July 4th Parade 2010, John Kloos at the wheel

Remember, Readers,, especially parents, that these will be the good ol’ days for the youngsters of the 21st century, and consider ensuring that your family creates some enduring “artifacts” of your own. Here’s why.

You are already aware of the declining state of the newspaper industry and print media, and few people write letters or postcards today.  Considering that cell phones and emails, text messaging and digital images make up so much of the everyday photographs and personal communications of today, what will be available for historians to help reconstruct what life was like in Riverton decades from now, as we just did?  – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor

P.S. The postcards and Keating’s interiors images are high-resolution so that you can really inspect them. You can read some of the labels of the items in the drugstore.  Check out the price of a milkshake.

Broad & Main Sts., Riverton, NJ

P.P.S. Awhile back I received a note from Roberta Riddle who wrote:

My father, Harry Riddle owned “Sharons Sweet Shop” back in the 40’s.  Abt. 1945/49.  I am looking for an old photo of the sweet shop and any information pertaining to same. The shop was named after his first daughter was born.

I recall eating lunch there during the mid-1970s.  I’d love to help her out, but I have nothing and found no reference to the Sharon Shop in our HSR files. If you can help, please contact us with a comment or photo. – JMcC

Hurricane Irene (and other forces of nature) go down in local history

credit: Ivrie Myrhe

Since this is the website for the Historical Society of Riverton, the operative word being ‘historical,’ it is worth noting some remarkable facts which we shall record for August 2011. A rare 5.8 earthquake struck NJ August 23rd, followed closely by a hurricane, tornado warnings, and floods. And according to the yesterday’s Courier-Post, it is now official: For the Philadelphia/South Jersey region, August is already the wettest month in recorded history, breaking a century-old record.

I wondered how Riverton would fare after the white-capped Delaware finished slamming that riverwall at high tide and hurricane winds ripped through the streets and avenues of our favorite Tree City. So I emailed my stringers (actually two other HSR Board members) and they checked in with this report.

The sea was angry that day, my friends. (credit: Susan Dechnik)

My friend and former teaching partner at RPS, Susan Dechnik accompanies her Facebook photos of Irene’s effects on the riverbank with an àpropos quote from Seinfeld, her favorite TV show. It’s from the classic “Marine Biologist” episode.

She reports that winds blew down a large part of a tree near 8th & Main, blocking the sidewalk.

She adds, “The river was wild, didn’t breach the bank, but was splashing over.  The wind was incredible and a little scary.”

Does that line of debris across the grass indicate the high water mark? (credit; Ivrie Myhre)

HSR President Gerald Weaber reports that the river rose above the riverwall and winds had strewn about some limbs and branches, but he did not hear of any major damage from the storm.

These few stills, kindly provided by local photographer Ivrie Myhre of cinnaminson.patch.com confirm that Riverton generally withstood what Irene dished out.

That was not the case for all the surrounding communities, however.

credit: Ivrie Myhre

Just five minutes away at Riverton Road and Rte. 130, Irene’s capricious winds toppled a large tree in front of Bayard’s Chocolate House, and her relentless rains flooded some Cinnaminson homes and streets.

Our HSR website gets dozens, sometimes even over a hundred visits daily. True, most of them were probably googling for Rivertons in CT, CA, IL, UT, VA, WY, or even AU and wound up here by mistake. Nonetheless, inquiring readers want to know, Rivertonians. What happened in your neighborhood?

You can click on the Facebook link at the bottom of this page to visit the HSR wall where Susan Dechnik and a varied, albeit short, cast of characters “liked” us in a moment of lapsed judgment.  Please join in.

Also, that CinnaminsonPatch is a cool community-specific news, events, and information website that I never heard of, but one which I’ll certainly look up again. You’ll find more photo galleries by Ivrie Myhre and other local photographers along with news stories written by the local Patch Team.

It’s a young and growing website, but if the amount of Riverton coverage continues to expand they may have to change the name.  – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor

Waiting for Irene

Hunkered down here on high ground in Delran watching the 20 lbs. of grass seed that I put down in my backyard a few days ago wash down the street, I thought I’d take my mind off dire forecasts of flooding and power outages by catching up on some HSR website correspondence.

Madeline writes about the Stone Harbor, NJ Images 

My Mother remembers the boardwalk at Stone Harbor. Does anyone know when it was built and when it was destroyed? Thanks

I emailed my good friend who has provided so many scans of these old postcards, and I asked him about the Stone Harbor boardwalk. Of course the topic of the day is the hurricane (four days ago, it was the 5.8 earthquake), so I mentioned that.  He wrote back:

Brace yourselves for Irene.  I sure remember, most vividly still today, a hurricane that hit South Jersey and headed up and did substantial damage in New England back in the mid-fifties time frame.  The wind was incessant as I recall.  Most harrowing for a child or adult to experience.  Good luck. 

As for Stone Harbor’s boardwalk, it was dedicated in 1916 and lasted slightly less than 30 years.  Sadly, all of the boardwalk washed away in the terrible storm of 1944.  Always happy to provide information relative to these super postcard time- capsules. 

My aunt and uncle had a place on LBI and we took a drive down to view the aftermath of that 1950s hurricane.  That’s when “the bay met the ocean” and water cut the island in two.  We saw so many cottages and homes destroyed. Was it Hurricane Hazel, Readers??

OMG! (as these young folks say).  Comcast just interrupted the TV cable feed for a Burlington County tornado warning.

A couple of weeks ago we received a comment about a LBI postcard which evoked sweet memories for A. Kotzin who writes:

I have the most wonderful childhood memories of staying at the Baldwin Hotel. Our family spent a couple weeks each summer at Beach Haven, staying at the Baldwin. As a child this spectacular building provided exceptional exploring opportunities. My dad was a watercolorist who painted a wonderful painting of an adjacent property, where nuns spent summer vacations. He did so while sitting on the balcony of our room.

When the Baldwin burnt to the ground, Beach Haven lost a large part of its identity.

Thank you for posting this beautiful rendition of the grand old Baldwin.

It’s my pleasure to bring these pictures and information to you. What have you found in these pages that has struck a chord for you?   We have lots more room to post any images or recollections you have to share.

Stay safe. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor