THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF RIVERTON REMEMBERS BETTY BAILEY HAHLE

On Saturday, April 30, 2011, friends, family, community members, and colleagues from all points gathered at historic Christ Church in Riverton to celebrate the life of Mrs. Betty B. Hahle, Riverton Town Historian, former HSR President and editor of its newsletter, and relentless champion of historic preservationist battles, who passed away Sunday April 17, 2011.

Possessed of an encyclopedic knowledge of all things concerning Riverton, Betty recently expressed regret that writing her book on Riverton’s history had eluded her. Nevertheless, the body of authoritative historical works that she produced is prodigious. Renowned for her thoroughly researched articles on historical subjects, she authored Riverton’s history for the borough website, wrote the history of the Porch Club, contributed to Riverton School’s Riverton Project, consulted on community planning projects, and produced over 100 of her signature “Yesterday” columns for the Historical Society of Riverton’s newsletter, the Gaslight News.

Her tireless activism in the pursuit of preserving Riverton’s heritage has resulted in a number of victories which will stand as her lasting legacy to the town which she so adored. In 1978, in concert with borough officials, Mrs. Hahle helped save Riverton’s cherished gas streetlamps from oblivion; in 1989, she rescued the fragile vintage film Romance of Riverton by preserving it to videotape; and she was one of the main persons responsible for saving rare late 19th and early 20th century New Era newspaper issues to microfilm. In 2009, the Burlington Board of Chosen Freeholders recognized both Betty Hahle and a colleague for their work in preserving the Romance of Riverton and making it accessible to modern audiences. Perhaps her most gratifying accomplishment was her 20 year-long quest to win for Riverton’s historic district a listing on the coveted state Register of Historic Places.

Betty Bailey married Joseph W. Hahle, and they raised three daughters in Riverton. Mrs. Hahle was active in Riverton’s Parent Teachers Association, the Palmyra High School Band Parents Association and was a Girl Scout leader. In the early l970s, Betty became interested in genealogy and local history, favorite hobbies she pursued with a passion. She was a member of the Porch Club of Riverton, holding various chairs there, and in 1989, the group honored her as their Woman of the Year.

The Betty B. Hahle Excellence in History Award is given to an eighth grade student each year at Riverton Public School. Betty Hahle’s many decades of historic research and writing as Town Historian and her interest in cultivating the interest of young people in the study of history inspired the award.

Mrs. Betty B. Hahle

Always generous with her expertise, just days before she passed, Betty was dictating notes from her hospital bed to encourage one author on the content of a future Gaslight News feature story while supplying an essential fact she recalled from one of her many interviews for the writer of another article. No one can deny her passion for pursuing Riverton’s history or her unwavering commitment to preserving Riverton’s character. Clearly, more than any other single person, Mrs. Betty B. Hahle has made our understanding of Riverton history what it is today. By so faithfully documenting Riverton’s past with her meticulous investigating and record-keeping, Betty has indeed now assured her own place in Riverton’s history alongside the very founders, merchants, industrialists, and social activists she researched, certain to be quoted and cited for years to come. She was 92.

Find the complete Burlington County Times obituary here.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF RIVERTON

 

“Glimpses of Palmyra and Riverton” shows boroughs the way they were in the 1930s and 1940s; Creator, Matt Gideon seeks public’s help with new project

Selected screen captures from “Glimpses of Palmyra and Riverton Volume I”

It seems that Palmyra has its own version of “Romance of Riverton” called “Glimpses of Palmyra and Riverton,” and I recently had the pleasure of screening for the first time Volumes I and II of these classic 1930s-1940s home movies of Palmyra and Riverton. The late Dr. Dean LeFavor, a Palmyra family physician, captured on film many seemingly everyday scenes with his 8mm movie camera while out making house calls. Needless to say, much of the everyday 1934 is no longer with us.

Some of those scenes in the over one hundred aptly named “glimpses” in Volume I include period cars, trucks, and buses, the Delaware River frozen over, a few vehicle accidents, and several types of fire trucks, as Dr. LeFavor often responded to fire and emergency calls where his medical skills would be called for.

Three fleeting clips of the Nellie Bly steam engine passenger train roaring up the tracks en route to New York contrasted sharply with two other sobering scenes which showed the aftermath of an automobile and a milk truck which tangled with the speedy Nellie Bly and lost. Dr. LeFavor even took his camera with him on road trips to New York City and to check out the beached hulk of the Morrow Castle passenger ship at Asbury Park in 1934.

The old Palmyra and Riverton train stations each are hubs of activity in their respective towns, and the bright dancing lights on Palmyra’s Broadway movie marquee beckon couples to come inside to see the 1934 American musical comedy film Twenty Million Sweethearts starring Pat O’Brien, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers. With so many locations and landmarks so transformed over the years, this film could just as easily been titled, “Things That Aren’t There Anymore.”

I had seen many of the film’s subjects as the static images in the old postcard views, but seeing these same locations reanimated with people in a real movie is just an extra bonus. After searching so long for photos of the Nellie Bly, seeing a clip of her steaming through town was, in itself, worth the price of admission.

These DVDs are sure to appeal to local history buffs, as well as those who enjoy antique fire equipment, steam engine trains, or vintage automobiles, and anyone who wants to see what this place was like “back in the day.”

All of these priceless motion pictures could have been lost had it not been for Mr. and Mrs. Walter W. Poulson who allowed the Palmyra Fire Company to reproduce the films which Dr, LeFavor had given them. In 1989, Matthew Gideon of the Palmyra Fire Department arranged for the film to be transferred to DVD.

Big band and swing background music accompanies Volume I which comes with a scene by scene account developed from notes taken by Dr. LeFavor. “Glimpses of Palmyra and Riverton in the 1930s and 40s, Volume II” contains the last reel of Dr. LeFavor’s films around town, still photos of Tacony-Palmyra Bridge under construction and of the Tacony-Palmyra Ferry Company, and still photos taken from Dr. Lamb’s Picturesque Palmyra booklet. It is fully narrated and accompanied with piano music played by Dr. LeFavor. Click here to view a short trailer showing four scenes from Volume I. (Check out the gasoline price on the sign in the Mutt Parade.)

Matt reports that limited quantities of both titles are available for $25 each;  include $5 postage and handling, if you need yours mailed. Specify if you want Volume I or Volume II. Send your check or postal money order to: Mr. Matt Gideon, 116 Mt. Vernon Drive, Cinnaminson, NJ 08077. If you are local, please arrange for pick-up at the firehouse in Palmyra.

(DVDs are no longer available)

Independence Fire Co. No. 1, 20th anniversary in 1907

Another reason for today’s column is to publicize 40 year Palmyra firehouse veteran Matt Gideon’s newest history project—a detailed history of the Palmyra and Riverton Fire Departments from the founding of each in the late 19th century up through about 1920. He requests that the public contact him with old photos, newspaper articles, programs, memorabilia, and such which will serve to supplement his search of borough records, minutes of firehouse meetings, and logs of fire calls.

Matt plans to use the collected research to plan a talk and presentation he is planning to use as a fundraiser for both fire companies. Please contact Matt at 856-816-4330  and make arrangements to share your old photos and collections which will help him document fire locations and supply background material that will set the tone for the time period from 1886-1920.  – John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor

 

 

Step into the Past with this 1912 Stone Harbor Souvenir Booklet

1912 Stone Harbor Souvenir Folder
The gorgeous weather here in South Jersey this glorious Easter Sunday helps one remember those sunny summer days which lie just around the corner. By now, kids (and their teachers) are counting the days until the term’s end in June in anticipation of going “down the shore.”

What is your favorite shore destination – Avalon, Ocean City, Stone Harbor, Cape May, or any place on LBI?

Here are some newly acquired images scanned from a 1912 Souvenir Folder of Stone Harbor postcards. Find six larger separate images added to the Stone Harbor section of the Images page, bringing to 163 the total number of Stone Harbor images. As always, readers are invited to leave comments or send suggestions.

Find also the new category of Collingswood, NJ Images, just posted. There are 106 classic images of old Collingswood, many of which are of the rare “real photo postcard” type. My Baby-boomer friend who so very generously labored over scanning and sending these files across the miles reminisces,

The Grove, Knights Park, Collingswood, NJ – RPPC
“Boy, do I have some great childhood memories from then growing up! Riding bikes around the block, hammocks on front porches, ice, milk, bread and coal deliveries, babyparades and fabulous Fourth of July celebrations and fireworks displays, climbing trees, playing baseball with friends, digging foxholes and playing soldier or cowboys, etc.  I had a cocker spaniel, a cat, a rabbit, a turtle and fish. Post-war America, the Age of Innocence, Baby-Boom, age of heroes and radio broadcasts, no televisions yet, etc.  We didn’t have a lot, but it seemed we were never left wanting for the necessities back then.  Ah, a simpler time, I gotta believe!”

I invite you to leave a comment on a blog entry, an image page, a Gaslight News issue, on a Program page, or on our Facebook page, if you care to. Those of you with information or collections to share, please contact me so that we can make arrangements. – John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor

Dreer Nurseries’ Long Role in Riverton’s History Not Forgotten

color plate from 1912 Dreer’s Garden Book

Dear Readers:

I prepared this PowerPoint presentation on a history of Dreer’s Nurseries so that it could be running in the background on the stage of the Porch Club as people came through on their way to or from one of the several stops on the popular bi-annual Garden Tour in June 2010.

From modest beginnings in a storefront on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Henry A. Dreer, Inc. would grow into a vast organization with an international reputation selling seeds, plants, bulbs, and associated sundries. In the course of expanding the business, Dreer moved to 300 acres in Riverton, NJ in 1873, where the enterprise became a  major employer of the town.

The prestigious house of Dreer closed due to a variety of circumstances in 1944 and the land that it occupied in Riverton was developed into housing lots. A few people still remember Dreer’s Nurseries and its effects upon Riverton and its citizenry.

The PowerPoint is loaded with information and many illustrations. Be sure to download the accompanying PDF file script for the slide show which also prompts you when to click your mouse for the animations and to advance to the next slide.

Click here to download “A History of Dreer’s Nursery, a 39.7MB PowerPoint presentation. The notes for the presenter’s talk are in a separate PDF file.  Click here for the presenter’s notes. – John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor

PS.  Recent uploads to the Images page includes new categories for Atlantic City, NJ (63 images) and Miscellaneous (46 images) for, well… images that I couldn’t otherwise categorize.

 

Fashion Tales Come to the March 23, 2011 HSR Meeting

Dear Readers: Mrs. Susan Dechnik, HSR Board member and one of my former teaching partners at RPS, writes today’s entry to accompany all of the great photos that she took at our recent meeting.  – JMcCormick

What can a purse tell about history or a hat about the man who wore it?  Ms. Kate Butler of Decotique.com and Mr. Greg Cristiano, proprietor of Teardrop Memories.com, brought their eclectic assortment of heirlooms and collectibles to the March HSR meeting to show us. They shared their extensive knowledge of antique apparel in the informative program, “Ladies and Gentlemen’s Accessories of the Past Victorian, Edwardian, and Depression Eras.”

Ms. Butler’s collection included antique purses, millinery, footwear, and vanity collectibles.  From handbags to hats and everything in between, including a Victorian-era bathing costume, Kate served up a richly illustrated account of how familiar objects changed through the centuries.

Greg Cristiano, Ms. Butler’s collaborator for the male portion of the fashion discussion, spoke authoritatively about mourning attire, mourning mementos, and men’s clothing items and accessories. Among other things, he brought a 19th century undertaker’s hat, a full-length black bearskin coat, and several unusual decorative mourning items constructed from the hair of the deceased loved one.

In the interactive part of the program the pair invited audience members to have vintage fashion items which they had brought evaluated. Often, the article came with a story connecting it to the owner’s relative, to which the presenters then added expert knowledge about the function and history of the piece. The lecture proved to be a fun and engaging way to relate to history and show how changing fashions and personal items can tell a fascinating story. Click here to download a video clip from the presentation. (It is less than two minutes, but it is a 102MB file.)  – Mrs. Susan Dechnik, HSR Board Member

From the HSR Archives, A Riverside Souvenir

Dear Readers: Most of the images that you have seen posted here are ones which I scanned from collections belonging to other collectors – serious collectors – of vintage real photos and postcards. It is through their generosity which has made this online exposition of digital images and information possible.

Riverside Souvenir Folder

However, the Historical Society is not without its own resources, so I descended into the HSR archives last week and picked out some items which haven’t seen the light of day since they were cataloged and placed into our file cabinets which are stored in a warehouse somewhere in Area 51.

Here is the first installment in a new web feature called “From the HSR Archives.”

The file folder marked 82.03.31 contained this item that I had not seen before – at least, not all in one piece. In order to give you a really good look at it, go the the Riverside Images Page and find five very large separate images in with the other Riverside pictures.

Here is the real story, however. The documentation which lists the manuscripts and artifacts in our modest archive shows the following notation, “November 29, 1982 – Received from Mrs. Grace Coles Collection of items of local history belonging to Mrs. Ruth Schmierer.” The accession list starts with 83.3.1 and ends three typewritten pages later with 83.3.36 which means that Mrs. Coles donated 36 separate items to the Society.

This Riverside Souvenir Folder may have been donated to the Society 29 years ago, but to me, it’s like I just opened it for the first time. I suspect that may be the case for at least some readers of this column. For my part, I must express a heartfelt “thank you” to the donor.

Just a cursory perusal of this HSR Accession List tells me that many incredibly generous and civic-minded people have contributed to our real Collection (as opposed to my virtual digital collection) over the years. It is my privilege to bring their legacy to an audience via the Internet, even as we hope for a permanent home in which to house and display our Collection. These materials serve as wonderful nostalgic reminders as well as being irreplaceable primary source references for scholars.

Please help us in our mission to discover, restore, and preserve local objects and landmarks, and to continue to expand our history of the area by joining the Historical Society of Riverton. And, if you are able to contribute one real item or a trunkful, just a scan or a real photograph piece of ephemera, a comment or a memoir, please know that you are adding more to our community’s understanding of Riverton history and enhancing our ability to tell it, just as so many other greathearted people who have preceded you.

Come back again to explore more treasures from the HSR archives with me. – John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor

PS. Our HSR Publicity Chairperson Mrs. Susan Dechnik  took a number of photos and wrote a short summary for the presentation given at our March 23, 2011 HSR meeting. You can find her synopsis of “Ladies’ &  Gentlemen’s Accessories of the Past Victorian, Edwardian, and Depression Eras” along with a dozen captioned photos and a video clip on the Programs and Events page.

Welsbach Gaslamps Are Century-Old Fixtures Here

Riverton Yacht Club and Pier, 2007

Ask someone what things in town they think symbolize Riverton, and somewhere in that top ten list will probably be the Riverton Yacht Club and the old-time gas streetlamps. Here are both in the same photo, taken on a sunny August day in 2007.

There is just no place else which has this picture postcard look.

We here in Riverton may be “used to” the gaslamps illuminating our streets. To an outside visitor, though, it must seem as if a Hollywood set dresser has placed these nostalgic fixtures throughout this charming town in order to evoke an elegant Victorian mood.

Whereas most American cities had gaslit streets in the early 20th century, only a handful have retained the type of old-fashioned gas streetlights which have become such an integral part of many people’s memories of Riverton.

It is hard to imagine Riverton without its cherished gaslamps. Yet, there was a time during the late 1970s when it looked like Riverton’s gas streetlamps would be snuffed out for good.

Welsbach lapel pin

In November 2007, Mr. Jeff Cole, a HSR member and Riverton resident, presented a comprehensive presentation on the Welsbach Street Lighting Company which manufactured the original lamps. In it, he traced the history and development of the Welsbach Company, explained the technology of the incandescent gas mantle, told of the battle against the state Board of Public Utilities to keep the lamps, and showed some his collection of  Welsbach publications and collectibles.

Jeff is uniquely qualified to assemble such a project since he is the grandson of Mr. Robinet Cole, a Riverton resident who worked at Welsbach for a remarkable 68 years. In a true Horatio Alger story if there ever was one, the elder Mr. Cole worked his way up from being a 15 year-old office boy to the president of the company.

In case you have wondered about those gaslamps, or missed that Historical Society meeting almost four years ago, here is that same PowerPoint and the notes that explain the slides. Click here to download the 43.4 MB  PowerPoint slide show and click here to download the PDF file of explanatory speaker’s notes.  In addition, several rare publications used by Jeff in the preparation of the project can be seen in greater detail by clicking on the following links:

A handsome example of an original gaslamp post refinished by homeowner, Mr. Harry Richman

As always, we welcome your comments, additions, or corrections.

John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor

The schooner Lucy Evelyn, built 1917, beached at Beach Haven, NJ  (1948-1972) where it served as a unique gift shop. Destroyed by fire, 1972.
PS – Despite these damp chilly days which have no business being here at the end of March, my thoughts wander to warmer temps and past summers at the shore. For me, it was LBI. I worked there several summers through high school and college at Surf City Hotel, first as busboy and then as a waiter. Look on the Images page for recent uploads of 87 Long Beach Island images40 Ocean City images, 10 Seaside Heights images, and 5 Avalon images. Those great linen-era postcards depict a number of things which aren’t there anymore, and most pre-date even my serving days at Surf City Hotel during the 1960s.

 

Welsbach torch
Welsbach torch – top view

PPS – 06/13/2012. A visitor named Anthony has a torch stamped “Welsbach Street Lighting Company of America” and he left two comments about it below. Since then, he sent in two photos which we display here in the hope that someone may be able to offer more information about it.

Look What Spring Cleaning Turned Up

Cinnaminson National Bank as shown in the 1909 Christmas Issue of The New Era
Gee, you don't look a day over seventy.

Mrs. Patricia Solin reports that years ago she found a wooden coat hanger in her first floor coat closet at 406 Main.

Clearly stamped “Cinnaminson Bank and Trust Company,” the sturdy hanger may have been a promotional give-away.  Or, maybe such hangers were for the use of employees or patrons at the bank.

Dr. Alexander Marcy, Jr. as pictured in the Riverton Gun Club book

Since the hanger came with the house, Pat guesses that it may have belonged to the original owner of the house, Dr. Alexander Marcy, Jr., who was one of the bank’s organizers in 1907, and on its Board of Directors.

(Click here to see how the bank was described by The New Era in 1909.)

We can only conjecture now, as the evidence is only circumstantial, but this hanger may well be over 100 years old.

The former bank is modern office space today

Declining to list the artifact on eBay or sell it at a yard sale, Pat has generously donated it to the HSR archives.

Someday we hope to have a home in which to properly display the holdings of the Historical Society.  Until then, this virtual showplace will have to suffice as our museum.

Please share your Riverton stories, big or small. You are just a phone call or Internet connection away. – John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor

 

 

“Do You Remember?” is a ‘Reader’s Digest’ version of Riverton History

Woolston Carriage Works in undated photo

If you like to look at old photos and postcards, then download the script that accompanies this PowerPoint slide show so that you can sort out the many places and players as you leaf through this huge 115 slide production, full of all kinds of historic facts and images about Riverton, NJ.  First shown at the January 2008 HSR meeting, this presentation does not contain exhaustive details on any one topic. Instead, it contains a little bit about a lot of different topics related to Riverton. (This presentation spawned two shorter spinoffs,”A Short History of Riverton Public School,” which is already posted and “A History of Dreer’s Nursery,” which will be featured later on. )

Regular readers of this column will recall the earlier posting of the shorter January 2007 slide show. This one duplicates some information found in that one and introduces more that I had learned in the interim. Topics in this 2008 sequel include:

Dreer Nursery - Victoria Trickeri Lily Pond
  • Old New Era newspaper clippings relating events from the past
  • Many vintage family photos, school portraits, and Riverton postcards
  • A short history of the famous Dreer’s Nursery
  • News accounts of the Japanese beetle scourge as well as a Riverton sighting of the Jersey Devil
  • Reports of internationally ranked swimmers involved in meets at the Riverton Yacht Club and a 150 mile bicycle race from NYC to Riverton
  • Dozens of views of local historic maps, ephemera, and real photos of places
  • A complete small 16-page booklet about Sacred Heart Church written in 1904
  • Information and photos about the men of the celebrated Riverton Athletic Association and the renowned “Riverton Nines”
  • A description of the exclusive Riverton Gun Club and its high-stakes live pigeon shoots
  • Discover these things and more that you may not know about Riverton, and please consider the slide show’s ending message, “You can help preserve historic  images and information.”
  • If you can help in this endeavor, please contact us so that we may increase the utility of this digital archive and make it available to a larger audience. We welcome your submissions for Gaslight News articles and blog postings, and invite you to support the Historical Society of Riverton by becoming a member.

Click here to download the “Do You Remember?” 38.8MB PowerPoint You’ll need the PowerPoint program or the free PowerPoint viewer in order to watch the slide show. Click here to download the PDF file of notes that accompany the slide show which serves as the narrative that explains the images as well as gives prompts for the animations and advancing the slides.   – John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor

PS – I just uploaded three new categories of vintage postcard images which brings the number of categories listed to 29; Asbury Park & Ocean Grove, 311; Bordentown & Trenton, 44; Hawaii, 9.

Rivertons Good Sports from Waaay Back

Riverton Ball Club 1872 Fred Moore, veteran of 23 seasons in center
The Phillies are playing in Clearwater now, and fan anticipation is high as the team prepares for another run at the World Series. With the re-signing of Cliff Lee, the Phillies now have in Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt, and Co. what may arguably be the one of the best starting pitching rotations ever assembled in the history of major league baseball. Years from now, a generation will look back fondly upon these as the “good ol’ days.”

Few today can remember grandparents’ tales of Riverton’s heyday of baseball during the late 19th century, but there was a time when the “Riverton Nine” was so highly regarded that Henry Chadwick, the “Father of Baseball,” recalled an 1890 game in which they played as one of the best he had ever seen. A June 4, 1895, New York Times article stated, “During the old days of baseball, perhaps no amateur club in the country was so well known as the Rivertons.”

 

1890 map detail showing Riverton Ball Club Grounds

The team first organized in 1865, and played in Biddle’s apple orchard. When the interests of the group grew to include the sports of cricket and tennis in 1881, they leased land from the Miller Grounds and improved it with about 250 train carloads each of Pennsylvania sod and soil.

1890 Sporting Life graphic

Baseball, particularly, flourished in those days and the players ultimately outgrew even that setting. Consequently, in 1885, they purchased 6¼ acres of the Lippincott property and moved there in April, 1887. In 1894, the more inclusive name change to the Riverton Athletic Association seemed appropriate for the band which was just then adopting the next new American craze—bicycling.

The newly invigorated association built “…one of the finest quarter-mile (bicycle) tracks in the world” with stands that seated nearly 3,000 spectators. (For more details see the September 2009 issue of Gaslight News for Pat Solin’s feature story, “The Fine Grounds of the Riverton Athletic Association”).

Riverton’s Bicycle track – undated photo from Ed Gilmore

In 1895, the club hosted the New York Times Tri-State 150-Mile Relay Bicycle which included 163 cyclists. All preparatory aspects of the event were closely followed in the pages of the New York Times for weeks preceding the event. The race started out from the offices of the Times in New York City and climaxed with the winner crossing the finish line at Riverton’s own quarter-mile track.

Riverton’s long and illustrious sports tradition includes much more, of course: the sailing competitions and regattas at the Riverton Yacht Club, founded 1865; the live-pigeon trap shooting competitions held at the famed Riverton Gun Club (1877-1906); the individual efforts of athletes in national swim meets held at the Yacht Club during the 1920s; the play of men and women golfers of the Riverton Golf Club; as well as the stunning performance of 1923 women’s AAU track phenomenon, Frances Ruppert.

Look for images representing some of these accomplishments on the Images Page. We welcome the submission of photographs, programs, printed material, schedules, team rosters, and personal anecdotes or family stories which may serve as topics for future postings. John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor