Keating’s DrugstoreKeating’s ad New Era 2-20-1936Vintage 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 11-2-1939When 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, LawrenceKeating, 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
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
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.
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.
In a earlier blog entry you met Edwin L. Kaewell, a Civil War reenactor who endured near hundred degree temperatures in his replica Union woolen uniform for four days at the recent Burlington County Farm Fair July 20-23, 2011, as he tried to recruit new volunteers for his reenactment unit based on the 23rd NJ Regiment Volunteer Infantry known as the Jersey Yahoos.
Another soldier of an earlier era cheerfully explained to onlookers how to load and fire a Revolutionary War type flintlock firearm. Jeff Macechak, Education Director at the Burlington County Historical Society, demonstrated the weapon at several intervals throughout the day right outside our History Faire tent. And I couldn’t help from jumping every time he did it.
Jeff’s flintlock demo was the centerpiece of the special exhibit that members of the Children’s History Center at Burlington County Historical Society created that obviously held appeal for kids of all ages. The Children’s History Center knows how to tailor hands-on local history lessons to the interests of school groups and families.
In full Revolutionary War garb, Jeff endured the elements to instruct the rabble in loading and firing a flintlock firearm.
With my short-sleeved shirt and cold drink in hand, I felt like a piker watching another sergeant overdressed for the weather carrying out his duties without complaint. But here he was, pitching his history-lesson-in-disguise to the kids, explaining terms like “flash in the pan” and inviting them to smell the rotten egg odor of the sulfur after firing the weapon. Here’s a video I shot with my iPhone of Jeff loading and firing the flintlock musket.
I went back to my perch beside the fan in the tent and my thoughts wandered to past family vacations and day-trips to Philadelphia, Williamsburg, Jamestown, Boston, Washington, DC, Plymouth Plantation, St. Augustine, and other such historic sites.
I guess because I grew up with my grandmother taking me to New York City in 1957 to see the Mayflower II, it seemed natural for me to take my own kids to see the same ship at Plimouth Plantation 30-odd years later. I grew up with a love of history, even if I was not always a fan of the school version of history. With all the uncertainty about our future, do you think there is still a value in emphasizing our history?
Keeping cool in the History Faire Tent
My kids probably thought that all parents planned such educational outings. They took it well because they knew that after that next Civil War battlefield might be a stopover at Busch Gardens, Sea World, or Disneyworld.
I was gratified to see that many parents took the road less traveled at the County Fair, away from the amusements and food vendors, and ventured over to our History Faire tent with progeny in tow. If you attended, what did you think of our first History Faire? And what ideas or suggestions do you have for the next? I know at least that I’ll need to bring a bigger cooler and more ice. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
seated at left and standing at right: HSR members Barbara and John Palko. Barbara has run the Home Arts & Crafts Tent for some 15 years at the Burlco Farm Fair.
Last week HSR President Gerald Weaber and I went to our History Faire tent at the Burlington County Farm Fair prepared to preach a litany of Riverton history sermons to the multitudes. There was some proselytizing on our part, to be sure, but I had the best time listening to the recollections of members of our own and other historical societies.
Too, there were visits from other local history buffs such as Nick Mortgu and wife Beth Lippincott who came hoping to find a source for searching some family genealogical information, which I believe, they found in County Historian Joe Laufer. They’ve been trying to find the burial site of one of Beth’s 17th century Quaker ancestors.
Nick is the historian for the RYC and an avid collector of all sorts of Riverton memorabilia. (Beth and he live in the historic 1860s era home that had been the site of Riverton’s Cole Dairy which was the focus of a Nov. 2010 Gaslight News article.)
While Beth and Joe were talking, Nick told me that Beth’s first ancestors to immigrate to the US, the Lovecott family, decided to rebadge the clan as Lippincotts.
I did not know that.
Then, Kim, one of my former students (so sweet that she didn’t introduce me to her young man as “my old teacher”) stopped by hoping to find a picture of her house or street in with the box of reproduction prints of vintage postcards that we had brought. No luck, but if you have looked for a particular street in our images collection, and don’t see it, ask for it at the end of this article and maybe the Universe will hear you.
Lucy Evelyn, Long Beach Island, NJRecently, Ms. Lois Gorbe, now residing in Florida, sent us two snapshots of the burned remains of the schooner Lucy Evelyn that once served as a one-of-a-kind gift shop in Beach Haven. She has fond memories of visiting the ship/shop as a child during the 1940s. It’s so cool for me to be able to help her and others remember the good ol’ days back in the neighborhood.
Now gone, like so many other landmarks and buildings in our Images compilation, perhaps the entire collection might better be called, “Things That Aren’t There Anymore.” You can find them under Long Beach Island, NJ Images under the Images tab. Such unexpected bonus finds from across the miles were never possible for us before the launch of this website. Thank you, Lois.
Don't you love to get mail? We do, too.
Readers, wherever you are, please know that we would like to hear from you about your memories and images of Riverton and the region. We wish for this website to be a virtual meeting place for anyone who wants to know more about this region’s local history or has something to bring to our readers’ attention. What could we in the HSR do to help you?
Historical societies from each corner of this largest of New Jersey’s 21 counties exhibited displays celebrating the founders, landmarks, and various movers and shakers throughout their respective histories which have made each community so unique. HSR President Gerald Weaber and I viewed the affair as a kind of mini-convention in which we could network with colleagues at other tables, as well as showcase our organization’s preservation efforts to the public.
Pierre Lorillard and his dog - Library of Congress
I so thoroughly enjoyed David Smith’s PowerPoint presentation summarizing his four-year long research project on the Rancocas Stud Farm owned by Gilded Age tobacco millionaire Pierre Lorillard IV that I listened to it twice.
David’s account of the life of this extraordinary entrepreneur and sportsman who traveled in the same rich and famous social circles as the Astors and Vanderbilts intrigued me, and it left me wondering how I hadn’t heard of him before.
Lorillard advertisement 1789
I mean, the Lorillard Tobacco Company is older than the United States! And it “invented” the cigar store Indian in order to advertise its products. According to one school of thought, the tuxedo was invented by Pierre Lorillard IV and named after Tuxedo Park, a sportsman’s preserve and enclave of mansions he created out of 2,200 acres of mountain wilderness 40 miles outside New York City.
Certainly Pierre Lorillard IV had a head start when he inherited a large fortune from his father which included one of the most extensive tobacco companies in the world, but under his shrewd stewardship he shortly further increased his fortune at least tenfold.
Such history bits initially drew me in, but the tobacco magnate’s lofty triumphs in the sporting world coupled with his unimaginably extravagant lifestyle and colorful character makes for a compelling story of achievement and, at times, head-shaking disbelief.
David Smith hopes to write a book that begins with the tobacco company’s 1760 founding which created such fabulous wealth for the Lorillard dynasty that they could engage in horse breeding and horse racing, dog breeding, yacht racing, financing excavations of Mayan ruins in Central America, the building of incredibly lavish homes and estates, and the development of a country club and luxury retreat for the super rich.
NYTimes headline: How Mr. Lorillard Divided His Estate, July 14, 1901
Lorillard died at 67 in 1901, and willed Rancocas Stud Farm, now known as Helis Stock Farm, to his mistress Lily Livingston (AKA Lily Allien), and the sensational scandal that resulted played out in the pages of theNew York Times for all to see. A book that could tell the epic story of the tobacco heir’s bigger than life bio along with all of his diverse sporting and commercial interests plus include the development of his company would be weighty, indeed.
I’m thinking a blockbuster movie or maybe an HBO mini-series a lá the glitz and glam of Boardwalk Empire (without the gunplay) would be the way to tell this story. Who could play Young Pierre? Who would you cast for Mrs. Lorillard, Older Pierre, and Lily?
Each of our historical societies has colorful characters and persons of achievement perhaps just as compelling Pierre Lorillard, even if not as rich. For our diminutive borough, it’s the Ogdens, Grices, Dreers, Lippincotts, and Dorrances of years past, with new names of people who have effected recent change such as Betty Hahle now added to that honored roll. Who’s on your town’s list?
Unidentified Union Soldier - Library of Congress
We are always looking to expand our virtual image collection and add to our knowledge base. The latest plea was for information from anyone with a Riverton Civil War veteran tucked back in one of those branches of their family tree.
Ultimately, we hope to investigate the position taken by Riverton women, area Quakers, the general public, the business community, and various Riverton institutions toward the Civil War, so please let us know what you can. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
A recent USA Today article claimed that as many as 50,000 persons in the US take part, at least occasionally, in the hobby of Civil War reenactment. One of the most impassioned and enthusiastic students of local history that I met at the History Faire at the County Fair in Columbus, NJ last week was the solitary Civil War reenactor who bivouacked at the entrance to our tent each of those four sticky searing days.
Edwin L. Kaewell hopes to capitalize on the resurgence in interest for reenactment for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War by forming a squad for the 23rd Regiment NJ Volunteers—a regiment in which at least two Riverton residents served during the Civil War.
Gerald photographed all 3 sides; then I joined the views.
Since HSR President Gerald Weaber and I had just spent the previous two weeks readying our Society’s History Faire display on Riverton’s response to the Civil War, I was drawn to Mr. Kaewell’s earnest recruiting appeals to passers-by and was already imagining that his success could eventually benefit a part of our own mission as well—to create an awareness of our borough’s Civil War heritage.(See a 2 min., 45 sec./28.7 MB video clip here.)
Many reenactors assume a “persona,” of a historical character which they create, complete with backstory, while others represent real people. Using first-person interaction, Civil War reenactors often recreate the daily activities, thoughts, and behavior of these characters and speak as if they were living in the 1860s.
Historical interpreters staging a living history encampment stay in character as Civil War soldiers, giving visitors the feeling that they are learning first-hand about life in the 1860s. All participants–presenters and spectators–engaging in such an authentic living history experience will probably understand the legacy of freedom and unity that the Civil War bestowed upon our Nation as well as the soldier’s experience and sacrifice in a way that no book can convey.
Imagine a future July Fourth in which a squad of Civil War reenactors dressed in their Prussian blue woolen coats, sky-blue trousers, and heads topped with kepis marches in the parade or stages an encampment as part of those festivities.
Even better—imagine if we in the HSR could give enough research and support to the unit that would encourage some members to role-play the part of a historical Rivertonian and incorporate actual events into their person’s backstory.
History Faire tents housed Civil War displays made by historical societies
To mark the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, each of the participating historical societies at the Burlington County Farm Fair displayed information and artifacts relevant to their respective community’s response to the conflict. A check of past newsletters shows that the topic has received little attention, except as it related to other subjects, so we have some catching up to do.
With so many Civil War history and genealogy enthusiasts, quite possibly, some readers of this column may have a head start on us, so we sincerely invite anyone with more facts or suggestions for sources of information to please contact us.
What we are initially looking for are additional names of Civil War veterans who have spent some part of their life in Riverton, either before entering service or afterward. A preliminary examination of records yielded at least 16 veterans’ names associated with at least eight different regiments in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. See that veterans list here. We appeal to our readers to dust off those family albums and shake those family trees to see if we missed anyone.
Ultimately, a comprehensive treatment of Riverton’s response to the Civil War needs to include much more—the actions of women on the home front while men were at war; the support of some normally pacifist-believing Quakers who fought to defend their abolitionist views; the effects of conscientious objectors; the influence and support of clubs, fraternities, churches, and various institutions; and the contributions of the business community to the war effort, and more will all be investigated.
The following brief abstract of the 23rd NJ Volunteer Infantry Regiment is part of the research on Riverton and the Civil War which we exhibited, and we post it here as a down payment on what is certain to be a larger body of research over the course of this four-year observance of the Civil War’s Sesquicentennial. The chronicle of this unique regiment may stir someone to enlist in Edwin Kaewell’s reenactment unit or perhaps support his effort materially.
A short biographical sketch of the two known Rivertonian members of the Jersey Yahoos completes this segment. Here is the bio for Private Job K. Bell and here is the bio for Private Albert VanSciver.
For more information on the four-year-long commemoration of the Civil War, and a foot-in-the-door for starting your own research, here are three suggestions:
The Civil War Trust has been involved in historic preservation efforts since 1987, and has saved over 30,000 acres of America’s Civil War battlefield land.
We thank County Historian Joe Laufer for a great experience at the first History Faire at the County Fair in Columbus, NJ, and we look forward to doubling our display area for the second. It afforded an unmatched opportunity to interact and network with members of other historical societies as well as a chance to try those amazing pulled-pork sandwiches at the nearby Amish food vendor stand. There will be more to report about our Farm Fair encounters in another post. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
P.S. Here’s another old Moorestown image, courtesy of one of our patrons of postcard collecting. He writes:
“An early view of 101 E. Main Street at Chester Ave. in Moorestown. Afterward, this store would become Doughten’s and then later Matlack’s store. This is an early view and is a card that I had never seen before in all the years I have been collecting postcards. Please add this to the Riverton website.”
A Favorite Corner in Moorestown
P.P.S . Regarding the comment made about the above Garrigues’s Cash Grocer post card by resident fact-checker Paul Schopp. my postcard collector friend who contributed the above scan writes,”Thanks, and Paul is quite right…. Thanks for keeping me accurate.”
I must echo my friend’s remark. Pullleeeze do not hesitate to tell us when we get something wrong. When I was in the classroom and one of my students pointed out a mistake I had made, I encouraged them to keep score as a devious way of getting them to pay closer attention. So start counting. I’m just glad that Gerald and I aren’t the only ones reading this column. – John McCormick
The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything. ~Edward Phelps
Main Street homeowners decorate, clean up, and spruce up for July FourthBy July 2, 2011, many homeowners were busy giving the finishing touches to the exterior of their homes and even doing some last-minute landscaping in preparation for the throngs of spectators who would be making their yearly pilgrimage from near and far to Riverton’s Main Street for its celebrated annual July Fourth parade.
It seems that everyone has their own July Fourth family rituals and cherished memories of the “good ol’ days” whether they be 8 years ago or 80. Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer, Jan Hefler, profiled the swirl of activity surrounding one porch party and wrote a story which could probably be repeated in kind, if not in degree, on quite a few other porches. Here is the link for Jan Hefler’s story.
Jeannie O’Sullivan, writing for the Burlington County Times, whom I have cited here before, reminds us that memories and rituals regarding Riverton’s July Fourth celebrations are no less vivid for out-of-towners (like myself) whose vantage point for watching the parade has varied from curbside to other people’s porches. Here is the link for Jeannie O’Sullivan’s story.
My first memories of Riverton are the times when my grandparents brought my brother, mother, and me to witness the parade and the fireworks that followed at the riverbank. That fifty year old memory is dwarfed by the recollections of many others who can mark so many personal milestones by the number of parades that they have seen pass by their view.
Reviving an HSR tradition which apparently had not been done since 2004, Gerald Weaber and I handed out several hundred July Fourth Palm Cards during the parade and during the raft races. I confess that I largely plagiarized bits from previous series of palm cards and hastily printed them up the night before. Readers, in your spare time, please check your old July 4th palm cards against these dates: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, and send me a scan of any more dates that you have. I would very much like to document what has already been done other years.
Maribeth Paige Shaffer was one of the people to whom I distributed the new cards. She kindly responded to my request to send photos of the raft race to post. Thank you, Ms. Shaffer for the brilliant photographs .
Main Street homeowners decorate, clean up, and spruce up for July Fourth
There will be more posts and photos forthcoming on the subject of Riverton’s July Fourths, past and present. In the meantime, if you care to tell a bit of your story here, please leave a comment, or contact me. John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
Just want to quickly touch base. HSR members very much enjoyed Kate Butler and Greg Cristiano’s March presentation on “Ladies’ & Gentlemen’s Accessories of the Past Victorian, Edwardian, and Depression Eras.” Sorry for the short notice, but they have a very appropriately timed new talk coming up in Sewell on July 11th called,”By the Sea: A History of the Swimsuit and Seashore Memorabilia.” All of the information is on the PDF where you’ll find the link with which to register, here.
I am working a post about Riverton’s recent July Fourth festivities so please check back for lots of still photos, some video clips, and as usual, some fascinating and little known Riverton history facts with which to impress and influence friends, neighbors, and business acquaintances. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
History may indeed have been made on June 12, 2011, if the recently held Historic Riverton Criterium turns out to become another borough tradition as many hope.
HSR member Mrs. Pat Solin had a ringside seat for the main event from her front door at Fourth and Main .
She writes:
photo by Lee Rogers
“…all cars had to be off the streets. Police set up barriers and town maintenance folk cleaned the street of debris to ensure a safe ride for the participants. The weather was beautiful for the race… We could hear a live band, and folks lined the street along the route to cheer for their favorite riders. Our neighbors had company over and made it an ‘event.’ We watched the riders from time to time either from the curb or from within the house because, as you noted, they sped by directly in front of the house.”
I knew that the race was coming because HSR President Gerald Weaber had copied me on an email that he had received. Someone helping with organizing the Historic Riverton Criterium had a question about the age of a house.
Riverton Athletic Assn. quarter-mile bicycle track – note roof of old passenger PRR station in distance at right; roof of present-day Zena’s near center
First off, I had to look up “criterium.” in the dictionary.
Then I anticipated that the organizers might want to know that Riverton once held bicycle races and even had a bicycle track, now long gone. I didn’t hear anything further after I sent along a link to Mrs. Pat Solin’s September 2009 Gaslight News article, “The Fine Grounds of the Riverton Athletic Association,” and another link from the New York Times archives showing a map of the old bicycle track near Thomas Avenue and Broad Street.
In her September GN piece, Pat traces the development of the Riverton Athletic Association from its beginning in July 1865, just after the Civil War, as simply some amateurs playing baseball in Biddle’s apple orchard to its involvement in an array of other popular sports, including bicycling. A highlight of the story is the account of a contest that will probably never again be duplicated, a 150-mile race from the steps of the New York Times building in New York City and culminating at Riverton’s packed to capacity bicycle stadium. Click here to read the whole incredible story.
1890 map detail – Riverton Ball Club Grounds at Broad and Thomas later became the bicycle stadium
In any case, I imagine that the information eventually made its way to Jeannie O’Sullivan, staff writer for the Burlington County Times, who wrote a delightful story cleverly contrasting the old and new races. You can find the complete article, photos, and a YouTube video by clicking on this link.
You can read the chatter between the members of the Historic Riverton Criterium Facebook group as the event progressed from planning and development, to race day, and posting of the results. In addition, there are dozens of photographs of the day’s activities, posted by several different photographers. The students of Mr. Christian Hochenberger’s Shawnee High School Photography Club posted over 300 photos here. Do not miss viewing the set taken by Lee Rogers, owner of Bicycle Therapy, a race sponsor who posted on Flickr, the photo-sharing site.
If you’d like to see more New York Times articles of yesteryear, use the advanced search optionof the New York Times archive to search issues from 1851-1980 for Riverton-related articles. Browse at your own risk, however, as it can not only become addictive, but hours can fly by reading about those times past.
graphic for 1890 bicycling column in The Sporting Life
Another place to look for sports news of all sorts related to Riverton is in the pages of The Sporting Life, a weekly sports news publication printed in Philadelphia from 1885-1917, and now found online at the sports research library of the LA84 Foundation. There you can read about the famous Riverton Gun Club, the legendary “Riverton Nines” baseball team, yacht races, football, bicycle races, swimming–even cricket. Here is the link for the LA84 search page.
In addition to enlarging my vocabulary, further investigation into this cycling phenomenon has resulted in finding yet another “Yesterday” column written by Mrs. Betty B. Hahle over thirty years ago for the May 1981 issue of Gaslight News which sheds more light on those bicycle races of the late 19th century. Following is an account of the opening of the Riverton Athletic Association’s new quarter-mile track in 1894. As Betty wished, the re-publication of her work which follows is printed exactly as it originally appeared:
“As bicycling grew in popularity, Wheelmen’s Clubs were formed and meets became a part of the growing interest in athletic events.
Bicycle Century Run under auspices of Riverton Athletic Assn. Camden to Atlantic City via Gloucester – Gloucester-Woodbury Turnpike, Westville Toll Gate – Sept. 8, 1894
Riverton’s team used a track on Fulton street, below the railroad, and then a larger one above the railroad, where Lippincott, Thomas, and 7th streets are today. June of 1894 saw the new track completed there, in time for the riders to begin training for the big meet on July 4th. It was the widest 1/4 mile track in the world, designed by O.S. Bunnell of Philadelphia, a much-respected cycler who would also be the referee on the big day.
Night Bicycle Race Medal – July 1, 1895
And what a day it must have been! Riverton, with a population numbering only a few hundred, had an attendance of nearly 4000, according to the papers. There were 8 class-A events, trick riders, an exhibition ½-mile ride by Harrison Barcus, a 5-year-old, on a 10 lb. wheel, and a 5-mile event that ‘kept spectators at fever heat from start to finish’. Julius Blauberg, a prominent caterer from Philadelphia, had charge of refreshment stands, and prizes–oh, the prizes…5 diamonds, gold and silver medals, jewelry, and many other valuable articles. A.J. Briggs, Riverton’s Athletic Association manager, kept things moving and was careful that all activities and decisions were fair. Soon color was introduced into the meets by having riders wear brightly colored shirts instead of numbers to identify them–and shortly there followed items of vandals breaking into the athletic building on the grounds and making off with ‘articles of clothing’. Fireworks were held at the bicycle grounds after the races.
In 1894 W.F. Sims was out to break his record of a mile in 2.11. He aimed to do it in 2 minutes–and made it. (Speed on the track was one thing; it was something else along the streets and paths of town, and increasingly there were reports of children being knocked down, teeth being lost in the process, and broken bones of older victims. Tempers grew short with this behavior–even on Sunday–and there were calls for dealing more severely with the culprets.”
Saying, “It makes obvious sense to tie in the racing history and the Historic Riverton Criterium,” Carlos Rogers, a 20-year veteran competitive cyclist whose vision it was to bring the amateur cycling meet to his newly adopted hometown (by marriage to the former Adrienne Gaughn), started planning for the race late last year. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are owners and operators of the highly regarded Hush Salon in Philadelphia’s Old City District.
The novice promoter acknowledged the first-time challenges of navigating those uncertain waters of borough government and tradition and was, in the end, elated at the result. Taking stock of the event and the public’s reception to it, Carlos remarked, “By all accounts, from borough officials, riders, residents, and spectators, it was a resounding success.”
Let’s hope that history repeats itself in this case and that the Historic Riverton Criterium returns again next year. In the process we shall add another chapter to the history of cycling in Riverton, NJ. – John McCormick, Gaslight News editor
I felt like my name had just been listed in Boyd’s Philadelphia Blue Book, that fashionable private address directory for the socially elite of the late 1800s when HSR President Gerald Weaber, myself, and our spouses received invitations to attend the Clothier Family Reunion recently. Society members Mary Louise Bianco-Smith and Ken Smith hosted the event at their Bank Street home on Sunday, June 5, 2011.
Gerald Weaber finds the house on a map
There we mingled with several generations of descendants of Caleb Clothier, one of Riverton’s ten original founders, and listened to tales about their ancestors and Riverton history in the very home where Mr. Clothier had lived. We toured the grand villa so faithfully restored and decorated that it looks just as if Caleb and the missus just stepped out for a stroll along the river.
Plan of the New Town of Riverton c. 1850
Noted journalist Sally Friedman, writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer, produced a wonderful piece about the day’s events accompanied by several professional photographs. Ms. Friedman, notebook in hand, earnestly questioned many persons that day as her photographer inconspicuously captured priceless images of this rare convergence of the extended Clothier Family.
Clothier heirlooms and mementoes
When the questions came to me about the history of Riverton and the founder’s home in which we were visiting, I referred the reporter to the ultimate expert. I mean, how does one give a person a crash course on 160 years of Riverton history?
I sent Ms. Friedman the link to the Borough of Riverton’s website to find the concise Town History which Mrs. Betty B. Hahle wrote in 2004. You can see the marvelous result of the correspondent’s due diligence in getting the facts aligned with the Clothier family saga at the philly.com website.
antique music box once belonged to Isaac and Mary Clothier
Click here for a short video of Robert Taylor demonstrating the intricate imported music box mentioned and pictured in the Inquirer article.
For our contribution to the historical record I consulted some of Betty Hahle’s research stored in our archives which we have not yet posted on this website. The best capsule description of how Riverton began might be in Mrs. Hahle’s 1990 introduction to the VHS videotape version of The Romance of Riverton, a deteriorating nitrate-based 1926 film which she helped rescue in 1980, by first having it transferred to modern safety film, then to videotape.
map detail - note Clothier home
“Riverton was founded in 1851 by a group of ten men usually referred to as ‘Philadelphia merchants’ who were seeking a place to build their summer homes away from the City’s problems, yet close enough to commute to their Center City places of business.
They were familiar with this area from family ties in the area, and from Friends’ meetings, and jointly purchased 120 acres of Joseph Lippincott’s farm that lay between the Delaware River and the railroad line. Robert and William C. Biddle, Prof. Charles D. Cleveland, Caleb and James Clothier, Chalkley Gillingham, Daniel L. Miller Jr., Dillwyn and William D. Parrish, and Rodman Wharton engaged architect Samuel Sloan to design their new village, to be called ‘Riverton.’ His plan included not only the founders’ riverfront villas, but also 105 building lots, streets, a walled and landscaped riverbank, a pier for steamboat landings, a railroad station at the upper end of town, and a small general store on the point opposite it. According to the noted historian of American architecture, Henry Russell Hitchcock, Riverton was the first wholly planned residential subdivision in America.”
View of RYC and Delaware River from the front lawn
From Betty’s “Yesterday” column in the February 1981 Gaslight News we learn briefly of the business dealings of the ten “Philadelphia merchants”:
“The Philadelphians who founded the village of Riverton lived and/or had businesses in Old Philadelphia, shared a love of sailing, and a friendship and trust that permitted arrangements to be sealed, with a handshake. The Jersey side of the Delaware was familiar to them not only from sailing into its coves, but also through business contacts. William D. Parrish had for some years advertised in Burlington county papers (wholesale dealer in paper, rags, school books, blank books, writing paper, printing and wrapping paper, wall and. curtain paper, all at manufacturer’s prices), as had others of the group. Dillwyn Parrish was a druggist, Robert Biddle a hardware merchant, Caleb Clothier dealt in bricklaying, Rodman Wharton in paints, and Prof. Charles D. Cleveland”… “had a girls’ school. Miller McKim”… “had an anti-slavery office near Cleveland’s school…”
Clothier 50th Anniversary
Memorial testimony at a meeting recorded in the Friends’ Intelligencer United with the Friends’Journal, Philadelphia, Sixth Month (June) 13, 1885, regarding the “humble and upright life” of Caleb Clothier mentions his involvement in the Abolitionist Movement: “He was early an earnest worker in the Anti-Slavery cause, and many a poor fugitive from bondage received his active and material aid.” Riverton is never mentioned, however, in this lengthy obituary from the Quaker perspective.
From another “Yesterday” column in the November 1979 Gaslight News we learn that Caleb Clothier sold the property and … “Edward Ogden, capitalist and 1st Mayor of Riverton, lived in the Caleb Clothier house at 503 Bank.”
Bing map - screenshot only
Here’s a link to a Bing Map of 503 Bank Avenue. You should see a bird’s-eye aerial photo map with a “pin” stuck in the location for 503 Bank.
You can choose to further explore the Riverton of today by using the navigation controls along the top margin of the map to zoom or rotate your view.
Regular readers may recall the January 30th entry, “Whoa, this is heavy!” which described the new Historypin website in which you can take a virtual drive through some of Riverton’s main thoroughfares.
The Society may be on summer hiatus, but please continue to check back here for more history of Riverton and the region. If you have something to bring to our attention regarding a story idea, comments or criticism, or you would like to make a donation which would help us in our mission to “discover, restore, and preserve local objects and landmarks, and to continue to expand our knowledge of the area,” please do not hesitate to bring it to our attention. Remember our easy address, rivertonhistory.com and tell your neighbors and friends who have moved away about us. – John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor
