Riverton Walking Tour brochures at Riverton Library
Fall is a brilliant time to walk the village and discover the local history displayed in eight historical markers.
There’s more to come, thanks to a generous donation in 2016 from Carlos Rogers’ Historical Riverton Criterium that established the program which shares expenses between the HSR and the property owners.
Pick up your Walking Tour brochures for a $1 donation at Riverton Free Library or Tillie’s Trinkets & Treasures. Also, free printable copies of each are available by clicking on the links below. -JMc
Our much expanded Second Annual Daniel Campbell Riverton Awards Night took place April 16 at the Porch Club.
Homeowners brought photos and each explained their unique process involved in executing their restoration projects.
Dan Campbell, left, Adrienne Rogers, right, with the Society’s crystal keepsake
Society President Phyllis Rodgers presented each recipient with an award to symbolize their home’s transformation from a diamond in the rough to a vision realized.
Heartfelt thanks to Paul Daly for his years of service in many capacities
As originally conceived, it was again a night to congratulate and say ‘thank-you’ to a number of people who have served the Historical Society of Riverton.
The big addition to the agenda was the observance of milestone anniversaries of four of Riverton’s finest organizations – Riverton School’s 150th anniversary, the Porch Club’s 125th , Riverton Yacht Club’s 150th, and Riverton Fire Company’s 125th.
A cake for four anniversaries
It was all the excuse we needed for a big cake!
Many details of the big night are shown in the four attached slideshows. Text below indicates the content of each part.
(The slideshows contain several links to external content, so check OK or you will not see it.)
SLIDESHOW 1 covers the part shown in black text of the AGENDA below. (21 slides, 13.5MB)
SLIDESHOW 2 covers the part shown in green. (30 slides, 18.5MB)
SLIDESHOW 3 has only one topic, Riverton Yacht Club, but is the longest. (35 slides, 17.3MB)
SLIDESHOW 4, shown in the AGENDA in red, contains the Riverton Fire Company and some photos of the evening (10 slides, 10.5MB)
AGENDA April 16, 2015 Welcome – Acknowledgement of Board members and past presidents Business – Nomination and election of Peg Crook and Morgan Leone for Board seats HSR Service Awards to retiring Board members – Paul Daly, Charlotte Lippincott, Riverton School History Project Student Achievement Awards Daniel Campbell Awards – Bolton,Downes, Rogers, Schweich, Borough Council Special Service Awards – Michael Solin, Linda McCormick Historical House Markers – Bill McDermott explains new process, 100 Park Ave. Anniversaries – Mayor’s Proclamation Riverton School Porch Club Riverton Yacht Club Riverton Fire Company and candid photos of the whole event
certificates, trophies, mugs, and crystal keepsakes – tokens of achievement, recognition, and gratitude await their recipients
Ice Skaters on Delaware River – Lee Cook, Sonny Wright, Mr Allen 1908 PHOTO CREDIT: ELSIE WATERSSNOW DAY! Are there any sweeter words to be heard when one is of school age? I confess that, even as a school teacher, there were days in which I welcomed that phone call. Today’s Riverton students no longer wait praying by the radio hoping to hear the name “Riverton Public School,” or even the school closing number. Instead, they receive an automated phone message triggered by the principal to tell of the glorious news directly to their home phone. But, imagine having four snow days in a row. It happened in Riverton in 1889.
The recent 14-15 inch snowfall may indeed give some of us symptoms of “snow fatigue,” but it was a minor nuisance compared to snowstorms with which Riverton had to bear during the years 1888 and 1889. In her “Yesterday” column in the February 1979 Gaslight News, Town Historian Mrs. Betty B. Hahle cited an 1888 Receipt Book of William F. Morgan in which it was noted that…”The Great Blizzard occurred March 12th 1888.” … “The second occurred Feb. 12 and 13th 1899. It snowed for 52 hours.”
Mr. Gerald Weaber reported in his November 2009 GN article, “The Fascinating Fitler Family” that during the March 1888 storm, drifts reached fifteen to thirty feet high along the riverbank. One subject of Mr. Weaber’s article, Dale Baker Fitler, was born in Riverton exactly nine months after the March 1888 blizzard.
Finally, this newspaper scan from The New Era newspaper reports that sleighs of all types made an appearance on Main Street on Friday, February 10, 1889 as the result of a severe snowstorm which cause a temporary food scarcity and closed school from Monday through Thursday.
From the newspaper account describing the town finding fun on Main Street after emerging from four days of being snowbound and the looks of joy on these skaters’ faces, I don’t think that these citizens of old Riverton suffered from snow fatigue.
I invite you to tell how you spent your Riverton “snow days,” whenever they may have been. – John McCormick, Gaslight News Editor
