History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 168

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150

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Town of Wayne .- In September, 1880, the read- ers of a Philadelphia newspaper were informed that George W. Childs, of the Philadelphia Ledger, and A. J. Drexel, of that city, had purchased a tract of land of about six hundred acres, three hundred of which is the Louella farm at Wayne Station, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, formerly owned by J. Henry Askin. It is the intention of the present owners to have the property laid out in the most attractive man- ner by an experienced gardener. Buildings will be erected, lots sold on the most advantageous terms, and money advanced to those who desire to build. There are several fine residences, two public halls, a church (Presbyterian), and gas- and water-works on a part of the Askin estate. The new purchase will be called " Wayne," and there will be about five bun- dred thousand dollars invested, including proposed improvements. The lots will he sold at private sale, it being the intention of the projectors to provide de-, sirable residences for those of moderate means, who may desire to settle in that portion of Delaware County.

Thus was foreshadowed what has since proved to be the successful and praiseworthy enterprise in which Messrs. Childs and Drexel embarked. After the lapse of nearly four years another newspaper speaks of "Wayne's rapid growth" as follows:

" The beautiful suburban town which Mr. George W. Childs, of the Public Ledger, and the Messrs. Drexel, the bankers, are building at Wayne Statiou on the Pennsylvania Railroad, has just dooned its eum- mer garb; Louella Maosiou, the larger of the two hotele there, having opened yesterday for the season. This, with the Bellavue, which pulled up its blinds a week ago, contributes over four hundred or oue-third of the population of the place. In three years forty-nina daw buildings have beeo erected by these capitalists, a large hotel has been con- structed, and another one very much enlarged; they have perfected a drainage system which is sald to ba uuequaled by any resort in the United States, tha designs having been furnished by Col. George F.

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Waring, the best posted man in the country on sanitary matters. Miles of distribution pipe have been laid by them; a water system that drawe its supply from springs at the source of Ithan Creek, and clarifies itself in a reservoir capable of holding two hundred and fifty thousand gallone, at an elevation of four hundred and fifty feet above tide-water, has been put in operation; a nursery has been laid ont for young sprigs, which are tenderly cared for in this little patch until they have acquired enongh age to be transplanted along the banks of the creek in a pretty park ; a new and attractive station has been built by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, new driving roads bave been made, and in all there has been an ontlay for grounds and improvements of three-quarters of a million dollars towards the establishment of a city on scientific princi- ples, and towards providing homes in the country with all the comforts of the city. Eventually six hundred houses will be built there, and ac- commodation furnished for a population of three thousand.

" A drive along the Lancaster pike, past Bryn Mawr, Radnor, and other resting-places of wealth and fashion, brings Wayne within an hour and a half of the Public Buildings, at Broad and Market Streets. The distance by rail is fourteen miles, or thirty minutes from Broad Street Station. The pike is owned by a corporation headed by Mr. A. J. Cassatt, who bought the charter of the stretch from Philadelphia to Paoli for seven thousand five hundred dollars, and then improved it at an expense of seventy thousand dollars. Before the building of the Penneylvania Railroad it was the main avenue from Philadelphia to the West, but after the railroad paralleled it with tracke, up to the time that Mr. Cassstt and his friends acquired possession, it had been very much neglected. 'To-day there is not in America a driving road nf equal length that compares with it. Along this avenne for a stretch of one and a half milee lies the Childs-Drexel tract of seven hundred acres, and facing it on either side are nearly all of the buildings which these gentlemen have put up. A row of eighteen residences set out by pairs, in lote having one hundred and twenty feet front, has just been finished. The new buildings etand forty feet back of the street line. They are of brick, with broad piazzas and sloping lawne surrounding. The interiors are planned with broad open stairways, finished in hard wood. There are tiled fireplaces and handsomely-carved mantels, wide door-ways that give opportunities for luxurious draperies, stained glass windows and numerons gables, spacious bath-rooms, and other conveni- ences that are seldom looked for outside of large cities. Many of these properties have been sold for five thousand two hundred dollars each, Messrs. Childs and Drexel taking one-third in cash and the balance on easy installmente. Contracts have been entered into for a row of eigh- teen frame cottages, costing three thousand dollars each, north of the railroad. A larga building designed for a drug-store and a bakery is rising opposite the town hall, and a livery with accommodations for one bundred and fifty horses has been established.

"It is proposed to utilize the waters of Gulf Creek to supply those properties lying north of the railroad, where there are two hundred acres of the tract, and where extensive improvements are also in con- templation. Three railroad stations dot the property,-St. David's, Wayne, and Eagle. The last-named place le the sits of the old Eagle Hotel, which Mr. Childe bonght to stop the sale of liquor near his bail- iwick. It has been fitted up nicely, and will be used during the enm- mer as a school for the Indian children of the Lincoln Institution.

"Near St. David's, on the north side, and on part of the original As- kin'e property, many new residences are going np. Mr. Runk, of Dar- lington & Runk, has located there. Mr. Robert Stewart, of Stewart, Ralph & Co., is putting up a bandsome building to cost fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Thomas Williams, father-in-law of Mr. George B. Roberts, and Mr. Heury Geiss, the wool man, are also building. Mr. Goldsbor- ongh has bonght six acres adjoining Mr. Runk. Mr. Manley, of Man- ley & Cooper, purchased the old George House of Mr. Childs, and is fit- ting it up in complete style. Mr. John M. Kennedy, Jr., has improved his bonse.

"Real estate men say that the tendency of purchasers of country hames along the Pennsylvania Railroad is beyond Bryn Mawr, and they attribute this to three facts,-the lower prices, bigher elevation, and the extensive iniprovemente at Wayne and other places near by. In six years the value of real estate fringing the Pennsylvania Railroad from the connty-line to a point near Paoli has appreciated nearly $30,000,000. All this started with the purchase of 600 acres near White Hall by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company thirteen years ago. Within three years the advance in prices along the line has been very rapid. Prop- erties that sold in 1880 for $500 an acre have been recently disposed of for $1200, and some pieces of the ground have gone at $4200 an acre."1

A more particular account of the town of to-day, however, is found in the following article, which was published in the Germantown Telegraph, under date of July 2, 1884 :

" A new town, or rather an aggregation of delightful suburban resi- dences, is rapidly springing up within easy traveling distance of the city of Philadelphia, either by rail or pike. It is known as 'Wayne,' Delaware Connty, PR., and is situated on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1475, miles from the Pennsylvania Railroad Station at Broad and Market Streets, and is also accessible by a pleasant drive over Lan- caster Avenne or pike. During the latter part of the year 1880 two prominent and enterprising Philadelphia capitaliste, Mr. George W. Childs, proprietor of the Public Ledger, and Mr. Anthony J. Drexel, the well-known banker, conceived the idea of making extensive improve- ments in Radnor township, near Wayne station, on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In the following spring large tracts of charm- ingly-situated land were purchased, and the work of building com- menced. The first land purchased was a tract of about 500 acres belong- ing to Mr. J. Henry Askin. Adjoining properties were then secured, until over 600 acres of fine land came into the possession of Messrs. Childs and Drexel, and no time was lost in laying out the most available gronnd into building-lots. The nucleus of a good-sized and most at- tractive-looking town soon appeared, and Dow not less than fifty elegant residences have been completed and occupied, nr are being finished with great rapidity, and the gentlemen named have not less than $600,000 invested in the great enterprise. The dwellings erected or under prog- ress are very handsome architecturally, and are built in the most sub- stantial manner, being provided with every modern convenience, and the drainage system, constructed under the supervision of Col. Waring, is simply perfect.

"The extent of the estate may be judged from the fact that three Pennsylvania Railroad stations are on the property, namely, Wayne Station, St. David's Station, and Eagle Station, and for the purpose of giving the reader a comprehensive idea of the new town of Wayne and its surroundings, the writer proposes to describe a visit he recently made there, and state just what he saw.

" A half-hour's railroad ride from the Broad Street Station brought me to Wayne Station, and emerging from the cars a short walk up Wayne Avenue and past several beautiful cottages on either side brought WayDe Lycenm Hall into view, owned by Masers. Childs and Drexel. The hall is three stories high, and is built of brick and plas- tered. It cost about thirty thousand dollars. A large general store and a drug-store are ou the first floor, and an andlence-room for five hundred persons is on the second and third floors. The ball is forty feet by sixty feet in size ; it is situated at the corner of Wayne and Lancaster Ave- nnes, and contains the post-office and the superintendent's business office. Opposito Wayne Lyceum Hall, on Lancaster Avenne, is the cot- tage of Mr. J. Henry Askin, the former owner of the estate. The cot- tage is handsomely built of brick, and has a spacions porch and a neat lawn. Close by is the cottage of Mrs. Patterson, a fine brick building, and north of that is the large and substantial cottage of Mr. Israel Sol- onion, of the Bingham House, who also purchased the adjoining lot. There are other cottages near by belonging to Mr. Childe as yet unsold. A fine cottage adjoining Mr. Askin's is occupied by Mr. William J. Phil- lips, ex-superintendent of the Police and Fire Alarm Telegraph. The intervening property on Lancaster Avenue between Mr. Phillips' cot- tage and the Bellevue Mansion, is owned by Mr. William D. Hughes, of the firm of Hughes & Cook. He owne some four or five acres, beanti- fully laid ont. Between Lancaster Avenue and Wayne is a French drain, which completely protects the water need from all impurities. An elegant cottage on Lancaster Avenne opposite the Bellevne Mansion has been sold, although not yet finished. This cottage is one of seven others of similar character. They will contain twelve rooms, open hall- ways, parlor, dining-room, library, and kitchen on the first floor ; four chambers and bath-room on the second floor, and the same on the third floor, and elegant wide porches. The cottages are finished in imitation of hard wood, and built of brick and stone, with slate roofs, have hot and cold water, and are papered in the latest style. The Jots are one hundred feet front and three hundred feet deep. Mr. Abbott, of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, is building a five cottage on the same land, and will spend his honeymoon there.

" We now come to the beantifully-situated Bellevne Mansion on Lan- caster Avenue. The mansion has been leased by Mr. Childs to Miss Mary Simmons and her sister, and is a charming summer resort, It has one hundred rooms, and each room has a private porch. Four

1 Philadelphia Record, May 22, 1884.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

porches run entirely around the mansion, and the building and enr- roundings cost over eighty thousand dollars. The mansion etende in the centre of a beautiful lawn, and is approached by a fine macadamized road. The parlors present a most luxurious appearance, and the large and elegant dining-room is where the ' Aztec Club' took their annual dinner before the death of Gen. Robert Patterson. A haudsume billiard- room or hall is near the mansion, and there are ice-houses, servante' quarters, stables, gas-house, etc. The mansion is well supplied with fire-escapes, and the heating arrangements are excellent. There are & smoking-room, card-room, private parlors, etc.

" Adjoining Bellevue Mansion on the west is a lot one hundred by three hundred feet in size, purchased by Mr. Theodore Gugert, of the firm of Bergner & Engel, who is erecting an elegant cottage, and west of Mr. Gugert'e property is the lut owned by Dr. Egbert, a young phy- siciao of Radnor township, who is also building a fine stoue cottage. Dr. Egbert has medical charge of the young Indian girls at the Spread Eagle Hotel, near his cottage. The hotel building, owned by Mr. Childa, is an old stone structure built in 1795, and has been loaned by him as a country home for the young Iodian warde of the Lincoln In- stitute, eighty-five in uumber, who are under the care of Mrs. Belangee Cox. The children have plenty of comforts and conveniencea, and every opportunity for out-door exercice, without being interfered with hy out- siders. They have plenty of freedom, but still a strict watch is kept over them.

" Leaving Spread Eagle Hotel and returning, we come to Conestoga road or the old Lancaster pike, and at the intersection of the pike and Wayne Avenue stands the old Baptist Church, and it is said Gen. Anthony Wayne is buried near there.1 A number of elegant building lots, owned by Messrs, Childe and Drexel, are in the vicinity of the Baptist Church, and they can be bought for from eight hundred to fifteen hundred dollars each, having fronte of one hundred and fifty feet and consider- able depth. Near by, at the corner of old Wayne road and Blooming- dale Avenue, may he seen the spacious and substantial reservoir, which cost thirty thousand dollars, and has & capacity for three hundred thon- sand gallons of pure spring water, of which there is an abundant supply on the estate. The reservoir stande four hundred and fifty feet above tide-water, and is supplied by extensive and costly water-worke. There is a fine accent to the reservoir and an elegaut promenade on top, pro- vided with rustic seata. At the corner of Bloomingdale road aod Wayne Avenue stands a superb cottage, owned by Childe end Drexel. It has a very fine lawn, with evergreens, carpet gardening, etc. Nearly oppo- site, on Bloomingdale Avenue, is the very superior cottage of Robert Smith. No expense has been spared ou this cottage and the surrounding grounds. There are several very handsome cottagea on Bloomingdale Avenue, which is a popular promenade leading lo the reservoir.

" Leaving Bloomingdale Avenne and going northeast nn Wayne Ave- nue can be seen a number of new brick and stone cottages on either aide. They are very superior and provided with all modern conveni- ences. Some have fronte of eighty-five feet by two hundred and fifty feet deep, and will be sold for five thousand five hundred dollars, clear of all incomhradce. Each cottaga ie by itself, and there is plenty of privacy.

"Crossing Audubon Avenue, with Windemere Avenue to the right (on which there are several available building lots), we approach two new and handsome stores, opposite Wayne Lyceum Hall, one to be used as a drug-store and the other as a bread and cake bakery and refresh- ment saloon. Again striking Lancaster Avenue, we approach the costly, well-built Presbyterian Church, near Wayne Lyceum Hall, and of which the Rev. William Kruse is pastor. Near by are two splendid cottages, nearly finished, with lots seveuty-five feet front and three hundred feet deep. They are built of brick, with slate roofe, ten rooms, wide porches, fine lawus and luxuriously fitted up. Just east of these is the fine cot- tage of James Pinkerton, paying-teller of the Bank of North America. Mr. l'inkerton's lot is two hundred by three hundred feet, and his cot- tage is the picture of comfort.

"Now comes one of the great attractions of the estate, the Louella Mansion aud magnificent surrounding grounde on the north side of Lancaster Avenue. The mansion ie a splendid stone structure, with eighty rooms, aud is surrounded by a spacious porch that looks ou as finely cultivated a lawn as can be found in the surrounding country. The mansion has a front of one hundred feet, and is a very imposing- looking edifice. There is a lawn front on Lancaster Avenue of ona

thousand feet, and an abundance of shrubbery, ahade trees, flower-bede, etc. Lowella Mansion is a very popular summer resort, and is conducted by Miss E. R. Boughter, who renta the establishment from Mr. Childa. East of the Louella Mansion is the old shade ground on which stands the old Carpenter homestead, or " Maule Farm." Opposite Louella Mansion, and south of Lancaster Avenue, stand the water-works, con- taining a large retaining pond from which the water is pumped into the reservoir. Adjoining the Louella grounds ure extensive livery stables, with stall-room for one hundred horses, and near by is a commodious wagon-house. The stabliog arrangements are under the care of Mr. Charles R. Wetherell, the competent and experienced lessee.

"Reaching Aberdeen Avenue, we find several very superior brick cot- tages, with elegant terraced walks in front, and graveled font-ways. Several of these cottagea are occupied, and all of them are in a fiuished condition. These cottages are built on large lots and finished in first- clase style. They contain from nine to twelve handsomely-papered rooma, side vestibules, stained-glass windows, broad porches, and spa- cious stair-ways. The heating arrangemente are excellent, including low-down grates in the parlors. The kitchens have circular boilers, ranges, hot and cold water, etc., and all the rooms and passage-ways, from the first floor up, are finished in imitation of hard wood. Bath- rooms and water-closeta are on the second floor, and all tha bedrooma ara provided with inside shutters. There are sliding doors between the parlors and dining-rooms aud between the vestibules and parlors, These cottages rent for three hundred and sixty, four hundred and eighty, and six hundred dollars per annum, according to size, and will sell from five thousand two hundred and fifty dollars to seven thousand two hundred dollars each. They can be purchased on easy terms. A number of smaller (frame) cottages, on Wayne Avenue, north of the railroad, will be rented for twenty dollars per month, and can be bought for three thousand dollars each.

" Back of St. David's Station, Mr. Manley, of the firm of Mauley & Cooper, is converting an old stone country farm-house into a first-class cottage, and the surrounding lot is being laid out in elegant style. The lot is one hundred and fifty by three hundred feet, and the cottage will contain fifteen rooms. Near St. David's Station is a charming piece of woodland, which will be utilized as a grove for pleasure parties, picnics, etc.

" All the buildings that have been erected at Wayne since Messrs. Childe and Drexel took hold of things there have been put up by Mesers. Wendell & Smith, the well-known builders. It may be mentioned hera that no particular style of honses are required to be built at Wayne, and parties purchasing lote can erect any kind of building they choosa, or make any disposition of their purchases they deem proper."

Mills .- As early as 1710, William Davis owned a grist-mill which was located on or near the site of the mills now owned by Tryon Lewis. A year or so later Hugh Williams was credited with the owner- ship of this mill. At this late day, however, it is found impracticable to trace the history of this ancient mill-privilege down through its successive owners, but we believe that it was the first enterprise of its kind established in the township.

The only authentic sources of information respect- ing the early mills and manufactories of Radnor are a few worn and faded assessment-rolls of the dim past. From these rolls it is ascertained that the mills, etc., and their owners during the years indi- cated below were as follows:

1766. Thomas Thomas, grist-mill ; Joseph Miles, grist- and saw-mills; Adam Siter, tan-yard.

1779. George Fetterman, grist-mill; John Evans, saw-mill; Levi Lewis, grist-mill; Adam Siter, tan- yard.

1782. William Bailey, fulling-mill ; Abram Evans, grist-mill; Levi Lewis, grist-mill.

1788. Benjamin Davis, grist-mill; Adam Siter, tan- yard; Levi Lewis, grist-mill.

1 [The remains of Gen. Anthony Wayne are hurlad in the burial-grounds attached to St. David's Church, somo two miles distant from the town of Wayne .- Editor.]

"FOX HILL FARM." RESIDENCE OF RUDULPH ELLIS, DELAWARE CO., PA.

STABLES

LODGE.

PEGASLDER

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RADNOR TOWNSHIP.

1790. Benjamin Davis, grist-mill; John Evans, saw-mill; Levi Lewis, grist-mill ; Daniel Maule, tan- yard ; Simeon Matlock, tan-yard.

1802, '03, '04. Jesse Brooke, grist-, saw-, and plas- ter-mills; David Evans, grist- and saw-mills; Levi Lewis, saw-mill ; Daniel Manle, tan-yard ; John and William Siter, tan-yard, bark- and saw-mills.

1807. Jesse Brooke, grist- and plaster-mills; Levi Lewis, grist- and saw-mills; George and Simeon Matlock, tan-yard; Daniel Maule, bark- and tan- yard; John Pugh, bark- and tan-yard ; Edward Siter, tan-yard and bark-mill ; William Siter, saw-mill.

1809. Samuel Colef, saw-mill ; Evan Roberts, grist- and saw-mills.

1811, '12. Samuel Colef, saw-mill; Levi Lewis, grist-mill; Evan Roberts, grist-mill; Jesse Brooke, grist-mill; William Siter, saw-mill ;1 Edward Siter, stone saw-mill, tan-yard, and currying-shop.

1817, '18. Jesse Brooke, grist- and saw-mill ; John2 and David Evans, grist- and saw-mill; Hannah Lewis, grist- and saw-mill; Joseph Pugh, tan-yard ; Edward Siter, tan-yard and currying-shop; William Siter, saw-mill.

1820, '21. Jesse Brooke, grist, saw- and plaster- mills; John and David Evans, grist- and saw-mills ; Edward Siter and Yocum, tan-yard ; William Siter, saw-mill.

The following is an extract from an official report made in 1826, regarding the mills, mill-seats, etc., in the county of Delaware, Pa. :

"On Ithan Creek in Radnor, a mill-seat on land of the heirs of Andrew Steel, deceased.

" On Ithan Creek, in Radnor, a grist-mill and saw- mill, head and fall abont twenty-three feet, owned and occupied by John and David Evans.

" Near the head of Ithan Creek, in Radnor, a grist- mill and saw-mill, head and fall about sixteen feet, grinds from eight to ten thousand bushels of grain per annum, and about fifty tons gypsum per annum, saw- mill employed occasionally, owned and occupied by Jesse Brooke.

" On Darby Creek above Ithan Creek, in Radnor, a mill-seat, head and fall fourteen or sixteen feet, owned by Samuel Kelly and others.

" On a westerly branch of Darby Creek, in Radnor, a saw-mill, head and fall about eighteen feet, owned and occupied by Levi Lewis.

"On Darby Creek, in Radnor, an old grist-mill, head and fall about ten feet, owned by Levi Lewis, occupied by John Weaver, grinds from ten to twelve thousand bushels of grain per annum.

" On easterly branch of Darby Creek, in Radnor, a mill-seat, on lands of Levi Lewis.

" On the same branch, in Radnor, a mill-seat, on lands of Elizabeth Matlock and others.

" On the same branch is a clover-mill and a saw- mill owned by William Siter, and occupied by Wil- liam Wilfong, Jr."

In 1829, '30, the following mills, etc., and owners were mentioned : Brooke's grist- and saw-mills ; John and David Evans' grist- and saw-mills ; E. Siter and Yocum's tan-yard, and William Siter's saw-mill.

During the year 1829, Eber James built an earthen- ware pottery kiln near the fifteenth milestone, on the old Lancaster road, which he operated (with the ex- ception of three or four years, when it was rented to Benjamin Jones) until his death, in the year 1845. Benjamin Jones then managed the works for six years, and was succeeded by L. G. James, a son of Eber. Subsequently Isaac Hoopes conducted the business for a number of years.

The mills now in operation in Radnor are the Brooke Mills, owned and operated by Joseph W. Worrell; the Evans Mills, owned and operated by David Paxon; the Siter Mill, owned and operated by Mahlon Edwards; and Tryon Lewis' mills. A large amount of work is performed at the mills last men- tioned, which, it will be remembered, occupy the seat of the mill of 1710.

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 168

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150