Revisionist history is a very amusing thing. And I know about this newsletter topic because for one thing the wedding ceremony was at my church when we lived on the Main Line, St. John Vianney in Gladwyne, PA.
This wedding happened only a few short years after we moved to the Main Line.
I also remember being in the Superfresh / A & P parking lot the day of the wedding when they were coming out of the church. And we weren’t waiting there to see Kennedys. We had been grocery shopping.
One of the things I also remember from the gossip around town leading up to the wedding is the bride’s family didn’t want a Catholic church wedding , but Ethel Kennedy insisted. The ultimate irony there is when the couple divorced not so long after children were produced, the soon to be ex-Mrs. Joseph Kennedy had to go through an annulment, so the precious Kennedy ex-husband could remarry again in the Catholic Church. Which, of course technically made their children illegitimate in the eyes of the Catholic Church , but details details.
If you were local, and there that day or breathing, everyone also remembers the other fun fact the Willows missed. Jackie Kennedy Onassis used the bathroom in the gas station across the street. She is still the best remembered part of that wedding. That woman had incredible grace and style.
Now we were all JFK fans in my family, but the other guests that everybody squealed over which cracked me up back then was Senator Teddy Kennedy, who went through life with a pig boy reputation… and that incident in Chappaquiddick.
No, my family was never Teddy Kennedy aficionados primarily because he pushed me off a set of steps at the Catholic something Society, maybe Historical Society. It was on South 4th Street a few doors away from the home I was born in when he was trying to run for president. I was a very little girl and I had an autograph book, and I wanted his autograph. Only as a little kid I was like a fly to be brushed off, literally down a short set of marble stairs in front of the house.
So back to the wedding. The rehearsal dinner was held at The Willows. Steve Poses who ran the Frog/Commissary did the catering. The other Main Line scuttlebutt back then was kind of how messy the Kennedy family was? At the Willows supposedly and also supposedly the old Saint David’s Inn now Radnor Hotel? I have no idea exactly what messy meant, unless it was a polite euphemism back in the day, for they were party animals, perhaps?
(Please note, I’m using the word supposedly because obviously as a fairly newly minted teenager back then I wasn’t there. But this was the open gossip up and down the Main Line after that wedding that lasted years.And there was plenty of other swirling tea surrounding these nuptials.)
So while this is being pimped out to impress future brides, and in my opinion the Willows is desperately trying to stay afloat, this event really isn’t remembered with rose colored glasses. It’s more like the old curiosity shop, and the year there was a Kennedy relative wedding in Gladwyne. Most people had forgotten about the Willows truthfully, and that simply is because it was the rehearsaldinner location, not the wedding reception spot.
And I love the Willows don’t misunderstand me. It’s a magical property, but Rose Garland, which is what the house is really named, was designed by my friend’s grandfather, Charles Barton Keen. And this has never been other than a house. It’s definitely not a mansion.
It’s OK that it’s not a mansion. When it was built, it was a house built in the California style. And once upon a time I was acquainted with Zantzingers as well, so I kind of do know the history.
And when Radnor Township acquired the property in 1973, it was through an act of eminent domain. Nobody likes to talk about that fact. I know that for a fact, because I actually wrote an article for the Inquirer in 2012 about this.
“It came down to looking at the revenue,” said Radnor Township Manager Robert A. Zienkowski. “It’s an enterprise operation that should break even, but it doesn’t.”
Zienkowski described the Willows, built in 1910, as a “diamond in the rough” in “desperate need of millions of dollars of renovations, repairs, and updates.”
That’s why Radnor Township is looking for a way to divest itself of the property located on Darby-Paoli Road.
The estate, acquired by Radnor in 1972, was never transitioned from residential to commercial use. “The Willows has a great history,” Zienkowski said. “We would love to see someone partner with us to restore it back to its proud heritage.”
Some fear a developer will send the Willows the way of the Poplar House, the beautiful mansion in Wayne that was demolished in 2010.
Zienkowski did not deny the possibility the Willows could be torn down, but says the township could prefer it become a boutique hotel or bed and breakfast.
“A renovation could turn the Willows around,” he said. “It could be a jewel of the township once more.”
Radnor Commissioner John Nagle agreed. “We’ve never seen it managed in a fashion that meets its potential.”
Ideally, Nagle said, the Willows will remain as is through next summer, so the township is still taking reservations there for special events, a wish that was complicated by the recent retirement of caretakers Tom and Mary Conaghan, after 32 years in the position.
Radnor Commissioner Kevin Higgins said he was doubtful the Willows could be sustained by the township government.
“The township has invested significant amounts of money in this building, as well as many other buildings, and the Willows does not break even. It’s not the role of the taxpayers to provide for and subsidize a building not capable of fully bearing the costs of its own operation not directly related to the provision of essential governmental services.”
Public-private partnerships have been successful at Historic Harriton House in Bryn Mawr and Historic Waynesborough in Paoli.
The land on which the Willows is located was once part of the Welsh Tract, first settled in 1681 by the Richard Davis Company as part of a larger land tract. The house was designed by Charles Barton Keene and built in 1910 for John Sinnott, a distiller who named it Rose Garland. There was a mansion house, gatehouse, duck house, swimming pool, pool house, dog kennels, tennis courts and an observatory.
Then Prohibition hit and Rose Garland was sold – several times over – before it found long-term ownership in 1936. That’s when Clarence H. Geist, purchased the house for his daughter Mary Golden Geist and her husband, Alfred Zantzinger.
Bart Zantzinger, grandson of Alfred, who lives in Paoli, recalls fondly The Willows and the pool, whichmwas filled in many years ago.
“Our family called the estate Maralbrook,” Zantzinger said. “The pool was awesome. Really was a magical time for me.”
In the holiday season, he said, “the lights inside were like stars in the cold winter nights, and all the activity made it seem as if it was some kind of Hollywood movie, except the actors were very kind men and women.”
Amory Zantzinger Stedman also fondly recalls the times she spent there.
“In my teen years, Gei Zantzinger, my first cousin, the only child of Mary Golden and Alfred, was one of my best friends. We were exactly the same age and enjoyed the music, dancing, and parties that were part of teenage life in the early to mid fifties.
In June of 1954, my “coming out” year, Aunt Gozie and Uncle Alfred gave my cousin and I a spectacular party on the terrace. Dinner and dancing to a big orchestra under a grand tent … an unforgettable evening.”
That era came to an end with Mary Golden Geist Zantzinger’s death in 1969 and her husband’s some years later.
Radnor Township acquired Maralbrook in 1972, and it became known as the Willows, a park and site for weddings, private parties and meetings.
The Main Line has lost many great estates over the years. Some grand, some architecturally important, some more sentimental than grand. The Willows is a bit of a mix. What sets the Willows apart is that there are still many people who remember or visited it in its grandeur.
But for now, the Willows’ future is uncertain. As has been demonstrated many times on the Main Line, uncertainty can be very bad for an old estate.
And then, if we’re talking about the Willows in this should be a topic for the other day, it’s the whole Willows Cottage of it all. That’s a tale of a little group that got grant monies to restore the cottage, and it was so cool and then it wasn’t maintained after the little group was no longer around. There have been rumors often on for years that the current Radnor wouldn’t be opposed to knocking it down, but nobody really knows for sure do that? Because everything done in Radnor these days is once again shrouded in secrecy. This, of course, is a crying shame because they work so hard to restore it and the restoration was good.
So back to the Kennedy connection. Below is an article from a British newspaper of how the marriage ended. The Willows really should do the research before they just throw things in a newsletter to try to pimp out support by in essence acting like a tabloid. we’re doing that embarrassing Philadelphia media trick of the “Philadelphia connection.”
It’s a tough environment for nonprofits, but the Willows has to be more transparent. And a pro tip is not to use a Getty images image you found on the Internet for your newsletter. If they had just had a newspapers.com subscription, they could’ve taken clippings like I did.
My final note is with what the Kennedy family put a local family through, perhaps the Willows newsletter authors should have considered that?
So, here I am, face to face with Sheila Rauch Kennedy, the vindictive, embittered, loose cannon of an ex-wife who has US Congressman Joe Kennedy’s political career in ruins. Six months ago, Joe (who is Robert’s son) was all set to become the next governor of Massachusetts. Now, thanks to this ex-wife’s public airing of a private dispute, he’s been forced to withdraw from the race, and his camp followers are beside themselves…His personal record with women is patchy, but politically they couldn’t hope for a better friend. How could Sheila put her own concerns before this greater good? Why didn’t she realise that she was not going to have a normal life if she married a Kennedy? They just can’t understand it, but now that I have her before me, the answer is clear. She was never going to accept the full Kennedy-wife deal.
At 48, she’s more handsome than pretty, and in a serious, high-minded sort of way. She talks without embarrassment about searching for the truth and struggling to do the right thing. She’s no airhead – she has a degree from the Harvard School of Design and worked for many years as a city planner. She’s not just a Protestant, she’s a devout Protestant. She insisted that her Episcopalian minister be there at the altar right next to Joe’s priest at the wedding, and she did not promise to obey.
She did make all the other usual promises and took them very seriously indeed. When their twin sons were born in 1980, she pushed her career to one side and applied her high standards to motherhood instead. And she’s proud to say she has something to show for her effort. Her sons, she tells me with a Diana-like smile, are “light years ahead of their father”. Unlike him, they are “very respectful of their friends who are girls”. She mentioned one in particular who was very good at ice hockey and “a little heavy”. “Their father would say something like, what chick would want to play ice hockey? But they don’t think of her as an unattractive chick, they think of her as an excellent athlete.”
It was when Joe went to Washington that the marriage began to fall apart. She was the one to file for divorce. She got only a nominal settlement and had to get a loan from her parents to find a house for herself and her boys to live in. Despite this, she claims it was an amicable split. She has nothing but good things to say about Mary Beth, Joe’s new wife, who entered the scene as his secretary. She’s glad they’re married, glad they’re happy, glad the boys have a kind stepmother. What she’s up in arms about is Joe’s decision to seek an annulment so that he can make the picture perfect and marry Mary Beth in church.
Even she was surprised by the revulsion she felt when she received that first letter from the Boston Archdiocese, in which they announced that they were planning to “investigate” her marriage with a view to proving it had never existed. How could anyone make such a statement about a courtship that had lasted nine years, and a 12-year marriage that had produced two children? To Joe it was just “Catholic gobbledygook” but to her it was saying the past two decades of her life had never happened. But when she told the Archdiocese she had no choice but to fight the annulment, she still expected the procedure to make sense. “I had respect for them. They were priests.” Four years on, she still talks with outraged surprise about their secrecy, their Alice in Wonderland logic, and the way they called her mental health into question.
It has been a long, long time since I wrote about Shiloh. Shiloh is a sad story: a cemetery where the headstones and remains of an extraordinarily important AME church were bulldozed away in Westtown because a former property owner wanted to. But all the souls and remains of the dead are still there. The current property owner is also seemingly uninterested in the history and the languishing dead in now unmarked graves, which is sad.
Today between 11 AM and 1 PM on the steps of the old Chester County Courthouse at 21 West Market Street there is a ceremony to honor the 14 AME soldiers still on site at what use to be Shiloh AME in Westtown. It’s funny, I mentioned to an advocate for this site that this would be the perfect location a few weeks ago to get attention to the history languishing.
You are invited! Please Share.The Forgotten USCTs of Shiloh AME Church & Cemetery: A Day of Honor and Memory
Saturday, May 25, 2024, 11AM – 1 PM
In front of the Historic Chester County Courthouse
21 West Market Street
West Chester, PA 19380
FREE – Open to the Public!
Presented by the Friends of Shiloh AME Church and Cemetery
Featuring:
o Rev. Dr. Richelle Forman Gunter, Associate Minister
St. Paul’s Baptist Church, West Chester
o Speaker – Dr. Cheryl Renée Gooch, author of
Hinsonville’s Heroes: Black Civil War Soldiers of Chester County, Pennsylvania
o Robert Ford USCT 54th Massachusetts Co. B, Reenactor
o Speaker – Dr. Tonya Thames Taylor, Professor of History West Chester University
o Representative Headstones of 14 United States Colored Troops (USCTs)
Buried at Shiloh
o Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
More Information Attached:
– Shiloh AME brochure
– Inquirer Op-Ed, Friday, May 17, 2024,
“Black Civil War veterans in an abandoned Chester County cemetery deserve a memorial”
JOIN US!
shilohAMEfriends@gmail.com
It’s hallowed ground treated in the most unhallowed way. This happens far too often. Could this space be saved and properly remembered? Yes, but the current property owner doesn’t want people on his property. It’s sad but that is his choice.
It just gives you pause. There are 140 graves that never moved when the church closed in the 1920s and a subsequent but not current owner bulldozed the crumbling remains of the church built in 1817 was bulldozed in the 1960s. Think about it, the AME Church was only about 23 years old when this was built and slavery was not yet abolished. This is truly one of the earliest AME sites in the same state where the AME church was founded by Richard Allen in Philadelphia. This site pre-dates Ebenezer in Frazer on Bacton Hill Rd.
I tried to write about Shiloh in 2016 when I was told that there was going to be a cleanup of the site. I was invited to it. Yet when I wrote a post people freaked out. So I killed the post and haven’t said boo since.
Only ONE grave survived thanks to a neighbor.
These hallowed grounds matter. People’s ancestors are buried there. Here’s hoping Westtown can get the property owner to come around.
My photo from a Westtown Day either 2016 or 2017 at Oakbourne.
Black Civil War veterans in an abandoned Chester County cemetery deserve a memorial
Gail Guterl and Stephen Lyons, For The Inquirer
In Westtown Township and across the nation, amateur historians and others are working to preserve abandoned and neglected Black cemeteries.
Soon, in preparation for Memorial Day, hundreds of soldiers will fan out at Arlington National Cemetery with backpacks full of American flags, placing them on every grave.
In communities around the country, many civilians will be doing the same, placing an American flag at the grave of their loved one who served in the military in defense of our great nation. But not all of our nation’s fallen soldiers are able to be honored in this way.
For example, in Westtown Township, near West Chester, there is a half-acre cemetery on a suburban road that no one would mistake for a burial ground. There are no tombstones visible on the overgrown property where groundhogs and rabbits have dug their homes — at times unearthing the bones of those buried there.
The cemetery was once part of a thriving African Methodist Episcopal congregation, Shiloh AME Church, founded in 1817 and thought to be one of the first AME churches outside of Philadelphia. Over time, with the death of congregants and people moving away, the parish closed its doors in the 1920s; the deteriorating church was razed in the 1960s.
The cemetery, with about 140 graves, did not move with the congregation. And in that cemetery are the verified burials of 14 United States Colored Troops Civil War veterans. We know a little about some of these veterans: Isaac Winters, a soldier in the 43rd U.S. Colored Infantry F Company, did his training at Camp William Penn and was sexton at Shiloh AME Church for more than 60 years. Thomas Henry was a private in Company B of the 3rd United States Colored Troops.
Shiloh AME cemetery represents a profound history for both the community and the country.
We don’t know where the veterans of Shiloh AME Church areburied because a previous owner had the remains of the church bulldozed and the tombstones removed. All the headstones are gone except for the headstone of Alfred Bye, Company A, 32nd U.S. Colored Regiment, which was rescued and preserved by a neighbor. We have no idea of the location of the headstone for his brother, Richard, who served in the same regiment and is also buried at Shiloh.
Right now, entry to the Shiloh AME Church cemetery is strictly prohibited by the owner. No one will be allowed to lay flowers or place a flag on the graves this Memorial Day.
This situation, with individual variations, is playing out across Chester County and the country. More and more abandoned or neglected Black cemeteries are being discovered (many with U.S. Colored Troopsburials), and efforts are being made to preserve and restore them.
In Chester County alone, at least eight unkempt graveyards with U.S. Colored Troops burials have been identified. In 2022, Congress passed the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program, authorizing the National Park Service to establish a $3 million grant program to aid preservation efforts of historic African American burial grounds.
Yet, this amount is woefully insufficient.According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a grant competition last year drew proposals from 5,400 Black cemeteries seeking a total of some $650 million — more than six times the amount available.
Shiloh AME cemetery represents a profound history for both the community and the country. There is evidence this Black congregation aided fleeing enslaved people in their race to freedom, and the church sits only a few miles from several historic Quaker establishments along the Underground Railroad.
The least we can do is encourage our elected officials to provide access to and maintain the cemetery. We must create a memorial in Westtown Township to honor the U.S. Colored Troops dead.
The other day a beautiful and historic structure in Chester County suffered a fast moving and devastating fire. This house at 400 Leopard Rd (on the corner of Leopard and Sugartown and did used to have a Sugartown Road address!) is so familiar and well loved by many of us including myself. I have loved the whimsy of this house since I was a teenager growing up on the Main Line. I had friends who grew up in this part of the Main Line, and those who live here as an adult not so far away, so I have literally been driving past it forever. Sugartown is also one of my favorite drives from Chester County to the Main Line.
I wrote about this fire the other day and my first post now includes older photos of the home and history. One of the former residents actually contributed so it’s kind of cool. This post right here has post fire photos and more.
What is NOT cool is the following comment left on my blog’s Facebook page because people in the community and myself are talking about the fire on my blog’s Facebook page. NO ONE mentioned the people (or person?) who was living there. Here is the comment:
This woman left a public comment so her name is evident on the page, but here I chose to cover the name. I do not know her from Adam’s house cat, but the comment annoyed the snot out of me.
Apparently, talking about a historic home in our extended community is disrespectful?
Talking about a fire that burned suspiciously hot and fast and took so many fire companies to handle that could have caused human injury or death as well is disrespectful?
Does this woman know this call had junior firefighters on it as in people’s kids not just adult firefighters? They put their lives on the line for a fire many at this point are asking MANY questions about so I think the ONLY person being disrespectful right now is her as well as being utterly disrespectful of a page which is not hers is it?
And she is talking about a fire that affected everyone around it, so yeah maybe she can just go pound sand.
No one is being disrespectful of anyone who may or may not have been living there by talking about a fire and the history of the house that has historic significance in a particular area.
And the house has a name as I learned from prior inhabitants. It was called Breeze Hill. Apparently the house was named for its location and the presence of a refreshing breeze during this non-air conditioned era. Also the house dates slightly later than people think. Most think this house was built around 1864 or 1865.
From a woman who grew up in the house I have learned this Tudor revival style wasn’t seen in America until well into the 1870’s. That family’s understanding was that it was possibly built in the 1880’s. Both the spring house and the stable predate it. That means that this particular house could not have hid people traveling the Underground Railroad during the Civil War because it didn’t exist yet, although other structures in the area undoubtedly did and were used.
This was a home for the Sharp family for much of it’s existence. This would have originally been part of an estate called “Hawthorne” — this house still exists at 521 Leopard Road which had its own write up in Philadelphia Magazine a few years ago – CLICK HERE. It also showed up in Vista Today and I am guessing that this is where the Hawthorne Place street in Berwyn gets its name since Hawthorne was once over 200 acres?
Joseph W. Sharp the son (it was actually his fatherJoseph a successful Quaker wool merchant who first created the estate and then died in 1848) was apparently one of the founders of the then Berwyn National Bank and was a partner in what eventually became Hajoca, which has not only one of the older trademarks still in continual use today (statue of William Penn) but was one of the early leaders of indoor plumbing –Sharp had a plumbing supply business. By the time Joseph W. Sharp the son died he was kind of considered one of Berwyn’s founding fathers.
This house that had the fire was constructed by Joseph W. Sharp for his younger sister, Rachel.
Born in 1828 in Philadelphia, Joseph W. Sharp was the eldest son of Joseph Sharp and Hannah Lindsay. The elder Mr. Sharp had purchased approximately 250 acres in Easttown prior to his untimely death in 1848.
In the absence of will disposing of his assets, the Easttown property was split equally among his four children, Joseph W., Rachel and two younger sons. As the eldest, Joseph W. Sharp also inherited his father’s business.
Over the next few years, Joseph purchased the other three portions of his father’s original holdings from his three siblings, paying them fair market value , according to historical records. As both Joseph and Rachel were unmarried at this time, Rachel lived with Joseph and was the de facto mistress of his household and undoubtedly social hostess.
By 1857, Joseph was so successful in business that he had a imposing Victorian house built and thus the country estate “Hawthorne,” which has been restored and is located today at 521 Leopard Road in Berwyn, just down the street from Breeze Hill.
Philadelphia Inquirer April 3, 1908
He was the first gentleman to commute from Berwyn into Philadelphia each day utilizing the newly-constructed “Main Line” train, and was a partner in what eventually became Hajoca Corporation, an early leader in the nascent indoor plumbing industry.
In 1865, Joseph married Sidney Serrill Bunting. Oral family history indicates that Sidney and Rachel did not get along well, so Joseph commenced the construction of Breeze Hill (so named for its location and the presence of a refreshing breeze during this non-air conditioned era) for Rachel some time before his wedding. As the home was on the Sharp family property, it didn’t receive its own separate deed when built, but was shown on Pennsylvania Railroad maps dating to 1873.
Already on the property was a two-story stone spring house, the top floor of which was occupied by tenant farmers on the estate. It is believed that the spring house structure was built in 1837 and the spring provided a supply of clean water for the main house.
Philadelphia Inquirer, October 18, 1940
The garage/carriage house was originally constructed as a barn, also before 1865; careful examination of the walls inside show signs of stalls and a ladder to the full, second floor which was surely originally used as a hayloft. Local historical records also indicate that Leopard Road was a well-travelled path on the Underground Railroad.
Philadelphia Inquirer, September, 1941Philadelphia Inquirer, July 1942Philadelphia Inquirer, February 11, 1941
Philadelphia Inquirer, Wednesday, May 22, 1957
Philadelphia Inquirer, Wednesday, December 17, 1942
Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday, April 11, 1920
Rachel Sharp and other family members lived at Breeze Hill until 1888, when Joseph Sharp’s eldest daughter, Mary Bunting Sharp, married William Morris of Villanova in 1888, the young couple moved into Breeze Hill, where they lived until 1942. Joseph Sharp and his wife subdivided Breeze Hill from their larger property and deeded it to their daughter for “$1 and her natural love and affection” in 1901, when it became legal for a married woman to own property in her own name in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia Inquirer November 30, 1941
The Philadelphia Times, page 3 Thursday, June 13, 1889
The Philadelphia Inquirer September 14, 1913The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday, May 10, 1914
Since the departure of the Sharp family and descendants from the property, numerous owners have made changes and improvements to Breeze Hill to bring it to its current condition as a thoroughly beautiful modern family home.
I was right when I said this house has incredibly thick stone walls, not quite 2 feet but indeed 18 inches.
So to this woman and her merry band I say quite clearly that I see you and advise you all to stay in your lane unless you have something actually value added to share. I am not in the mood for any of your crap about this. Y’all want to do one of your amateur hour cancel attempts because I as a blogger and others are talking about what a potential historical loss this is and the history of the house and the fact volunteer firefighters including junior firefighters could have been seriously injured at a minimum fighting this fire then you are the ones who need an attitude adjustments. Grow up. No one is “disrespecting” the people or person who lived there including wondering IF this fire was an accident or deliberately set. If you are uncomfortable reading posts where the history of the house and area or discussed and people wondering how this essentially completely restored house with super thick walls went up faster than a magic candle on a birthday cake, don’t read the posts. Go back to wherever you are more comfortable.
This was a fire that burned bright and very fast. I and others are allowed to be suspicious of fire origins.
This house has literally withstood the test of time and I hope talking about the history saves Breeze Hill. We have lost so much of our history in Chester County, and this house is part of a rich history of both Chester County, the Main Line, and Philadelphia. I think it can be saved. I also noticed that the Keller Williams “coming soon” sign is gone. That was the wrong realtor for this house anyway, given the caliber of more local realtors who actually know the history of the house, area, schools, etc.
Here’s hoping that we learn fire origin soon and that Breeze Hill will rise like a Phoenix from her ashes. They don’t build houses like this anymore, which again, is probably why it is still standing after that fire.
Feel free to keep sending me historical and old photos of this beautiful house and even anecdotes especially if you ever visited the house or lived there. The clippings are from old newspapers that concern the families who built and lived in Hawthorne and Breeze Hill. I chose but a few, I have found dozens.
400 Leopard Road. It’s on the corner of Sugartown Road and Leopard Road. There are a lot of houses around here that I love and this has always been one of my favorites. I think it was part of an estate I just can’t remember which one but it’s all in that general vicinity where Tarleton is and everything else.
If this house probably didn’t have close to 2 foot stone walls, it probably wouldn’t still be standing.
This old Redfin listing shows you what it looked like when it was for sale a few years ago:
I know work was being done on it but I just have to ask. Was this an accident? I’m not a fire expert, but it sure makes you wonder given how horrible the flames were shown on TV, right?
I was by this house quite recently on my way to Penn Medicine in Radnor for a medical appointment and I saw a coming soon sign that showed up on one of the reports. I looked up the realtor and they’re out of Delaware, which is a little far afield for the Main Line. With all the really good realtors to choose from on the main line, I am surprised that guy would be listing a property like this.  except now, I’m guessing this guy is out a listing 
I can tell you that if this house didn’t have almost 2 foot thick stone walls, it wouldn’t be standing today. But I hope this is actually investigated and not just swept under the carpet, because Easttown tends to sweep things under the carpet that they find uncomfortable.
This was such an incredibly interesting, and I think beautiful house. Maybe not in the traditional sense, but I love this house I have always loved driving by it, and I hope it rises from the ashes.
Sign me wondering if where there is smoke there is fire and not just a house fire? I think this is suspicious as hell.
If anyone has photos from today, feel free to message my blog’s Facebook page. I am also interested in publishing the history of this, so if any of you history, buffs, have old photos of this property, and can tell me what estate it was part of or its history I would also be appreciative.
3:00 PM 5/4/24 Update from Elizabeth Gaul who grew up in the house:
My family lived in Breeze Hill from 1963-1984. We are saddened by the news of this devastating fire and hope it will be feasible to salvage it. It was a truly wonderful place to grow up.
A correction, if I may, regarding its history. Our late mother, who taught history at AIS Lower School for 30+ years, would want the record straight:
No enslaved persons ever hid in the house. It was built several years post-Civil War so that would be impossible.
The staircase in question is a back stairway, which was a fairly typical feature for a larger home of this period. Not at all hidden, although part of it was blocked off to create a linen cupboard. We used it regularly. The third floor attic also had another entrance to it off the main staircase.
*Photo is of Breeze Hill from Sugartown Road, circa 1900. Note the windmill, which served to pump water from the spring house to the main house. When we lived there, that water still supplied the house, but via electric pump.
4:00 PM Update: thanks to realtor Tracy Pulos we have the history of the house – also note, this would be somebody far more appropriate than the guy on the sign to have sold his house:
Here is a history of this property which was given to me by a past owner. The address was 1226 Sugartown Rd. for many years, vs. 400 Leopard Rd. (address was changed to the side street vs. main street within the past 10 years.)
This lovely, historic Easttown Township residence was constructed by Joseph W. Sharp for his younger sister, Rachel, in 1864-1865, right at the end of the Civil War. Born in 1828 in Philadelphia, Sharp was the eldest son of Joseph Sharp and Hannah Lindsay. A successful Quaker wool merchant, the elder Mr. Sharp purchased approximately 250acres in Easttown prior to his untimely deathin 1848. In the absence of will disposing of his assets, the Easttown property was split equally among his four children, Joseph W., Rachel and two younger sons. As theeldest, Joseph W. also inherited his father’s business. Over the next few years, Joseph purchased the other three portions of his father’s original holdings from his three siblings, paying them, according to historical records, fair market value for their property. As both Joseph and Rachel were unmarried at this time, Rachel residedwith Joseph and was the mistress of his household. By 1857,Joseph had attained considerable success andconstructed an imposing Victorian country estate “Hawthorne,” which has been restored andis located at 521 Leopard Road in Berwyn, just down the street from Breeze Hill. Joseph went on to become a leaderin Berwyn, contributing tothe establishment of numerous civic organizations and was one of the founders of the Berwyn National Bank. He was thefirst gentleman to commute from Berwyn into Philadelphia each dayutilizing the newly-constructed “Main Line” train, and was a partner in what is now Hajoca Corporation, an earlyleader in the nascent indoor plumbing industry. In 1865, Joseph married Sidney Serrill Bunting. Oral family history indicates that Sidney and Rachel did not get along well, so Joseph commenced the construction of Breeze Hill (so named for its location and the presence of a refreshing breeze during this non-air conditioned era) for Rachel some time before his wedding. As the home wason theSharp family property, it didnot receive a separate deed at the timeof construction, but is shown on Pennsylvania Railroad maps dating to 1873. Already on the property was a two-story stone spring house, the top floor of which was occupied by tenant farmers on the estate. It is believed that this structure was built in 1837 and the spring provided a supply of clean water for the main house. The four car garage/carriage house was originallyconstructed as a barn, alsobefore 1865; careful examination of the walls inside show signs of stalls and a ladder to the full, second floor which was surely originally used as a hayloft. Local historical records indicate that Leopard Road was a well-travelled path on the Underground Railroad. Previous owners of Breeze Hill found evidence of a hidden stairway in a second-floor bedroom that led to a third floor space inaccessible by any other means, which lends credence to that fact that the property was a stop for slaves fleeing the South. Rachel Sharp and other family members lived at Breeze Hill until 1888. When Joseph Sharp’s eldest daughter, Mary Bunting Sharp, married William Morris of Villanova in 1888, the young couple moved into Breeze Hill, where they lived until 1942. Joseph Sharp and his wife subdivided Breeze Hill from their larger property and deeded it to their daughter for “$1 and her natural love and affection” in 1901, when it became legal for a married woman to own property in her own name in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (Either Mary’s parents were trying to keep the property in the Sharp family or didnot particularly like their son-in-law– who knows?) Since the departure of the Sharp family, numerous owners have made changes and improvements to Breeze Hill to bring it to its current condition as a thoroughly charming modern family home. It retains the large deep windowsills created by the 18” solid stone walls, 5 fireplaces, beautiful moldings and vintage touches that bespeak its historic origins, but boasts a cook’s kitchen, five bathrooms, an enormous light-filled family room and great flow for entertaining
It’s an 18th century farmhouse. There is at least one barn to go with it, but in order to see the barns, you have to be on the property, and that would be trespassing.
This farmhouse is on the Clews & Strawbridge/Clews Boats property. Here is the current property ownership information on the three parcels that comprise this property:
So this property came up as a topic of conversation locally within the past couple of years because the developer wanted to put a giant apartment building right there. The developer at that time said they would restore the farmhouse, and even back then I questioned it because it was like the building envelope was compromised or pierced.
In the end East Whiteland said no they didn’t want apartments right there, so there was no zoning change and it’s still the boat dealership. I looked on Google and the boat place has rather mixed reviews, so I don’t really have a feel for the business there.
Truthfully, I don’t care about the business there, but I really wish they cared about the farmhouse on their property. It’s a historic asset.
It’s total demolition by neglect and it’s horrible. And it’s NOT East Whiteland Township’s fault. They can’t control this. But they could check on the house to make sure it’s secure, given all of the broken windowpanes, etc.
985 Mount Pleasant Ave in Tredyffrin Township, Chester County is far away from Tredyffrin’s Township administration building that Township Manager Bill Martin needs reminding that Tredyffrin has a responsibility to not only the 24/7/365 residents but in fact also to the college students living there, right?
So answer me this Tredyffrin: when is the last time this house now known as Villa Blue Tarp was inspected?
Why do I ask about this? Simple, once upon a time there was a big old yellow Victorian house on the corner of Booth Lane and Old Lancaster Road in Haverford in Lower Merion Township that was an off campus house even when I was in high school.
Originally the house was an off-campus house for rugby players. Then flash forward to late 90s/early 2000s and it became a duplex. We were never really sure if the duplex was done legally but it was done and it was two living units and still student slumlord housing.
It was a really tough party house to live in a neighborhood with. You would wake up and they would have 20 cars on their lawn plus additional cars on surrounding lawns. Trash, beer bottles and cans, etc. and they would keep you up until all hours, and they would sleep it off the next day. We all had to get up and go to work, get the kids to school, etc.
The police would come often enough, and truthfully, Lower Merion Township did not ignore calls from neighbors when the parties were too loud. But it was still a grandfathered off campus student rental.
Then, one day in November, right before Thanksgiving, the then slumlord landlord of that house at 20 Booth Lane called in an inexpensive roofer for some sort of repairs. It was a breezy/windy day and the roof caught fire. In a very short amount of time the upper floors of the house were completely engulfed.
I still remember the photo that was front and center in Main Line Media News. It is an amazing photo and was taken by Pete Bannan. A firefighter in the middle of the flames. Neighbors were so scared that day as firefighters battled flames because we were afraid embers would jump to neighboring roofs.
All of the college students from Villanova who lived in both halves of the duplex were absolutely obnoxious to residents but they lost everything that day. They were mostly seniors and they lost all of their belongings and college memories.
So it makes you wonder about the condition of off campus college rentals, doesn’t it?
If you have ever had a kid in college and you have had to pay for off-campus student housing, you know how these landlords gouge. For what they charge in rent it should be the Taj Mahal but it’s not. Maybe to a college student it’s the Taj Mahal because it’s their place, but usually pretty much overpriced dumps.
Bill Martin who is the manager of Tredyffrin, came from Radnor Township where he was an assistant manager, right? So he was familiar with how municipalities should keep an eye on off-campus student housing, right? But Mr. Martin came to this area from New York via Villanova University correct? So does he have a soft spot for Villanova off-campus student housing? It’s a valid concern, isn’t it?
Now Mr. Martin loves Tredyffrin and apparently lives in Tredyffrin, so I would find it hard to believe that he is not aware of the problems, faced by the residents of Mount Pleasant when it comes to off-campus student housing. and that includes when he was at Radnor Township, which tightened up the student housing ordinance around 2010, and he didn’t go to Bridgeport Borough until 2011, and then to Tredyffrin in 2012.
Tredyffrin didn’t have a student housing ordinance until 2010. I remember because I had friends in more than one area of that township plagued by off campus student houses. It wasn’t just Mount Pleasant. I remember a couple of neighborhoods off of Old Eagle School Road, for example.
There were a lot of meetings packed to the gills about this issue, because true different was initially so reticent to add a student housing ordinance. One of the people affected by an off-campus student house, popping up with someone I’ve known since I was a kid. And pretty much after the student housing ordinance was passed they sold their house and moved out of Tredyffrin. Upscale neighborhood with lovely gardens and backyard pools, but they wanted to be someplace on the Main Line where their investment in their home mattered.
Bill Martin and the Supervisors in Tredyffrin? It’s well past time to wake up and stop pretending there’s not a problem with this house and other off-campus student rentals. If you were elected or hired, it doesn’t really matter, Tredyffrin owes her residents more.
Do residents need to start packing meetings again? Probably. Especially from Mount Pleasant which although incredibly historic an area, has been utterly disenfranchised by Tredyffrin for more years than not.
So perhaps Faunbrook has a new owner? Apparently the winning bid was around $903,000. And it seems the bid accepted is the lady who owns The Bookhouse Hotel in Kennett Square which is a beautiful and cool place. If this is true, then sign me not just cautiously optimistic, but optimistic.
When Faunbrook went up for Sheriff Sale we all who love that place and Chester County History felt a pit in the bottom of our stomachs. I know people who were interested in the property who told me the sale had gotten too rich for their blood. I still don’t understand how it all happened and I was so sad for the deceased former owner who was beloved in the community.
I looked at Faunbrook for a wedding a bunch of years ago. It’s a magical place. So let us all think positive thoughts that the sale goes through. I would had to see an unscrupulous developer get their paws on this beauty.
Some other stuff I found on Faunbrook is linked below and have a good weekend.
The other day I wrote a post about Harriton House in Bryn Mawr, PA and the executive disaster, err director and essentially was the Harriton Association board awake and breathing? I wrote my post because I was appalled by the rando reenactors, not necessarily museum professionals (the two are hardly mutually exclusive, are they?) playing dress up and house a few days ago, and well were all over the antique furnishings that umm used to have ribbons down the middle and/or little signs on them that said things like “DO NOT SIT.”
I have been around and volunteering at Harriton House most of my life. From the time I was 12. I choose not to go back now except a drive up once in a blue moon because I believe current leadership of the board needs to retire and because I am of the opinion that the current executive director is wrong for this site. I am according to the United States Constitution of which Harriton’s most famous inhabitant Charles Thomson was intimately acquainted with, well within my rights to criticize.
I love the place, and it’s headed down a slippery slope. I think they need changes to survive and that includes a different executive director and a change in board leadership and probably some of the board as well. Many of the original board members I once knew or were familiar with are gone, some deceased. And that is a shame because THOSE were the people who helped make Harriton what it eventually became.
I received one comment from a regular reader about how they were confused by my post because I am generally speaking a huge advocate of historic preservation. To them I explained as I have to the rest of my readers, I get getting creative, but you have to be SMART about it. Reenactors lounging on the furniture isn’t smart. YES have reenactors in the house acting a part, or even giving tours but stay off the furniture. Do living history demonstrations in the education center. That is WHY there is one! And I was around when the money was raised to rejoin the parcels that were all oddly carved out of the Harriton property. I was among those who helped clear out the old stables building that became the education center. It had been inhabited by a very elderly lady who was a hoarder.
Then I received this other comment. From a woman in Troy, New York. Which was rather odd, so did someone send her? Here is what she said:
Here is what she said verbatim:
Museum professionals create education program collections that contain reproductions or common historical objects that are intended for hands on use in education programs. This is different than formally accessioned artifacts used for exhibition and research. The ED of Harrington House is a respected Museum professional. Laypeople like this blogger have not been trained in Museum practices and professional standards. Hands on programs like this one consistently are among the most popular types of Museum programs. This is well documented in numerous museum industry marketing studies. The blogger seems to have some kind of grudge going on
I replied to her:
Dear Starlyn,
I realize that you feel that I would have no concept of good practices. But not only do you not know who I might know nationally and internationally, you also do not know that I am actually fairly bright. And I researched this.
To have a grudge, I would have to know her, and she is not someone I choose to know. But I am very familiar with this property and have been since I was 12 years old.
Other things that have gone on here are people who are regular people like myself just being able to handle historical maps and documents without proper gloves on. That’s a fact not fiction.
Hands-on living history programs are fabulous. But that doesn’t include random reenactors lounging on antiques that in some cases could not be replaced, and they certainly can’t afford to repair them.
Common historical objects are fine to show demonstrations with. That is WHY Harriton House has an education center.
Now fly away back to whomever sent you. I mean you work in Troy, New York as a Director of Corporate, Government, and Foundation Relations for a small college, correct? And resigned your job at Hart Cluett Museum after a rather short duration?
TROY — The Hart Cluett Museum is looking for a new executive director after Starlyn D’Angelo resigned after leading the cultural institutional for 14 months, the museum board announced.
“We thank Star for stepping in during a difficult time for the museum during the pandemic, and for her many contributions leading the museum through reopening to the public,” Mark Shipley, president of the museum’s board of directors, said in a statement.
D’Angelo said she decided to leave the museum after her expectations for the executive director’s job and those of the board did not match. The position is considered to be a high-stress role with the executive director taking on the responsibilities for day-to-day management and fundraising to keep money flowing into the museum coffers. D’Angelo described the workload as untenable in the way the position is structured.
“This is an old story in the nonprofit world. I don’t believe nonprofits as a whole get a lot of support,” D’Angelo said Saturday….The Hart Cluett Museum received a boost when some of HBO’s “The Gilded Age” was filmed here. Troy served as the stand-in for late 19th century New York City where the series is set. The museum provided information and guidance to production designers who were seeking locations in Troy. The series returns to Troy in August to film for a second season.
It is indeed so difficult for smaller non-profits to survive. Especially after COVID. That is totally true. Just look at Van Cortlandt House where Harriton’s current Executive Director came from. It appears to have very limited hours now and they no longer have even a website. I checked today. They also have not done anything on their social media accounts since October, 2023. That’s sad. This place has been under the stewardship of The National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York through a license agreement with the City of New York since like 1896 or 1897. But the Colonial Dames are devoted to their sites, so hopefully this is just a setback?
Anyway, back to Harriton House. I won’t apologize for being curious and FYI the The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America takes care of some amazing historic properties, including in our region. They are caretakers of Stenton in Philadelphia which is truly magnificent. Stenton is truly worth visiting if you never have. As Stenton’s website will tell you, “Stenton is one of the earliest, best-preserved, and most authentic historic houses in Philadelphia.”
Here:
Stenton is one of the earliest, best-preserved, and most authentic historic houses in Philadelphia. Completed in 1730 as a country-seat, plantation house for James Logan – Secretary to William Penn; merchant, politician, justice, scientist, and scholar – Stenton was home to six generations of the Logan family, as well as a diverse community of servants and enslaved Africans, including Dinah, who lived and labored at Stenton for over 50 years. Furnished with 18th- and 19th-century Logan family objects, and remaining in little-altered condition, a visit to Stenton offers an unparalleled experience of early Pennsylvania.
The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have worked to “preserve and maintain Stenton as an historic object lesson” since 1899. Today, Stenton administers the award winning History Hunters Youth Reporter Program, which serves over 3,500 underserved Philadelphia schoolchildren each year. Additionally, Stenton’s Colonial Revival Garden was the founding site for the Garden Club of America in 1913, and the site was honored as the winner of the Garden Club of America’s Founders Fund Award in June, 2015. Through tours, educational programs and special events, Stenton continues to transport visitors to the 18th Century.
Stenton has a rather famous landscape. It was as stated above, the founding site for the Garden Club of America in 1913. I am a gardener and garden lover so that is particularly cool for me. Stenton, like Harriton House was once a plantation. Stenton had like 300 acres or better originally. It was lesser acreage than Harriton which originally was something crazy close to 700 acres when William Penn bequeathed the estate to Rowland Ellis in the 1680’s. That is of course when it was called Bryn Mawr (“High Hill” in Welsh.) Then, Ellis sold the property in the early 18th century to Richard Harrison. Upon the transfer of the property and the land under new stewardship, it became Harriton. Just THINK about how far the land for the original land spread and how far into areas we know today, probably not all what we know today as Bryn Mawr either, maybe?
Harriton today, as in the property, is 13 acres according to Lower Merion Township. I think it is actually a little larger. The Harriton Association is responsible for caring for the house and I believe owns the tenant properties BUT Lower Merion Township owns the historic house and Harriton’s parkland.
I was around and volunteering as the old Harriton Association and mainly the former executive director, Bruce Cooper Gill, raised money and worked tirelessly to assemble the Harriton property we know today because although Lower Merion owned the historic house and park, it was the Bruce Cooper Gill and the then Harriton Association who acquired the three now tenant properties which was crucially important because it preserved Harriton and kept developers OUT. And even back a bunch of years THAT was a concern. (One would have thought they would have fêted Bruce properly before they shoved him out the door, right?)
So yeah, I was around for all of those properties being acquired, cleaned up, and so on and so forth. I even donated an old blanket chest that may have been in the 2007 acquisition at one time. Have no clue what happened to it, probably it was later sold at a fair because it has a tenant now.
I love Harriton. I don’t love what is happening and it is my right to say so. I think two years is long enough to see that the current executive director is not the right person although she has the educational background. Running a site like Harriton is more than doing historical costumes and reenactor dress up. The place used to be open with an executive director on site pretty much all of the time (the animals were under his care as well as the site.) Now it seems open Wednesday through Saturday and how many days is this woman actually there physically? The reviews on their Facebook page only have two recent reviews one in 2023 from LMTV which is Lower Merion’s TV station and they probably filmed there and the one in 2024 is a spammer advertising Bitcoin that I just reported as spam.
Obviously I hit a nerve somewhere given the uppity comment of Ms. I-Know-Better-Than-You-Ordinary-Person from Troy, New York. Good. Maybe it wakes some people up. Harriton House is quite literally a national treasure. Educational programs based on history are a great idea. So are historical reenactors…but USE THE EDUCATION CENTER for things, not the antiques in the house. For F’s sake that is WHY the education center was conceived of in the first place.
Harriton needs help. The obviously need money, and they need better direction. I will not say sorry that I think they need a different head of the board of the Harriton Association as well as a better executive director for this site. Harriton has looked sad the last few times I have done a drive by. It’s like even the garden clubs are gone. Lower Merion Township needs to wake up.
Thanks for stopping by on a snowy day.
Harriton House circa 2005 from Montgomery County’s property records listing.
First of all, I will observe that I do not think Historic Harriton House had a large visitor turnout for their “Harriton History Open House”. Mostly the only photos you see are adults playing dress up.
And about that dress up and ummm the fact that Harriton House is categorized as a Historic House Museum. One would HOPE that meant not playing house with precious antiques? Apparently not.
Look at the two photos immediately above. I do not even remember when I took above left. Please note photo on right which is a screenshot from a PUBLIC social media posted Sunday. If you zoom in on my photo (left), it says “DO NOT SIT”, nor are you supposed to monkey about with the petite antique side table. But photo on right, shows adults at the direction of Mrs. Puddle Duck the current executive disaster, err I mean director, frolicking on the antiques??? Are they even allowed to do that as far as their insurers are concerned?
But wait, there is more….
Below on left this time is a screenshot of a publicly posted social media photo posted Sunday as in yesterday. On the right is another one of years ago (I have taken hundreds of photos of Harriton and the fair, and notice the RED RIBBONS on the chairs? That means what class? Oh yes, DON’T SIT ON THE ANTIQUES IN THE HOUSE MUSEUM, correct? I mean can’t that person play their recorder or fife or whatever standing up?
Now then there is the kitchen. I was allowed to play with some dressed up kiddos circa 1976 or so, which although after 1973 when it went national, was an utterly different era. But today? Walter Staib uses the kitchen as a focal point in his PBS television A Taste of History series , but I bet he has some ultra bullet proof insurance to do so? But yesterday? It was dress up shlubs in the kitchen, so was there even special event insurance? Was Lower Merion Township ok with this after the executive disaster, err director’s first jam après the palace coup at Harriton replacing the man who literally made Harriton House what it became through 46 plus years of devotion, knowledge, and brutally hard work at times? As I heard it told there may have been a little fire in the colonial beehive oven because someone didn’t know how to use it and lumpy baking disasters? Below is a screenshot from January 2023 that shows the singed spot rather well doesn’t it? I mean I know that beehive door cover thingy had been rebuilt and was quite lovely before, right?
So yes, I did look up the National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form from 1973. This house is locally, state, and federally recognized. It’s also in a category of a historic house museum which mean randos playing reenactment dress up kind of should not be lounging on the furniture, nor should the furniture be moved around a great deal. That is only preservation common sense, isn’t it? And doesn’t the 2022 IRS Form 990 value the antiques at over $500K? Also they probably kind of like shouldn’t touch historical documents up in the office area on the second floor unless you are wearing those museum grade cotton protective gloves either, right?
I would send you to the Harriton House website, but it has been pending a make over as per their words since 2023. I mean how hard is it to launch a website these days? Not very, but hey what do I know, right? I mean if you can’t launch a new website in colonial garb, Benjamin Franklin might be rolling in his grave or something, perhaps? Gosh am I being sarcastic? Sorry…but not really. It’s just how I feel about WHY they still don’t seem to have an updated website that functions well.
So what does the executive disaster, err director actually do all day? Does she come to Harriton every day? Look, I get as the now not so new girl (well it has been two years) she wants to make her own mark “storming the castle”, and I have no problem with living history days but Harriton House is like a giant ball of antiques, some probably close to irreplaceable, so if she only used her brain for more than dress up opportunities?
I have been struggling with how I now feel about Harriton House since they shoved the former executive director out not so long after his wife died. He was planning on retiring, but it’s always felt like some on that Harriton Association board just knee capped him and we can have that opinion, right? I mean how many days was he given to clear out 46+ years?
Part of the issues Harriton House faces is it’s definitely hard to be a small non-profit in the current environment. But it also means that the board of the Harriton Association has to be more hands on, and they need a change in leadership. The person at the helm should step down. I am also allowed that opinion. They have created the air of insular. With the former executive director there was more interaction and co-mingling with other non-profits. That is necessary for survival. The financials at the end of 2022 according to the IRS Form 990 don’t paint a pretty picture. What will 2023 say? I saw losses from beginning of year to end of year, increased expenses and salaries and for what? Also not to be petty, but 2020 was COVID right? They had HIGHER contributions than 2022 and line item 22 wasn’t showing a loss at end of year, either….so let’s see that means what exactly? That they can’t blame COVID or the former executive director?
I think Harriton House is continuing to slide down. And that is truly heart breaking and a goddamn waste of so many decades of honest hard work. And playing dress up and play acting on the literal antiques of a historic house museum is just bullshit. Also have they found a suitable tenant for the rental property attached to the historic house yet? That has been empty since when? September, 2023? That’s a significant amount of time to lose rent on the best rental property they have isn’t it?
At the very bottom, I will show you photos of the Harriton House I love. Hopefully it finds it’s way back there. But it won’t happen with the current executive disaster, err director and it won’t happen if the current chair of the Harriton Association doesn’t have the grace to step aside for other leadership.
Have a great week ahead. Avoid historic preservation disasters like randos playing dress up and frolicking among the antiques etc.
I stumbled across this again doing some research and it is truly a wonderful history of the township. It is on West Whiteland’s website and you can download it to read. I have uploaded it here as well because I really think it’s good.
