Some noteworthy donations from the 2016 collection:

• Newspaper clipping collections are very useful in documenting the lives of residents and their goings-on—a snapshot in time. The clippings also reveal period linguistic parlance. This year we are fortunate to have received several newspaper clipping scrapbooks that cover the Berwyn-Paoli area during the late 1920s and into the early 1940s, including three scrapbooks with 35 photographs assembled by Franklin Burns, several of which have never been seen before.
• Many people in our area have at least heard of the Devon Inn, that remarkable hotel originally constructed in 1882 and located just 300 yards south of the Devon train station. For three decades the Devon Inn was a popular and well patronized summer and fall resort destination for families in search of rest and relaxation - and who came to see and be seen. Did you know that Philadelphians staying at the Devon Inn were reportedly considered to “hold sway?” Years later, the former Devon Inn briefly served as the first site for the Valley Forge Military Academy before sadly burning to the ground in January 1929. One of our 2016 donations is a remarkable photo of the ruins of this once-magnificent building taken soon after the blaze.
• A third donation is a collection of essays written by A. Edward Newton, the world-famous book collector and antiquarian who had amassed a library of 10,000 books at his estate, Oak Knoll, located just south of the Daylesford train station. Notably, these donated essays by Newton were originally created as elaborate Christmas messages, and there is sure to be at least one treasure that sparks your interest in this unique collection.