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Home : Quarterly Archives : Volume 17 |
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Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society |
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Source: October 1979 Volume 17 Number 4, Pages 105–112 Folk Names and Other Places No Longer on the Map
This is the concluding section of the compilation of "Folk Names and Other Places No Longer on the Map". In previous sections former names for villages and settlements were listed, as were names once given to hills, valleys, ravines, woods and crossroads in the two townships. Top4. Railroad Stations TopCenterville In 1853 the village known as Walkerville or Walkertown in Tredyffrin Township became known as Centerville when a station on the then recently constructed Chester Valley Railroad was established there. In addition to the station, the railroad also built a water tower, a cattle pen, and a loading platform for freight. The name Centerville was selected, it has been reported, "because of the situation midway between the hills enclosing the valley". When a post office was established there four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to New Centreville to avoid possible confusion with other post offices called Centerville. *TSHCQ 13:17, U:18 Also see Walkerville; New Centerville TopChesterbrook Station Also a station on the Chester Valley Railroad, Chesterbrook Station was located at the entrance to Alexander J. Cassatt's Chesterbrook Farm, near the intersection of Cassatt Road with Swedesford Road. This station was earlier known as Rennyson. *TEHCQ 14:18 Also see Rennyson TopEagle (Eagle Hotel) When a railroad station was established on the Pennsylvania Railroad sometime before 1852 near the eastern boundary of Tredyffrin Township not far from the Spread Eagle Inn, it was given the name Eagle Hotel. The name of the station three years later was shortened to just The Eagle, and by 1873 was known simply as Eagle. In 1852, Eagle Hotel was the only station on the railroad between Villa Nova and Paoli Hotel. The station was located about half-way between the present Wayne and Strafford stations. It was no longer used after a new station was established at Strafford in 1887. A signal tower, known as Eagle Tower and located near to the original location of Eagle station, however, continued in service for a number of years. *Alexander Also see Spread Eagle; Siterville TopGarden Station A station on the Chester Valley Railroad, Garden was established to accommodate the Wilson family, who owned Elda Farm. (The name Elda Farm was derived from the first two letters of the given names of the Wilsons, Eliza Siter Wilson and David Wilson.) The association of the Wilson family with the railroad started with its construction. Winfield Wilson, a son of David Wilson, drove a team of horses during construction work. In 1865 he was made the General Superintendent of both the Chester Valley Railroad and the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad. The name Garden was selected for the flag-stop station, which was located near the Wilson farm on Swedesford Road in Tredyffrin Township, because the Wilsons considered the area "the loveliest in the Chester Valley". A long wooden foot-path led from the station to the Wilson farm house. *TEHCQ 14:17; R: Conrad Wilson TopMaples Another of the stations on the Chester Valley Railroad, Maples was located on the eastern boundary of Tredyffrin Township, where the railroad entered the township from Upper Merion Township. The station served both the Chester Valley Nursery and Thomas Nursery in that area. The station shed itself was actually located in Upper Merion Township, but the name was given to the general area. It was presumably derived from maple trees growing in the area. *TEHCQ 14:18 TopPaoli Road Station The Paoli Road Station on the Chester Valley Railroad was located where the railroad crossed what is now North Valley Road, apparently also known as Paoli Road at that time. (The road was also at one time known as Bear Hill.) *TEHCQ 14:18 TopRennyson When a flag stop was established on the Chester Valley Railroad to serve the farm of William Rennyson and for a pick-up stop for milk, it took his name and was called Rennyson. After Captain Rennyson moved from the Valley, the name of the station was changed to Chesterbrook. *TEHCQ 14:19 Also see Chesterbrook Station Top5. Post Offices TopChester Valley When a post office was opened at Howellville in Tredyffrin Township in 1857, it was given the official name of Chester Valley. The post office was opened on April 25, 1857, and continued in operation for almost fifty years, closing on September 29, 1906 and its patrons served by rural delivery from Berwyn. The first postmaster was Canby Smith, a storekeeper, who served as postmaster for eight years. He was followed by Samuel Hawley, who was postmaster from 1865 to 1867, succeeded then by Daniel A. Stetson, postmaster from 1867 to 1872. The longest term of office was that of Hugh J. Steen, who was the postmaster for the next fourteen years, from 1872 to 1886. He was followed by James S. Todd, who served from 1886 to 1889, and he, in turn, by John Beitler, Jr., who served from 1889 to 1893, when he sold the store and moved from the area. The first postmistress was Ella V. Pedrick, the wife of the village blacksmith, who held the position from 1893 to 1897, moving the office from the old store into her home, which was next door. The post office was moved again in 1897, to the railroad station, when Edwin Trainer became the next postmaster. He was followed five months later by William H. Kraatz, who. was postmaster for three years before being succeeded in 1901 by John F. Myers, the last postmaster of the Chester Valley post office. *PH TopNew Centreville (New Centerville) The post office established in the village of Centerville in Tredyffrin Township in 1857 was given the name New Centreville to avoid possible confusion with other post offices named Centerville. The post office was officially opened on April 2, 1857 at Kendall's Hotel, with Evans Kendall, who served for eighteen years, the first postmaster. When George Souder took over as postmaster in 1875, the location was moved to a house next door. Souder was the postmaster until 1891, when Edward F. Sanders was named to the post, followed by Benjamin R. Walker the following year. During Walker's term of office, on December 12, 1893 the name of the post office was changed from New Centreville to New Centerville. For nine months, beginning in April of 1896, Thomas H. Whitely was postmaster, but in January 1897 Walker was again named to the office, continuing for twenty-one years until 1918 when he was succeeded by Belle Toner, the telegrapher in the railroad station. At the same time, the post office was moved to the station. Belle Toner resigned in January 1935 at the age of 85, with Rachel H. Stott serving as acting postmistress until the office was discontinued on April 30, 1935. *TEHCQ 13:17; AHC; PH Also see Centerville; Walkerville TopReeseville Following the relocation of the Lancaster Pike just before 1800 and the subsequent decline of Cockletown, a new small village grew up along the new Turnpike, After about 1835, this village became known generally as Reeseville, after the Reese family. Real growth did not take place in Reeseville, however, until the Civil War period and after a post office was established there on November 12, 1861. Previously, the residents of the area were served by either the Spread Eagle post office about four miles to the east or by the Paoli post office, about four miles to the west. The new post office was located in the store of Milton Fussell, on the southeast corner of the intersection of Newtown Road with the Turnpike, with Fussell the first postmaster. Subsequent postmasters of the Reeseville post office were George W. Downing, who served as postmaster from 1867 to 1869, and Isaac Cleaver, who followed him. When Cleaver became postmaster, he also moved the post office to his store, "The Bee Hive", a block to the east of the original location. A flagstop was established on the schedule of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Reeseville in 1869, and by the Centennial it had grown to a village of about 200 inhabitants, with forty dwellings, a Presbyterian church, a general store, a feed, lumber and coal yard, a tinshop, a carpenter shop, a carpet weaving shop, a harness shop, and blacksmith and wheelwright shops. In conformity with the other Welsh names along the railroad, when a new station was built in Reeseville following a relocation of the roadbed and the elimination of several sharp curves along the track, it was named Berwyn, after Berwyn Hills in Wales. On October 24, 1877 this name was also officially adopted by the post office, and the area soon became known by its new name. *TEHCQ 1:20, 7:55 Also see Cockletown; Clarenceville TopSpread Eagle The area along the Lancaster Pike in the eastern end of Tredyffrin Township and in the immediate vicinity of the Spread Eagle Inn, located just over the township line in Radnor Township, took the name of the inn and was known as The Spread Eagle. The name became the "official" name when a post office was established in the inn on April 1, 1804, with John Siter acting as the first postmaster. Siter was succeeded by his brother Edward in July, Edward Siter serving as the postmaster on four different occasions (1804 to 1812, 1814 to 1817, 1824 to 1833, and 1835 to 1837) for a total of twenty-two years. Other postmasters during the forty years the Spread Eagle post office was locates in the Inn in Radnor Township were John Watson (1812 to 1814), David Wilson, Jr. (1817 to 1824), Zenos Wells (for one month in 1824), Stephen Home (1833 to 1835), Richard Millison (1837 to 1839), John Chisman (1839 to 1841), and Mordecai Morrell (1841 to 1844). When Mifflin Lewis was appointed postmaster on July 4, 1844, the post office was moved from the Inn to another tavern and boarding house on Old Lancaster Road in Tredyffrin Township, near the then Eagle station. The post office continued to be known as Spread Eagle, however. Eliza Lewis succeeded Mifflin Lewis as postmaster in 1857 and, in turn, was succeeded by Helen Lewis in 1871. In December 1875 Annie M. Bloomer, a telegrapher for the railroad, was named postmistress and the post office was moved to the Eagle station. It was moved again, to the "Old Pugh store" at the northwest corner of the Lancaster Pike and Old Eagle School Road, in 1884 when Charles Harrison became the next postmaster. He served for only six months, at which time, in May 1885, he was followed by John W. Young. The Spread Eagle post office was discontinued on July 22, 1887 when it was moved to the new Strafford station on the Pennsylvania Railroad and named Strafford, Young continuing as postmaster of the new Strafford post office. *PH Also see Siterville; Eagle TopTablet A post office in Tredyffrin Township for thirteen years, the traditional source of the name of the Tablet post office is somewhat unusual. During the first administration of President Grover Cleveland, Henry Curry, a staunch Democrat and storekeeper, whose store was about a third of a mile west of Salem Church on Yellow Springs Road, applied to have a post office established at his store to give service to residents of the area. In filling out the application forms, he had to suggest a name for the post office. According to tradition, his eye caught a box of crackers on a shelf in the store. The brand name was "Tablet"; it was this name he proposed. On February 13, 1888 the Tablet post office was opened, with Curry named the postmaster. He served as postmaster for almost six years, and was followed by Maggie F. Powell, who moved the post office from the store to a house just east of the church. The last postmistress was Bertha E. Kirchner, who became postmistress in 1899. The office was discontinued on December 14, 1901. For the few years the Tablet post office was in existence, the Salem School was also sometimes referred to locally as the Tablet School, though officially it was always called the Salem School in the records of the School Board. *EB 3-10-37 Also see Salem TopTredyffrin Post Office When a post office was established in 1889 in the Cedar Hollow station of the Chester Valley Railroad, where the railroad crossed Cedar Hollow Road in Tredyffrin Township, it was given the name of the Tredyffrin post office. The office was opened on January 10, 1889, with A. H. Brennan the first postmaster, and served the area for over forty-five years before it was discontinued on May 31, 1935. Brennan served as postmaster for a little over a year, being succeeded in March 1890 by Henry P. Flickinger. He was followed nine months later by William W. Davis. In 1908 William D. Stagar became postmaster, and in 1914 he was replaced by Wilfred B. Hartmann. The last postmaster of the Tredyffrin post office was George M. Gord, who took office in 1919 and continued for sixteen years until the office was discontinued. Despite the fact that the post office was called Tredyffrin, the general area retained the name of the railroad station and continued to be known as Cedar Hollow. *PH TopWaterloo Mills On January 1, 1853 a post office was established at Cabbagetown, in Easttown Township, largely through the efforts of John W. Davis. Inasmuch as the Davis family owned the grist mill and blacksmith shop located there at the time, as well as much of the surrounding farm land, the post office was given the name of the mills and named Waterloo Mills. The first postmaster was William Steele, the tenant miller and a brother-in-law of Davis. During the fourteen years of its existence, there were four postmasters at Waterloo Mills altogether, Simon Dutton succeeding Steele in 1860, followed in 1863 by Maylon H. Wilde and in 1866 by Charles McCoy. In each case, the postmaster was the tenant miller, and the post office was located in the grist mill throughout. The office was discontinued on September 25, 1867. Although the official name of the village was thus Waterloo Mills, it continued to be referred to as Cabbagetown. *TEHCQ 3:42 Also see Cabbagetown; Hickory Hill; Pinchtown TopReferences TEHCQ Tredyffrin-Easttown History Club Quarterly: volume and page cited R Recollections of various T-E History Club members Alexander E. P. Alexander: Along the Main Line PH Postal History files of the Chester County Historical Society AHC Student papers, American Heritage Class at Conestoga High School taught by Conrad Wilson EB Philadelphia Evening Bulletin |
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Page last updated: 2012-08-09 at 11:40 EDT |