Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: January 1980 Volume 18 Number 1, Pages 31–32

Notes and Comments

• Papal Altar Now in Strafford
• Changes at "Oak Knoll"
• Tricentennial Committee Meets
• Kudos from the State Historical and Museum Commission
• Fund Drive Launched for Purchase of Waynesborough

Page 31

Papal Altar Now in Strafford

The altar used by Pope John Paul II for the celebration of Mass at Logan Circle in Philadelphia during the Pope's historic visit to the United States last October has been donated to Our Lady of Assumption Church in Strafford.

The altar was constructed for the Papal Mass by the LML Corporation, in Malvern, of which Thomas Lane, a member of the Strafford church, is president. Made of wood, but "marblized" to give the appearance of stone, the altar is ten feet eight inches long, four feet deep, and forty inches high. It will replace the present altar, built about fifteen years ago, in the church after the completion of the renovation needed to accommodate it.

Changes at "Oak Knoll"

The stone chimney at "Oak Knoll" (see Volume XVII, Number 1 of the Quarterly) has been demolished, many of the chestnut-oak trees uprooted, and even the contours of the knoll itself have been altered as work has begun on the townhouse project on the site of the former A. Edward Newton estate in Daylesford. At the same time, some of the few remaining "artifacts" from the Newton home, including the pond and a stone bridge over the creek, will be preserved, according to present plans.

Page 32

Under the project, approved by the township supervisors last March after several modifications to reduce the number of units, 80 town­house units in eleven buildings will be constructed on the 15.3 acre site. (The original plan was for 164 units in 17 buildings, with an intermediate proposal of 110 units before the final reduction to 80.)

Several of the windows from the old Newton home were also preserved when the house was razed following the bibliophile's death. They are now installed in "Gockleburr", the old log house on Irish Road.

Tricentennial Committee Meets

Over 50 representatives of various historical societies and commissions in Chester County, including three persons from the Tredyffrin Easttown History Club, attended a meeting in November to begin consideration of ways in which to observe the three hundredth anniversary of Chester County and this area. The State is planning a two-year observance of the occasion, starting on March 14., 1981 and continuing through April 2, 1983, according to information reported at the meeting by Robert E. Carlson, the chairman of the County's Tricentennial Committee.

Preliminary discussions concerned the particular period during which the tricentennial should be noted locally. It was also the consen­sus that the majority of the commemorative activities should be sponsored by local organizations, with recognition not only of the settling of Pennsylvania and this area but also its 300 years of growth and progress.

Kudos from the State Historical and Museum Commission

"We appreciate receiving the publications of the Tredyffrin Easttown Historical [sic] Club Quarterly," John Bodner, Chief of the Division of History of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, recently wrote, "and feel they are excellent examples of local historical initiative. We hope you will continue to send them to our librarian," he continued. We hope to too.

Fund Drive Launched for Purchase of Waynesborough

A 29-member committee has been formed and is launching a campaign to raise the additional $200,000 still needed to purchase Waynesborough and its surrounding ten acres and to preserve it as a museum. Grants and pledges already received, it was reported, account for the remainder of the $640,000 total purchase price.

A major part of the drive will be conducted by mail, with a mailing of specially prepared brochures early in 1980. A deadline of March 1980 has been set for the campaign.