Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: April 1986 Volume 24 Number 2, Pages 78–80

Notes and Comments

• Postscripts
• Tredyffrin Library to Mark 20th Anniversary
• Old Carriage House Spared

Page 78

Postscripts

#1

In Bob Goshorn's article on the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad in the April issue last year [Volume XXIII, Number 2] he quoted from an account of a trip on that rail way in 1835 by "Peregrine Prolix". He has since then learned, from a re-publication of the account by the American Canal and Transportation Center in York, that this was a pseudonym of Philip Nicklin, a bookseller and sometime author.

In the introduction to the reprint, William H. Shank notes that Nicklin was born in Philadelphia in 1786 and studied law at Princeton. He began his business in Baltimore in 1809, but five years later returned to his native Philadelphia. He was also a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1834 went to England to study Oxford and Cambridge for the University. His report of his trip across Pennsylvania, Shank also notes, was published in part to inform his Briitish acquaintances of the ingenuity of the American people.

#2

In our April 1984 issue [Volume XXII, Number 2] there was an article on Chesterbrook Farm's May Rilma, "The Champion Dairy Cow of the World".

Page 79

Not long ago one of our club members found at a sale of political buttons and other miscellany a celluloid card, four inches by six inches, reaffirming her title and proclaiming her then world's record production of 1073.41 pounds of butter fat in one year. The card was published by the American Guernsey Cattle Club in Peterboro, N.H., and apparently was issued in about 1915.

Tredyffrin Library to Mark 20th Anniversary

On June 8 the Tredyffrin Township Public Library will hold "a picnic in the park" to commemorate its 20th anniversary. The Library was first opened on April 17, 1966 in temporary quarters in the Valley Forge Junior High School, with about 150 persons present at the opening ceremonies. The date was selected as it was the beginning of National Library Week that year, and also a Sunday, emphasizing that the Library was also the first library in the area to be open on Sundays. When it opened, the Library had more than 11,000 new books and items on its shelves, purchased with a $75,000 grant under the Library Services Act.

Fifteen months later the Library moved to its second temporary location, the old four-room two-story Strafford School building on Upper Gulph Road, no longer needed as a school by the School District.

Page 80

It stayed at this location for a little more than nine years. During this time the collections grew to a total of about 40,000 books, plus phonograph records and recordings, art reproductions, and films and other audio-visual materials. In October 1967 the circulation of books for adults exceeded the circulation of juvenile and children's books for the first time. John Tucker, the librarian, noting that the Library had now become "a true public library and not just a school library". The Friends of the Tredyffrin Township Library organization was also formed in 1967. Two years later, in 1969, the total circulation from the Library's collections passed 100,000 for the first time.

On May 13, 1975 ground-breaking ceremonies were held by the Library for a home of its own, on Upper Gulph Road in Strafford Park. The building was designed by Mitchell/Giurgola, and constructed by Altemose & Company. After almost a year and a half of construction, the new Library opened on October 18, 1976. Its annual total circulation now exceeds 200,000 items, and the Library's services have expanded to include even micro-computer usage!

During its twenty-year history, there have been only two librarians. John Tucker, the first Librarian, served for five years, and was then succeeded by Marian Stevens, who has been the librarian since December 1970.

Old Carriage House Spared

When it was announced that the plans for the expansion of the sanctuary of St. Luke's Church in Devon included the demolition of the old carriage house on the property for additional parking spaces, local historic preservationists rallied in behalf of the 19th century structure. As a result, the plans of the Church were modified to permit the old building to remain standing at this time.

The carriage house, one of the few serpentine stone buildings in Tredyffrin Township, was originally one of the outbuildings of the old Lamb Tavern on the road to Lancaster. It was described by Anne Cook, an area coordinator for the recent Historic Sites Survey conducted by the Chester County Historical Society, as "one of the most distinctive" of the properties surveyed in the area, while George Willman, who also worked on the survey, noted that the Lamb Tavern property (now known as "Roughwood") is "one of the only two historic sites" in Easttown Township.

Commenting on the Church's decision to revise its plans, the Rev. William E. Braun, the pastor, said, "We decided to defer the decision on the future of the carriage house for two reasons: one, we wanted to get on with the more important business of building the sanctuary; and, two, we did want to be responsive and sensitive to the concerns of our neighbors."