Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
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Source: January 1992 Volume 30 Number 1, Pages 27–35

Garbage and Street Lights in Berwyn

from the Minutes of the Berwyn Citizen's Association

Page 27

Two of the major concerns of the Berwyn Citizens' Association in the early 20th century were the disposal of garbage and the installation of street lights and sidewalks in the village.

The Association was the outgrowth of a meeting held on October 5, 1905, at which about 125 "citizens and ladies" were present, to discuss and offer suggestions "for the improvement of Berwyn".

A number of suggestions were made, and, as reported in the Minutes of the meeting, "These suggestions took a tangible form in a motion ... that a Committee of 3 (later changed to 5) be appointed ... to secure all information possible relative to improvements and to draw up a constitution and by-laws to form an Improvement Society whose object shall be to improve conditions in Berwyn". The motion was passed by the meeting, and Henry O. Garber, William Fritz, George Maxton, the Rev. R. N. Powers, and A. M. Snyder were appointed to constitute the committee.

Two weeks later the committee presented its report, and "after carefully considering and amending the same" it was accepted and adopted by the meeting. It was then moved "that a permanent organization called The Berwyn Town Meeting be formed under the Constitution and By-Laws" that had just been approved. This too was approved, with 24 persons enrolled as charter members. (In the following March the name was changed from the Berwyn Town Meeting to the Berwyn Citizens' Association.)

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At the next meeting, on November 16th, officers of the new organization were elected: George S. Hutton was elected president; Henry O. Garber, vice-president; S.J.Henderson, secretary; and J.T. Campbell, treasurer. In January they were unanimously re-elected to continue to serve for the year 1906. (Hutton, in fact, served as president for all the nine years for which Minutes of the Association are available in the Minute Book.)

From the beginning, the establishment of a reading room and library was the major project of the organization. (The reading room/library that it established, incidentally, later became the present-day Easttown Township Library.) At the same time, the extension of street lights and side-walks in Berwyn and the disposal of garbage were also areas of improve- ment to which attention was given.

On the latter matter, at the November 16th meeting the new organization instructed the secretary "to communicate and have stopped as far as possible the dumping of garbage on [the] edge of [the] road back of the school house", then located on the south side of the Lancaster Pike between Bridge and Central avenues.

The problem, of course, was somewhat less acute during the winter months, but with the return of warmer weather early in the next summer the president, not the secretary, wrote to the Board of Road Commissioners concerning the situation, and was advised that it was not the Road Commissioners1 concern. The correspondence was reported in the Minutes of the July 10, 1906 meeting of the Association: "Mr Hutton," it was recorded, "also read a letter which he had written to Mr R B Okie, Secretary of the Board of Road Commissioners, in which he called the attention of the Board to the condition of the vacant lot opposite the School ground. Mr Hutton asked that the owners of the lot be urged to remove trash and garbage from the lot and to prohibit their deposit on it. In reply Mr Okie expressed the opinion that the Board's jurisdiction was confined to roads and could not extend beyond the oversight of gutters." (To show his personal concern, however, Mr. Okie also enclosed a check for $15.00 as a contribution to the Association.)

While no action was taken at this July meeting, at the next meeting, on September 11th, a Sanitary Committee was appointed "to look after the sanitary conditions in and around Berwyn and remedy whatever evils prevailed". Mr. H. Churchman was named chairman of the committee, with Dr. James Aiken, Dr. W. G. Mitchell, W. T. Yerkes, and William W. Morris the other members.

The committee met three times during the next three weeks, and on October 4th a special meeting was held, at the request of the committee, to hear its report and to consider "conditions relative to public health and prosperity". During its study the Committee had sub-divided into a Committee on Drainage, comprised of Dr. Aiken and Mr. Yerkes, and a Committee on Garbage, made up of Dr. Mitchell and Mr. Morris. The Committee's report gives an insight into the lack of regard for sanitation 85 years ago.

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The Committee on Drainage reported several "cases of objectionable drainage", citing in particular the drainage "from [a] Building on Waterloo Ave west side, just south of Lancaster Ave, from several buildings on Lancaster Ave between Knox and Woodside, from [a] dwelling on Berwyn Ave, west of Woodside, in which case the drainage lies stagnant in the street, from premises on Main Ave east side, just south of Lancaster Ave, [and] from [a] dwelling on Waterloo Ave South of Berwyn Ave, where [the] drainage is [also] stagnant". It further advised that legal opinion had been obtained "to the effect that it is perfectly proper, and within the Pennsylvania Statute, for occupants of buildings to drain into the gutters on the streets", but added that "the State Board of Health has jurisdiction in the matter, and would undoubtedly act for the protection of the public health, on receiving a complaint".

The Committee on Garbage similarly reported that "garbage was found thrown upon the public road on First Ave east of Church Ave or Main Ave" and "on lots at Woodside Ave north of Berwyn Ave, ... on Central opposite [the] school building, and recently on [the] lot at Woodside and Lancaster Ave". It also reported that "on [the] premises on Bridge Ave south of [the] Public School Building, stable manure and garbage are kept piled in such a condition as to be offensive to the neighbors, if not a nuisance to the public health".

Accordingly, the Sanitation Committee recommended "that the Association invite the State Board of Health inspector to investigate the offensive conditions both as to drainage and garbage", and suggested "that proper steps be taken to have the weeds on [the] lot back of the Public School Building and also the same at the corner of Lancaster and Woodside Aves, cut down and burned". The report was accepted, and the committee was instructed "to get up a circular" to be posted or sent to those persons who "maintained objectionable drainage" or who "committed nuisances detrimental to public health".

The circular was sent out in November, and at the January 8, 1907 meeting of the Association the committee reported that the replies showed "by some, a disposition to cooperate with the Association, in an effort to rectify the abuse, while others plead ignorance".

In the meantime, at the November 13th meeting the sub-committee on Garbage reported that it had obtained two bids for the collection of garbage, each at $50.00 per month. To defray this cost, the committee also suggested that "each house where collection is made pay 10 cents per week for this service". "After informal discussion of the subject," it was reported in the Minutes of the meeting, "it was decided [by the Association] that on account of the approach of cold weather that the subject be held over until spring."

In the first Annual Report of the Officers, the president, George Hutton, noted, "The Sanitary Committee, although but recently appointed, has aroused the citizens, it is believed, to the importance of putting the town in the best sanitary condition possible with the means at its disposal." The secretary, S. J. Henderson, similarly observed that the committee "had taken up very forcibly the sanitary conditions in Berwyn, and gives promise of many needed reforms, particularly the removal of garbage and ashes".

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At the January 8, 1907 meeting the committee reiterated that while "all active work in regard to Garbage Collection, was [being] deferred till spring", it had set April 1st as the date on which the actual collection would "be attempted".

It was not until May, however, that the committee made its next report to the Association, and then only to announce that it "was making a final effort to carry through the garbage collection system". No additional reports were made by the committee during the balance of the year.

In his report of the year's activities in the Annual Report for the year 1907, Hutton concluded, "The Sanitary Committee made strenuous efforts last summer to induce the citizens to take proper precautionary measures to safeguard the health of the town, but were unable to raise the necessary small amounts from each property owner and renter to enable them to carry out their plans. We hope we shall have different results next summer." William W. Morris, now secretary of the Association, added that "the depositing of refuse on the streets and vacant lots is [nonetheless] a nuisance which has to a great extent abated", with the help of the State Board of Health. The State Board, he also noted, "took occasion to express its appreciation of the efforts of the Association, as well as for any assistance it might [continue to] render the Board".

The effort was not a complete success, nor was it a complete failure. It would appear that on this matter the Association was simply ahead of its time.

The Lights and Sidewalk Committee had more success, particularly in the matter of street lights for the village, though it too was not without problems of community support.

A committee "to cooperate with the people and see what could be done toward replacing lights in [the] dark parts of town" was also approved and appointed at the first meeting of the Berwyn Town Meeting in November 1905. Its members were Warden McLees and Henry 0. Garber. When, later in the meeting, the construction of better sidewalks was also suggested, the scope of the committee was expanded to include both street lights and sidewalks, and S. J. Henderson was added to the committee.

Although at the next meeting, on January 9, 1906, the committee reported that "on account of the busy holiday season nothing was done", in mid-February, at a special meeting on February 10th, it reported that it had been in communication with the Lower Merion Gas and Electric Company and that the price for operating a street light was $12.00 a year, "with no reductions" to be made to the organization. The report was accepted, and the committee enlarged to include the Rev. Powers and Walter P. Hutton as members.

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At the next meeting, on March 6th, the Association (by now renamed the Berwyn Citizens' Association) approved ordering 29 additional street lights for the village. While the Lights and Sidewalks Committee announced it hoped to have them "in working order as soon as possible", at the May meeting, held on May 8th, it reported that it had worked with "the light company at Wayne" and "made final arrangements to have [the] 29 lights, 16-candle power [each], to burn all night and every night" installed, and that it now "hoped to have some [of them] in condition to turn on, May 15th", a week later.

This forecast was also optimistic, however. At the meeting on September 11th the committee reported that the lights had been "held up, on account of the Road Commissioners levying a tax on the poles", and it was not until the following meeting, on November 13th, that it was finally able to report that the Association was maintaining 26 new electric lights, over and above the gas lights already in existence, with eight more to be put in. (Unfortunately, the committee also reported that two lights had already "been broken by mischievous persons".)

"The response of citizens to the need for 'More Light'," the president of the Association observed in the first Annual Report of the Officers, "has been very gratifying, and the efforts of the committee having charge of the work are to be commended. There has been some progress made in relation to the improvement of sidewalks."

Early in 1907 ten additional lights were added, and at the March 12th meeting the committee further reported not only that there were now 36 lights in the village, but also that "payments towards the lights have been regularly made".

Two months later, however, at the May 14th meeting the committee reported that "some difficulty had been encountered in making collections", noting that collections had exceeded expenditures by only $5.99 which, with another $20.00 in its possession, was just "about enough to make the current payments". At the bi-monthly meetings for the rest of the year it was repeatedly reported that there was "difficulty in raising the necessary money to pay the light subscriptions"; that "payments were slow"; and finally, at the meeting on November 13th, that there was "a deficit of $34.00 in collections".

Nonetheless, it was also reported at the November meeting that two new lights had been added. "We believe," Hutton noted in his president's report in the Annual Report for 1907, "that the majority of our citizens realize the necessity of keeping on with them [the street lights], increasing the number whenever possible. They are a great convenience as well as a safeguard. We hope that the list of contributors will be enlarged, so that we can place more lights at important points." In the secretary's report, Morris pointed out that "the street lights in the village show for themselves", adding that "there are [now] 38 lights installed and burning".

Page 32

Concerning sidewalks, Hutton noted, "Attention has been called at times that Berwyn is the town without sidewalks. It is certainly true that in many places pedestrians take the road instead of the sidewalk, simply because the walking is better. This should not be, and if the property owners would endeavor to fix up, in a uniform way, [walks] in front of their own premises, better conditions could soon be reported. Cinder paths would not be expensive. Some commendable improvements have been made during the past year along these lines and, in places, modern pavements have been laid."

The hoped for "enlarged" list of contributors the next year apparently was not realized. In its first report to the Association in the year, at the September 8, 1908 meeting, the committee reported that while it continued to maintain 38 lights "probably 4 would have to be cut due to non-payment of subscriptions", and at the November 10th meeting it reported that there was a two-months1 deficit in the account, "in the committee's mind ... an obligation to be met by the Association".

The president's report in the Annual Report for 1908 was, for obvious reasons, somewhat more restrained. "The lighting of the town," Hutton reported, "has received the careful attention of the committee in charge. Practically no change has been made in the number of lights, but owing to some removals and others dropping off the list of subscribers, there has been a deficit incurred [during] the present year. If this is not made up shortly, the Electric Company no doubt will shut off the lights. Now that we have the benefits of electric lighting, don't let us take a step backward and be left in darkness, or at most an oil lamp here and there. Let us make an extra effort to support this very important work. Money should be raised not only to support our present lights but for additional ones to be placed where needed, for the benefit of the whole town."

He was similarly discouraged about the progress made in sidewalks. "The sidewalks," he reported, "have not received the attention they demand. If every property owner," he again suggested, "would agree to place a suitable walk in front of his or her property of a uniform width, it would add very much to the comfort and convenience of citizens, who, for want of such facilities, use the middle of the road, to their great personal risk. The sooner we overcome the impression that has gone forth that Berwyn is a town without sidewalks, the better."

Finally, he concluded, "The work of the Association rests on a few, who are giving of their time to endeavor to place Berwyn in the forefront of the towns along the Main Line ... By giving this Association both moral and financial support you will put us in a position to be proud of our work, which we feel sure will be of benefit to our citizens."

By the following March one month of the two months' deficit had been made up, but the remainder of the deficit continued through 1909.

In his report in the Annual Report for that year Hutton once again urged greater support from the community. "The number of lights [now 351." he reported, "is practically the same as a year ago.

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It would be to the interest of the town to have our lighting system extended. This will only be possible by increased donations for this purpose. We sincerely hope this will be forthcoming in the near future." At the same time, he noted, "Some improvement has been made in the matter of sidewalks. This important subject should claim the serious attention of every property owner. We should have good sidewalks on every street, thus insuring greater safety to the general public. The risk attached to walking out in the street (which is a pretty common practice in Berwyn), has been greatly increased since the advent of automobiles, and we should aim to eliminate this danger as much as possible, besides increasing the attractiveness of the town and adding to the value of property."

On April 1, 1910 four new lights were installed and turned on, it was reported at the May 10th meeting, making a total of 39 in all, and at the meeting on July 12th it was reported that another three lights had been added to the total. Still, it was also reported at that meeting, "the old deficit of $50.00 remains without further reduction".

At the end of the year, in the president's report in the Annual Report Hutton again observed that "The Light Committee still experiences much difficulty in collecting the necessary funds to maintain the lights now in use" and noted that the lights "must depend on additional subscriptions, as our Association is without invested funds". The sidewalks, he also reported, "have been somewhat improved in certain sections, but there is still room for further practical work in this line".

It was also noted by the secretary that "the subscription list has increased, enabling the Association, with liberal returns from the supper last fall, to pay off a large part of the old indebtedness". (The supper, incidentally, accounted for $120.92 of the Association's total receipts of $975.70 during the year, with subscrtiptions specifically for the street lights amounting to $448.00, the sale of candy, $5.00, and the sale of old books and furniture, $7.50, in addition to $379.28 received through annual subscriptions and donations.)

At the May 16, 1911 meeting the committee reported that "two new lights were added, both on Conestoga Road; one in front of Dr. 0. G. L. Lewis' and one at the Joint High School. In its report the committee also noted that "Dr. Lewis will pay for his [light] and the school for theirs", thus relieving the Association of the costs of their maintenance. It was also reported that the Berwyn chapter of the Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip gave "an entertainment" which realized $60.00, which it turned over to the Treasurer of the Association "to pay off outstanding bills for [the] village street lights".

The committee also reported that it had begun "correspondence with the county officers to see what course should be pursued" with regard to a new law "empowering [the] Road Commissioners to levy a tax for highway lights". It would appear that nothing came from this correspondence, however. (New taxes were apparently no more popular then than they are today.)

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Six months later, at the November 11th meeting, it was reported that pledges had been received for three additional lights, one at Berwyn and Woodside avenues (the Lobb property), one at the post office, and one at the southwest corner of Paoli Road and Central Avenue.

During the year forty-seven new subscribers were added to the list, with the total number of contributors to the Association, listed for the first time in the Annual Report, numbering more than 150. In the report the chairman of the Lights and Streets Committee, Warden McLees, also noted that contributions were now "solicited and secured ... in the name of the Berwyn Citizens' Association, in lieu of the former plan of collecting monthly for the lighting of our town and separately for the Reading Room", adding that the results so far had been "very gratifying". McLees also reported that in early 1912 there would be a total of 62 lights in operation, an increase of 12, or about 37%, over the number in operation at the beginning of 1911.

In the report for the year 1911 the president observed that the finances of the Association were "in better condition than at any time since the Association was formed" and that it was "very encouraging to have more of our public-spirited citizens place substantial sidewalks in front of their homes or places of business".

The relatively good financial health of the Association continued through 1912, with contributions and donations almost 6% greater than expenses. There were now 61 street lights in operation, including the six that had been installed early in the year, of which the Association was pledged to maintain and operate 51, at an annual expense of $612.00. (The other ten lights presumably were maintained by the individual property owners at or near the location of the light.) In the Annual Report for 1912 McLees, the committee chairman, also noted, "Greater improvement, in the way of sidewalks, has been made during the past year than ever before and, in the opinion of your committee, more cement sidewalks were laid during the year 1912 than during [all] the time previous thereto."

Despite this progress, however, in the president's report for the year Hutton asked for "the continued support of the citizens in this line" as there was "still room for improvements as there are many parts of the town that should be better lighted". "Our town, not being incorporated," he observed, "the only way to keep up and increase our lighting is for continued subscriptions by the residents in this important object."

As an alternative to "continued subscriptions by the residents", at the March 11, 1913 meeting of the Association the question "of supporting street lights by a small tax on the township" was discussed, and it was voted that the question "be taken up with the property owners" as a possible method of supporting the lights. Similarly, at the following meeting, on May 13th, the matter of "petitioning the Road Commissioners to levy a township tax for the purpose of defraying the expenses of street and roadway lighting" in the township was discussed. Neither proposal, however, apparently appeared to be a feasible solution.

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Minutes for only a few meetings after that are available. At the March 10, 1914 meeting, for which the Minutes have survived, it was reported that "fifty (50) lights were being maintained". It would appear that the Association was continuing to have difficulties keeping up its payments for the street lights as at that meeting the secretary was also "requested to look up the Statute passed by the Legislature of 1913 in regard to the lighting of Public Highways in Second Class townships".

In the same vein, in the Minutes for the annual meeting held on January 26, 1915 it was reported that it was "ordered that the Association endeavor to arrange for a supper ... in cooperation with the Light & Sidewalk Committee; the proceeds of the supper to be employed to pay off the indebtedness due the Counties Gas & Electric Company for the maintenance of street lights, and for the general work of the Association". (In the Minutes of the next meeting, held on March 9th, it was further noted that "arrangements had been made for an entertainment to be given at the Berwyn Theater" in the following month. The proceeds from the entertainment, the treasurer reported in his report of May 1, 1915, were $86.75; he also reported that proceeds of $35.00 had been realized from a rummage sale that was also held.)

At the May 9th meeting it was also reported that "51 street lights were burning but that many persons were not supporting [the] lights in their immediate neighborhood". It was also noted that the semi-annual notices had been sent out to donors early, with the payments to be used "to pay back lighting bills", but that "a further deficit" was still "indicated".

In the meantime, in the Minutes of the annual meeting held on January 26th it was also reported that "it was understood that the street lights were to be maintained by the property owners [in the vicinity of the light] beginning with December 1, 1914". This would indicate that as of that date, once the existing indebtedness was taken care of, the maintenance of the lights would no longer be a direct function of the Association.

Thus the Berwyn Citizens1 Association, and particularly its Lights and Sidewalks Committee, by dint of much hard and faithful work over a period of nine years, initiated the installation of some 61 street lights in Berwyn, and also maintained most of them during this period by contributions and pledges it received from the community and other fund-raising activities, for the betterment of the village.