Then and Now

SECOND BLUE BALL INN

William Burwell, photographer. Date: Fall 1900. From the TEHS archives

Joyce A. Post, photographer. Date: March 2004

LEFT: John Pusey Croasdale, a gentleman named Henderson, and a third unidentified man with an 1899 Locomobile Steamer in front of the second Blue Ball Inn at Daylesford Road in the fall of 1900 [the first Inn is south of Route 30 across from the A.E. Newton property]. This steam powered Locomobile is the first vehicle manufactured by The Locomobile Company of America, of Bridgeport, Conn. They made cars beginning in 1899 with this model and ended with luxurious, elegant touring cars in 1929, when they went out of business. The name is a combination of “locomotive” and “automobile.” This runabout, costing $600, was very expensive for its time, required lubrication and water every 20 miles and proved to be unreliable. John Croasdale was an 1896 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and married Mary Gurney Okie, daughter of Dr. Richardson B. Okie, in this Inn. They lived here for many years.

RIGHT: The former Inn, now a private residence, sits where Old Lancaster Road meets Russell Road just northwest of the Daylesford railroad station. It was originally built around 1795 and was a low-class drovers tavern catering to itinerant merchants and peddlers. One of the early owners, Mrs. Prissy Robinson, was notorious for her caustic temper and the many murders that occurred at the tavern during her ownership. Later residents claim they still hear her ghost.