Category: History Spotlight
The Countess of Newtown Square, Part 2
Why did Leo Tolstoy’s daughter, Sasha, take up subsistence farming in a dilapidated farmhouse in Radnor?…
The Countess of Newtown Square
In 1931, the Countess, a “broad-beamed woman of middle age, with hazel eyes behind pince-nez…
And Sweetly Breathes, “Forget Me Not!”
Over the weekend I drove up to Bucks County to pick up a donation to…
Clovercroft Chronicles
This past fall, I led a hike into the 200 acres of woods behind Don…
Hoot Mon, Be Thrifty
George Lucas’ 1973 film, American Graffiti, depicted high school life in the 1960’s, hanging out…
Building a Log Cabin During the Depression
In the midst of the Great Depression, 55-year-old Manoa builder George Clayton Shadel faced a…
The Barrens
I am more poet than scientist. But I’ve run into mentions of “the Barrens” in my study of local history, and in doing so, I have learned just enough to be able to share it with my fellow poets. The scientists out there will likely want more.
Escapee on the Loose in Chester County!
Henry Fagan and William Morgan entered into a contract around 1745. Henry had a farm…
Pretty Broomall Grove
Downtown Broomall, where West Chester Pike crosses Sproul Road, was a sleepy country crossroads in 1895.
Marple High School
A long-time Marple resident donated several old high school diplomas to the Historical Society last week, one for Marple school and one for Newtown. Neither of the schools was a “Marple-Newtown” school because that idea was realized several years later.