of West Chester Pike and Media Line Road in Marple.
From 1848 to 1918, West Chester Turnpike was a toll road, with toll houses along its 20 mile route. The toll? Two cents per horse per mile. Farmers hauling produce or drovers driving livestock to market could better afford the tolls, as a pay day awaited them at day’s end. But for locals, the tolls were an annoyance, and inspired the sport of Toll Dodging.
In 1954, Dick Lewis, who recalled riding Will Snite’s stage into town and later drove an express wagon from Newtown Square to the docks of the Delaware, told reporter Clarissa Smith how it was done:
“Have you heard how we used to dodge the toll gates? Starting from Newtown Square, we went along the Pike as far as Bryn Mawr Road, then turned north on Bryn Mawr and came back on Sproul Rd to Broomall, so we missed Toll House No. 5 [near the intersection of the Pike and Media Line Road ed.] Then we went on the Pike to Darby Creek, took Creek Road [now Lawrence] to Oakmont and back on Eagle Road to the Eagle [Tavern] to escape No. 4. Then down the Pike again till we came to the car barns at Llanerch, where we would go in and come out at Line Road [City Line], just below Toll Gate No. 3. There wasn’t any way around No. 2, at least I didn’t know about it. Anyway, we only had to pay one toll from State Road to Millbourne.”
passengers and freight from Newtown Square into
West Philadelphia on the West Chester Turnpike.
Newtown resident Jan Elston remembered a story that her mother Janice Edgar told her. She would occasionally be sent on an errand where she was given a nickel to pay the tolls. She would wait for a time when the tollkeeper was not outside, or when the “pike” was not turned down to block the roadway, and then would speed past on her horse, saving the nickel to splurge at the candy store along the way.
Bart Hipple recalled a Friday night where several boys approached the toll booth on horseback. One boy said he did not have to pay because he was on his way to church. The Tollkeeper, Ella Miller, said “You’re not going to church. It’s only Friday night.” The boy replied “It will be Sunday by the time I get there!” The boys all laughed – the horse of the “churchgoer” was known as the slowest horse in town.
For more on the history of Marple, visit the Marple Historical Society website and Facebook page, and join the Society to keep up to date on coming events: www.MarpleHistoricalSociety.org.
