Watch those date stones!!! And talk in Aston on Thursday

The Delaware River off of Marcus Hook in 1897

 

 

Those date stones on buildings

A few days ago I was on face book and a lady was talking about the Rose Tree Tavern in Upper Providence.  She couldn’t understand that the date stone on the building was 1739, but the sign on the front lawn said c.1809. The sign is correct; in a number of local cases people added false date stones or information to make a building appear older or more significant. Some are mere mistakes but a number are outright lies. In Ridley there is a house with a 1670 date stone, but when you title search the house it dates to c.1765. The funny part is I have a picture of the house from c.1874 and the date stone is not there, the 1670 date was added later.   Other dates are just lies. There is a building in the county that advertises c.1800 but the deed for the property is 1841, the local group knows the date is wrong but they refuse to change it. They argued the deed was recorded much later which occasionally happened, for example you bought the house in 1810 but never went to Media to record the deed till decades later. It did happen. The argument ended, when a 1890 book interview surfaced and a man remembered when the building was built in the 1840’s not 1800. Lastly there is another old building with a painted on date of 1828. A title search confirms this date is close, only off by 3 years. Close enough right? Not really a newspaper account from 1866 confirms the building was torn down and rebuilt. So how old is it? Next time you see a date stone, check it out!!!

 

Dynamic Robyn Young,

a Delaware County Heritage Commission winner, 

will be the featured speaker at

Aston Township Historical Society's (ATHS) 

quarterly meeting on Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 7pm. 

Please note there is a Change in Location.  The Society will meet at the Aston Township Community Center on South Concord Road, just south of 5 Points and across from St. Joseph's Church.  Please come early so you may tour the new and improved Aston Township History Museum and Research Center at 6:30pm.  Handicapp parking is plentiful.

Robyn Young, known as the Marker Lady for her work in installing historical roadside markers for women's history, has recently published a 200-page book, "Women in Penn's Woods: A History of Women in Pennsylvania." The book was written to introduce readers to 175 women who made a difference in Pennsylvania's history and includes a summary of the 1852 Women's Rights Convention held in Pennsylvania as well as color photographs of historical markers installed by Young. Young will speak about women in our state's history focusing especially on women in Delaware County. Come learn about women's history, an exciting subject for study in all the months of the year, not just March! Books will be available for purchase.