Anchorage, Delaware County, Alaska

The original Chester High School about 1905. The high school was built in 1901 and stood on 9th St. where the current one is today. I had many postcards of Chester High School but not this one.

NOTE: I have been blessed in my 50 years of Delaware County collecting, books, pictures , postcards etc. Over the years many people have given postcards, books. It is amazing what you get and where from. Alaska this year was a true surprise.

Anchorage, Delco, Alaska

Irene first contacted  a little over a year ago. She and her husband had lived in Delco years ago and  now lived in Alaska. She had a large collection of Delaware County postcards most over 100 years old. She had contacted several groups in Delco but no luck, no one was interested. She called the Delaware County Archives and my friends there recommended me. She wanted to know if I was interested and of course I was!! Irene stated her and her husband wanted to give the collection to someone who would appreciate all their collecting. She had seen my website and loved it, delawarecountyhistory.com. She was in the process of figuring how to mail it to me and was working on that. It would be a few months. I spoke to Delco Sports historian, Rich Pagano and she had contacted him  with sports stuff for him and he was really happy what he had received from them. To say the least I could not wait!! Months went by and I was going crazy she was organizing them, getting ready to mail them and then for some reason she changed her mind. She had decided to keep them!!

 OH NO!!

We had been emailing each other these past 6 months and all had seemed good.  She said she might still send them but after 3 months of waiting had just given up. Then a few days before my birthday last month a box came. I hardly order anything thru the mail and then I saw the name from Irene Rutter, from Alaska. I broke a speed record running into the house and opening the box. The box was filled with 100's of postcards of just Chester and Marcus Hook and many I did not have. Some of the real photo postcards were just awesome for a postcard collector. I emailed her right away. 

Thank You

Irene told me part of the problem had been trying to figure a way to mail 100's of cards in a box safely. She had done a great job, everything was perfect. The other problem was the weather in Alaska and the long lines at the post office. The weather had been too cold to go it had been 20 degrees below zero, she waited till the weather warmed up to just 20 degrees.

WOW

In the past 2 weeks she has sent me 4 more boxes of Delco, Phila. etc.

A very special thanks to Irene Rutter for the best Delco History gifts I have ever received.