This is the Third Presbyterian Church in Chester on 9th St. now owned by the Chester Historical Society. The picture is from the nine volume "Artwork of Delaware County" published in 1897. This nine volume set is one of the rarest on Delaware County in over 45 years of collecting I have only seen three complete sets.The cost of local history
The cost of preserving local history can be everything from free to expensive. As a local history collector "dumpster diving" and "trash picking" is a must!! It still amazes me what people toss out. Please make sure what you want to stay in your family goes to the right family member. Some people just do not care for local history or family genealogy at all. Example when writing one of my local history books the family who had lived in the town for 200 years and had a street named for their family had no interest. I got an interview, I knew them well, but that had no interest and were just bored with my questions. I wanted a picture of their grandfather for the book I was writing, he had done a lot for the town in it's early days, the family had no pictures of him!! I received a call several months later from a cousin of the family who lived out of state. She said she was interested in her family genealogy and was so embarrassed calling me. She said I knew more about her family then her own family did! And it was true. I did finally get a picture of that grandfather I wanted!!
The cost of local history is another thing, entirely. The cost of just going to a local history lecture can be expensive. Recently a local group was charging twenty dollars a head for a talk!! OUCH ! When I give a talk I tell the group the price is whatever they can afford or normally pay to someone. Recently I have been very surprised but what groups have given me. I have also been quite surprised what other speakers are charging for their services.
Just taking a quick look on eBay search " Delaware County Pa" will show you the wide range of what some people think Delaware County items are worth. Several items have been for sale for several years, seriously. One, a map from the 1950's the seller is asking three hundred dollars, thirty dollars is more like it. Another one is a picture of a local sunday school for thirty dollars is a great price, but after two years of no bids a reduction is in order. But it has not happened.
There are many collectors of Chester County, Montgomery County etc. In Delaware County there are only about 4 of us that collect county wide. Many others just collect their town or certain area or topic. Some prices are just CRAZY. I saw a rare Delaware County medal a number of months ago. It was definitely worth seventy-five to a hundred dollars not the almost four hundred he was asking. I made an offer several months ago, he just laughed. I'm laughing now it still has not sold!
Many dealers work with you on a price, others do not bend at all. Some buyers can be just as bad if not worse. I was at a post card show years ago doing some buying. A collector who had a reputation as a cheap skate asked a dealer if he could "do better" on the 25 cents he was asking for a postcard. The dealer tore the card in half and handled it to the buyer saying no problem.
The bottom line is give or sell your items to a collector, museum or a family member or friend who will preserve the items for future generations. Preservation and not price is what is important!!
Discover Family Fun at Historic Sugartown’s Cabin Fever Saturday
Cabin Fever Saturday
Saturday, February 3rd, 2018
11AM – 2PM
(Malvern, PA) Ward off the winter blahs at Historic
Sugartown! Put away the video games and come out to
Historic Sugartown to play the way kids did during the
1700s & 1800s! On Saturday, February 3rd, Historic
Sugartown will offer Cabin Fever Saturday, a fun-filled family event at Sugartown’s Carriage
Museum from 11 am – 2 pm. There will a variety of kid-friendly crafts, old-fashioned games
and demonstrations by Historic Sugartown, Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation, Wharton
Esherick Museum, Paoli Battlefield, and East Goshen. Historic Sugartown’s c. 1880 General
Store will also be open for tours. Complimentary coffee & hot cocoa!
The event will take place in Historic Sugartown’s Carriage Museum. Locate our visitor parking
by GPS by entering 273 Boot Road, Malvern, PA 19355.
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