State St. in Media about 1909 during "rush hour". LOL You are looking west on State St. toward South Ave. Note the current PNC Bank building on the left.
The Trolleys come to Media April 1, 1913
The tranquil atmosphere of the borough of Media, was
rudely broken this morning by the appearance of a real trolley car. The sensation was sprung when the first car
over the Media division of the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company
reached the Delaware County terminus at 5:32 o’clock this morning. The car, the first to run over the road, left
Sixty-Ninth Street terminal, Philadelphia, at 5:02 o’clock. It carried fifteen passengers and arrived at
Media on schedule.
On the
first car was H. H. Atkens, vice president of the traction company; C. A.
Entriken, civil engineer; A. E. Garwood, assistant engineer; S. W. Rogers,
assistant superintendent of transportation; B. A. Hengst, claim agent; and W.
H. Slaughter, freight agent at Sixty-Third Street; other passengers, J. Roop,
C. H. Miller and Roy Blackburn of Llanerch; D. G. Moore of Upper Darby, and William
W. Wilson of Drexel Hill.
The
first fare on the new line was paid by Mrs. Joseph T. Gormley, wife of a
conductor on the new line. H. W. Getz,
an old employee of the company, tendered a brand new dollar bill in payment for
his fare. The car was in charge of
Conductor William Lyle and Motorman Reese Hagy.
A.
Merritt Taylor, president of the traction company was not present at any of the
opening features of the new trolley line.
He is in the south at this time recuperating from a recent attack of
typhoid fever.
The trolley company has the right to run in the borough
on State Street from Providence Road to a point 100 feet west of Orange Street
on a single track, returning by the same route, if the company shall not
proceed to construct the road in due time unless delayed by legal interference,
the right will be forfeited. No
construction in the borough is to be commenced until the company obtains the
right to build as far as the borough line.
Octagonal wooden poles are to be used as far as Monroe Street, and west
of that street iron poles are to be used.
The company is granted the right to maintain feed and telephone wires to
the poles. No wires are to be at an
altitude of less than 13 feet. The
company is also to construct and maintain a vitrified brick paving from curb to
curb west of Orange Street and between the rails and two feet on each side from
Orange to Plum Street. East of Plum
Street the company is to construct and maintain a macadam roadway. Cars must not be run in the borough at a
speed of over 13 miles per hour, and each car is to be numbered on the
outside. The company shall not remove
its tracks except for renewal or repairs without the consent of Council. A penalty of $10 is provided for any
violation of a provision of the ordinance, with a penalty of $2.50 for each day
the violation continues after due notice is given. If the company fails to run its cars for one
year consecutively, it forfeits its rights and Council in such case reverses
the right to remove the rails. The
company shall keep the crossings in good repair and maintain the grades so as
to carry off the surface drainage.
The
company is relieved of all limitations imposed by any general ordinance. The ordinance is binding on the company, its
successors and assigns.
President
Taylor declared that Media would be furnished with the best service of any
community in this part of the United States.
The cars will be seven feet longer than those in use on the present
lines. He explained the groove rails as
being the most satisfactory for use in the borough, as they make less of an
obstruction than the girder rails, and said the company was giving about
$12,000 in municipal improvements.
“Luxurious” is the term he applied to the service which he says Media
will secure.
The car
on its return trip to Philadelphia, left Lemon Street at 5:32 o’clock. The passengers on the vehicle when it left
the borough were: Warren T. Lowe,
Clifton Schur, Daniel Healy and J. E. Miclkle.
George Powell boarded the car at Springfield Township and Benjamin
Supplee, Lawrence Supplee and Harry Skillton became passengers later. The car had thirty-seven passengers by the
time it reach Sixty-Ninth Street. Vice
President Aiken paid the first fare on this return trip.
The
second car to leave Media this morning, which departed at 6:02 o’clock carried
a large number of people. It had seventy
passengers aboard when it reached the Philadelphia terminal. The car was in charge of Conductor Joseph T.
Gormley and Motorman Charles P. Morton.
Among
the passengers of this car were: Miss
Frieda Lynch, Miss E. E. Singleton, Miss M. H. Thorpe, W. J. Black, John L.
Pennington, J. A. Sampson, Joseph Holmes, Charles Hodge, H. H. Carey, George J.
Suter, Thomas J. Kelly, Thomas Pratt, T. C. Pratt, William Kelly, J. H. Evans,
W. H. Corkran, William Saunders, Charles R. Cotton, William King, Jr., J. O.
Howarth and George Whittaker of Media, but editor of the Morton Chronicle.
The cars
will be run on a half hour schedule over this road, the running time being 25
minutes. The schedule has been
thoroughly tried out and can be easily maintained.
Copies and "Right Clicks"
Around the Xmas Holidays I always get requests for copies of maps or pictures from my collection for gifts. That is not a problem, what is the problem some people do not understand why I'm charging them for copies. They think they should be free. In almost 50 years of collecting Delco History I have collected 100's of maps and over 5,000 pictures of Delaware County and that has cost me tens of thousands of dollars plus books, pamphlets etc. Some people do not understand it and were upset I was going to charge them.. I do not post any pictures anymore without a watermark unless it is a very common picture, today people right click and take the copies for free. They do not understand how long it takes and how expensive it is to put a collection of Delco history together. It takes a lot!
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