The Red Arrow’s West Chester Pike Trolley in Broomall: 1895–1954
The West Chester trolley, which served Marple township for more than half a century, had a large impact on the township’s early suburban development and has endured as a memory in Broomall’s collective consciousness more than half a century after it was replaced by the Route 104 bus....
Foxcroft Station & the Newtown Square Branch
The Pennsylvania Railroad's Newtown Square Branch passed through Marple from 1895 until 1963 and for many of those years it served a small flag stop called Foxcroft Station. Today, little is left of the railroad, but if you look closely, you can find remnants....
The Hipple House: Reflections On a Lost Family Home
Two weeks ago the house at 27/29 South Sproul Road in Broomall was demolished. With the loss of the Hipple House, silently but imposingly keeping watch over that section of Sproul Road, one more physical link to our township’s past and the people who shaped it has been...
Obituary for a Funeral Home: the McCluen House, ca. 1847-2021
Last week the former Kish funeral home, a familiar landmark at Sproul and Lawrence Roads, passed into history. Now, after 1998 Sproul Road has been demolished, it is worth looking back on this building’s roughly 174-year life....
The Coppock House: A Preservation Failure
By Sam Pickard With Delaware County initiating the formal takings process to acquire what is commonly known as the “Don Guanella Woods” for use as a county park, it’s worthwhile to look back on the history of the 213-acre tract of land.[1] While this future park could easily supply half-a-dozen...
Hayti Cemetery and the Marple UAME Church
Underneath a Blue Route overpass lies what is commonly known as Hayti Cemetery. This cemetery, originally the churchyard of the Marple UAME Church, is the final resting place for generations of Delaware County's African American community....
The Election of 1960: Future Presidents Campaign in Lawrence Park
Sixty years ago, not one but two future presidents came through Marple Township during their campaign for the White House. Republican Vice President Richard Nixon and Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts were squaring off in a tight race to win the presidency that saw air travel, television,...