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Nostalgia Forum

"Nostalgia is what you can remember. History is what your grandparents remember." -- I don't know if any wise man ever said that, but someone should have. Obviously, the general scope of this blog is the older history of Mill Creek Hundred -- from the late 17th Century up until the early 20th Century. Of course, the region didn't stop then, though. There are many stories to be told from the last 75 years or so of the area's history, too. This page is an open forum for anyone wishing to share any stories, recollections, reminiscences, or questions relating to the later history of Mill Creek Hundred. This can be anything from a full-blown story, to "Does anyone remember the old store on the corner?" Who knows -- maybe you'll jog a long-buried childhood memory for someone, or they'll do the same for you.

As we go along, I'll try to post some random pictures here showing sights from MCH in the 20th Century. (And if anyone has any of their own they'd like to share, you can email them to me.) After all, these pictures and stories are the history of Mill Creek Hundred, to. By sharing them here, maybe we can make it easier for the historians of the future to piece together our story. (That, and I hope it'll be fun, too!)


Stanton Post Office

Buy a house in Dunlinden Acres, get a free garbage disposer!

The construction of the Kirkwood Highway bridge over Red Clay Creek

The completed "Cranston Heights Viaduct" in 1940.

Section of the newly-completed highway between
Limestone Road and Cranston Heights in 1939.

Stanton Elementary School, 1941
Stanton Central Elementary today, now an
adult education center

The Independence School, at the Polly Drummond Shopping
Center location it had from 1978-1983.

123 comments:

  1. Personally, there was no way I could start this with anything but a Chuck Wagon picture. Probably the most recognizable building in the area for about 40 years. I grew up just across the highway from it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who will always think that intersection looks empty without it. Oddly enough, though, my family didn't go out to dinner often and I'm not sure I was ever in there. Maybe once or twice when I was young.

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    1. Just stumbled across this. The Chuck Wagon was always dear to my heart. My father, Harold Katzen, designed, built and owned the Chuck Wagon until the early 60's. I made the trip to the "Wagon" many times with dad from our home in Pottstown, PA. He also owned a restaurant in Pottstown called the Bar-B-Q Pit and for awhile another in King of Prussia. Brings back old memories. Thanks for posting.

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    2. I happened upon this post, and was surprised by the post from Allan Katzen. Unless he his talking about another Chuck Wagon restaurant in another location he is incorrect about his father designing, building and owning the Chuck Wagon restaurant in Gordy Plaza in Wilmington,DE. That was built (1956) and owned by my father in law, Ralph Gordy, Sr. We still own the plaza on Kirkwood Highway, and Applebees Restaurant is now in same spot where the famous Chuck Wagon stood. Just want to set the record straight for people who loved the Chuck Wagon.

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    3. I was a car hop on the 60s and Ralph gordy owned it and john Hamas is managed it. I dated on of the gordy sons I think it was ralph

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    4. Brings back memories for me as my grandfather used to work as a dishwasher there and would bring my brother and I there for ice cream and soda.

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  2. I like this forum Scott.....I remember going to the Putt-Putt miniture golf where the Taco Bell / Smith Volkswagon is now across from The Chuck Wagon. Am I mistaken when I say it was a drive-in eatery also?

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  3. Since I'm a little younger than some on here, my earliest memory of what's now Smith Volkswagen is walking over there when they had auctions. They must have had other stuff for kids, too, because I remember coming home with a goldfish one time.

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  4. Re: Bennett's store near Stanton, does anyone know if the building is still there? Was it an older building since razed, or was it in one of the houses on Telegraph Rd? Was it on Telegraph Rd? Also, I wonder if the owners were related to the Bennetts who had a small general store (a generation or two earlier) on Newport Gap Pike in the Cedars?

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    1. Hi Scott, just came across this and had to reply. The Bennett's had a small store at the bottom of their house that is still on Telegraph Road today. I believe it's the second (white) house on the left as you go under the overpass headed towards Rt. 7. I'm not sure if it's occupied now or not. I used to stop there on my walk home from Stanton Jr High to get candy and soda. This had to be the late 60's. I remember Mrs Bennett (a much older lady at that time) ran the small store that was usually filled with teenagers just hanging out.

      Robin Strauss

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    2. Thanks, Robin. The first house past "Timko Bros." garage is a two story white house. I assume that's the one. Anyone happen to know any of the Bennett's names? I took a shot with the 1940 census, but they may not have been there then. Several Bennett families around, though.

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    3. I want to school with one of Mrs. Bennett's grandsons. His name was Ronnie. I remember going there almost every day to buy the penny candy. The store was in the basement and had just about every kind of penny candy there was.

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    4. John -- Keep an eye out over the next few days. I'll have another Guest Post up with some more memories of Stanton from that era, and the Bennetts in particular. I hope it'll spark some good conversation and bring back some memories....

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    5. I grew up in Manette Heights that was the development that adjoined the Bennett's property. Mrs Bennett was usually the one who attended the store in her basement, but her husband sometimes would be there as I recall. She had two grandsons that was close to my age, Donnie and Ronnie. They also had horses and a stable behind their house and I believe would board horses there. It was a regular place to hang out in the summer because the store was always cool and the soda's were really cold. We would go help ourselves to a cold soda from the refrigerator that was in the corner. I bought a lot of baseball cards from that store some of which I still own. Great Memories and good times.

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    6. Thanks for sharing Earl Z!!

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    7. I went to Stanton Elementary in the 60's and Bennetts is where we all spent our lunch money(25cents) on penny candy. Dots on a paper roll, shoe string licorice and Mary Janes, the list goes on. Such great memotir

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  5. Bennetts was, I think, the 2nd or 3rd house down from the old Timco property.

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    1. Not sure where the Timco property was but the house was just past Stanton Elementary and down the hill from Stanton Jr High's baseball field that was in the northwest corner of the school property. There was a devlopement that lined the north side of the school property from Limeston rd to the end of the baseball field. I can not remember the devolement but Bennetts was just past the end of it and Telegraph rd.

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    2. 1903 telegraph road

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  6. Re: Chuck Wagon and the nearby businesses. Does anyone remember that where Best Buy is now located between Old Capitol Trail and Kirkwood Hwy, there was a barn that got converted during the early 1960's into a restaurant aptly named The Red Barn. It went up in flames one night. Kids being kids, the location immediately became known as the Red Burn! A new building (still a restaurant) took it's place, but eventually went out of business and was re-opened as Channel Home Improvement Center which competed with Hechinger's in the Almart Shopping Center. Parkylnn Hardware down the street never stood a chance. Ken C.

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    1. I remember the Red Barn. My Family took me there for dinner when I was just 9 or 10. Since I wasn't wearing a jacket, the restaurant provided me with one, bright red. Mom and Dad got a big laugh, but I wasn't very happy. I remember Chuck Wagon, Putt-Putt, and my first job was at Almart..Before Almart shopping center was there some friends I was with set that field on fire. I never ran so fast.

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    2. Thanks for the stories, Jack. I'm a bit younger than you, so I only vaguely remember the later Red Barn. I grew up in Klair Estates, so my biggest memory of the place is just that it was the abandoned building we had to ride our bikes past to get to McDonalds. I did find this article from 10/22/68 that talks about the first fire, which must have been October 20. Says the barn was 50 years old. Looking at the older aerial pictures, the only house around before that was the one that was later Slicer's Sporting Goods. I assume that was the farmhouse for the red barn. Farrand Drive is not present in the 1961 photo, so restaurant must have opened after that.

      And I have one for you. I found a mention in the oldwilmington.net forum about a trampoline center that apparently was nearby in the early 60's. The 1961 photo shows an odd shape (circular lot with branches to the west) directly across OCT from the Klair Estates entrance. Was that what this was? I've been wondering about it. By the 1968 picture it's gone, and the building that's now Smith's Volkswagon is there.

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    3. You know what, I take some of that back already, about the house. Now that I look again and compare with the present, there was another house that looks to have sat about where the south (OCT side) end of Best Buy is now. The barn was about in the middle of the current parking lot. May have been another house directly behind the barn, but I can't tell if it's there in the 1937 shot.

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    4. Scott, stop reminding us that you are younger than us. SHEESH. Dang youngen's! LOL KIDDING. I remember the Red Barn fires. I think I remember both. One when I was very small and the other I remember that was scuttlebutt about it being set and "people running from the building on fire" my Dad said that was all B.S. -using his words. I will recommend this site to some of the fire fighters I know from MillCreek (Go GREEN DRAGONS!) VFC and I am sure they could shed a lot of light on many things. There is also a site we use down here for old photographs of places and they are similar to google but they are from back in the day. Amazing things to see and understand that way. Since I am new in the DFW TX area it has made a bit more sense in learning the history of the H.E.B. area that I live in. I will try to shoot you the link because I know it worked with seeing some of Kirkwood Hwy and Stanton area for some things I put into it when I learned of the website.

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    5. Scott-

      Judie's reply made me realized that one important facet of MCH that has yet to be discussed are its fire fighters. The Millcreek and Cranston Heights fire companies have been protecting our homes and businesses for over a century. I bet some members of those organizations would be glad to provide histories for our edification.

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    6. They truly unsung heroes. We have had a number of large fires and floods that they have played key roles in. The flood that took out Glenview (I think that is the name of the neighborhood in Stanton) and of course the Red Barn fires and the shopping center that used to Hobby Art in it and several fires on Limestone Road. It is a shame that the old Benathum (sp?) went up in flames. I would love to know more about the Fenimore family that had lived at Fenpor and Lafayette St in Washington Heights and the Divirgilio Family. I grew up with John and Raymond Divirgilio and of course there father Mitty Divirgilio ran the gas station and then the liquor store. I lived across from the Fenimore's but have learned more about the family recently.

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    7. I remember the Red Barn and the day it burned. We were coming down Kirkwood Highway and could feel the heat all the way across the street!

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  7. I still remember the big Red Barn fire- we rode our bikes there to watch the firefighters in action. IFRC, the second red Barn also had a fire, albeit smaller, and never re-opened. I also think Channel killed Parklynn Hardware when it opened; Hechinger's killed Channel when it opened, and Home Depot knocked off Hechinger's when it opened.

    Speaking (sort of) of Almart, I believe for the longest time it was the only department store open on Sunday. When other stores began to keep Sunday hours, Almart began to lose customers. Lots of fond memories of Almart, including those in which my father would chat with Dallas Green while their wives were stocking up on back-to-school clothes.

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  8. This page at the OldWilmington.net site has a couple pictures of the Chuck Wagon, a couple showing the A&P sign, and ones of the Almart sign and the Red Barn sign.

    As a slightly younger resident of the area, my main memory of the Red Barn is riding our bikes past it (well after it closed, I'm sure) to go to the McDonalds that's now the Big and Tall store.

    Speaking of that area, somewhere I have a picture of the Olympic torch being carried down Kirkwood Highway on the way to Lake Placid in 1980. I'l put it up if I ever find it.

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  9. Does anyone know when JDHS stopped having a "live" ram as a mascot? I graduated in '67 and recall Barney the Ram in attendance at football games (though I don't believe he was the original ram). I saw the revival (since 1977) of the Conrad-Dickinson football rivalry; it looks like a set of ram horns is all that's left.KC.

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    1. I graduated from Dickinson in 1973 and Barney was a fixture at the football games then.

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  10. Does anyone remember: Near the south end of Township Road in Windermere, there was a steep bank that dropped to a swampy woods with Calf Run on the east side. At the base of the embankment was the remains of a spring house (Satterthwait farm) that served as a club house for kids in the late 50s - 60s. It was a great area for playing Army or catching box turtles.

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  11. The spring house must have been gone by the second half of 60's. I grew up in Windermere and the presence of such a building would have been well known among the neighborhood kids.

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  12. This may kind of straddle the line between history and nostalgia, but can anyone guess what the bottom picture is? It opened to traffic on September 21, 1940.

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  13. Scott-

    My guess is the Cranston Heights bridge over the Red Clay Creek.

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  14. You are correct, Bill. From the "Annual Report of the Chief Engineer State Highway Department 1939":

    "Of major importance in roadway construction in New Castle County was the building of the second section of the Capital Trail between Price's Corner and Limestone Road. This dual highway with 22-foot pavements and a 20-foot parkway, follows a new location and has been completed with the exception of the viaduct at Cranston Heights. Upon its completion during the early summer of next year, motorists will have a divided highway from Elsmere to the Limestone Road over a road with good alignment, and minimum grades bypassing the old congested, narrow, crooked road through Marshallton."

    Under the bridge pics is another one of the new highway from 1939. Best I can tell, it's looking east toward the bridge, maybe with a Marshallton stack on the right and a watertower at the Workhouse straight ahead? Did the Workhouse have a watertower? Something makes me think it did, but I can't find a pic to be sure. Either way, that's what Kirkwood Highway looked like, literally and figuratively before it became Kirkwood Highway.

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  15. Scott-

    There definitely was a water tower at the workhouse. I remember my father telling me that a convict had escaped to the top of the water tower one evening. In hindsight, that sounds a lot like the plot to "Little Caesar", but there was a water tower to make it seem likely to a 5 year-old.

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  16. I also think the picture of the bridge is looking west- the Kirkwood Highway pretty much follows the Piedmont Line with the higher ground to the north which is the right side of the photo.

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    1. Do you remember the railroad tresses at Delaware Park. We would go there and wait for trains to come and jump off into the deep water

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  17. We were talking about green stamps at dinner. Every one of us remembered everything about them eccept where the redemption center was. I seem to remember that it was in Midway Shopping Center. Now I wonder if it was in the Newark Shopping Ctr. They ran them until the early '80's. Anybody know? Thanks.

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    1. I remember the Green Stamp Redemption Center in the Millcreek Shopping center. For some reason, though, we didn't regularly collect Green Stamps, so I rarely ventured inside.

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    2. I grew up in the Richardson Park area and we frequently went up and down Kirkwood Highway when I was a youngster in the 60s and 70s. If my memory serves me correctly, the S & H Green Stamps store was across from the present Mill Creek Fire Co. I think there is a vitamin or uniform store there now. We normally got our Green Stamps at the Atlantic Richfield gas station (ARCO) on Maryland Avenue across from the Five Points Fire Co. (Mr. Ed)

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  18. I had the pleasure of visiting a couple, now in their eighties, who grew up in Stanton. They have scrap books full of 20th Century Stanton nostalgia and, even more, have home movies dating back as far as the 1940s showing scenes from along Main Street including houses, businesses and hotels! One of the film clips shows one of the local young men on a horse and driving a herd of cows from the barn once located on the St. Mark's UMC site to the meadow located between Walgreen's Drug Store and White Clay Creek. That cattle drive of course took place twice a day. Imagine the chaos that would create with today's traffic. They also described "Pig Alley" which was the right-of-way located behind the homes on the south side of Main Street (now eastbound Route 4 aka Mitch Road). The earlier name grew from when pigs were driven from the railroad west of town through that alley to a slaughter house owned by Bob Maclary located behind his home just east of the Pleasant Hills Drive-In. This practice was still going on in the '40s as remembered by my hosts.KC.

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    1. That's a great story. It's hard to keep in mind sometimes that within the lifetime of people still around, livestock roamed the streets of our now very-suburbanized area.

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    2. Get those pics and home-movies on you-tube!

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  19. This was (for the most part, at least) before my time, but does anyone remember Mitty's gas station in Marshallton? It was at Old Capitol Trail and Newport Road, where Big D's Pizza is now. I'm told it was originally a liquor store, opened by Mitty Di Virgilio in the mid 40's. He then ran the gas station for years.

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    1. I remember the package store but not a gas station

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    2. I remember the gas station. I walked by it every day in the late 40's and early 50's to Marshallton Consolidated School.

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  20. Scott P, I was wondering do you, or your readers, know where Goldings Road was located. It was prominant in the 1930's census. I suspect it may be present day Brackenville Road. And if so, when was the name changed.
    Really enjoy all the posts, as almost all mention long lost relatives and cousins. Craig, Guthrie, Harlan, are just some of the most recent.

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    1. I hadn't noticed Goldings Rd before, but I knew the name sounded familiar, and I have a guess. The name almost certainly refers to the Golding and Sons kaolin company which was located southeast of Yorklyn Road and Old Wilmington Road. The pond located across from the Hindu Temple is the remnants of one of their pits. In fact, the reason OWR swerves to the west right there is because the company had it moved so they could expand their digging. I don't know if it still is, but the bridge over the Wilmington and Western tracks there used to be known as Golding's Bridge.

      As for the road in the 1930 Census, my guess is that it's Old Wilmington Road in that area. It's a big road, but I don't see that name in the census. I tried looking for a smoking gun to prove it, but 1920 and 1940 don't have road names. 40 should, but doesn't around there.

      Golding was involved with another guy named Graham in the kaolin business since the 1870's, and bought it outright in the early 1880's. So the Golding name had been around for about 50 years by 1930. They stopped digging and refining there sometime in the later 1930's (the last kaolin company in Hockessin, I think), and their refinery burned in 1943. I'd assume the Golding's Road name started going away after that, especially with the suburban growth and newcomers who never knew the Golding name. Anyone else know for sure?

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    2. Scott, thanks for the Golding info. Old Wilmington road sounds plausible, due to the bridge name. However, I now think that Goldings road may have been an earlier name for present day Yorklyn road. There was a listing in the 1930's census for the Edgewood Sanitorium located on Goldings road, but in an earlier post about Emily Bissell (July 9, 2010), you noted that the Sanitorium was near the Bissell Hospital. So could it it be present day Hercules road. Just wondering.
      There is a Golding Ct. in a neighborhood near mine, so the name hasn't totally vanished from the landscape.

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    3. Correct, Edgewood was on Hercules Road. I think what I saw (I don't have it in front of me right now) was that on the 1930 census, between Goldings Road and Edgewood, there's a small line on the left side. This usually indicates a break, like in days. Meaning the enumerator stopped for the day, and below the line is where they picked up the next day, often in another location. I think that's what happened here.

      The reason I went with OWR instead of Yorklyn is that Yorklyn Road is actually listed by name. The only other possibility would be Sharpless Road, which was just south of the Golding operation. But due to the number of names, I'm still putting my money on Old Wilmington.

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    4. In the 1930 census Miss Mabel Bailey is listed on Edgewood Road. She was discussed in an earlier post. I don't know when the Hercules Research Center was built, but it would seem the Edgewood road would have been renamed to Hercules Road.
      In 1930 there were only two residences on Yorklyn Road, three if you count the farm right at the edge of the village. First was Pierson, next was the McVaugh Farm. McVaugh was the son-in-law of John Burgess who mined kaolin clay there. The third house, which sits high on the hillside above Yorklyn Road was the residence of D. Cook. Mr. Golding lived in that house before Cook. In 1930 Census, Yorklyn road was an extension of Mill Creek Road.
      Golding Road in the census begins at Lancaster Pike,near Wooddale Road, and proceeds in a NW direction until it intersects with Yorklyn Road. (Road from Wilmington to Goldings Kaolin Works??) For anyone who is interested, The chimney from the drying shed at Goldings still stands next to the WWW Railroad Tracks.
      I have lived on both roads and see many names I recognize.

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    5. Thanks, John, for the info. So if I'm understanding you correctly, then Golding Road is what's now called Old Wilmington Road? Runs more or less parallel to Lancaster Pike.

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  21. I have a question for anyone who might know, and I realize that it might be pushing the bounds of "nostalgia". Does anyone remember, or know anything about, the Greenwalt Rabbitry, or Greenwalt Rabbit Farm? It was located on Polly Drummond Hill Road somewhere, and operated from the late 1920's until at least 1953. It was run by H. Gaylord Greenwalt. Specifically, I'd like to know exactly where it was located. I have an idea, but I'm not sure I'm right.

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    1. Scott,

      Can I assume you have seen these articles? http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e7cmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DAIGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1822,5351996&dq=greenwalt+rabbit&hl=en

      http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f3cnAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XgMGAAAAIBAJ&pg=2083,745781&dq=greenwalt+rabbit&hl=en

      http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gncnAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XgMGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1203,1803412&dq=greenwalt+rabbit&hl=en

      http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4sMqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YH4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6610,6484317&dq=greenwalt+rabbit&hl=en
      Donna

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    2. Yes, I have, (except for the last one, which I think is something different). Thanks. As you could probably guess, my interest is in tying the location of the rabbitry to the much older house (which Cooch also talks about). I'm pretty sure the old house is gone, though.

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    3. I read somewhere that it was exactly where Zingos is today. Along Linden Hill road which cut through where the shopping center is today and came out past fox den road.

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  22. I found a link about the Workhouse and some of the area around it that I would like to share. I just never thought of it without a fence around it. http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/greenbank_albertson/pdf/app.pdf

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    1. Thanks, Judie! Some really cool old pictures in there that I hadn't seen before. Check them out everyone, if you haven't yet.

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  23. Chatting with my mother during Thanksgiving (always a great time to talk family history and genealogy) and she mentioned that before the Dairy Queen was erected in Stanton, there was some small hamburger stand on the location? I have no memories of the restaurant. Does anyone remember this establishment? Any pictures? Did this restaurant also extend to the brick building west of the old Dairy Queen (at one time it was a barber shop and hair salon). Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

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    1. I do not remember any hamburger stand on the site of the old dairy queen(used car lot now).I do remember an old house that stood there, and was damaged by fire before being demolished to make way for the dairy queen. The house style was exactly the same as the house that currently sits by the stanton car wash, I believe it is a a real estate office now. The old dairy queen house was demolished sometime in late 60's to make way for the dairy queen. That old barber shop stood where the current Karate for kids building is. I believe the owner lived and worked out of that little house. I think the barbershop was called richardsons.

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    2. the brick building by the old dairy queen was Demures barber shop when I was growing up in the 1960's. I have no memory of it being a hamburger stand. Across the street was Eastburns store, where I spent my weekly allowance on candy and other junk food. It would be Eastburns for candy, then stop at Park Pharmacy for baseball cards. Park pharmacy is the current mexican market. what a great place it was to grow up in those days!

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    3. Bill's mother has a great memory! The little drive-in hamburger joint was called the Henryburger and was located there when I moved to Windermere in 1957. It wasn't in business for too long after that, torn down and ultimately replaced with the DQ. Kay's Kitchen was (I believe) the name of the restaurant that originally was in the brick building between Kay's and Royal Avenue. Across the Calf Run bridge on Main Street was a house on the west corner of Willow Drive (& across Main Street from Hobbs' used car lot)and Richard's Barber Shop was on the east corner. Richard may have lived in the back at one time, but to the best of my recollection he lived (during the '60's) somewhere around Hyde Park. Haircuts in the smoke-filled, shanty-like building were $1.25. Mitchell's appliance store was located just to the east of Richard's; now they sell sheds there.KC.

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  24. Does anyone remember the name of the Restaurant in the Plaza? Kirkwood Highway and Limestone Road that was open in the late 1980s? Help me think

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    1. On the southeast corner was the Ivystone. Is that the one you mean?

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    2. There were two restaurants there if I remember correctly. The first one I can't recall the name of the restaurant but it was owned by the Pappanicholas Family and I think it was a greek restaurant. I remember because it was the first time I had ever eaten Baklava (a greek pastry). Then it closed down and eventually became the nostalgic restaurant called THE HOP.

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  25. OK, so I don't know if this fits here but I just saw my first Bald Eagle in MCH. I have seen them in Alaska, Canada and Maine. Heard they were near the ramps at 202 and I95 and up Kennett pike but this was MCH. It was in one of Dempsey's fields off of Doe Run.

    Feeling rather American, more than usual.

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    1. I saw him again in Mitchell"s field this morning. I need to start carrying a camera with a zoom lens.

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    2. That's cool, Larry. My guess is there's probably more around than people think. Last year (I think it was last year, they're all starting to run together) when I was up there on the hike out to the old limestone kiln south of Corner ketch Rd we saw one flying around. Might be the same one. And up here (shhh, don't tell anyone) near where I live in Bellefonte there's a nest in a tree in someone's front yard. A few babies, too, I believe. When I was on vacation a couple weeks ago up in the Poconos, there was one that kept soaring over the lake. Fascinating to just sit and watch, and exciting when you first see the head and realize what it is. We'll exciting except for my wife who was worried it was going to swoop down and take the baby. Full disclosure -- it didn't.

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  26. I moved into Manette Heights in 1959. I think there were maybe 6 houses built at that time Andy Timko had a farm on the property and still had a cow pasture and a barn with a chicken coop still functioning at that time. Over the next few years all of the farm buildings were razed. The old farm house remained and still is located on Limestone Road.

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  27. My friend is 50 and went to school when he was around 5 years old by Stanton middle school between Limestone and Telegraph Eds.The school is no longer there and he is wanting pictures.Please reply or post pictures if you have information. Thank you Diane

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    1. Diane -- The only school in that area that's no longer there (that I'm aware of) was the old one-room schoolhouse near the corner of Telegraph Rd and Rt 4. That was abandoned and razed far more than 45 years ago. I think it's much more likely that your friend attended the Stanton Central School on telegraph rd, which is very much still there. I'll post a picture of it on this page shortly.

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  28. He remembers the playground

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    1. I've added another modern aerial shot of the school. I think it's more or less the same as it was in the early 70's. I did not attend it myself (I did go to Stanton Middle School), but I know there are a few regular readers who did go there. Some of them may have been there a few years earlier, but I'd think a lot of the teachers should be the same.

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    2. Thanks for the aerial shot of Stanton Central. Is there a website you obtained it from? I would love to review more pictures of that area from the 70s and 80s. Thanks

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    3. Sorry, my wording was a little confusing. That last aerial is modern -- just a screenshot from Bing Maps. As far as aerials go, there are very few that I've ever found from that era. You can find older ones, like from the 30's (or sometimes even the 20's) up into the 60's, then modern shots from the last decade or so (some in the 90's). Not many from in between. And as for general photographs from the 70's and 80's, most people don't consider them "historic" or "interesting" yet. I disagree. If anyone has any pictures from that time that show something of the area, I'd be happy to post them.

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  29. Thanks for posting the picture of the Chuck Wagon. When I was in the Army Reserves on Kirkwood Highway our unit had a lunch contract with them. I left that Reserve Center in the fall of 1987, not sure how long the restaurant lasted after that.

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    1. I grew up just across the highway from there, and that corner of the intersection still looks empty to me. It was just one of those cool things that was always there when I was a kid, but I don't think I really ever thought about how unique a building it was. To be honest I couldn't remember when it got torn down, but looking back at the old aerials it looks like it was about 2008 that the remainder of the building was removed and the Applebees built. I'm pretty sure it was heavily altered before that, though. It's funny how quickly we forget these things.

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    2. I believe it was "Remingtons" restaurant that was constructed around the chuck wagon building, with the wagon building kept intact inside. Then it was all torn down in the 90s I think? Seems criminal to destroy such a unique piece of architecture.

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    3. Yes, the Chuck Wagon was sold to Frank Acierno in 1987. He kept the building but added the façade to the front, and opened Remingtons. In 1991 they ditched the western theme and opened Jordan's Seafood and Country Grill. In 1995 it became the Italian Bistro. That was torn down in 2007, taking with it what remained inside of the original Chuck Wagon. Applebees then was built.

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  30. Does anyone have info on the Sinclair service station next to the kirkwood highway library? Such as old photos, merchandise & memorabilia, or documents would be helpful.

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    1. Any info on that property would be helpful. Thank you.

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    2. Is that the white house on the corner of Wollaston and Old Capital Trail? Facing OCT? That's cool, I never knew that it used to be a gas station. Somebody must remember it -- everyone loves dinosaurs.

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    3. Yes, that is it, I believe it was built during the 1930s. Someone also told me before it was a gas station it was a general store name Campbell's.

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    4. I posted this in another area regarding this property:

      I am the current owner and was pretty much born and raised here. Vickers Campbell was my grandfather. He purchased this property on May 7, 1956. It had gone up for sale from the previous owners (also Campbells) in January of 1955. County records show it was built in 1930. I have the original deed from my grandparents. It was in fact a country store and gas station. As a small boy I can remember 4' painted sheet metal signage across the entire front of the building. It was painted with, among other things, a giant Sunbeam Bread loaf and logo as well as having a giant Coca Cola Bottle cap mounted to it. My grandfather didn't take it down until the mid 60's. Before Kirkwood Hwy was built it was a popular stop located halfway between the city and Newark. Always a bus stop, the original "coach stop" sign was still mounted on the front pole until someone stole it several years ago. The original store shelving was still intact with various items still on the shelf on the store side until I remodeled it in 1985. I opened the Pit Stop RC shop there until moving it to the old Triangle Mall in New Castle in the end of the 80's. I do know that there was an old style gas pump located right outside the store entrance on the concrete slab and later was replaced with pumps out front. I still have the "bell" from that era that had the old vacuum line running to it as well as some signage from the original front screen door of the store. That is about as much as I can confirm but I've been told that it was a Sinclair gas station and earlier in the century had a "truck stop" style little restaurant on the house side and that earlier served as a public polling place. I've also been told that there was a schoolhouse here as well. I cannot confirm any of that but this place has quite a colorful history and I would love to know more about it.

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    5. Good memories of your RC shop....https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=dR0Lh0jfzos

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  31. Doing some research trying to determine if there was ever a mobile home park in Marshallton. The only one I see close by is the old Murray Manor Park. Any information on one right in Marshallton would be helpful.

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  32. Trying to determine if there was ever a mobile home park in Marshallton.

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  33. Hello, when I moved to Meeting House Hill in 1967, Littles Garage, on Polly Drummond Hill Rd. was known as Greenplates. It was smaller then. He had a small candy counter in the office we used to buy stuff from. We used to cash in returnable soda bottles for .02 cents. Later, We used to buy cigarettes from the machine for .35 cents a pack. Anyone remember this?

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    1. As the traditional gas stations with service bays give way to convenience stores with gas pumps, I wanted to point out the 1960's architecture of two former Shell stations located along Limestone Road. One is located at the intersection of Hendry Avenue (Klair Estates; the other is located at the Milltown road intersection. If you look at the roof lines of those buildings, you'll see they may have come from the same set of blueprints.

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    2. When I was a boy, Meeting House Hill had not yet been constructed. I believe that was Sheldon's land. Harold Little was proprietor of Little's Garage. He and his wife lived in the rancher that still exists next to the garage. Ted Greenplate rented the house that has recently been under restoration next to Gore driveway about a 1/4 mile from the garage toward Ebenezer Church. Later, he and his wife built the brick rancher that is just past the green barn, also on Polly Drummond Hill Road. Ted was a mechanic for Mr. Little and when Mr. Little died, Ted took over the business. The "hot wrenches" working there when I was a boy were Ron Hill - who joined W.L. Gore & Associates. Within a few years Ron went to Germany to start up Gore operations there. In the 1980's he moved back to the US and was elected to the Board of Directors. Another one of the really good mechanics at Little's was Fred Borcherdt. Fred operated the Gulf Station directly across from the DuPont Louviers building for many years. He was known nationally for his Pontiac race cars, racing transmissions, and knowledge of Rochester Fuel Injections. Quite a talented crew.

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    3. My father-in-law who was born in 1917 and grew up on Annabelle Street in Newark. He used to trap muskrats along nearby White Clay Creek as a young teen. While the meat was consumed at the family dinner table (it was the Depression, after all), he sold the hides at Littles Garage. He mentioned also selling them to a representative of the Hudson Bay Company. I can't say whether the Hudson Bay fellow used Little's as a place to periodically conduct his business, but it's safe to say Little's was in business as far back as 1930.

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    4. Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I've heard about muskrat being a very long tradition in the area, but I've never had the pleasure(?). Pretty sure there are a few small restaurants around that sell it, I think I recall hearing. As for Littles, it makes sense to me that it would be a meet-up place for things like that.

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  34. The chuckwagon restaurant was replaced by Italian bistro. But before that place there was another restaurant home cooking and wasn't there real long but it was there in the early 1990s? Does any one remember the name

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    1. Used to work at the McDonalds across from Future Ford and right next to the Marine Reserve base. The Red Barn burnt down, what a huge fire, it went quickly. Also the was a plane crash in the Old Section of Klaipeda Estates. I remember going to the ramp were the creek was and watching the clean up

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    2. I grew up in Klair Estates -- my bedroom was about 100 feet or so from where the plane crashed. I wasn't home at the time, but my Mom was out walking the dog and saw it come down. She also took the pics of the 1968 Red Barn fire that I put on the post about it (on her birthday, no less). And growing up, my friends and I rode our bikes to McDonalds many many times. I still tell my daughter the story of how I got so much free McDonalds food in the summer of 1984, from the Olympics promotion they ran. You got a scratch off card with different events, and when the US won a medal you got free stuff. Except they did that before the Soviet boycott. Ooops! Pretty sure I had my first Big Mac because of that. lol

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    3. And sitting outside watching them make french fries while you munched on your 25 cent hamburger! Oh those were the days! I lived in Marshallton and we'd cut behind Slicers with our allowance and spend it all on McD's. lol I remember the plane crash...not so much the fire at Red Barn, just remember peeking in the windows afterwards.

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    4. I think the restaurant that came immediately after Chuck Wagon was called Remington's.

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  35. I was in the navy from 1978-1981, stationed in Norfolk, and used to drive from near Trenton down to Norfolk almost every weekend. I drove down 295 to 13 today and was looking for a big restaurant (I thought it was called "Mom's") in the Newcastle area where I used to pick-up/drop off other guys going home. It was a big place, but I saw no sign of it as I headed south. It was on the Northbound side, and I seem to remember a bus station near it. Can anyone help me out, it's driving me crazy!

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  36. Yes. There is a trailer park in Marshalton. It is at the end of New St. Its very small. Less than 2 dozen lots probably. If you are driving down Duncan Rd just before getting to the intersection with Greenbank Rd look to your right and you can see the rear of a few trailers.

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    1. That's right. And the small building in the middle of it (presumably the office) is the old Marshallton Colored School, built in the 1920's with funding from P.S. DuPont.

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  37. Don't know if I'm commenting in the right category or not, but i feel compelled to comment on my recent (January 2018) at the Friends meeting grave yard in Stanton. In July 2018, the old cedar tree in the middle of the grave yard was there as i remember it since 1962, now it's been cut down. They just can't seem to leave anything alone.

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    1. I also enjoyed the beauty of this tree that stood near the grave of a mortally wounded Union soldier. Unfortunately, during an early winter storm, Mother Nature was the culprit who snapped this tree near it's base and to the point where it could not be saved. On a happier note, after the cemetery was abandoned a few decades ago, it fell into severe disrepair. But a few years ago, the congregation Of St. Mark's UMC purchased that adjoining cemetery property from the Society of Friends for $1.00. Since then, volunteers have cut the weeds, evicted numerous groundhogs, re-discovered and properly positioned sunken head stones, and continue to do as much as practical with very limited funds and within state cemetery guidelines to restore dignity to the final resting place of many MCH early citizens (including Cranston family members, the Union soldier, etc.).

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    2. Thank you Anonymous for the reason of the trees fate and the updates on the future of the cemetery. I've always valued trees as living monuments and a reflection of the power and grandeur of our Mighty One who created them, besides, I kissed a many of fair maidens under that old cedar. I did manage to salvage a sliver of the aromatic wood left by the cutter.
      Thank you again, Anonymous, for the encouraging update and St. Marks for their efforts. That old graveyard was a big part of my childhood memories when I roamed the fields and streams of my beloved Stanton.
      Ray Albanese Conowingo Maryland.

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    3. I'm glad you were able to retrieve a bit of the cedar tree, and am happy that (hopefully) our assistant principal (you know, the one with the eye patch!) was pre-occupied when you and those fair maidens were sprinting from the school to the far side of the cemetery wall; otherwise, you still might be in detention. For others' information, the cemetery is open and accessible from the rear of the church property (park in the church lot next to the Stanton Middle School property on Limestone Road). To ease the minds of pre-school teachers who will have students in the adjacent playground (sadly, safe sanctuary concerns), I'd suggest going any time after 1:00 PM. Take a notepad and enjoy reading the headstones. If you see rocks jutting out of the ground, they were sometimes used as markers for the Quakers and placed there intentionally. We had one dedicated member who carefully researched the state cemetery rules to ensure we honor those interred there with utmost respect while maintaining and restoring those grounds.
      Ken Copeland (JDHS '67)

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    4. Give me a few moments while i hold back the laughter.........We should be so grateful to have had such a noble disciplinarian as the man with the patch. You mentioned (safe sanctuary concerns), we wouldn't need to worry so much today about our most valued inheritance, if we still had men like the one you mentioned, the one with the steel plate in his head. I am grateful to this day for men like him and my father, for the way i turned out. Sadly, I attended his funeral in January 2015.
      I was fortunate enough to have spoken to some of the old timers from Stanton, in the early 60's about the history of Cuckoldstown and it's early residents, such as the Satterthwaits, who once occupied the Smith's residence, directly across from St. Marks, who are also buried in the Quakers yard.
      Local history is very intriguing, gives me a sense of deja vu and i am extremely grateful to Mr.Palmer and all who contribute to this website, people like yourself, Mr Copeland.
      Oh by the way, i honed in on you through classmates.com and found your photo in the 67 yearbook, right under J. Connell. Always a pleasure to hear from someone of my youth
      Thank you for your reply
      Ray Albanese (JDHS 68)

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  38. Just came across this forum, interesting stuff. (As I recall) t he first chain drive in restaurant in NCC was Dick Clark's Steer-In on Miller Rd, what was the second? No, not McDonalds, it was the Golden Point which stood on Kirkwood Hwy where the BCP dealership is now. I used to eat there as a kid until we discovered the newer McDonalds was better (and presumably put them out of business). BTW, that McDonalds was in the same structure as the Big and Tall shop that was there until recently, near the Putt-Putt. We used to eat there after Putt-Putt.
    Memories of Chuck Wagon- the entrance was a large teapot, I used to act like I was boiling when we went in. Every time they fixed a milkshake the machine would make a loud cow-mooing sound.
    Something else is bugging me, we were constantly at Prices Corner back then. If you look at historicariels ('65 or '68) across (east) from where the Gino's was (now Boston Market) there is an odd circular building. I can't believe I don't remember it, but was wondering if anyone knows what it was.
    Finally, I have some personal memories of the "Tennis Joint" side of McKennan's Church Rd. (not the workhouse side) that might be of some historical interest. Plus I have color slides my father took (from the roof) of the Milltown Rd. area from 1952-54 (before that development was built). He also took a few from the top of Polly Drummond Hill when it was still farmland; it seems like you can see for 30 miles. I'd be happy to share both but I don't see Scott's email address in here.

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    1. Jay -- Thanks for sharing your memories. I'd love to see any old pictures you have. I grew up in Klair Estates, so I have memories of riding my bike up the the McDonalds, but a little later than you (80's). The earliest memories I have of the area in front of the development is vague recollections of weekend auctions in the building where Smith's Volkswagon is. I remember getting a goldfish there, that lived about as long as goldfish usually do with a small kid. My email is mchhistory@verizon.net. We can share more there, and I'll give you a good facebook page if you're on that. And I think the building you mean was a gas station. I can send you a higher res version of the 60's aerial.

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  39. I was wondering if anyone may recall the name of a western themed bar restaurant located in Stanton is the shopping center where ShopRite was relocated after being flooded out multiple times. Google only recognises Joel's. Could not find any history on the Stanton Arms bar also located in Stanton.

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    1. Yes, Joel's is on the west side of Stanton Road, Shop Rite was on the east side, beyond Pearson's Flags. I don't recall anything being over there, but those older than I might. There have been a couple mentions of the Stanton Arms. Here -- http://mchhistory.blogspot.com/2013/07/reminiscences-of-stanton.html and in the comments here -- http://mchhistory.blogspot.com/2010/12/old-stone-hotel-stanton.html. Don't know if that helps at all.

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  40. Scott, have you done any work on the house that's located on the northeast corner of Linden Hill Road and Skyline Drive?

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    1. Not yet, but that one has been on my To-Do list for quite a while. I know it's an old Springer house, and the oldest part is probably pretty darn old. At least early 1700's. At some point, hopefully soon, I'll get around to it. Thanks for bringing it up and putting it back on my radar.

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  41. Hi all, around 1972 I spent a week end at my aunt and uncles house in Christiana . My uncle worked for the Ronson co. and they owned the stone house on farm land they lived in. It began my extreme love for old structures and farms. Around 1990 or so, I went to Winterthur and took a side trip off 95 to look for this house that began my love of old houses. I actually found it! But to my dismay, a gigantic mall (Christiana mall) was built around the property that used to be all farm and the house was now a gift shop. They tore down the summer kitchen but I got to walk around the first floor in the Shoppe. I think the address was 425 Stanton Rd Christiana? But not sure...I remember an Applebee's was now behind it. My aunt and uncle are long gone but I cant get this home out of my mind.
    Does anyone recollect it at all? anyone have any pictures they can find? I think it was a
    rose colored stone, and was part of the Penn estate? I wish I knew more.

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  42. My family use to have our bakery there Hellsterns bakery

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    1. In Millcreek Shopping Center? I'm sure I went by there many times. Was taken to get my hair cut at the barber shop there, my Mom took us in to Bachetti's every Sunday, and me and my friends used to ride our bikes over to Books and Tobacco to get our baseball cards.

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    2. Before Bachetti's Market, the store was known as Webber's and staffed in part by several members of the Webber family. I met my dear wife in 1969 when she was working there as a cashier. I just wanted to buy a bit of lunch meat, but her smile hooked me!

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    3. Ok, you got me beat. All I got was some ham, you got a wife. Point - Ken

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  43. There is a lovely white stucco home on the route 4. Does anyone have a history on this house?

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  44. Well, since we are in the Millcreek Hundred area, anybody remember McSpaddens Bar-B-Que joint, I believe it was in the area of where the Work-N-Gear retail shop is now. How about the Pappy's Pizza restaurant? Or the Prices Corner Drive in and Cinema 141 where the Walmart is now? Even the James E. Strait shows came to prices corner annually. Anybody remember the Tape Hut? It was located just on the outskirts of Roselle and the Prices Corner area. It was torn down to make way for the 141 overpass of Kirkwood Highway. I could go on. I grew up first in Dunlinden Acres and then Faulkland Hgts, so lived most of my life in this area.

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  45. Does anyone have any information on the old house - or houses - that used to sit on the large (now empty) lots at 3417 and 3419 Old Capitol Trail - behind the ornate stone wall that runs along the street?

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    1. Yes, the house may have been built about 1904 and was torn down in March 2012. If it was built after a 1904 sale of the lot from James Cranston, it was only ever owned by one family -- the Fannings. First Walter, then his son Warren, then his daughter Eleanor. The family was very active in the area (and state) for many years, and I'm finding more and more about them (and the other nearby house they owned). There probably is a post coming soon. Thanks for bringing it up!

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    2. Scott, as you usually do, thanks for your research on the topic. Looking forward to whatever else you come up with on the properties.

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