Harry kyriakodis
Quite a few new people joined the crowd of 30 on Tuesday night, September 10th, for the first program of the season at the Historical Society of Frankford. At the top of the bill was Harry Kyriakodis, with a program on Northern Liberties which focused on the story of the Indian pole that stood in the area of Old York Road, between Vine and Callowhill for about 100 years. Roughly dated from 1815 to 1915, the pole was about 90 feet tall with an Indian figure on top. Harry tells the story which he has compiled through tedious, detailed research. Harry is the author of Philadelphia’s Lost Waterfront and Northern Liberties: The Story of a Philadelphia River Ward. Story telling is a lost art that Kyriakodis keeps alive.
We were honored to meet legendary journalist Frank Dougherty, retired reporter from the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly’s Phantom Rider. Those of us who commuted via SEPTA, read his columns religiously until he retired.
It was also a pleasure to meet Nancy Vargas with her Daughter, niece and nephew who heard about the meeting by Textblast. She thought it would be a good way to soak up a little local history first hand.
Tiffany Ware, Nancy Vargas, Gabriel Vargas and Kayla Rojas
The next meeting of the Frankford Historical Society will be on October 8th at 7:30 PM. The program will be on BIRDS: Frankford’s Feathered Friends by Tony Croasdale. There have been several programs on the natural history of Frankford over the last few years and all have been very rewarding. We may assume in this urban landscape, we have no nature but you will find out otherwise at next month’s program.
