Tag: History

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Castor Family History in Frankford

Rick Castor wove a tapestry of the Castor family history in Frankford last night to the crowd at the Historical Society of Frankford.  Completing the circle started by his great grandfather, Horace Castor, he stood in the hall addressing a meeting of the HSF.  Horace was active in the Society for many years, as local history was among his many lifelong interests.

The history of the Castors is fascinating in several ways with each generation making a contribution.  There is far too much to go into in detail here but as some of the pictures below attest, invention and architecture were among them.  While Horace was a prominent architect during an age of rapid growth in Philadelphia.

Thomas was an innovator and inventor of an earlier generation.  Two interesting models were on display last night.  One is of a Frankford and Southwark street railway car where his innovation was to add an iron spiral staircase to allow passengers access to the upper level.  These were old horse cars that were converted to trailers on the new powered lines sometime after 1863.

Another of his inventions was what we would call a dump truck except back then they were used on horse carts delivering coal and other bulk materials.  He perfected the mechanism that made the dumping possible.

Ricks presentation would make a great documentary in its own right.  Next month another great program is scheduled at the HSF.   Rick Spector’s “MOVIEHOUSE” remembers this lost world of entertainment through a citywide tour of old theaters, including several in Frankford.

 

 

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Election Day Blues

Many  years  ago,  back  in  the  early  1970s,  I  had  grown  up
in  a  conservative  Republican  home,  in  our  neighborhood   around
Frankford  Stadium  on  Wakeling  Street,  the  23rd  Ward,  9th
Division.   Though  we  were  raised  that  way,  to  tell  the  truth  I
liked  the  personalities  on  the  other  side  of  the  political
fence  more  in  our  neighborhood.   Bill  Green,  III,  living  2
blocks  down  from  us  on  Wakeling  Street,  was  still  serving  in
Congress.      Timmy  Savage  was  still  just  a  Democratic
Committeeman  and  Ward  Leader,  decades  away  from  becoming  the
federal  judge   down  on  Market  Street.  Timmy’s  wife  Linda  was  a
doll.

But  politics  is  politics,  and  anyone  who  has  ever  been
involved   in  The  System  will  tell  you  that  politics  is  a  very
crazy  thing.    And  it  was,  that,  very  much,  then  —   even
in  quiet  little  23rd  Ward,  9th  Division  in  Frankford.

I  think  that  because  I  was  viewed  as  a  “young  egghead,”
at  a  particular  point   the  “Reps”  asked  me  to   run  for  Judge
of  Elections  in  our  little  voting  district,  a  2-day-a-year
job,    on  Election  Day  in  November    and  in  the  Spring
primaries.   I   had  worked  at  the  corner  store   for  years  in
our  neighborhood.      I  was  a  lector  at  Mass  in  St.  Martin’s
Church  on  Oxford  Circle.   So,  I  was  popular,  and  so
unfortunately  I  won  the  election.       On  election  days,   we’d
get  up  at  5:00  a.m.,  shower,  eat,  and  rush  down  to   Frankford
High  School  where   voting   occurred.     I  always  wondered,  as
we  moved  the  voting  machines  into  position  and  opened  them
up,    what  kind  of  bizarre  thing  would  happen  that  day  which
would  get  my  Fruit  of  the  Looms  all  knotted-up.

THAT   ONE   SOCIALIST   WORKERS  PARTY  VOTE

Every  year,  all  of  us  on  both  sides  of  the  political
fence,  Committeemen,  poll  watchers,  Inspectors  of  Election  and
I,  the  Judge  of  Elections,  were  mystified  by  one  particular
vote  cast  in  every   election  —   for  any  Socialist  Workers
Party  candidate  on  the  ballot.     Who,  among  our  neighbors,  in
the  conservative   9th  Division,  was  the  one  person  who
consistently  voted  for  the   Socialist  Workers  Party  candidate?
None  of  us  had  any  idea  at  all.     It  just  didn’t  suit
anyone  we  knew  in  the  9th  Division.

Until  finally  something  happened   which  enabled  me  to  solve  the  mystery.

Continue reading Election Day Blues

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Frankford Haunted History Tour 2011

A dark and stormy night

We were out of town for the tour this year but got back in time to stop by the Historical Society of Frankford to catch the meeting after.  It was gratifying to see all the people at the HSF.  I heard that there were so many people for the tour that they had to break it up into two different groups.  Everyone said they enjoyed seeing those places that the general public does usually get into.  I found the last group as they emerged from the Friends Meeting House.

Presentation by South Jersey Ghost Research

This year was a first in that the tour was sponsored by The Frankford Community Development Corporation (FCDC), the Historical Society of Frankford, St. Mark’s Church, South Jersey Ghost Research, the Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Library, and the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association.  Now that was some collaboration but it sure did work.  Thanks to all those for the effort involved.

Whether any spectral visions emerged, I will leave to the participants to divulge.

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Growing Up in Frankford Part 3

Continuation of Lyle (Corky) Larkin remembers:

Halloween was always a very festive time in our neighborhood, we had a beautiful parade that completely closed Frankford Avenue from the Ruan St. fire station (which used to be the home for the “Philly Boy’s Club”) just north of the Frankford and Kensington Ave. split to Bridge Street which by the way was also the end of the line for the “El”.  There were beautifully decorated floats, people dressed as cowboys and Indians on horseback, jugglers, acrobats, mounted police, etc.   They would march down the Avenue past thousands of people standing at the curb, trying not to let one pass without their seeing them.  During this time, people were more than generous in giving out treats.  I can remember going out with my friends and coming home several times with filled shopping bags (from either the Penn Fruit or the A&P stores) and going right out again,  sometime finishing up with as many as 5 filled bags. The parades stopped about 1950 and it seems as though the people started asking us while trick or treating, “do I know you” or “are you from this block?”  At this point the loot went downhill to maybe quarters of a bag on a good night.

To be continued…

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Salvaged Stained Glass Windows

As we previously reported, thieves have been making off with the stained glass windows from the former Central United Methodist Church building (1515 Orthodox Street) at every opportunity. It is very difficult to secure a building with a huge hole in the West wall.  The pictures below were taken to document the windows and also make it possible to recover them in the future.  They are unique, one of a kind creations and no reputable antique dealer would take them in, knowing they were stolen.  The pictures were taken by a volunteer.