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Howard Barnes We Miss You

It was a busy day yesterday and I thought about passing up the Historical Society of Frankford meeting but decided to go anyway and see what was on the agenda.  I knew there would be a video of Howard Barnes who was the former curator of the society.  He lived on Penn Street only a block from us and I have his autographed book so I thought I had heard it all.  The video ran over an hour but it was fascinating to hear this guy go on about the history of Frankford which he clearly had spent a long time researching.

Jim Young made his first appearance as the incoming President of the society since the departure of Paul Andell in June.  Jim spoke about some of the initiatives that the society will be taking on in the future.  Volunteers are always welcome and much needed.  I noted some new members sign up last night which is really the most valuable resource of this organization.

Before I left I met with Debbie Klak who has been following a discussion on the Gazette about the Overington mansion.  She dug up some clippings from the scrap books that the society has in its collection.  As time goes on those scrap books are golden with their treasure trove of information.  Posted below are some pictures of the meeting and also those clippings that may further illuminate the fate of the Overington mansion.  Click on any of the pictures for a more detailed view.

 

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The Oaklands

Thanks to Joseph Garvey for this tip.  The Oaklands was the name of the house owned by the Overington Family that sat in Overington Park.  In his own words:

Several years ago we blogged about the Overington Mansion. As a young child I would listen to my older neighbors on Pilling Street gossip about the Overington’s and how beautiful the house was. So I wanted to know who the Overington’s were. Recently you received an email from Sandi Gammon about Overington Park and that she was pleased that the park was being cared for by the Frankford Garden Club. Her great grandmother lived there “Poppy Overington” So I had to get in with touch with her. We emailed each other and she has a website about her family tree and tons of pictures of the Overington’s and the mansion. I thought you and your readers would enjoy her new site. Please feel free and leave a comment on site.

The link to the site is here and it has quite a few pictures that I have not seen before.  This one below is a picture of part of the celebration marking the opening of the Frankford El in November of 1922.  The Overingtons are in the group of people on the carriage.