By Gregory Prichard, Radnor Historical Society In many ways, 1950s Wayne was the quintessential small American town. If you were to travel back to Lancaster Avenue in those days, you would see patrons coming and going from the old farmer’s market or Acme store, students (both junior and senior high) going to the Sun Ray drugstore or the Woolworth’s lunch counter, and police officers helping pedestrians cross the Avenue. What you wouldn’t see is throngs of people waiting in line for restaurant tables on North Wayne Avenue.  These eateries are now what drive our local economy, and have earned…

What once housed the Wayne Diner in Wayne has been reborn almost 400 miles away as the Lake Effect Diner in Buffalo, New York. Read about the building's history, and its present, by clicking here.

This photograph was taken to celebrate the arrival of Radnor's newest street sweeper in 1957 (the "Wayne" on the front is the brand of machine, not any kind of town logo). Perhaps more interesting than the sweeper is what's in the background: the brick storefronts of East Lancaster Avenue, just west of Louella Court, including the Neighborhood League building, and, attached to that building, the classic 1952 Mountain View diner then known as the Wayne Diner. This classic prefabricated diner remained in Wayne for 49 years. In the comments, see if you can name its other incarnations before …

  When builders Wendell & Smith first started work in Wayne, they primarily built three different designs of houses: "Small Cottages," located along North Wayne Avenue; "Medium Cottages," along West Wayne Avenue (one of which is now the Radnor ABC House); and "Large Cottages," on Lancaster Avenue and West Wayne Avenue. All of these homes were designed in the "Stick" style, an offshoot of the Queen Anne style which was very popular in the early 1880s. The style is exemplified in the Wayne houses by clapboard siding, shaped wood shingles, and a grid-like pattern of timbers on the facade that …

It may seem that this winter is dragging on longer than most. This week, let's think about warmer times with this photograph, taken 110 years before this coming summer. It depicts Fenimore's Dam, which is likely the site of the pond in today's Fenimore Woods, still a popular place to visit during summer months. The most interesting part of this image, which was photographed by a member of the Heilner family on July 25, 1903, is the small stone building by the water which has long since been removed. - Greg Prichard, Radnor Historical Society

It was reported last week that several buildings in the "White Hall" section of Radnor Township are for sale, and that the appearance of this area could soon be changed drastically. The buildings in question are largely 1920s-era storefront/apartment buildings, though some may be older. This image from the Radnor Historical Society shows Glenbrook Avenue as it appeared in 1944. The building at left is the historic White Hall train station, built in 1860 and presently the oldest railroad building in Radnor (though it was only in use for about ten years). Glenbrook Avenue had been the location …

The building in this drawing may look familiar, but it's not what you think. Not exactly, anyway. This was to be the central building of a new academic campus in our area. Can you guess which school, and where it was almost located? - Greg Prichard, Radnor Historical Society Answer: Valley Forge Military Academy operated in just one building at its inception: the former Devon Park Inn next to the Devon Horse Show. When that building burned to the ground in January of 1929, the Academy took over the recently vacated buildings of St. Luke's School, a private boys' school close to North Wayne. …

  Over the past few weeks we have seen images of Radnor Middle School's well-recognized auditorium murals, which were in place from 1951-2007 and the ones that preceded them, installed ca. 1939. The earlier artwork was painted by Radnor student Charles Cajori, a senior in 1939 and now a celebrated contemporary American artist. The fate of Cajori's work for the school is unknown; they are presumed to be lost, though the art lives on, in a sense, through a few surviving black and white photographs. This image, the only photograph known to focus on the installed murals, appeared in the 1940 …

One of the most fascinating mysteries of Radnor's history has to do with a long lost work of art. A few recent installments of "From the Archives" (scroll down to the bottom of this page) examined the 1950s-era murals at the old Radnor Middle School, painted by two students to educate on the history of Radnor. The group of four paintings were found on the west wall of the Radnor High School (which later became Radnor Middle School) auditorium, set within two-story-high Gothic arches.  It had been forgotten by most, including the School District, that the 1950s murals were not the first …

After the closure of L.K. Burket in 2005, Adelberger's Florist became Wayne's oldest business. Their operation began in 1888 (a year after Burket's opened), during a time when Wayne was in the midst of its first major development.During that time North Wayne was about halfway built, and South Wayne had relatively few homes. Adelberger's was built at a prominent crossroads of the day, Conestoga and West Wayne Avenues, where it remains today and is likely where this early photograph was taken. A developer is planning to erect townhouses on the property while retaining the commerical building …

Two weeks ago we looked at a section of the old Radnor Middle School mural, which showed the old Wayne public school and Bellevue Hotel (the tops of which are at the bottom of this photo). Further up on the same mural, more historic buildings are shown. Can you identify the three buildings from Wayne's history in the middle of this picture? Answer: On the left is Wayne Hall, the original town hall built in 1870 or shortly before, located about where the Bateman-Gallagher American Legion post stands today. In the upper right is the George W. Childs Memorial Library, located on Lancaster Avenue…

In this view, a vignette from a larger glass plate negative of St. Davids train station, a porter awaits an oncoming train. The locomotive is westbound, heading towards Paoli. On the left edge is the baggage building, now long gone, and behind it is the passenger platform shelter. This shelter still remains, and is subject to a planned restoration by the Friends of St. Davids Station (link to stdavidsstation.org). In the distance is a large water tank that stood between Radnor and St. Davids Stations. The author of this column will be speaking about St. Davids and the other 17 stations of the…

  Many aspects of the old Radnor High School / Radnor Middle School on South Wayne Avenue remain in the memories of those who attended school there. Among the most memorable decorative elements of the school were the murals in the auditorium, painted by class of 1951 seniors Nancy Carpenter and Cynthia Satow. The murals were created with the goal of educating about Wayne's history. Can you guess what two historic buildings are depicted in this panel of the mural? Answer: On the left is the original 1889 public school, the first in downtown Wayne and the first building on the site of the old …

This photograph, a glass plate negative, is found in an unlabeled Radnor Historical Society collection of images from an 1890s South Wayne family. This image shows how the art of decorating for the holidays was a less precise exercise in the Victorian era, though no less festive. Resembling a progenitor of the "Griswold Family Christmas Tree," this tree appears as a mass of pine branches more than a well-defined tree that fits perfectly in its place. Still, it is a joyful sight which reminds us that the holiday season was as important to people who lived here 120 years ago as it is to us …

  While Wendell & Smith are well-known as being the developers of most of Wayne in the late 19th century, much less is known about the smaller (but not insignificant) development of George P. Fallon. Both George and his brother, Christopher, lived in Wayne as early as 1885, and soon after purchased a portion of the land then being subdivided by George W. Childs and Anthony J. Drexel. Of course Wendell & Smith, the famous developers of North Wayne, South Wayne and suburban communities elsewhere, purchased the lion's share of the Drexel/Childs land, George P. Fallon (possibly in partnership …

One of Radnor's largest landmarks, often overlooked in plain sight, is the Wyeth Laboratories complex, built in 1957. Though the property has changed hands several times over the years, the original Wyeth buildings are currently threatened with development of the site. It may be difficult to imagine, but the Wyeth labs were an architectural showpiece when first constructed. The buildings, designed by the prestigious New York firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, were featured in a 6-page spread in the nationally-distributed journal "Architectural Record" in April, 1957.  Though these buildings …

2012 has been declared a year to remember the life and work of Frank Furness, arguably the late 19th century's most influential Philadelphia architect, on the centennial of his death. The work of Furness and his colleagues in the firm Furness, Evans & Co. is immediately recognizable to most Philadelphians: the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, UPenn's Fisher Fine Arts Library, the Bryn Mawr Hotel (today's Baldwin School), and the now demolished Broad Street Station, Philadelphia's enormous railroad station that stood just west of City Hall. Furness & Evans also designed residences, many …

The building in this rendering is subject of an important "first" in Wayne. Can you guess the location and the date of its construction? Answer: This building was built in 1928 on North Wayne Avenue, as the first restaurant on the block that is today's "restaurant row." Though many of the restaurants along the avenue today operate in re-purposed storefronts (today's Teresa's, for example, had previously been a drapery store on the left and a paint store on the right), this was the first dedicated restaurant building in town. It was built for J.M. Fronefield, longtime local realtor, by …

  This past Sunday Radnor defeated Lower Merion in the 116th meeting of the local high school football rivals. The first game between the two neighboring schools took place on North Wayne Field in 1897. It has not been played each year continuously since then, as there were no games in 1901 or 1905 according to "Radnor High School: A Century of Spirit." The game does make Wikipedia's list of 100+ Year High School Football Rivalries though it is uncertain how the Radnor/Lower Merion rivalry compares in consecutive games to the older rivalries on that list. This program is from the 1933 game, …

  Radnor Historical Society's Greg Prichard gave this challenge on Tuesday: The brick house in the middle of this image of late 19th century Wayne might not be easily recognizable, but it is still standing (in a sense). Can you guess where it is? (The procession of men in robes and a structure in the background are clues!) Answer:  The brick house was home of J.C. Pinkerton, one of a row of homes built along Lancaster Avenue in the late 1880s. It was built at the corner of Louella Avenue, and in the 1920s, stores were built around it at the first floor, with apartments above. The gambrel/…