A Park in 1880s North Wayne

While in use as a park, this land contained ponds fed by Gulph Creek. It was a truly bucolic spot that appears to have been mowed and well-maintained. This view, ca. 1887, shows one of the ponds and surrounding foliage, though behind it all there is little evidence of the development to soon come to North Wayne. There are some traces of the construction of the homes of Walnut Avenue visible behind the trees, but the only building that can be seen is a stone farmhouse at the left, soon to be demolished for new homes on Oak Lane. 

Dealing with storm water has been a constant problem through history, especially today as the township considers remedies to North Wayne's water problems. Municipal governments and developers create solutions which, though not always ideal, are appropriate for the time. It seems likely that feeding water to these ponds on North Wayne Avenue was an appropriate solution for the 1880s, and more than 100 years of progress will undoubtedly allow today's engineers to create better solutions that will permit all present properties to remain intact and hopefully dry.

- Greg Prichard, Radnor Historical Society