Marcus Hook celebrates 125 years as a borough
MARCUS HOOK » With a brass band and a birthday cake, as well as one of its beloved sons, the Borough of Marcus Hook celebrated its 125th anniversary Saturday with a Community Day along the river, complete with fire trucks, kids’ activities and hot dogs for everybody.
Beneath the large white tent behind the Community Center, a litany of dignitaries rose to praise the “Hookers” for their longevity.
The spirit may have been captured by Marcus Hook Borough Council President Josephine “Gigi” Laird when she said, “I love this town. There’s no other town that compares.”
Marcus Hook was founded in 1892 after 55 residents signed a petition to incorporate as a town, although the land had been occupied by the Lenni Lenape Native Americans, the Swedes, the Dutch and the English prior to that.
Today, the borough is home to 2,500 people and is known for its industrial complex, now belonging to Sunoco Pipeline, as well as some of its residents: from baseball player Mickey Vernon to NFL player Billy “White Shoes” Johnson to former U.S. Rep. and Borough
“We’re here to celebrate you today on your 125th anniversary because the people of Marcus Hook are the strength of Marcus Hook. The success of Marcus Hook is not based on refineries or roads or piers or buildings; it’s based on our people.” — Former U.S. Rep. and Borough Mayor Curt Weldon
Mayor Curt Weldon, who came back to the Hook for the occasion.
“We’re here to celebrate you today on your 125th anniversary because the people of Marcus Hook are the strength of Marcus Hook,” he told them. “The success of Marcus Hook is not based on refineries or roads or piers or buildings; it’s based on our people.”
Weldon said those who live within its borders are a special breed.
“If you were born in the Hook, you are part of a special group,” he said. “It’s like being in the Marine Corps. When you’re in the Marine Corps, you’re a part of the team. When you’re born in the Hook, other people can say things about us, but we are special people.”
And, part of that, he said, dealt with what the townspeople have done in the creation of the country.
“There’s no town in America that’s had more positive economic impact on this country per capita than Marcus Hook,” he said.
He told them of the woman doctor tending to George Washington on his death bed. She was born and raised in Marcus Hook, he said.
He spoke of attorney Bill Bucknell, born in Marcus Hook, who had a university named for him and of Msgr. Ralph Chieffo, head of one of the county’s largest parishes.
Vernon, whose statue stands on Market Street, was noted not only for being a two-time American League batting champ but for his service to the United States.
“He left baseball and joined the military – at the height of his career,” Weldon said. “Mickey did what was best for his country. Mickey Vernon is an example of what Marcus Hook people are all about.”
He also spoke of the resiliency of the residents.
“The success of these plants and these refineries is not because of the politicians, it’s not because of bureaucrats, it’s because of the people in these towns who have put up and dealt with the problems that these industries bring when they come to town,”
he said.
He spoke of the early morning hours of Jan. 31, 1975 when the Corinthos was hit right there in the Delaware River.
“The whole town was lit up, the flames were shooting 125, 150 feet in the air,” said Weldon, who was a volunteer firefighter at the time. “Crew members were coming ashore with parts of their bodies blown off, fingers missing, frigid from the cold.”
Even still, the volunteer firefighters fought their way to get to the fire.
“If we hadn’t gone in,” Weldon said, “BP would not have been able to keep that fire from coming into the refinery complex.”
He then told the story of the Green Street fires of 1978.
It began as a fully involved basement fire, he said.
Then, “five doors away, another house caught on fire,” he said. “Then, in the middle of those houses, the third house caught on fire.”
Sixty homes had to be evacuated, and eventually monitors had to be installed in these homes because the fire was tied to the industrial caverns below.
“The people of this town have done more to sacrifice themselves than any other group of people per capita in America,” Weldon said. “Time and again, the people of Marcus Hook sacrificed, and they’ve done so to benefit thousands and thousands of other people.”
But, for the former congressman, that’s not the only thing that makes them special.
“I’m most proud of the people of Marcus Hook,” he said. “Whether you’re rich or poor, it doesn’t matter ... We didn’t measure our wealth by whether you had a car or whether we had a big bank account ... we measured our wealth by what we had as a family. That’s the strength of the people of Marcus Hook.”