Other Times
100 Years Ago – 1917:
The 104th anniversary of the Union Methodist Episcopal Church, at Wallingford, will be observed next Sunday. The Rev. John Stringer, pastor, will be in charge. Dr. Stringer has been 11 years at Wallingford, and has been in the ministry 58 years. He is 78 years old. The afternoon sermon will he preached by the Rev. Albert M. Witger, of Philadelphia, former pastor of the South Chester Methodist Episcopal Church, this city.
75 Years Ago – 1942:
More than 10,000 pounds of butadiene, the all-important material used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber, is produced in Chester every day. The Ugite Sales Corp., located on Delaware Avenue, between Jeffrey and Norris streets, signed a contact with the government in July to provide its entire plant capacity, and today, two months later, production has greatly exceeded the company’s guarantee. The company is one of many in Delaware County working night and day, breaking production records to beat the Axis.
50 Years Ago – 1967:
Chester School Board’s plans for the vacant Chester Hospital still were up in the air Monday night, as Schools Superintendent John J. Vaul announced immediate steps to reduce crowding conditions in the district. “We shouldn’t wait any longer for the hospital. We should start right in the classroom,” Vaul told the board. Vaul said he will assign two teachers to overcrowded classrooms in seven district elementary schools. Teachers in five of the schools will be paid with federal funds under the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
25 Years Ago – 1992:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will spend almost $36 million to rebuild 591 housing units owned by the Chester Housing Authority, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., announced. HUD allocated $22,556,265 to reconstruct 300 units in the Bennett Homes and $13,337,548 to reconstruct 291 units in the William Penn project, Specter said. “It’s definitely money that’s needed,” said Mayor Barbara Bohannan-Sheppard, who added that no one had contacted her office with the news.
10 Years Ago – 2007:
A fully loaded trash truck flipped over northbound I-95 in Ridley Park near the Stewart Avenue exit, causing traffic nightmares for motorists on the heavily traveled interstate as northbound traffic came to a halt for three hours. When the truck flipped over, some of the garbage struck electrical lines, causing a fire. The burning garbage rained down on to the Amtrak tracks below, shutting down the railway. A number of vehicles were spotted backing up off of an on ramp in Ridley Township. In Chester, motorists drove along the highway’s shoulder and exited at Kerlin Street.