Other Times
100 Years Ago – 1921:
Motorists who drive through the borough of Millbourne charge authorities there have been operating a profitable “speed trap.” Justice of the Peace Yerkes, who imposes fines on speed violators, denies this although he admits a vigorous crusade against speeders is being conducted. Motorists say about 50 prisoners a day are brought before him, and there have been charges that as much as $1,500 a week has been taken in.
75 Years Ago – 1946:
Swept by a spectacular four-alarm blaze, a threestory mansion at 215 Chester Pike, Ridley Park, was virtually destroyed early this morning. Firemen, seeking the origin of the flames which caused an estimated $7,000 damage, said that Alfred Provencher, a boarder, expressed belief the place had been looted and then set afire by robbers. Summoned back by Mr. and Mrs. James Peigh, who rent the old mansion, Provencher said he could find no trace of a watch and other valuables he had left behind in the ruined room.
50 Years Ago – 1971:
A car was reported on fire in the parking lot the new Grant’s Plaza in Brookhaven, Middletown Road, at 11:15 a.m. today. No injuries were reported and no report of damage was available from the police; The Girard Bank in the MacDade Mall, MacDade Boulevard and South Avenue, Glenolden, was held up at 10:30 a.m. today, but a suspect was reportedly caught. Glenolden, Ridley Township and Norwood police were at the scene.
25 Years Ago – 1996:
They paved a parking lot and put up a players’ paradise. Over 300 people, including special guests Temple University men’s basketball coach John Chaney, former basketball star and community activist Sonny Hill and former Eagles star halfback Wilbert Montgomery, attended the opening of the new Chester City Recreation Facility at Seventh and Penn streets Thursday, heralding the effort to turn a long-dormant parking lot into the city’s newest play lot.
10 Years Ago – 2011: Eddystone Borough Council recently awarded contracts totaling $2,643,560for construction of a new firehouse that will include a large gathering room that will double as an emergency evacuation center. The firehouse will be built on land on the northern side of Seventh Avenue, west of Saville Avenue, between Eddystone Avenue and Ridley Creek.