Days Gone By
100 YEARS AGO, 1924 » Heroic efforts are being made by the physicians and nurses at the Chester Hospital to save the life of a 42-year-old West Sixth Street man who, partly paralyzed, is believed to be suffering from wood alcohol poisoning. Following the discovery about eight o’clock this morning of the man’s unconscious form on a vacant lot at Fourth and Ward streets, he was taken to his home and a physician summoned. The father of five small children said he purchased one drink of “moonshine” liquor at a small store near Second and Wilson streets.
75 YEARS AGO, 1949 » A $25,000 fire swept through Rocky’s Tavern, Holland Street and Fairview Road, Crum Lynne, shortly before dawn today. Vauclain Fire Co. fought the blaze for over an hour before bringing it under control. Owned by Rocco Fizzani, who lives across the street at 245 Fairview Road, the tavern was reopened a month ago after a $45,000 renovation.
50 YEARS AGO, 1974 » World War I battles, Germany Army troops rolling across Africa, French lancers, fierce Mexican bandits, and a Lower Chichester patrolman were among the thousands of miniature figures at Widener College’s MacMorland Center Saturday and Sunday. It marked the eight year the Figure Collector of America met here. The patrolman was a real stopper. It turned out to be a “self-portrait.” Dennis Kavanagh, 1572 Yates Ave., Lower Chichester, a part-time patrolman, is also a miniature hobbyist.
25 YEARS AGO, 1999 » A truck that crashed into a utility pole yesterday afternoon on Church Lane in Upper Darby knocked out power to residences and businesses in the area. The transformer on the pole caught fire and was leaking oil into the street after the accident at 1:49 p.m. at Church Lane and Clinton Road.
Tom Armstrong, a PECO spokesman, reported 2,243 customers were without electricity until 3:20 p.m.
10 YEARS AGO, 2014 » The partial collapse of a 163-year-old Chester mansion along the Avenue of the States in September has led to the building’s demolition, according to the executive director of the Delaware County Commerce Center. The Deshong Mansion, built in 1851, was willed to the people of Chester upon the death of its last owner, Alfred O. Deshong, in 1913. The mansion and its grounds were placed in a trust, along with Deshong’s considerable art collection, to be enjoyed by city residents in perpetuity. The mansion and an art museum constructed in 1914 fell into disrepair by the 1980s and a Delaware County judge dissolved the trust and the land was taken over by the county’s Industrial Development Authority.