110 YEARS AGO – 1898

Obadiah Clark of Chadds Ford had a big surprise in store for himself when he entered his barn and was knocked down by a robber who was concealed in the building. Clark was rendered unconscious by the blow and the robber got away with Mr. Clark’s watch and $10.A prisoner at the county jail has developed into quite an expert woodworker since his incarceration. He has just completed and presented to Maurice Rowland, son of the Warden John Rowland, a miniature gunboat as a gift.People out in the country, who have been compelled to drive though the mud from Providence Avenue to Edgmont Avenue in Chester to get to certain parts of the First Ward to do business, appreciate the effort to get the street opened so they can drive over good pavement instead of through the mud. The street is now open from 25th Street to 21st Street and is used every day.

75 YEARS AGO – 1933

William Toppin, station agent at the Pennsylvania Railroad station in Chester, has arranged for a special train to carry more than 300 fans to West Point, N.Y., for the first football game in history between Pennsylvania Military College, Chester, and the Army.Howard Cornall, the Chester auto dealer at Fourth and Welsh streets, is selling the Bix Six 1934 Nash car for $745.

50 YEARS AGO – 1958

Two youths were fined $30 each and were assessed by Justice of the Peace Presley Lawrence of Middletown after they were arrested for putting firecrackers in mailboxes near Knowlton and Middletown roads. State police said there have been a series of firecracker bombings of mailboxes since Halloween.Firemen were called to the grounds of the Little Flower Academy on Springfield Road to battle a blaze in a chicken coop behind the school. Lawrence M. Lengel has been appointed to the Collingdale Junior High School staff as a social studies instructor and boys basketball coach. He will receive a salary of $4,300 a year.

25 YEARS AGO – 1983

Crozerville United Methodist Church on Mount Road, Lenni, Aston, celebrated its 132nd anniversary with special services and a luncheon.Four area motorists were among 61 persons arrested in Delaware for alleged drunk driving. One was from Chester, two from Boothwyn and another from Ridley Township.

10 YEARS AGO – 1998

Rabbi Barry Blum of Congregation Beth El-Ner Tamid in Broomall said the community should be on alert after anti-Semitic symbols were spray-painted on a home on Marple Road. The owners of the home are not Jewish.

-- LEN CASTERLINE

To contact Len Casterline,

e-mail lencas1038@verizon.net

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or call (610) 565-4298