Old school photos are always fun to look at and today’s submission is no exception.

Just check out these hopeful young men and women, members of the Class of 1934 of the former Lansdale High School.

Doug Coughlin of Lansdale has shared this photo with us today, and pointed out that his aunt, Freidia Constantine, is in the front row, the sixth young woman from the left.

He said he really doesn’t know who any of the other people are, since it was his late aunt’s photo.

Coughlin’s mother, Elva Constantine Coughlin, the sister of his aunt, had graduated from the school in 1933.

But unfortunately, he said, he does not have a class photo from that year.

It’s interesting to check out the fashions worn by those in the front row — especially the young man in the knickers with those snazzy socks!

And a few of the young men in the back row also have quite the head of hair.

So look closely; perhaps you’ll recognize someone.

Veterans Day will be commemorated on Wednesday, and David Fischer of Souderton has shared with us today a look back at three Fischer brothers from Lansdale who served their country during World War I.



This photo shows George at lower left; William at center; and Charles at right.

The three men were David Fischer’s uncles. Later in this article, you will see Martin mention, who was Fischer’s father. He said he did not get to serve in the war, because of the armistice being signed.

The newspaper clipping he submitted with this photo reports:

“Mr. and Mrs. Martin Fischer, of West Third Street, Lansdale, are the proud parents of three sons who are ‘doing their bit’ to make the world safe for democracy, as well as two more boys who will be liable for service if the present draft ages are lowered.

“The oldest son, Charles, 27, who was employed by Lawrence Freeman of Lansdale before entering the service, left Lansdale last September. He proved to be a good soldier and was made a sergeant with a supply train. He recently arrived overseas.

“George, 24, left for Camp Meade with a contingent from Lansdale last November. He was later transferred to the ambulance corps and is now stationed at Camp Greene, N.C. He was also employed by Lawrence Freeman before leaving Lansdale.

“William, 22, the youngest of the three sons in the service, left Lansdale last November and was assigned to the Fourth Infantry. He arrived in France in April. Before leaving, he was employed by the P&R Railway, having just been appointed baggage master at Gwynedd.

“Another son, John, will be 21 in December and will have to register on Sept. 5 if the draft ages are lowered, as will Martin Jr., who will be 19 in December.

“The boys come from Pennsylvania German ancestry and from a Dunkard family. They are well known about Lansdale and are all said to be first-class soldiers.”

Also sent in by David Fischer was a letter noting that Pvt. William Fischer had been “slightly gassed” in action and was under treatment at a base hospital on Oct. 15, 1918.

It’s quite interesting to look back at how local young men were serving their country during World War I.

And we salute all veterans as we near Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

The present Lansdale Hospital in Hatfield Township, part of Abington Memorial Hospital, has undergone many changes through the years.

Today, Dawn Macy has submitted photos that appeared in a 1990 publication that marked the 10th anniversary of the “new” North Penn Hospital.

One photo shows an aerial view of the former hospital in Lansdale in the 1960s.

The other photo shows the groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 11, 1977, for the new North Penn Hospital. In that photo we see, from left, Jean Lemmon, auxiliary first vice president; Robert H. McKay, hospital executive vice president; Dr. Charles macy, president of the medical staff; and Albert Hoffman, president of the hospital board.

According to the publication, the hospital started as Elm Terrace Hospital in Lansdale as a privately owned facility that opened its doors in 1934. It consisted of two residences with a 23-bed capacity.


On Sept. 17, 1955, the first building of the North Penn Hospital was dedicated at Seventh and Broad streets, Lansdale. It was a four-story structure that had 80 beds. During the 1960s and 1970s, four major renovations and additions occurred.

The next big change started in the 1970s, when a 72-acre tract of land was bought in Hatfield Township.

In 1980, the present facility was dedicated and in 1984, a new addition was completed.

Since then the hospital was sold and become Central Montgomery Medical Center and, most recently, sold again and changed to Lansdale Hospital.

Marlene Bardman of Harleysville has shared a few photos with us today of the former Salford Station area in Upper Salford.

The town of Salford formerly was called Salford Station, when the train still ran through that area.

“These pictures from the Perkiomen Creek in Salford Station, above the iron bridge that is now closed, were taken by my mother, E. Violet Force, who grew up in Salford.

“Her parents had the general store there.

“The view of the creek was taken from the summer vacation spot there. The area was known as Camp Rest-A-While and people from Philadelphia would come on the train to stay there.

“Some of the families owned summer houses there and some rented them.

“There was a refreshment stand and a dock where you could get a canoe.”

In addition to the two photos taken by her mother in 1932, Bardman included a photo of Salford Station. The general store can be seen in the background.

By WALTER AULT

GREEN LANE — There is a fascinating building on Route 29 in Green Lane that is, put succinctly, a treasure trove of local history.


Just the name painted on the front of the red brick building, Red Men’s Hall, arouses curiosity in any history buff. Inside are thousands of artifacts and numerous displays and exhibits graphically depicting the rural past of the Upper Perkiomen Valley. It is all part of the Goschenhoppen Historians’ Folklife Museum and Library.

The Red Men, according to museum director Abe Roan, were a fraternal organization made up of men from all walks of life in the Perkiomen Valley who admired the “communal lifestyle of the American Indians.

“Indians saw their tribe as just a large extended family that held everything in common,” Roan said. “Lodge members saw this as an admirable thing and because of that admiration started a fraternal lodge where members would take care of each other and help each other.”

The three-story building, Roan pointed out, was built in 1 907, with a second floor meeting hall where they “held shows and had all kinds of fund raising events and used the money from them for lodge members’ needs.”

For many years the Red Men leased the first floor of the building to the Green Lane Bank and a general store, Roan said. The third floor of the building, he added, was much more private; a sanctum sanitorium where secret rituals were held. Roan explained that the Red Men, who often dressed as Indians and attended special public events like parades, were nonetheless a secret society much like the Masons. Roan even pointed out a peep hole in the front door entering the third floor, where visitors would be scrutinized before entering; kind of like a speakeasy during Prohibition.

The Goschenhoppen Historians (Goschenhoppen, according to local legend, refers to a large area of the Perkiomen Valley and is a German transformation of the name of an Indian chief named Shakahoppa, who formerly controlled that tract of land) bought Red Men’s Hall in 1970, and thanks to their dedication and tireless efforts the building is now an intriguing museum that serves as a local history lesson to anyone who visits.

“As soon as we got the building we started accumulating things,” Roan said. “We went to yard sales, we went to auctions and a lot of items were generously donated. It has worked out very well, and we think we have something special to offer the public.”

The entire building is brilliantly utilized to give visitors a provocative look into the surrounding area’s past, with an emphasis on Pennsylvania German culture of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The first floor is a replica of an old general store, with such things on display as wooden barrels, farm implements, horse riding apparatus, even a giant (1848) coffee grinder and old post office windows and boxes. Many of the items, Roan pointed out, came from other general stores in the area when they closed.

“People could get just about anything they wanted at a general store,” Roan explained. “And if something wasn’t in stock, they would order it and it would be delivered by the Perkiomen Railroad,” a branch of the Reading Railroad that from 1873 to 1948 ran from Port Kennedy (Valley Forge) to Emmaus.

The second floor meeting hall has beautiful chandeliers, along with a large plaque listing presidents of the former lodge, referring to them as Sachems (chiefs) of the Tohickon Tribe, which the lodge was known as. There are also many paintings of historical buildings in the Perkiomen Valley on this floor, as well as interesting charcoal enhanced photographs of former lodge members.

The third floor, known as the Goschenhoppen Folklife Museum, has many items on display, all of which, as Roan pointed out, are hand made and predate 1870.

“The early 1870s were the beginning of the second Industrial Revolution,” Roan said, “Things began to change dramatically and there were more and more machines in use. Since the Germans took so much pride in their craftmanship, everything on display was made before 1870.”

One room on the third floor holds the German folklife library. Another, which Roan called the Zeigler parlor, has items, some made locally, “that are dated 1823 or older,” including a large spinning wheel and an organ made in Skippack. In an adjoining room there is a detailed display of local cigar making.

In the main museum room there are displays on all facets of a lifestyle and era that are long gone. There are, for instance, exhibits on open hearth cooking and baking and the processing of flax. There is a needlework sampler and various pieces of folk art; a craftmen’s shop and a weaver shop.

There is also an 1820 kitchen with a beautiful piece of folk art, a hand-painted corner cupboard; as well as a farm display with numerous old implements, including a 250-year-old plow.

Grace Zeigler Freed has submitted two photos today, one of which show the Broad Street School in Lansdale and the other which shows her and her classmates at the school.

She notes:

"I have good memories of this two-story school, where the first six years of my early education started.


"I remember walking the three blocks each morning from Chestnut Street, home for lunch and then back until about 3 p.m.

"The small store next to our playground was where we would stop and buy our penny candies after school hours.

"The photo here is of our class on the playground. Many of the class here moved to the junior high school on East Main Street, Lansdale, and graduated in 1945 from the senior high school on Penn Street, Lansdale.

"It would be interesting if anyone can identify themselves. I am the first one sitting at the end of the second row. I can name most of the class, but need help with naming others.

"Today, a gas station has taken our spot.

Dick Shearer, president of the Lansdale Historical Society, provides us with a prompting and two great photos today.

Consider:

“The year 1972 was a turbulent time around the world. The Watergate burglary. Civil disorder in the streets. Anti-war protests as the Vietnam peace talks broke down. Black September at the Munich Olympics.

“But in Lansdale there was a great coming-together, bigger than any the town had ever seen.

“Residents celebrated the borough’s 100th birthday with a weeklong bash that included parades, pageants, parties, beards and hoop shirts, and there was the dedication of a new high-rise building named Century Plaza.

“From May 27 to June 3, thousands of civic-minded citizens temporarily diverted the flood of bad news to remember 1872, the year when a small railroad village became a full-fledged town with a government of its own.”

“Lansdale’s Centennial Celebration of 1972” will be the subject of the Lansdale Historical Society’s next Community Program on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., at the Lansdale Parks and Recreation Building, Seventh Street and Lansdale Avenue.

The program will be hosted by Shearer and former Reporter Chief Photographer Willard Krieble.

Shearer was an editor at the paper in 1972, and Krieble photographed the entire week of special events.

In addition to a video presentation by photo archivist Steve Moyer, the program will include a display of memorabilia from the centennial celebration.

There is no admission charge to the program, but donations are appreciated.

For more information, call (215) 855-1872, or visit the society’s Web site, www.lansdalehistory.org.