Remembering Conshohocken and West Conshohocken

by Jack Coll

  Dave Traill excelled at two sports. He was a great pitcher in baseball, but he’ll be remembered as one of two great swimmers of this borough, the other being Maddy Crippen. Crippen swam notionally for twelve years and won two national championships. She was also a member of the 1998 and 2003 world championship team and was Conshohocken’s only Olympian, as she participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics and finished sixth in the four-hundred-meter individual medley.

  Conshohocken has had a long love affair with soapbox derby racing, dating back to 1936, when Walt Cherry won the very first race on Spring Mill Avenue. Conshohocken also made its mark on the sport at the national level when Conshohocken champ Ed Myers traveled to Akron, Ohio, in 1974 to compete in the international Soap Box Derby Race. Myers set the record for the track’s fastest time ever when he covered the 953-foot track in just over twenty-seven seconds, a record that still stands today.

  Since the mid-1880s when Conshohocken began participating in sports, the town has offered up many of its citizens to the professional ranks and has provided the borough’s residents with first-class teams and organizations. While there are many more events on the sports pages to discuss, it’s time to turn the page to business—unless you want to talk about our top-notch marble tournaments back in the day, when Peter Gravinese and Adam DePietro ruled the marble world in Conshohocken.

  Part Seven

  Business

  IT STARTED SLOW

  Business in the borough limits grew as the town’s population grew. In 1833, Conshohocken’s business district consisted of one store and one tavern. These businesses mostly served the workers from the railroads and canal, as there were only six houses in the village back then. The six houses were all two- or three-room wooden structures with no indoor plumbing, and few even had outhouses. Outhouses in Conshohocken were commonplace into the 1940s. Keep in mind that Conshohocken didn’t build a sewage treatment plant until 1937 at a cost of $219,000, and this led to one of the all-time great Conshohocken blunders.

  In December 1937, borough engineers took on the great task of overseeing the installation of street laterals on each and every borough street. These would allow every resident to hook in to the sewer treatment plant for the use of indoor plumbing and bathrooms. And a fine job they did, with the exception of one omission: Borough Hall. That’s right, when the town was plugged in to the sewer plant, borough officials found themselves with nowhere to go to the bathroom, as long as they were in Borough Hall, that is. Borough Hall was then located on the corner of Forrest and Hector Streets.

  By the time incorporation rolled around in 1850, Conshohocken had started to develop a business district along Washington Street, what was then the main street in town. Activity centered on the canal, railroad and industry, with a few houses built along East and West Elm Streets. Before long, James Harry established a drugstore and brothers Sam and John Pugh established a coal and feed business. The Pughs later sold the business to Mr. Leroy and Mr. Williams.

  The old railroad station in Conshohocken, shown in its prime in 1890, has long been demolished, although a train station still stands on the site. This 1915 photo shows a Conshohocken newsstand in the Reading Station proudly displaying Town & Country magazines and the Saturday Evening Post.

  By the mid-1870s, the borough’s population exploded to more than 3,500 residents, and the business district started moving up the hill along Fayette Street. Businesses included James Wrigley’s boot and shoe store on the corner of Fayette and Elm Streets. Aaron Beildeck’s, located on Fayette Street below Elm, sold men’s and boys’ clothing. William Wright opened a hardware store at the corner of Hector and Fayette Streets, and Mrs. Stanley had a wonderful grocery store located on Hector Street below Cherry. Other retail business in the late 1870s included John Fair’s Cigar’s and Tobacco Shop, Joseph McGonagle’s Furnishing and Undertaking Shop, J.D. Jones Groceries, Fulton’s Dry Goods, James Tracy Flour and Feed Shop and Hallowell’s Drug Store. James Holland owned the Grotto Oyster Saloon, and of course there were a few blacksmith shops on the edge of town, like the one owned by Joseph Chislett.

  FAYETTE STREET WAS A BOOM

  The absolute heyday of retail business in the borough came in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s when, according to the 1930 census, Conshohocken had more than 230 retail outlets in the lower end of the borough and 17 registered hotels. Conshohocken was also at its highest population peak, with 10,815 registered residents in 1930 and 10,995 registered residents in 1950. In 1930, more than 250 residents were employed full time at retail businesses, not including part-time helpers.

  A few of the Fayette Street businesses in the 1930s included Neville’s Drug Store at First Avenue and Fayette Street, Kewson Grocery and Meats at 401 Fayette Street (long before Carl Aumann opened his diner) and Pater’s Bakery at 38 Fayette Street. You could get a cheap haircut at Benny Guarino’s barbershop. Let’s not forget the White Bear Store at 527 Fayette Street, because it always gave out Green Stamps. Redmond’s Shoe Store was a must stop at Easter time. Gabin’s Hardware Store on the corner of Elm and Fayette Streets was always packed with customers, as was Jacobson’s Men’s Shop. Victor Frederick provided haircuts for twenty-five cents in 1935 from his barbershop at 822 Fayette Street.

  Jack’s Restaurant, owned by Jack Kornburger, once located on the corner of Second Avenue and Fayette Street, was a major hangout for borough teenagers who enjoyed the fountain sodas, milkshakes and hamburgers. Standing, left to right: Joe Touhey, Kay Walsh, Mary Burns and Paul “Roger” Touhey in 1950. Jack’s later became the Spot and is currently Tony and Joe’s Pizzeria.

  J.A. Warrell’s tire store, seen here at 23 Fayette Street during the 1940s, later expanded and moved into the former Knights of Columbus building at Second avenue and Fayette Street.

  You might just remember a few of these fine Fayette Street establishments, including Gold Seal Market, Shirley’s Market, Conshohocken News Agency, Darby’s Cigar Store, Nelson’s Sweet Shop at 523 Fayette Street, Meaney’s Radio and Auto Supplies, Murray’s Cafe and Messenger’s Hardware.

  A few of the businesses along the avenues in the 1930s included Eberle Meats and Groceries at 400 East Tenth Avenue, Holden’s Groceries and Oysters at Sixth Avenue and Wells Street, D’Alessandro’s Liberty Food Store at Sixth and Maple Street, Altopiedi and Son Grocery Store at Fourth and Maple Street, Jerry Cardamone’s Groceries at Ninth and Maple Street, Anthony Greco Groceries at Seventh Avenue and Maple Street, Pollock and Clark’s Dairy at Seventh Avenue and Hallowell Street and Herbert Tole Meats and Groceries at Fourth and Harry Street.

  If you needed a cold case of beer in 1936, John A. Kelly would sell you a case from his establishment at 918 Maple Street. A case of beer was $1.50, but if you wanted it delivered it cost $1.65. You could also buy your beer by the quart, gallon, eighth, quarter and half, and by the way, he sold fifty-eight varieties.

  If you just wanted to stop for a quick one, Martinelli Cafe at Fourth and Wood Street had beer on draught. Stanley Chmielewski had his taproom conveniently located on the corner of Elm and Maple Street. Butcher’s Place at 22 West Elm Street sold Schmidt’s beer, and a little farther up Elm Street was the Connaughtown Inn. Sullivan Marine ran his fine establishment on Old Elm and Light Streets. The classy joint offered “Tables for Ladies.” Victor Frederick ran the Bankers Bar at Second Avenue and Fayette Street for a couple of years; it later opened at Hector and Fayette Streets, with August A. Hoffman as proprietor and Eddie and Gus at the taps.

  Just a few more fine Fayette Street establishments from the 1940s and ’50s included Rafferty’s Drug Store, Socket’s Shoe Store, Cameo Beauty Shop, Jean’s Beauty Shop, Wallace Jewelers, Rea Fashion Shop, Phillips and Son Gift Shop, Perfection Bakers and Carl’s Sandwich Shop at Second Avenue and Fayette Street (later Jack’s Sandwich Shop). And let’s not forget Sam’s Steak Sandwiches, McCoy’s Pharmacy, Jack’s Sea Food, the Highland Shop, Rea Fashion Shop, Conshohocken Bargain House, the Spot, Sam’s Variety Store, J.A. Warrell’s at Second and Fayette
Street and one of the most popular Fayette Street stores of all time: Charlie Hicks Music Store, where one could buy all the latest Sinatra.

  Just a few more for the memory file include Kehoe Brothers Hardware, the Frisco Beauty Salon at 401 Fayette Street, W.T Grants, Anthony’s Barber Shop, Flocco and Sons Shoe Repair, Whitey Mellor’s Sporting Goods, Adam Hager’s Photo Studio, O’Donnell’s Sporting Goods and Toys, the Highland Shop, Klein’s Clothing, F.W. Woolworths, United Cigar Store, McGonigal’s Drug Store, Zajac Shoe Store, Pat Lacey’s Candy and Tobacco Store, Lekoe’s Fashion Shop, A. Piermani and Son Beverage Distributors, the Sally Jane Shop, Mary Anna Shop, Nevin’s Sunray Drug Store, Ray’s Electrical Appliances, Flocco’s Cancellation Shoe Store, Anthony’s Men’s Shop and Charles Hair Styling.

  Enough of Fayette Street—but before we leave the business district, let’s have a little fun and drink a few more suds. In the 1930s, the Community Bowling Academy opened at Second Avenue and Fayette Street, where dances were held. Rolling skating and bowling were also made available. Daniel Webster was the facility manager, and Charles Lutter was the proprietor. If the teens didn’t go swimming at Pott’s Quarry, they headed out to Marble Hall on the Ridge. Bubbling Springs at the tail end of Hector Street was a popular weekend hangout for many of the town’s residents for decades. Art’s Skateland on the Ridge was a great gathering place for many years, but for a really great night out, that meant going to the Riant Theatre on Fayette Street or the Forrest Theatre on Forrest Street. Of course, if you wanted to catch the train to Norristown, then the Grand Theatre, the Garrick Theatre or the Norris Theatre just might have the movie you wanted to see.

  As teenagers, high school kids hung out at Jack’s, the Spot or maybe enjoyed an old-fashioned milkshake at Neville’s Drug Store. However, once they graduated from high school, drinks of a different kind were within eyesight, like going to Wally’s Grill, Chippy’s Maple Grill or Frank’s Cafe at Seventh Avenue and Harry Street. The Village Tavern, located at 800 Spring Mill Avenue, was always a good hideout, as was the Spring Mill Hotel on Hector Street. Other drinking holes included DeMarco’s Bar, Tommy Cowl’s Fayette Grill, Montgomery House, Harrold’s Hotel, later Zalik’s Bar and Hotel, Pat Logan’s Tavern or the Luna Café, where you could get beer or liquor, oysters or clams any style. Then there was Al’s Bar on the corner of Elm and Poplar, Joe’s Bar on West Elm Street, Carr’s Tavern on upper Fayette Street, Ray’s Tavern off Spring Mill Avenue, Paciello’s Bar on lower Fayette Street and, of course, the granddaddy of them all, the Brown Derby. When one was finished drinking—not that anyone in Conshohocken ever drank too much—the Auch’s buses ran up and down Fayette Street, or one could catch a ride with the Conshohocken Cab Company owned and operated by Reuben Stemple.

  FAMILY BUSINESSES STILL DOING BUSINESS

  It started with names like Wood, Lee, Lukens and Jones. In later years, there were names like Leary, Harry, Krieble and Gravinese, and today businesses that carry on family names like Flocco, Civarelli, Del Buno, Lincul and Moore have all kept the Conshohocken business district grounded, with courtesy to the residents as the number-one business priority.

  The Flocco family has been doing business and providing services in the borough of Conshohocken for more than eighty-five years. The family has owned and operated businesses on both sides of Fayette Street since 1926. Posing in this 1986 photograph, standing outside their store, members of the Flocco family include Joseph, Vincent Jr., Vince Sr., his brother Fred and Anthony.

  Conshohocken’s business district is much smaller than it was eighty years ago in 1930, but as in many small towns in America, these business owners know and understand their customer. It’s about the courtesy extended, the grief shared with a loss, the overwhelming feeling that’s shared when a customer announces a family newborn and the unlimited respect given to any stranger who chooses to do business with a family-owned business.

  Businesses owned, operated and passed on to later generations of the families include the Flocco family’s shoe and clothing business. The Totaros have been feeding familes for more than eighty years, and the Boccella family restaurants have been serving cheesesteak sandwiches for several generations. There are also family funeral directors the Moores, Snears and Ciavarellis, who have long buried members of the Conshohocken community, and Rudy Lincul, who has cut hair for nearly half a century, like his father Anthony who cut hair before him. Jimmy Del Buno continues to work seven days a week fixing, replacing and installing new roofs, like his father before him.

  Family businesses new to the business district—Nick DiRenzo, a general contractor working with his son; DeStefano Electric; Coll’s Custom Framing; the Great American Pub; Wilson’s Gulf Station; Schank Printing; Spamps Restaurant; Ondik Insurance; and Storti CPA, just to name a few—are all passed along to the next generation from father to son or father to daughter.

  Part Eight

  A Few Conshohocken Gems

  H ANNIBAL HAMLIN, A GUEST OF THE WOODS

  Whenever I say Hannibal Hamlin, the reply is immediate: “Hannibal who?” Hannibal Hamlin was the twenty-sixth governor of Maine and later the vice president of the United States of America. Hamlin served under President Abraham Lincoln during his first term as president from 1861 to 1865.

  Alan Wood Jr., who built his home on East Fifth Avenue in 1859, became a United States congressman in 1866. While serving in Washington, D.C., he met and became good friends with Hannibal Hamlin, who would later spend time at the Woods’ home in Conshohocken with Alan and his wife, Mary. Hamlin would occasionally spend the night as a guest of the Woods, marking the very first visit from a president or vice president, sitting or past, within the borough limits. The Woods’ home was willed to the borough of Conshohocken in 1918 and is called the Mary Wood Park.

  GOVERNOR JOHN F. KENNEDY MISSES CONSHOHOCKEN

  On a cold, rainy Saturday in October 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy was visiting the nearby Bala Cynwyd community. On the campaign trail for the presidency of the United States, Kennedy’s motorcade was supposed to travel on Ridge Avenue in Roxborough, through Whitemarsh Township, on to Butler Pike and into Conshohocken. There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled at the borough line located at Thirteenth Avenue, with brief remarks from Kennedy and Conshohocken burgess James “Pat” Mellon. For unexplained reasons, the motorcade route was changed at the last minute, and Kennedy traveled the expressway and exited at West Conshohocken, missing Conshohocken. Senator Kennedy stopped at the War Memorial in West Conshohocken, spoke to the crowd in the rain for ten minutes and was on his way to Roosevelt Field in Norristown, with stops in Swedesburg and Bridgeport. As history now tells it, Senator John Kennedy was elected the thirty-fifth president of the United States just thirteen days after visiting West Conshohocken—thirteen days after missing his visit to Conshohocken.

  Hannibal Hamlin was the former vice president to Abraham Lincoln during Lincoln’s first term as president of the United States from 1861 to 1865. Hamlin was a visitor to Conshohocken as a guest of Alan Wood Jr. and his wife, Mary. Wood, an East Fifth Avenue resident, became a United States congressman in 1866 and befriended Hamlin while serving his term in Washington, D.C.

  Kennedy wasn’t the only presidential candidate to miss Conshohocken. Theodore Roosevelt, making his third run for the White House, was scheduled to stop at the Reading Railroad station and deliver a three-minute speech to borough residents. On April 11, 1912, thousands of residents gathered at the station. Schools were closed so the students could gather to hear the former president speak; mills and factories along the river were shut down. Roosevelt’s special train pulled into Conshohocken but never stopped. Roosevelt waved from the back of the train, but the train kept moving on to Norristown. It was later explained that the conductor made a mistake and hadn’t received word that Conshohocken was a stop.

  THE FIRST LADY, DURING AND AFTER

  On September 20, 1994, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Conshohocken to speak on the topic of healthcare. Mrs
. Clinton headed a commission established by her husband, Bill Clinton, to come up with a healthcare reform legislation package. The first lady’s conference was originally scheduled for a site in Bala Cynwyd but was changed to the Discovery School in Conshohocken at the last minute. Clinton’s visit was brief, lasting about an hour and a half, but it marked the first visit by a first lady to the borough of Conshohocken.

  Hillary Clinton returned to Conshohocken as a presidential candidate on Pennsylvania’s primary Election Day, April 22, 2008. She spent two hours outside a polling place located at the Conshohocken Fellowship House. She was extremely gracious, speaking with everyone who came out in support of her. When the votes were counted later that evening, Clinton won the primary in the state of Pennsylvania, taking 55 percent of the vote over Barack Obama.

  FINALLY, CONSHOHOCKEN GETS A PRESIDENTIAL VISIT

  More than 150 years after the borough’s incorporation, Conshohocken finally got a visit from the president of the United States when George W. Bush came to the borough for the purpose of signing the Brownfield Revitalization Act into law. On Friday, January 11, 2002, more than one thousand residents stood in a steady rain to gain entrance into the Millennium Corporate Center, owned by Brian O’Neill, to hear the president speak. Mayor of Conshohocken Robert Frost called it a historic event, noting how proud he was at a time when the national spotlight was centered on the borough and its revitalization effort. The Bush motorcade crossed the Matsonford Bridge, to the delight of thousands of borough spectators, and following the event, the president spent time with many borough officials.