Throughout November, we have been counting down to Thanksgiving by posting daily thanks on Facebook. There is some overlap with our lists from Thanksgiving in 2012 and 2014, and so much more to add – it is amazing how much there is to be grateful for! Here are those daily posts – these were in no particular order, and it is by no means a complete list!

Day 1: … long-time park supervisor James Stokes, Jr. for his years of care for the park. He started work on October 31, 1935 and continued for at least 25 years, and by all accounts really loved Glen Providence Park. He served as park guard, caretaker, supervisor, and park ranger – personally building picnic tables, preparing for concerts, planting trees & flowers, teaching visitors about the plants & wildlife, and creating the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park!

Day 2: … the local schools that use Glen Providence Park as an outdoor classroom and for service learning, teaching their students a love of nature, science, art, and more. Thank you Media Elementary School, Springton Lake Middle School, Media Providence Friends School, Penncrest High School – and homeschoolers!

Day 3: … Delaware County Parks & Recreation, for resurfacing the historical WPA stage last summer in time for the park’s 80th anniversary celebration, for their support of our events and activities, and for their many years of caretaking and managing their 621 acres (and growing!) of open space for the public.

Day 4: … all that Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association has done since 1970 to protect, conserve, and restore the watersheds throughout its 132 square mile stewardship area! Its initiatives include annual streams cleanups, riparian reforestation, advocacy, education, and stream monitoring. We are honored to receive their Organizational Stewardship Award this year!  

Day 5: … our Nature Walk guides and monthly event leaders who volunteered their time in the past two years: the ever-helpful Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County, Gary Stolz, David Hewitt, Shannon Davidson, Marcia Tate, Stephanie Gaboriault, Kyle Loucks, George Tate, the Media-Upper Providence Free Library, Holly Hoffmann, Aura Lester, and Charles Randall.

Day 6: … Taylor Memorial Arboretum in Wallingford, for generously growing and donating native trees and shrubs each year for habitat restoration plantings by other organizations – including for our past four National Public Lands Days!

Day 7: … the Delaware County Institute of Science, an amazing organization that has been all volunteer since 1833.  It has wonderful scientific and historical collections, and is well worth a visit. Its members have been studying Glen Providence Park since before it was a park – a 1928 Chester Times article about the valley indicated that “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.”  

Day 8: … EllieReed Lewis and Clifford Butler Lewis, the grandchildren of park donors George and Eleanor Butler –  for sharing their recollections from childhood in Glen Providence Park, and for celebrating the park’s 80th anniversary with us last summer!

Day 9: … our Invasive Plant Removal volunteers, who meet most Friday mornings to work in the park. In the past 4 years, they have cleared over 250 packed contractor bags of invasive plants – keeping trails clear, liberating native plants from strangling vines, improving habitat, and beautifying the park.

Day 10: … those who have made our historical research possible, including the Media Historic Archives, the Delaware County Historical Society, and the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library – and Delaware County, PA History for sharing our history-related facebook posts.

Day 11: … the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for their years of involvement in Glen Providence Park going back to at least 1939 – with hikes, cookouts, award ceremonies, meetings, and community service. In the past few years, Brownie Troop #5248 and Minquas District Boy Scouts have volunteered, and Girl Scout Troop #5037 and Pack 503’s Webelos II have had meetings and outings in the park!

Day 12: … our wonderfully generous Concert Sponsors: Media Recreation Board, Media Rotary Foundation, Diego’s Cantina, Seven Stones Café, Shere-e-Punjab Indian Restaurant, Sterling Pig, and Tagine, who made it possible for us to revive the decades-long tradition of free summer concerts in Glen Providence Park.

Day 13: … Media Lions Club and McCarrin Chiropractic, for continuing Glen Providence Park’s longest-running tradition – the Great Media Easter Egg Hunt started in 1954! The Lions have worked since 1917 to fight blindness, and on many other community projects.

Day 14: … the American Chestnut Foundation, for their work to restore this once-majestic native tree, decimated by blight in the early 1900’s. Chestnuts were called the Sequoias of the east, and we know from T. Chalkley Palmer’s 1889 writings that the park’s eastern hill was once “continuously wooded with oaks and chestnuts.” We have found two surviving trees so far!

Day 15:  … all of the volunteers who have spent their free time working for Glen Providence Park through the years – our dedicated committee members, the dozens of people who have helped at our 17 volunteer days, and all those who volunteered in the park before us.

Day 16: … the Pennsylvania Amphibian & Reptile Survey (PARS), for their work to gather data for the study and conservation of our amphibians and reptiles, and for leading 3 Herpetology Walks in Glen Providence Park! We’ve documented 18 species in the park so far…

Day 17: … Samuel L. Smedley, who with great foresight and wisdom in 1927 urged regional planning for open space, and spearheaded the creation of Delaware County Parks & Recreation, which was used as a model nationally for its excellent planning. He personally helped create and plan Glen Providence Park.

Day 18: … all of those who appreciate our efforts to preserve and enhance Glen Providence Park – whether by reading our newsletter and website, attending our concerts and nature walks, or saying a kind word when they see us in the park – and of course our Facebook fans!

Day 19: … the Delaware County Conservation District for their guidance, mini-grants, donations, use of their Conservation Trailer, and support for our native plantings over the past 5 years – helping us to combat streamside erosion, restore habitat, provide food for wildlife, and  beautify the park.

Day 20: … our donors, whose generous support enables us to continue our work to improve the park and plan future concerts, plantings, events, and activities!

Day 21: … the array of wildlife, native plants, and all living things in the park, which with the changing seasons provide something new to discover on every walk in Glen Providence Park.

Day 22: … Hedgerow Theatre, for their enchanting performances at the WPA stage – enacting the park’s historical Newlywed Ghost and Witch Stories for Glen Providence’s 80th anniversary last year, and bringing Shakespeare to the park this summer!

Day 23: … T. Chalkley Palmer, 1860-1934, for writing in loving detail about Scroggie Valley in 1889, enabling us all these years later to read about the geology, landscape, flora, and fauna of Glen Providence Park as it was in the 1800′s. He also had remarkable environmental insights for his time. What a gift!

Day 24 of Thanks: We are so thankful for George and Eleanor Butler, who with great generosity and foresight in 1935 donated most of the land for Glen Providence Park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, to be preserved for future generations. There would be no park without them – we are incredibly grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have monthly nature walks (or volunteer days) in Glen Providence Park, year-round! We’ve documented our Spring Cleanups in March and April and our Spring Bird Walk in May – here we recount our other 2016 Nature Walks (and a History Lecture!) through June, including a photo gallery. Join us for some of our upcoming 2016 events – they are always free and open to the public!

January – Tree Mapping

Shannon Davidson and Marcia Tate led us on a beautiful, cold, and fun afternoon tree mapping in the park! Thirteen volunteers added almost 50 trees by the Kirk Lane entrance to the PhillyTreeMap database, including one new species for our Park Tree List.

February – Scroggie Valley History Lecture

There was a great turnout for February’s history presentation about T. Chalkley Palmer and Scroggie Valley (the park’s 19th century name) at the Delaware County Institute of Science (DCIS) – 81 people attended! I had fun working with Roger Mitchell and Walt Cressler on this lecture, and sharing some of what we’ve learned about the the history, flora, and fauna of Glen Providence Park – and about its enthusiastic early fan, T. Chalkley Palmer.

April – Native Plant Walk

Just one week after a crazy spring snow(!), we had a spectacular spring day for our Native Plant Walk – with Black Cherry and Redbud trees in bloom, Mayapples and Trout Lilies emerging, and Flowering Dogwood and Silverbell trees getting ready to blossom. Shannon Davidson and Marcia Tate led us again,  sharing their extensive knowledge about so many interesting plants with enthusiastic (note-taking!) attendees!

June – Herpetology Walk

It was another great herpetology walk with Kyle Loucks of the PA Amphibian & Reptile Survey – the third walk Kyle has led for us! Our early morning attendees found 9 species of reptiles and amphibians, including Dusky Salamander, Northern Watersnake, Pickerel Frog, Green Frog, and Painted Turtle; a tiny American Toad(let); and new for our Park Reptile & Amphibian List, the invasive Yellow-bellied Slider. We also saw iridescent Ebony Jewelwing damselflies by the pond, and heard the distinctive rattling call of a Belted Kingfisher throughout morning.

Thank you to everyone who attended these park events, to DCIS for scheduling our history lecture, and to our wonderful volunteer walk leaders! You can see photos in our gallery below – click on any photo for a closer look.

This spring, we learned about an 1897 inscription on an American Beech tree in Glen Providence Park! Research into its author revealed a family with deep roots in Media Borough, and direct involvement with other well-known characters and places in the park’s pre-history, from its years when it was known as Scroggie Valley. We also estimated the remarkable age of what is likely one of the park’s oldest trees.

Out of obvious view of passersby, the ornamental inscription reads:

Isaac Worrall
Media, Pa.
April 3, 1897

The Worralls were one of the earliest European families to settle near Media[1] after William Penn arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682. Early maps show a Worrall property across Ridley Creek from Broomall’s Run,[2] and you can find the Worrall family (sometimes spelled Worrell) on most of the historical maps of Media we have found.

The Isaac Worralls of Media

Four generations of Isaac Worralls listed on Ancestry.com lived and died in Media, Pennsylvania [3] – the 1860 census confirms the birth years of the first three generations.[4] At least the first three were builders, and seemingly all were active in community service. The first Isaac Worrall lived 1792-1865, the second 1827-1893, the third 1854-1920, and the fourth 1884-1948.[5] That’s at least 156 years of Isaac Worralls in Media! The third Isaac Worrall is likely our artistic inscriber – he would have been 43 years old in 1897.

The Isaac Worralls seem to have been involved in the shaping of Media Borough in its early decades after it was established in 1850. Just one source, the 1900 Semi-centennial of the Borough of Media,[6] lists Isaac Worrall as one of the incorporators of Christ Church in 1854; Isaac Worrall, Jr. as one of the incorporators of the Media Gas Company in 1866; and Isaac Worrall as a Burgess of Media 1891-1892. An Isaac Worrall served as a private in the Civil War under none other than captain John M. Broomall[7] – an active opponent of slavery, a US Congressman, and the owner of Scroggie Valley from around 1864 to his death in 1894. Continuing into the 20th century, an Isaac Worrall was one of the founding members of South Media Fire Company in 1922.[8]

Scroggie Builders!

Beyond community involvement, the Isaac Worralls left tangible marks – they built structures that still stand in Media. An 1855 Map of Media lists Isaac Worrall, Jr. as a mason;[9] the 1860 census lists Isaac Worrall as “Master Stone Mason”; and an 1870 Plan of Media lists “Isaac Worrall, builder.”[10] Several Worrall building projects are listed in the local papers from the late 1800’s, including the brick “centre building” of the Elwyn Institute in 1858.[11] An 1864 advertisement for bricks manufactured by Isaac Worrall, Jr. lists “all kinds of Bricks, consisting of hard, salmon, pressed, back and front stretchers, paving, etc., all well assorted, and of the best qualities”[12] – Worrall bricks could have been used in any number of remaining 19th century buildings around Media!

Notably, in 1867, Isaac Worrall built a “farm house” for his former Civil War captain, Judge John M. Broomall, at “Scrogy”, as announced in the Delaware County American: “The scenery around it is abrupt, yet very fine, and such as might suit the visionary fancies of the romantic, but not the more practical ideas of a thorough farmer.” [13] So, Isaac Worall built the stone Scroggie estate that still exists today, which shared its name with Scroggie Valley and the Scroggie Shingle Mill, and played a role in the glen’s 1700’s Newlywed Ghost Story! 

Delaware County Institute of Science

More Worrall intersections with Glen Providence history can be found in the Delaware County Institute of Science (DCIS). In 1902, DCIS President T. Chalkley Palmer presented a paper about“Local Mineralogy and Mineralogists,” [14] including Isaac Worrell[5] among the mineralogists. Chalkley Palmer is the man who wrote in depth about Scroggie Valley in 1889, and who was the subject of our history lecture at DCIS in February. DCIS has microscope slides of diatoms collected by Palmer at “Worrell’s Spring” in 1902, which we discovered when viewing slides Palmer collected from Scroggie Run. The 1911 Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science lists in the Anthropology Section of its Museum Catalogue, “Collection of several hundred arrow heads, supposed to be mainly local, presented by Isaac Worrall, Sr., of Media.”[15] These would likely be from the local Okehocking, and it is fun to imagine some could have been collected in the glen.

So how old is the tree?

In 2015, we measured the diameter of the tree as 45.5”. Based on a formula by the International Society of Arboriculture to estimate the age of trees without taking a core sample, we multiplied the diameter by 6 to estimate the age of an American Beech tree in a wooded area. [16] The estimated age is 273 years old – the American Beech could have been growing as early as 1742, before the American Revolution! The tree would have had to be fairly large already in 1897 when Isaac Worrall carved that inscription.

How intruiging that the Isaac Worrall who left a long-lasting mark in Glen Providence Park was part of such an enduring family of Media, and a part of Scroggie Valley history!

A tremendous thank you to Scott McConnell for telling us about the American Beech, which we had walked past innumerable times without noticing its inscription. What a wonderful piece of history – we are so glad Scott was observant enough to discover it!

At this point, to protect the tree, we won’t publish where in the park it is located. If you have any photographs or more information about the Isaac Worralls of Media Borough or their descendants, please let us know! 

Endnotes are below the photo.

“Isaac Worrall
Media, Pa.
April 3, 1897″

ENDNOTES:

[1] The Rose Tree Families, Jane Levis Carter, KNA Press, 1984.

[2] “Map of Early Settlements from early Taylor Surveys,” The Rose Tree Families, Jane Levis Carter, KNA Press, 1984.

[3] Ancestry.com records on Isaac Worrall retrieved May 26, 2016.

[4] June 25, 1860 census of “Free Inhabitants in Media Borough” accessed through Ancestry.com, listing the second Isaac Worrall as a “Master Stone Mason.”

[5] As each generation aged, the use of Jr. gave way to Sr., making it unclear to which of the four Isaac Worralls some of the local records referred. Additionally, Worrall is occasionally spelled as Worrell (even within the same family), and there were other Isaac Worralls living in the area in the 1800’s. But the 1860 census of Media Borough make the birth years of the first three generations clear. There is an obituary consistent with this family history for “Isaac Worrall, Member of Old Family” in the August 2, 1948 Chester Times.

[6] Semi-centennial of the Borough of Media, Penna., May 19, 1900.

[7] PaCivilWar.com – retrieved May 26, 2016. Isaac Worrall was in the Sixteenth Regiment Militia under Captain John M. Broomall.

[8] South Media Fire Company, http://www.southmediafire.com/our-history.php retrieved May 31, 2016. Three other Worralls were included in the founders.

[9] 1855 Map of Media the Seat of Justice Delaware County, Pennsylvania by Thos. Hughes, C.E., courtesy of Media Historic Archives.

[10] 1870 Plan of the Borough of Media, PA by G.M. Hopkins, C.E., courtesy of Delaware County Institute of Science.

[11] “A Noble Institution,” Delaware County Republican, June 11, 1858.

[12] “Media Brick Yard,” Delaware County American, May 4, 1864.

[13] “Improvements in Media,” Delaware County American, April 10, 1867.

[14] Delaware County Institute of Science Minutes: “October 16, 1902 – President Palmer read a highly interesting paper on “Local Mineralogy and Mineralogists”. Among the latter he referred to Dr. George Smith, Col. Joseph Willcox, Theodore D. Rand, Dr. J. M. Cardeza, Patrick Bradley, Lewis Palmer, John Smedley, Deshong, Dr. W. T. W. Dickeson, and Isaac Worrell.”

[15] Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science, Volume VI: October, 1910 to July, 1911. Media.

[16] Asheville GreenWorks, ashevillegreenworks.org/how-old-is-my-tree retrieved May 26, 2016.

In the 1800’s, the land that is now Glen Providence Park was called Scroggie Valley. Forty-year Delaware County Institute of Science (DCIS) President T. Chalkley Palmer grew up exploring the valley, which he affectionately wrote about in 1889. This historical lecture at DCIS will cover the Palmer family, T. Chalkley’s scientific work, and the history, flora, and fauna of Glen Providence Park.

T. Chalkley Palmer’s Scroggie Valley

& Glen Providence Park

Monday, February 8
7:30pm
Delaware County Institute of Science, Veterans Square, Media

Presenters:

J. Roger Mitchell, President of the Delaware County Institute of Science
Walt Cressler, Ph.D., West Chester University
Stephanie Gaboriault, President of Friends of Glen Providence Park

If you have never visited the Delaware County Institute of Science, you have missed a hidden treasure in the center of Media! Founded in 1833, the museum exhibits an amazing array of collections – including minerals, fossils, historical maps, mounted birds, and late 1800’s radios, radio vacuum tubes, and microscopes. Come early and explore the Institute!

Doors open at 6:30pm, presentation begins at 7:30pm. Estimated length 1 hour.

Our first clue of a mill having been in “Scroggie Valley,” now Glen Providence Park, was in local historian Dr. Anna Broomall’s 1700’s Newlywed Ghost Story – a bit of local folklore with details that launched much research about the valley’s early history, and yielded the discovery that the park had once been called Scroggie Valley! I gradually found more evidence of a mill in early newspapers, maps, and local history books. It turns out the 1800’s shingle mill was the site of some unfortunate events – and there is possibly even an 1864 photograph of the mill!

A millrace through Glen Providence Park?

The 1700’s Newlywed Ghost Story had this intriguing hint of a mill having been in the park: “The ghost of this unfortunate woman was for many years afterwards reported to walk up and down the valley to the west of Media along the old race bank which extended from Scroggie about as far up the valley as the present Broomall’s Lake. The remains of this race bank are still visible.” These sentences led to a determined search for any reference to a millrace (mill stream) or mill in Glen Providence Park, and the eventual compilation of several pieces of evidence that it existed!

A 1909 map shows the residence of the Little family, at the southwest end of Glen Providence Park in Upper Providence, named Scroggie. The 1948 obituary of Louis Little indicates that his family estate Scroggie “was named for an old shingle mill that was located in the valley where Glen Providence Park is now situated.” According to this, the Scroggie home and Scroggie Valley were named after the shingle mill!

1855 Close-up showing the Shingle Mill Stream that was diverted from Broomall’s Run within what is now the park – to power the shingle mill near Ridley Creek.

This seemed anectodal until discovering the shingle mill stream clearly marked on an 1855 map of Media, starting just below 3rd Street (the future location of Broomall’s Dam), and running along the western (Upper Providence) side of the valley, while the natural stream continued along the Media side of the valley. An 1860 map of Chester County marks the location of the shingle mill near Ridley Creek!

So what is a shingle mill, and when was it built?

A shingle mill is used to slice a section of log into tapered wedges to make wooden shingles. Before asphalt shingles, most roofs were covered in wooden shingles. You can see photos and videos of antique shingle mills in use on the Ontario Steam Heritage Museum website. Being water-powered, the Scroggie Shingle Mill used a millrace that diverted a portion of water from the natural stream. The millrace would be engineered to accelerate the water down a manmade channel through the valley, turning the water wheel that powered the sawblade at the mill.

According to Dr. Anna Broomall’s notes from 1909, in 1848 John Hill “built the mill for splitting shingles, but, owing to some deficit in the method, the work was soon abandoned… It is not known with whom the name “Scroggie” (pronounced Scrogie, long o and hard g) originated, it dates, at least, as far back as the Hill ownership.” It would seem the shingle mill caused Mr. Hill some headaches over the next decade…

1861 drawing of the Scroggie house – from Anna Broomall’s collection at Delaware County Historical Society

Media’s first fire, and a lawsuit!

The shingle mill was the location of the first fire in Media on June 20, 1851, which, according to the 19th century historian Henry Ashmead, was “the first untoward event in the infant village” (Media was founded in 1850). He indicates “There was no similar disaster until after the lapse of eight years.” The newspaper reported, “The shingle factory of John Hill, at Media, together with a quantity of lumber was destroyed by fire on Friday last. We have heard no estimate of the loss.”

Mr. Hill apparently rebuilt the mill, only to be sued by his neighbor in 1857 over its operation. The outcome of John R. Lewis vs. John Hill is detailed in the local papers. Mr. Lewis alleged that he was entitled to ½ the water of Scroggie’s stream (according to an undocumented 999-year lease), but that the flow of water was frequently interrupted by the defendant placing gates in the run to power his shingle mill. The judge ruled that Mr. Lewis had the right to only about 1/6 of the stream’s water, for the purpose of watering his meadow, and for which he paid an ear of corn annually. The jury returned a verdict of $5 in damages for the plaintiff. It is unknown whether Mr. Lewis was satisfied with this outcome.

The shingle mill location… and an 1800’s photograph?

I have found no records of the Scroggie Shingle Mill in operation after 1861, but I did come across an intriguing photograph on Facebook of a “lumber mill on Ridley Creek in 1864.” The origin of the photo is unknown, but I decided to visit the likely site of the shingle mill within Glen Providence Park to compare the landscape to the 1864 photo. This is the location where the millrace that hugged the Upper Providence side of the valley would have been funneled by topography to join the natural stream, making it the logical location of the mill. The result is similar topography, as shown in these photographs!

“Lumber Mill on Ridley Creek in 1864” posted by Harvey Martin on “I Grew Up In Media” Facebook page – origin of photo unknown.

Probable Shingle Mill location in Glen Providence Park in January 2015 – the shingle mill would be just behind the large tree in the center of the photo

If this 1800’s photograph is of the Scroggie shingle mill, this would make the latest documentation of the mill in 1864, which, according to Anna Broomall, is the same year that Judge John M. Broomall purchased the Scroggie estate, then razed the original wooden house and built the current stone house in 1867. It is plausible that he would have razed the property’s shingle mill around the same time.

If anyone has more information on the source of the 1864 photograph, please contact us! Even if it were not an actual photo of the Scroggie Shingle Mill, it would be an example of a local mill during the same time period.

Observant hikers may find what seem to be signs of the old millrace along the western edge of the valley, bordering the wetlands. You can see the approximate location of the shingle mill marked on our 2011 Annotated Trail Map, which includes the “Shingle Mill Trail” nickname for the path leading to the mill site.

Click on the photos below for more evidence of the Scroggie shingle mill. Coincidentally, the Scroggie name seems to originate from the 1840’s, the same decade in which Charles Dickens was inspired by the gravestone of Ebeneezer Scroggie to write “A Christmas Carol.” 

Sources:

• 1848 Map of Delaware County by Joshua W. Ash, M.D. from original surveys with the farm limits, courtesy of Delaware County Institute of Science, Media, PA
• 1855 Map of Media the Seat of Justice Delaware County, Pennsylvania by Thos. Hughes, C.E., courtesy of Media Historic Archives, Media, PA
• 1860 Map of Chester Co Pennsylvania by T.J. Kennedy, on display in the 2nd floor lobby of the Delaware County Courthouse, Media, PA
• 1909 Map from the “Property Atlas of Delaware County East of Ridley Creek,” courtesy of Media Historic Archives, Media, PA
• “Burned, ” Delaware County Republican, June 27, 1851
• “Error,” Delaware County American, June 17, 1857
• History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Henry Graham Ashmead, L.H. Everts & Co.,Philadelphia, 1884, p. 590
• “Lumber Mill on Ridley Creek in 1864,” I Grew Up In Media PA Facebook page, posted by Harvey Martin September 9, 2013, origin unknown.
• “John R. Lewis vs. John Hill,” Delaware County American, June 10, 1857
• “Local “Witches” of Long Ago Described by Dr. Broomall,” Chester Times, May 15, 1931
• “Louis Little, Rifle Expert, Broker, Is Dead,” Chester Times, November 13, 1948
• Ontario Steam Heritage Museum, http://woodgears.ca/steam_museum/shingle_mills.html
• Photograph album collection of Dr. Anna E. Broomall, Delaware County Historical Society, Chester, PA
• The Rose Tree Families, Jane Levis Carter, KNA Press, 1984

For those who love history, maps, or both(!), it is interesting to track the progression of development surrounding the land that is now Glen Providence Park! We’ve compiled over 20 maps in chronological order, starting with property lines of European settlers in 1681. Early maps were of Chester County, before Delaware County was founded in 1789. Some of the locations and property owners play a part in the park’s history and folklore, as noted in the captions.

Most of these maps are zoomed in from larger maps, focusing on the valley that is now Glen Providence Park. Not all maps are oriented with north at the top, some are almost sideways! The best way to orient yourself is often to find Broomall’s Run, which runs the length of Glen Providence Park, and is shown on most maps.

Thank you to the institutions and organizations that have preserved and displayed these wonderful maps: Delaware County Institute of Science, Media Historic Archives, DelawareCountyHistory.com, Delaware County Courthouse, Delaware County Parks & Recreation, and Brandywine Conference & Visitors Bureau at Rose Tree Tavern. Below the map gallery, there are links and more information about each institution, along with a listing of which maps we found there.

Scroll through time below – you can click on any map for a closer look!

Sources:

Media Historic Archives:
Archival material about Media Borough and vicinity – including photographs, manuscripts, and maps! Located in the Media-Upper Providence Free Library, Media, PA. You can visit by appointment, during library hours.

1855 Map of Media the Seat of Justice Delaware County, Pennsylvania by Thos. Hughes, C.E.
1892 Map of Media
1909 Map from the “Property Atlas of Delaware County East of Ridley Creek”
1941 The Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park issued by Delaware County Park and Recreation Board
1951 Borough of Media, Delaware County, Penna

Delaware County Institute of Science:
One of Media’s hidden treasures, with a wide array of collections, right on Veterans Square in Media! Open most Monday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings, 9:00am – 12:00noon.

1681 Fac-simile of Holmes Map of the Province of Pennsylvania with the names of the original purchasers from William Penn – begun in 1681 (reproduced in 1846)
1683 A draft of some part of the county of Chester in Pensilvania by Charles Ashcom Surveyor
1810 A Map of Delaware County as Divided into Townships
1848 Map of Delaware County by Joshua W. Ash, M.D. from original surveys with the farm limits
1870 Plan of the Borough of Media, PA by G.M. Hopkins, C.E.

DelawareCountyHistory.com:
An impressive collection of documents and maps (more than we show here!) are scanned and well organized on this website – available 24/7!

1785 Township Map of Chester County Pennsylvania by Joshua W. Ash, M.D.
1862 Map of the Early Settlements of Delaware County, Penna – from George Smith’s 1862 History of Delaware County
1875 An Historical Map of Pennsylvania by P.W. Sheafer and others – Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1875 Map of Upper Providence Township
1882 Map of the Township of Upper Providence showing the Early Grants & Patents
1946 Map of Delaware County, Penna. produced by Office of Engineer of Delaware County, A.C. Throne, County Engineer

Delaware County Parks & Recreation:

1945 Plan of Glen Providence Park by J. Earl Kirk, Engineer

Delaware County Courthouse:
On display in the 2nd floor lobby by Council Chambers, along with an 1860 map of Philadelphia and Vicinity:

1860 Map of Chester Co Pennsylvania by T.J. Kennedy

Brandywine Conference & Visitors Bureau at Rose Tree Tavern:

1870 Map from the Atlas of Delaware County, Pennsylvania by Henry W. Hopkins

Personal collection:

1892 Plan of Upper Providence Township from Atlas of Delaware County by J.L. Smith
1995 USGS Media Quadrangle Map

We will add more maps of interest as we find them!

Throughout November, we have been counting down to Thanksgiving by posting daily thanks on Facebook. There is some overlap with our list from Thanksgiving 2012, and so much more to add – it is amazing how much there is to be grateful for! Here are those daily posts – these were in no particular order, and it is by no means a complete list!

27 Days of Thanks in Glen Providence Park
We are thankful for…

Day 1: … the local schools who use Glen Providence Park as an outdoor classroom, teaching their students a love of nature, science, art and more. Thank you Media Elementary School, Springton Lake Middle School, Media Providence Friends School, Penncrest High School – and homeschoolers!

Day 2: … Clifford Butler Lewis, the grandson of park donors George and Eleanor Butler – for his generosity in sharing his grandparents’ photo albums with us and donating their golf clubs to Springhaven Country Club (which they founded!), and for sharing his recollections from his childhood in Glen Providence Park.

Day 3: … Delaware County Parks & Recreation, for repairing the concert stage (damaged in July from a fallen 110-year-old tree) in time for our August concert this summer, for their support of our events and activities, and for their many years of caretaking and managing their 11 parks with over 600 acres(!) of open space for the public.

Day 4: … Taylor Memorial Arboretum in Wallingford, for generously growing and donating 75 native trees and shrubs this year for habitat restoration plantings by Friends of Heinz Refuge, CRC Watersheds, and Friends of Glen Providence Park.

Day 5: … our wonderfully generous Concert Sponsors: Media Recreation Board, Media Rotary Foundation, Diego’s Cantina, Seven Stones Café, and Shere-e-Punjab Indian Restaurant, who made it possible for us to revive the decades-long tradition of free summer concerts in Glen Providence Park!

Day 6: … Samuel L. Smedley, who with great foresight and wisdom in 1927 urged regional planning for open space, and spearheaded the creation of Delaware County Parks & Recreation, which was used as a model nationally for its excellent planning. He personally helped create and plan Glen Providence Park.

Day 7: … all that Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association has done for 44 years to protect, conserve, and restore the watersheds throughout its 132 square mile stewardship area! Its initiatives include annual streams cleanups, riparian reforestation, advocacy, education, and stream monitoring.

Day 8: … our Nature Walk guides who volunteered their time to lead our walks this year: the ever-helpful Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County, John Wenderoth, Ted Cavey, Stephanie Gaboriault, Marcia Tate, Aura Lester, Kyle Loucks, Holly Hoffmann, Chris McNichol, and Charles Randall.

Day 9: … our donors, whose generous support enables us to continue our work to improve the park and plan future concerts, events, and activities!

Day 10: … the Delaware County Conservation District for their guidance, mini-grants, donations, and support for our native plantings over the past 3 years – helping us to combat streamside erosion, restore habitat, provide food for wildlife, and  beautify the park.

Day 11: … the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for their years of involvement in Glen Providence Park going back to at least 1939 – with hikes, cookouts, award ceremonies, meetings, and community service. In the last 2 years, Brownie Troop #5248 and Minquas District Boy Scouts have volunteered in the park!

Day 12: … the wonderful bands who have performed at our Summer Concert Series the past 3 years: Philadelphia Brass, Springfield Clarinet Quartet, the Obsoleets, Me3, Ken Delmar & the Cheers Big Band, Perseverance Jazz Band, Sonoma Sound, and ViVaCe Strings!

Day 13: … T. Chalkley Palmer, 1860-1934, for writing in loving detail about Scroggie Valley in 1889, enabling us all these years later to read about the geology, landscape, flora, and fauna of Glen Providence Park as it was in the 1800′s! He also had remarkable environmental insights for his time. What a gift!

Day 14: … our Invasive Plant Removal volunteers, who meet most weeks to work in the park. In the past 2 years, they have cleared 179 packed contractor bags (and counting!) of invasive plants – keeping trails clear, liberating native plants from strangling vines, improving habitat, and beautifying the park.

Day 15: … the Delaware County Institute of Science, an amazing organization that has been all volunteer since 1833!  Its members have been studying Glen Providence Park since long before it was a park – a 1928 Chester Times article about the valley indicated that “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.”

Day 16: … Delaware County Planning for their thoughtful work on the Delaware County Open Space, Recreation & Greenway Plan, and on our neighboring Mineral Hill Area Master Plan. Glen Providence Park and future generations will be better for it!

Day 17: … Transition Town Media, for all they do to build community and resilience, from their FreeStore, to workshops, to their lovely Annual Candlelight Gratitude Banquet for local nonprofits.

Day 18: … long-time park supervisor James Stokes, Jr. for his years of care for the park. He started work on October 31, 1935 and continued for at least 25 years, and by all accounts really loved Glen Providence Park. He served as park guard, care taker, supervisor, and park ranger – personally building picnic tables, preparing for concerts, planting trees & flowers, teaching visitors about the plants & wildlife, and creating the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park!

Day 19:  … all of the volunteers who have spent their free time working for Glen Providence Park through the years – our dedicated committee members, the dozens of people who have helped at our 11 volunteer days, and all those who volunteered in the park before us!

Day 20: … those who have made our historical research possible, including the Media Historic Archives, the Delaware County Historical Society, and the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library – and Delaware County, PA History for sharing our history-related facebook posts.

Day 21: … the American Chestnut Foundation, for their work to restore this majestic native tree! Chestnuts were called the Sequoias of the east, and they were once the dominant tree species in Glen Providence Park. We have found two surviving trees so far!

Day 22: … the Pennsylvania Amphibian & Reptile Survey (PARS), for their work to gather data for the study and conservation of our amphibians and reptiles! We are glad to have chosen PARS for our 2014 citizen science project.

Day 23: … Media Lions Club and McCarrin Chiropractic, for continuing Glen Providence Park’s longest-running tradition – the Great Media Easter Egg Hunt started in 1954! The Lions have worked since 1917 to fight blindness, and on many other community projects.

Day 24: … the Academy of Natural Sciences, for preserving and researching a wondrous amount of natural history, including early 1900’s microscope slides from Scroggie Run (now Broomall’s Run), and for their generosity and hospitality in showing us those slides.

Day 25: … the array of wildlife, native plants, and other living things in the park, which with the changing seasons provide something new to discover on every walk in Glen Providence Park!

Day 26: … all of those who appreciate our efforts to preserve and enhance Glen Providence Park – our Facebook fans, those who read our newsletter and website, and those who have attended our concerts and history & nature walks!

Thanksgiving Day: We are so thankful for George and Eleanor Butler, who with great generosity and foresight in 1935 donated most of the land for Glen Providence Park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, to be preserved for future generations.  There would be no park without them – we are incredibly grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

In another intriguing piece of Glen Providence Park history, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia has a collection of early 1900’s microscope slides – of diatom samples collected from Scroggie Run by T. Chalkley Palmer! Diatoms are single-celled algae (with silica shells!) that are useful in environmental monitoring, potentially in nanotechnology and forensics, and in art(!) – and the wondrously-useful diatomaceous earth is diatoms’ fossilized remains.
 

T. Chalkley Palmer

T. Chalkley Palmer was the President of the Delaware County Institute of Science (DCIS) 1894-1934, and the President of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP) 1926-1928. According to an 1889 essay by Palmer, he grew up exploring “Scroggie Valley,” which is now Glen Providence Park. He wrote at length about the valley’s geology, plants, and wildlife. In my park research, I found several listings for Palmer’s diatom slides from Scroggie Run (now called Broomall’s Run) on the Diatom Herbarium Database of ANSP!

A chemist by vocation, it turns out that Palmer spent a great deal of his free time studying diatoms. He was fascinated by their locomotion, and he wrote eight papers on diatoms for the “Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science” from 1905 to 1911, and further papers for ANSP. Palmer discovered at least one new diatom species, Pinnularia socialis, near Media – and another species, Surirella palmeri, was named after him!
 

Diatom Herbarium at ANSP

In June, I visited the ANSP Diatom Herbarium (one of the two largest in the world!) with Dr. Walt Cressler – an ANSP research associate, West Chester University professor, and fellow researcher of T. Chalkley Palmer (check out his website of local watersheds history!). We brought records about Palmer to add to ANSP’s collection, including Palmer’s Scroggie Valley essay and DCIS articles.

We met with Diatom Herbarium Assistant Curator Dr. Marina Potapova and Collections Manager Jennifer Beals, who were quite generous with their time! Marina showed us that Media is a frequent collection site in the 1905 book, Diatomaceae of Philadelphia & Vicinity. This may well be due to DCIS drawing scientists to Media: a 1928 Chester Times article describing the land that is now the Glen Providence Park indicates, “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.” It is interesting to note that Dr. Potapova sometimes goes to Glen Providence Park when she needs pond algae for the classes she teaches at Drexel University!
 

100-year-old slides!

Our search through the historical files for T. Chalkley Palmer’s slides yielded those from Scroggie Run, in addition to slides from Broomall’s Dam and nearby Mineral Hill! It was odd  to view these antique slides on a modern, high-end digital microscope, which displayed on a computer screen. Dr. Potapova was intrigued and impressed with Palmer’s slides – she said that it was unusual to see slides that are monoculture (one species), which is quite difficult to achieve, and further that the slides have no sediment.

We found a slide of the species Palmer discovered, Pinnularia socialis (formerly Navicula socialis), so named because it is found in groups of four. He discovered it in 1905 in “swampy pools near Media, Pa.,” and again in 1909 in swampy pools several miles away – both at Dutton’s Ravine in Middletown and Palmer’s Swamp (which we believe is Scott Park in Upper Providence). In his 1910 paper for ANSP, Palmer said of Navicula socialis: “Near Media it is frequent in boggy places during the summer, and until the pools dry out, though seldom in much abundance.” He may have also found them in the wetlands of Scroggie Valley!

What a thrill it was to see and hold slides made by T. Chalkley Palmer, with samples taken from Scroggie Run in the early 1900’s! It was an exciting afternoon exploring natural history, and more – we learned about amazing microscopic “diatom art” that dates to Victorian times, and diatom sculpture(!) in Portland, Oregon.  

We would like to continue our research of Palmer’s diatom studies at DCIS. You can see photos from our ANSP visit below – click on any for a closer look.

T. Chalkley Palmer was born in Media, Pennsylvania on October 23, 1860 – 154 years ago today. Happy Birthday, T. Chalkley Palmer!

A warm thank you to:

• Dr. Marina Potapova, ANSP Diatom Herbarium Assistant Curator and Jennifer Beals, Collections Manager, for their enthusiasm and generosity with their time. We had a wonderful visit!
• Dr. Don F. Charles, Senior Scientist and Section Leader, ANSP Phycology Section, and Drexel University professor, for making the connection for us with Dr. Potapova after meeting Walt and me at the Ruth Patrick Memorial Symposium at ANSP in April. Walt and I attended the symposium with the CRC Watersheds Association.
• Dr. Walt Cressler, Paleobotanist, Botany Research Associate at ANSP, Professor at West Chester University, and local historian,  for joining me in this research adventure.

Sources:

• “A New Diatom,” T. Chalkley Palmer, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, May 1910
• “Diatom” Wikipedia entry, retrieved 6-4-2014
• Diatomaceae of Philadelphia, Charles S. Boyer, Philadelphia, 1916
• Diatom Herbarium Database of Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia
• “Embryo Watkins Glen in Media Woodland,” Chester Times, July 14, 1928
• Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science, Volumes I-VI, October 1905-July 1911
• “Scroggie,” T. Chalkley Palmer, The Student, Philadelphia, December 1889-February 1890

Glen Providence Park has been studied by naturalists for many years, dating from T. Chalkley Palmer’s 1889 essay about Scroggie Valley.  According to a 1928 Chester Times article, “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.”

The day after Glen Providence Park opened as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum on October 31, 1935, the Chester Times invited the reader to “Come with your bird glasses, your flower guides, your tree books.  Bring the school children and scout groups, and let Nature teach them her ancient lessons.”  Naturalists from the Philadelphia area visited the park to identify its trees, birds, wildlife, ferns, shrubs, and flowers. Join us as we continue the tradition…

Naturalist Walk & Talk

Saturday, February 23, 10:00-12:00 noon
Main entrance on State Street
Snow or shine!

Chris McNichol, who recently completed the exciting new Pennsylvania Master Naturalist program, will show us the park through his eyes. Animal tracks, early-blooming plants, wildlife… who knows what we will find!  Chris is a wealth of information on many topics- he teaches boat building, survival skills, rocketry, woodworking, fire starting, foraging, and mechanics at Open Connections, a local homeschool resource center!  A man of many hats, Chris co-founded the local CSA Red Hill Farm,  and if you remember the whimsical Pink Elephant tree house from Tyler Arboretum’s first Totally Terrific Treehouse exhibit in 2008, Chris built that! He also makes creations out of sustainably harvested and salvaged wood for Timber & Co.

Logistics:

Free!
As always, kids are welcome!
Estimated time: 2 hours
Be prepared for steep hills, and uneven (possibly wet) terrain: wear your hiking shoes, and bring a hiking pole if you use one… and of course binoculars!

To add this event to your favorite calendar program (iCal, Outlook, Google, etc.), view the event listing on our calendar.

This fall, we were delighted to confirm that we found two healthy young American Chestnut trees in Glen Providence Park!  At the beginning of the 20th century, the American Chestnut, Castanea dentata, was a majestic tree dominating our eastern forests. Known as the Sequoia of the east, it was one of our tallest trees.  It was the preeminent tree from Maine to Mississippi, and constituted well over 25% of trees in Pennsylvania!

Its nuts and wood were highly valued by European colonists, and doubtless by the Okehocking who lived here before them.  According to the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF), it was the single most important food source for a wide variety of wildlife from bears to birds.

Then the Chestnut blight, Cryphonectria parasitica, was discovered in 1904 on imported Asian Chestnut trees in New York City, and it spread across the east- killing an estimated 4 billion trees by 1950.  Healthy trees were cut down in a failed attempt to stop the spread of the blight.  Saplings still grow from the root sprouts, but they usually die off again when the saplings are large enough to become infected themselves.  But there are some larger survivors…

The yellow mushrooms that led us to the American Chestnuts

Finding Glen Providence Park’s Chestnuts- by accident!

While volunteering at Tyler Arboretum’s American Chestnut Nursery, which is led by John Wenderoth, I learned to differentiate American, Chinese and Japanese Chestnut leaves.  With John, we sent leaf samples to the ACF for identification and confirmed blighted American Chestnut saplings in Long Point Wildlife Sanctuary in Rose Valley, and a Japanese Chestnut on the Sledding Hill in Glen Providence Park!*

Then in Glen Providence Park last October, I was photographing some bright yellow mushrooms I had noticed on the eastern hill, when I looked up and marveled to see what looked like American Chestnut leaves!  There are two chestnut trees measuring about 15′ and 25′ tall.  This fall, Sara Fitzsimmons of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the ACF confirmed by microscope analysis that the leaves are American!  We also found chestnut burrs (the spiky nut casings) on the western hill, but have not yet located their tree…
 

1855 Map of Media by Thomas Hughes showing “Chestnut Wood” by the current Broomall’s Lake – from Media Historic Archives

History of Chestnuts in Scroggie Valley

It turns out it is not so surprising to find these chestnuts, as we uncovered historical documentation of American Chestnuts in Scroggie Valley, most of which would become Glen Providence Park.

T. Chalkley Palmer’s detailed 1889 description of Scroggie Valley mentions chestnuts: “The northwest wall is… nearly devoid of trees.  The southeast wall is wooded continuously with oaks and chestnuts.” And he described the singing of the Hermit Thrush “…of a morning, from the top of the chestnut tree on the hill.”

Even earlier, an 1855 map of Media labels as “Chestnut Wood” the area to the east of Broomall’s Run, near what is now Broomall’s Lake.  Some of those may have been submerged when dam was built in 1883, and according to a 1905 article about the Media Grackle Roost near Broomall’s Lake, the rest were logged: “On the eastern side of the lake and stream the old “Camp Meeting Woods,” principally chestnut, was wrought up for commercial purposes”. 

By 1912 the blight had hit our area: according to a Chester Times report of a Chestnut Blight talk at the Delaware County Institute of Science, the blight was “generally spread” in Eastern Pennsylvania, but had not yet spread to the Western part of the state.

In 1915, the Chester Times lamented the near-decimation of the chestnuts and their beautiful woods: “Many of the hills in and near Media, which have in past years been noted for their beauty because of the forests which crowned them, will, before the end of the present summer, stand bare except for the disfiguring stumps, mute reminders of the old conditions.”

Japanese Chestnut branch with burrs in Glen Providence Park- the (very prickly!) burrs contain nuts

Amazingly, as recent as 1935 there is documentation of chestnuts in the park- the Chester Times described chestnut saplings on George Butler’s estate, which would soon be donated for Glen Providence Park: “A close observer of nature finds many young chestnut trees coming up on the estate of Edward B. Creighton and Mr. Butler.”   The article recalls, “In days gone by… those having nut trees on their estates and farms would have house parties and their guests would carry back to their homes baskets filled with nuts…”

While over time most of those saplings would have succumbed to the blight, we now know that at least two have survived!  We provided these historical records to the ACF, and we will continue to monitor these two American Chestnuts for them- and look for more!  We also hope to plant more American Chestnuts in Glen Providence Park, with the help of the ACF’s research…
 

American Chestnuts in North Carolina in 1910 – courtesy of the Forest History Society, Durham, NC

Restoration efforts:

There have been a variety of efforts to save the American Chestnut since the blight was discovered, from fungicides to irradiation.  As a result of decades of “backcrossing” Chinese and American Chestnuts by the ACF, there is now a hybrid “restoration chestnut”  with 94% American genes, but with just enough Chinese traits to provide blight resistance.  Tyler Arboretum’s American Chestnut Nursery grows trees to provide nuts to help preserve a genetic stock of pure American Chestnuts.

On a personal note, I learned that my grandfather worked on restoring the American Chestnut for decades in his retirement, which I didn’t know until after I became interested in American Chestnut restoration and started volunteering!  His work is cited in Susan Freinkel’s 2007 book “American Chestnut- The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree.”

Keep your eyes out in the park (and in your family records!), you really never know what you will find!

* I had actually been tipped off about there being a chestnut tree on the Sledding Hill when HACC Biology Professor Geremea Fioravanti of the Delaware County Institute of Science posted a photo of a chestnut burr on our facebook page!

For more information:

– Visit the American Chestnut Foundation and PA Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation websites

– Read  “The chestnut resurrection,” Nature, October 4, 2012

– Volunteer at Tyler Arboretum’s American Chestnut Nursery!

Surviving American Chestnuts & restoration efforts in Pennsylvania include:
– Natural Lands Trust’s Mariton Preserve in Easton, PA
– Jenkins Arboretum in Devon

Additional Sources:

– “Scroggie,” T. Chalkley Palmer, The Student, Germantown, PA, December 1889 & January 1890

– “The Media Grackle Roost,” Samuel Omensetter, Cassinia, Proceedings of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, No. IX, Philadelphia, PA, 1905

– “American Chestnut – The Life, Death and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree,” Susan Freinkel, University of California Press, 2007

Chester Times articles:
– No Known Cure for Chestnut Blight – August 13, 1912
– Passing of the Woods – May 1, 1915
– Relics of Chestnut Blight – Gaunt Skeletons Rear Themselves in Every Wood Tract – August 10, 1916
– Unique Arboretum on County Estate – June 14, 1935

You can click on any photo for a closer look, and scroll through the photos below.