In 1993, WHYY’s Ed Cunningham wrote and produced a nostalgic
piece called “Things That Aren’t There Anymore.”
Our community’s loss last Saturday morning moved me to write
a list of things that aren’t here any more based on my own three decades in
Chadds Ford.
A big draw years ago was Chadds Peak or “Chadds Bump” as it
was affectionately known. Located between Old Baltimore Pike, McFadden Road and
Sterling Way, it boasted a lodge, snack bar, ski rental, a vertical of about
250 feet, three runs, two rope tows, a Poma lift line and a snow maker. It
closed in the late 1980s after it was sold to foreign investors who failed to
turn a profit. For some neat photos, check out http://www.dcski.com/lostareas/viewlostprofile.php?id=30
And in the village where the Keystone Bank and Post Office are
now, there used to be an old tiny wood frame building, more like a shack, where
you could get hoagies, sodas, coffee, snacks and sundries. I’d stop there on my
way home from teaching. The structure was later moved across the street to be
part of the Barn Shops before the current village center was built.
The Barn Shops? What barn? Yes, the great old bank barn that
used to be in back of Green Meadow Florists. During Chadds Ford Gallery’s
Christmas in Miniature, all the shops would be lit up in white lights buzzing
with business. But the barn itself lit up in flames late one night and the
place has never been the same.
Many old timers will remember the “greasy spoon” known as
the Birmingham Grille. A classic
1949 Kullman diner, it stood at the southwest corner of routes 202 and 1 when I
came to Chadds Ford. When the Sunoco station was built, it was moved a couple
miles up Route 202. Then in 1995, before Otto’s BMW went in, the diner was
purchased and transported to Truckee, Calif. where it stands today.
Now you don’t have to be a Chadds Ford old timer to remember
that great ice cream parlors called Betty’s. It was on Route 202 going north
out of Chadds Ford where the ReMax office is now. Yes, you could get a great
burger, but everyone went there for the ice cream.
Ricks Riding Academy was located in a large field where Glen
Eagle Square (Outback, Genuardi’s) is now. Despite the high-sounding name, it
mostly offered informal trail rides and pony rides for kids.
One summer day in 1959, my grandparents said I was old
enough to come down to Washington, D.C. to stay with them for a week. So
packing my little blue suitcase, I set out on my great adventure. Just south of
West Chester, Grandpa spied a place advertising “Foot Long Hotdogs” and on that
day I was introduced to Jimmy John’s, 20 years before I moved to Chadds Ford.
Saturday morning I watched channel 10 in disbelief as
helicopter shots showed one of our local favorites in flames.
Jimmy John’s has more than generously supported our
community and non-profits for many decades. Let’s not let it join the long list
of great Chadds Ford places that aren’t here any more.
And hey …does anyone out there remember Christy’s
Restaurant, the Continental Safari Nightclub or the big Music Fair? Chadds Ford
was a happening place!
Maybe a part II some day.
About Sally Denk Hoey
Sally Denk Hoey, is a Gemini - one part music and one part history. She holds a masters degree cum laude from the School of Music at West Chester University. She taught 14 years in both public and private school. Her CD "Bard of the Brandywine" was critically received during her almost 30 years as a folk singer. She currently cantors masses at St Agnes Church in West Chester where she also performs with the select Motet Choir. A recognized historian, Sally serves as a judge-captain for the south-east Pennsylvania regionals of the National History Day Competition. She has served as president of the Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates as well as the Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford where she now curates the violin collection. Sally re-enacted with the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment for 19 years where she interpreted the role of a campfollower at encampments in Valley Forge, Williamsburg, Va., Monmouth, N.J. and Lexington and Concord, Mass. Sally is married to her college classmate, Thomas Hoey, otherwise known as "Mr. Sousa.”
