Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: January 1991 Volume 29 Number 1, Pages 38–40

Notes and Comments

• Tredyffrin and Easttown Show Population Increases
• Lisa Drive and Maude Circle
• Horse-Shoe Trail Endangered
• New Unitarian Church Building
• Chester Valley Railroad Schedule

Page 38

Tredyffrin and Easttown Show Population Increases

Preliminary figures from the 1990 Census show increases in the populations of both Tredyffrin and Easttown townships, a reversal of the pattern of population losses in each township that were shown in the 1980 Census.

The count for Easttown Township showed a total of 9,369, a three per cent increase over the 9,064 total a decade ago, while in Tredyffrin there was a 20 per cent increase over the ten-year period, from a population of 23,109 in the 1980 Census to a population of 27,840 in the 1990 Census.

For the county as a whole, George Fasio, chairman of the Chester County Planning Commission, reported, the Census totals were about four per cent higher than his office had estimated. Only twelve of the county's 73 municipalities showed declines in population.

With its total of 27,840 Tredyffrin Township was again the most populous municipality in the county.

Lisa Drive and Maude Circle

Shortly after last October's issue of the Quarterly was distributed we received a note from Mary Ives.

"The other day," she wrote, "I had a postcard from Donna Connor Waldeyer, who had seen the latest issue of the TE History Club Quarterly and had read the article about how the streets [in Paoli] got their names.

"She said that when Frank Fanelli bought and developed the old Connor home 'Connemara', just off Fennerton Road, he named Lisa Drive and Maude Circle for his two daughters. (That is, two of Fanelli's daughters.)

"Now you know!"

And now we all know! Thank you, Donna Waldeyer.

Page 39

Horse-Shoe Trail Endangered

With the continuing development in northern Chester County, Fred Otte, president of the Horse-Shoe Trail Club, recently reported that the problems of maintaining the Trail on private land or unpaved roads are increasing each year. When the Trail first opened in 1935, most of it ran along unpaved roads or old abandoned trails. Today about 44 per cent of its 31+-mile route through Chester County is on black-top roads as private landowners or developers are becoming more and more concerned about the possibility of law suits if there are accidents or injuries to people using the Trail.

At the same time, the portion of the Trail through Tredyffrin Township is considered less likely to be developed than areas farther to the west, said Terry Woodman, Assistant Township Manager. She also noted that the land over which the Trail passes through the township has been zoned as "Rural Conservation", and that the people on the Valley Forge ridge where the Trail is located "historically live here because they like that kind of environment".

New Unitarian Church Building

The plans for a new building for the Main Line Unitarian Church, to replace the mansion that was destroyed by fire last February, have been completed by the architects and submitted for approval.

The proposed structure will duplicate the old three-story mansion that had served as the sanctuary before the fire, with the addition of a meeting room and class rooms for the Sunday School, tied together by a center atrium. The new sanctuary will be large enough to accommodate all the congregation without need for a second Sunday service.

It is anticipated that the new building will be ready for services in early 1992. In the meantime the congregation will continue to hold its services in the chapel of St. David's Episcopal Church nearby.

Chester Valley Railroad Schedule

Through the courtesy of John J. Etherton, who lives on North Valley Road in the Valley, the Club now has a copy of the official timetable for the Chester Valley Branch of the Reading Railroad issued in December 1906.

Although the branch was used primarily to haul freight, three passenger trains ran each way through the Valley between Bridgeport and Downingtown each weekday, with two passenger trains running on Sundays. The 21-miletrip took just about an hour, with ten of the nineteen stations along the line flag stops. (In Tredyffrin there were three flag stops -- Garden, Chesterbrook, and Paoli Road--and three regular stations--Centreville, Howellville, and Cedar Hollow.)

Page 40