Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
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Source: Summer 2007 Volume 44 Number 3, Page 118

Then ... & Now
Devon Boulevard, Devon

Page 118

Illustration from page 118

PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN. POSTCARD POSTMARKED 1909 COURTESY C. HERBERT FRY

Illustration from page 118

PHOTOGRAPH BY J. B. POST. JULY 2007

This wide grand boulevard, created some time after 1884, stretched for about 300 yards between the new 1883 Pennsylvania Railroad Station at Devon at its northern end, shown in the upper image to the left, and the rebuilt—after a fire in August 1883—Devon Inn at its southern end where it intersected with Berkley Road.

This image also shows the boardwalk between the station and the inn and a row of shade trees on each side, both of which were laid down in April 1884. This new station with long covered platforms on each side had been relocated from a former site 100 yards to the west when a new, more elegant station was desired to accommodate guests arriving in a grand style for a stay at the inn. Here the boulevard appears to have a dirt or gravel surface and shows much evidence of being well traveled.

The Devon Inn had its best seasons in the years between 1883 and 1914. After that it had several different owners. In the fall of 1928 it was the location of Valley Forge Military Academy but on January 18, 1929 it burned to the ground and was never rebuilt.

By 1926 the Bromley Atlas of Properties... shows a row of identical small houses along the east side facing the boulevard behind the shade trees, some of which are still standing today.

Some time after 1933 the southern end of the boulevard was extended through the former grounds of the inn to Chester Road.

In 1942 Waterloo Gardens was established at Waterloo Road and Lancaster Avenue in Devon. The eastern entrance to this garden center is from the west side of Devon Boulevard and parking is along both sides of the boulevard. The photograph at bottom left shows trees and plants available at Waterloo at the left edge, the wide boulevard where Waterloo customers park, Devon Station at the end, and although they are not visible in this photograph, the location of the still remaining small houses on the east side of the boulevard.

 
 

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