Archives
This advertising booklet was distributed in 1872 by the Ridley Park Association to entice buyers to move from the dirt and pollution of the crowded city and establish a new home out in the nice clean and open countryside. Funded by the railroad and a group of investors and designed by a reknown landscape architect, it was a grand plan of a town. Featuring a new grand railroad station, a new hotel, a market supplied by local gardens and nursery, lakes and streams, tree lined meandering streets... who wouldn't want to move there?? They even offered half price on railroad charges to get your house materials to the town depot and a free one year rail pass from Ridley Park to Philadelphia for each thousand dollars you spent on building a dwelling. Click on the icon and see if you are sold on the idea of moving to Ridley Park!
These are four original payrolls for the Ridley Park Association from May, June, and August of 1873. The town of Ridley Park was in it's 3rd year of construction at this point, but judging by all the men on the payroll it was still a very busy time for the Association. Read through and see all the different names and occupations. These were the actual men who cut out the roads, built the dam, made the parks, planted the trees, and built the public buildings... turning farmland into the town we know today. Copeland himself, the designer of Ridley Park is listed as well and has signed each payroll, approving it for the month.
During the late 1800s, the Ridley Park Association and the P.W.&B. Railroad were involved with many real estate transactions as the town slowly took shape. Here is an example of one from 1881. Note the names Burke, Moore, and Hinckley... all important names in the area during that time. It was Hinckley who came up with the idea of developing Ridley Park
.
Another document from the Ridley Park Association days. This is a bill of sale between the RPA and Jacob Tome dated 1885. Tome was one of the original members of the RPA and a director of the P.W.&B. Railroad.
