Swarthmore High School - Spotlight Yearbook (Swarthmore, PA)

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The Zllutnn town was situated on Michael's corner. It was a grocery and meat store run by Hannum and Huff- nall. In the same building was Dr. Morgan's drug- store where Vic Shirer was a soda clerk. He eventually came to be the owner. Incidentally, sodas were quite a specialty in the drugstores of those days. Also in this grand drugstore, was placed the first telephone in Swarthmore. The borough hall, as now, served many pur- poses back in the old days. The second floor, now the library, was a large auditorium where the early commencements and high school dances were held. On the third floor there was a large balcony, and in the basement was a barber shop where no woman would deign to go. The barber was also the town laundryman. He collected the men's stiff shirt fronts and collars and sent them to West Chester on the train. The fire company was in the same place, but it was a bit smaller. There was one horse drawn fire truck. Only one police- man was provided. Opposite the borough hall, was the town dump, which was later cleared away to make the Woman's Club where all our dancing classes are held. In the middle of Park Avenue between the dump and the church, was a large fountain. Nat- urally, this would seem rather out of place in present day Swarthmore, but we must remember that there were no cars or paved streets, and too, this was fifty years ago!

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XE: QOYO Eivzi Cowxpcxrsy ilaisturp nf If you had visited Swarthmore fifty years ago, you could scarcely have believed it to be the same place. The houses were scattered, the north being more thickly settled than the south side. The streets could hardly be called so, for they were really rutted lanes, with the exception of Chester Road. Of course, there were no sidewalks any- where in the town. Where they might have been were rows of hitching posts, since horses were the only means of transportation. Just about where the underpass now runs, could be found a horse- trough where friends often exchanged gossip while the horses drank. This all disappeared when the underpass was put in. Prior to this, there were gates at the railroad crossing which were guarded by a well-known citizen, Mike McCarty. Everyone employed in the city used the traing so it afforded an opportunity for the men of the town to become acquainted. When you stepped off the local train, you were not met by a shiny taxi cab, but by a Tally-ho drawn by four horses. It was the property of Strath Haven Inn and could be chartered for pleasure trips. The college hired it to transport their football teams to away games. For a long time there was no grocery store in Swarthmore. The townspeople bought their fruit and vegetables from hucksters w h o passed through the village. For other shopping, they had to travel several miles. The first store in the did

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YXLAC Ulcl 1 twcrlcq A,-A til L1 L-rYN CA QL ti oqe iiaisturp nf The history of Swarthmoreis public school system began in 1890 when the Yale Avenue school was built. This school occupied four rooms on the first floor and was taught by two full time and one part time teacher. It started out with only seven grades, but adred one almost every year. When the School Board visited the school in 1895, it found things going along fairly well, but the teachers do not seem to understand the heat- ing apparatus. We have not noticed that the teachers have any dilliculty turning on the heat nowadays. The secondary school students, who had to attend school until they were fourteen, had only one session a day, from 8:30 to 1:00, and studied geography, civics, history, geometry, algebra, English, Latin, German, physiology, and business. Sciences were not introduced until later. 'lhe first Commencement was held in the Bor- ough Hall in 1898. Each senior Cthere were only fourj had to give an oration. Other forms of entertainment such as piano solos or mandolin duets were common at this and later Commence- ments. In 1899 the School Board minutes stated that the principal was instructed to inflict any cor- poral punishment which may be absolutely nec- essary . This policy has since changed-thank Goodness! A twelfth grade was added in 1900, enabling the School Board to announce with great pride that Swarthmore now has a school taught by eight teachers, which offers a twelve year course of study, preparing for college or business. At this early stage sports were non-existent. However, in winter Mr. Todd, the principal, en- joyed going out to 'tsnowball with the boys. Apparently the girls were out of luck. Expenditures were closely watched by the School Board in those days. On motion of Mr. Kolle, it was decided to buy two pencil sharpenersp Mr. Cresson was authorized to make the pur- 'Tai