What do you know about Sellersville?
My wife and I bought a house in Sellersville in February of 2012. It was a crazy time, as anyone who goes through house buying and selling knows. We chose Sellersville because it served the purpose for us. It was affordable, walkable (a little steep), and in a few minutes... you could be in the middle of nowhere. In other words, perfect as anything could be.
When we first moved, we were impressed by the quietness and friendliness of the people who are our new neighbors. Oh no, don't get me wrong, the people of Lansdale are fine people and good Americans. I used to sit back and crack open many Coors 16 ouncers on my stoop back in the day. But something was different ...
I feel different living here. Relaxed. Maybe that was it... it was something. I am sure moving from a small row home on Shaw Ave to a single house in Sellersville would do that to anyone.
Life went on as it tends to do and before I knew it, I was looking for some extra work to make some money for the holidays. I wound up working in one of the oldest buildings in the town. As I toured the building on my first day, I couldn't help but marvel at the wood floors and the remnants of the previous layouts of the warehouse.
"What was this place before?" I asked my fellow employees. No one really knew.
That was a problem.
I couldn't get a decent answer.
I chose to go to the best resource anyone uses. Google, followed by a vast Ebay search which turned up a postcard circa 1906. The building was originally a cigar manufacturer. Awesome.
This was really to give myself a piece of mind. I was worried about upsetting my Sellersville relaxed vibe. At any rate, I began to get obsessed about the images on these postcards from the turn of the last Century. A man named Berkemeyer printed postcards in town with the photos from Ziegler, a photographer from Souderton.
Why were these images important? I wanted to find out what the inspiration was. 100+ years ago film was not cheap.
I was riding my bike through Sellersville and snapping pictures of the same scenes that were done over 100 years ago.
I wanted to purchase every last one of these postcards and figure out why these images were chosen and what they looked like now.
If I chose to purchase all of these images it would have taken all of my holiday money. I really didn't like the idea of working an extra job for a postcard an hour. I went to the Sellersville Museum and volunteered my time to help in anyway I could so I didn't wind up in debt for my hobby.
I was welcomed and began working every Tuesday and attending the Historical Authority meetings. During the meeting, I was asked if I was interested in joining the Museum as a Borough appointed Authority Member.
I submitted my interest and the next time the Borough Council met, I was unanimously appointed to the Authority.
I am a member of the Historical Authority and it's Sellersville's 275th Anniversary. In other words ... it's on everyone ... let's party.
I am here for the long haul. Lifetime. That gives me lots of time to find out every single thing about my new town and I am very excited to make this a part of my life. There are many stories to be told and fascinating tidbits of history that have come through our scenic Borough.
Through this blog, I will let you in on the interesting, intriguing, scary, and other unique experiences from the vast treasures of the Sellersville Museum. I urge you to check it out if you are in town. It's free and is the best history museum Sellersville has.
Please email me with any/all questions you may have. BRox@sellersvillemuseum.org and Like us at facebook.com/SellersvilleMuseum
Loni
5:26 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Great article!! Can't wait to join the anniversary activities as a new sellersvillian!!
Joe
5:18 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
How come the entire town was moved in the 1920's?
Brian Rox
6:05 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Do you mean the Main Street realignment?
Joe
6:28 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Maybe. Not sure what it is called. They moved the downtown area further northwest of the Perkiomen Creek, buildings and all. They then realigned the streets southeast of the creek to create an open area for what appears to be uranium mining. Is that what the "Main Street" realignment refers to?
Joe
6:38 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
This thread provides a few more details: http://www.topix.com/forum/city/quakertown-pa/TPEQLOCLMKDU9C174
Brian Rox
9:00 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Joe,
I will cover the Main Street realignment completely in a future blog post. Main Street ran over the RR Tracks in the early part of last century a bridge was built so Main Street took a detour from it's current position.
That link only mentions, "The "shifting" of the entire town of Sellersville away from this tract of land in the 1930s, with the borough having pushed out the boundary of the town by the dimensions of this exact parcel, and literally realigning/reconfiguring all streets away from this location (i.e. NE, NW, SE, SW, with this tract as the epicenter)."
This was in an email to the EPA which went unanswered.
Sellersville has had traffic issues to deal with and has taken different approaches as the Main Street is also Old Bethlehem Pike (309).
I would love to find out more information about the entire town being moved. Thanks for bringing it up. Feel free to contact me via email or through this blog.
Tony Di Domizio
10:10 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Brian - Great blog and discourse! I look forward to many more blog posts to be shared with most of Montgomery County!
GMB
4:09 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Look forward to reading about it, Brian. Honestly though, I'm not too confident you will be provided with much honest or accurate information. It's all a part of Sellersville's history that has remained off the books. I can't imagine they will want it added now. There is an overwhelming resistance to discussing anything related to this issue there.
Here are some pics should you be interested. I would love to get some additional input if possible.
Sellersville circa 1913: http://s2.postimage.org/6p1wfbjnd/image.jpg
Doylestown Road (before being renamed "Diamond Street") was shifted southwest. It appears that the old Doylestown Road would have been the equivalent in placement of Hughes Avenue today, and the old Main Street would have connected accordingly. From the picture, you can see the downtown area on the far left. This is where Lake Lenape Park is today. The town was moved northwest of that location to make room for the widening of the creek and for its subsequent damming and creation of Lake Lenape.
GMB
4:16 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
In addition to the shifting of Doylestown Road and Main Street, Branch Road was shifted southeast, and the town again was moved northwest. After the uranium mill and factory were torn down and the radioactive waste was buried, the homes that stood on tracts #1 and #2 in the following pic were demolished and rebuilt in accordance with the street realignment. The borough line was also pushed out in a northeastern direction, and it appears that land ownership was pushed back in the Perkasie area. Tracts #3 and #4 seemed to represent the "new" #1 and #2: http://s2.postimage.org/5ba9k0ke1/image.jpg
You can see in this picture from the early 1930s that the homes labeled A thru C on the far left are mirror images of the newer A thru C homes on the right, down to the exact tree size and placement. The homes on the left were then demolished, which happened for all structures that were located on the tracts as noted above: http://s2.postimage.org/i04k3oqih/image.jpg
For numerous reasons, this part of the town's history should be known. Good or bad, it happened. Residents deserve to know the truth.
Thanks for the blog, and for your interest in the community.
Brian Rox
6:50 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
The pictures of the houses with the letters, can you give me an idea of where that would be in your description?
The numbered tracts... where does that take place?
Brian Rox
5:31 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Thanks for all the info. I would love to talk much more about this. If you are scared of any Government interference my personal email is schwarox@gmail.com I am willing to meet and discuss and research anything you have a concern about.
GMB
8:19 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Brian,
The lettered homes would have been on the perimeter of tract #1 along/off of Diamond Street, having been rebuilt on Fairview Ave.
The numbered tracts are representative of the area in the below picture, basically the land in Sellersville/Perkasie bound by Diamond Street, Branch Road, Walnut Street, and Park/Constitution Avenue.
http://s11.postimage.org/pvxpgmj9f/image.jpg
I would like to discuss further as well. I will reach out via email. Feel free to ask any questions you have in the meantime. The 67 posts in the above-listed topix thread should also be helpful.
Thanks again.
Brian Rox
9:52 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
I ask more when you get in contact.
Brian Rox
4:11 pm on Wednesday, February 20, 2013
No one has contacted me :(