Throughout November, we have been counting down to Thanksgiving by posting daily thanks on Facebook. There is some overlap with our lists from Thanksgiving in 2012 and 2014, and so much more to add – it is amazing how much there is to be grateful for! Here are those daily posts – these were in no particular order, and it is by no means a complete list!

Day 1: … long-time park supervisor James Stokes, Jr. for his years of care for the park. He started work on October 31, 1935 and continued for at least 25 years, and by all accounts really loved Glen Providence Park. He served as park guard, caretaker, supervisor, and park ranger – personally building picnic tables, preparing for concerts, planting trees & flowers, teaching visitors about the plants & wildlife, and creating the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park!

Day 2: … the local schools that use Glen Providence Park as an outdoor classroom and for service learning, teaching their students a love of nature, science, art, and more. Thank you Media Elementary School, Springton Lake Middle School, Media Providence Friends School, Penncrest High School – and homeschoolers!

Day 3: … Delaware County Parks & Recreation, for resurfacing the historical WPA stage last summer in time for the park’s 80th anniversary celebration, for their support of our events and activities, and for their many years of caretaking and managing their 621 acres (and growing!) of open space for the public.

Day 4: … all that Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association has done since 1970 to protect, conserve, and restore the watersheds throughout its 132 square mile stewardship area! Its initiatives include annual streams cleanups, riparian reforestation, advocacy, education, and stream monitoring. We are honored to receive their Organizational Stewardship Award this year!  

Day 5: … our Nature Walk guides and monthly event leaders who volunteered their time in the past two years: the ever-helpful Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County, Gary Stolz, David Hewitt, Shannon Davidson, Marcia Tate, Stephanie Gaboriault, Kyle Loucks, George Tate, the Media-Upper Providence Free Library, Holly Hoffmann, Aura Lester, and Charles Randall.

Day 6: … Taylor Memorial Arboretum in Wallingford, for generously growing and donating native trees and shrubs each year for habitat restoration plantings by other organizations – including for our past four National Public Lands Days!

Day 7: … the Delaware County Institute of Science, an amazing organization that has been all volunteer since 1833.  It has wonderful scientific and historical collections, and is well worth a visit. Its members have been studying Glen Providence Park since before it was a park – a 1928 Chester Times article about the valley indicated that “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.”  

Day 8: … EllieReed Lewis and Clifford Butler Lewis, the grandchildren of park donors George and Eleanor Butler –  for sharing their recollections from childhood in Glen Providence Park, and for celebrating the park’s 80th anniversary with us last summer!

Day 9: … our Invasive Plant Removal volunteers, who meet most Friday mornings to work in the park. In the past 4 years, they have cleared over 250 packed contractor bags of invasive plants – keeping trails clear, liberating native plants from strangling vines, improving habitat, and beautifying the park.

Day 10: … those who have made our historical research possible, including the Media Historic Archives, the Delaware County Historical Society, and the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library – and Delaware County, PA History for sharing our history-related facebook posts.

Day 11: … the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for their years of involvement in Glen Providence Park going back to at least 1939 – with hikes, cookouts, award ceremonies, meetings, and community service. In the past few years, Brownie Troop #5248 and Minquas District Boy Scouts have volunteered, and Girl Scout Troop #5037 and Pack 503’s Webelos II have had meetings and outings in the park!

Day 12: … our wonderfully generous Concert Sponsors: Media Recreation Board, Media Rotary Foundation, Diego’s Cantina, Seven Stones Café, Shere-e-Punjab Indian Restaurant, Sterling Pig, and Tagine, who made it possible for us to revive the decades-long tradition of free summer concerts in Glen Providence Park.

Day 13: … Media Lions Club and McCarrin Chiropractic, for continuing Glen Providence Park’s longest-running tradition – the Great Media Easter Egg Hunt started in 1954! The Lions have worked since 1917 to fight blindness, and on many other community projects.

Day 14: … the American Chestnut Foundation, for their work to restore this once-majestic native tree, decimated by blight in the early 1900’s. Chestnuts were called the Sequoias of the east, and we know from T. Chalkley Palmer’s 1889 writings that the park’s eastern hill was once “continuously wooded with oaks and chestnuts.” We have found two surviving trees so far!

Day 15:  … all of the volunteers who have spent their free time working for Glen Providence Park through the years – our dedicated committee members, the dozens of people who have helped at our 17 volunteer days, and all those who volunteered in the park before us.

Day 16: … the Pennsylvania Amphibian & Reptile Survey (PARS), for their work to gather data for the study and conservation of our amphibians and reptiles, and for leading 3 Herpetology Walks in Glen Providence Park! We’ve documented 18 species in the park so far…

Day 17: … Samuel L. Smedley, who with great foresight and wisdom in 1927 urged regional planning for open space, and spearheaded the creation of Delaware County Parks & Recreation, which was used as a model nationally for its excellent planning. He personally helped create and plan Glen Providence Park.

Day 18: … all of those who appreciate our efforts to preserve and enhance Glen Providence Park – whether by reading our newsletter and website, attending our concerts and nature walks, or saying a kind word when they see us in the park – and of course our Facebook fans!

Day 19: … the Delaware County Conservation District for their guidance, mini-grants, donations, use of their Conservation Trailer, and support for our native plantings over the past 5 years – helping us to combat streamside erosion, restore habitat, provide food for wildlife, and  beautify the park.

Day 20: … our donors, whose generous support enables us to continue our work to improve the park and plan future concerts, plantings, events, and activities!

Day 21: … the array of wildlife, native plants, and all living things in the park, which with the changing seasons provide something new to discover on every walk in Glen Providence Park.

Day 22: … Hedgerow Theatre, for their enchanting performances at the WPA stage – enacting the park’s historical Newlywed Ghost and Witch Stories for Glen Providence’s 80th anniversary last year, and bringing Shakespeare to the park this summer!

Day 23: … T. Chalkley Palmer, 1860-1934, for writing in loving detail about Scroggie Valley in 1889, enabling us all these years later to read about the geology, landscape, flora, and fauna of Glen Providence Park as it was in the 1800′s. He also had remarkable environmental insights for his time. What a gift!

Day 24 of Thanks: We are so thankful for George and Eleanor Butler, who with great generosity and foresight in 1935 donated most of the land for Glen Providence Park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, to be preserved for future generations. There would be no park without them – we are incredibly grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our first clue of a mill having been in “Scroggie Valley,” now Glen Providence Park, was in local historian Dr. Anna Broomall’s 1700’s Newlywed Ghost Story – a bit of local folklore with details that launched much research about the valley’s early history, and yielded the discovery that the park had once been called Scroggie Valley! I gradually found more evidence of a mill in early newspapers, maps, and local history books. It turns out the 1800’s shingle mill was the site of some unfortunate events – and there is possibly even an 1864 photograph of the mill!

A millrace through Glen Providence Park?

The 1700’s Newlywed Ghost Story had this intriguing hint of a mill having been in the park: “The ghost of this unfortunate woman was for many years afterwards reported to walk up and down the valley to the west of Media along the old race bank which extended from Scroggie about as far up the valley as the present Broomall’s Lake. The remains of this race bank are still visible.” These sentences led to a determined search for any reference to a millrace (mill stream) or mill in Glen Providence Park, and the eventual compilation of several pieces of evidence that it existed!

A 1909 map shows the residence of the Little family, at the southwest end of Glen Providence Park in Upper Providence, named Scroggie. The 1948 obituary of Louis Little indicates that his family estate Scroggie “was named for an old shingle mill that was located in the valley where Glen Providence Park is now situated.” According to this, the Scroggie home and Scroggie Valley were named after the shingle mill!

1855 Close-up showing the Shingle Mill Stream that was diverted from Broomall’s Run within what is now the park – to power the shingle mill near Ridley Creek.

This seemed anectodal until discovering the shingle mill stream clearly marked on an 1855 map of Media, starting just below 3rd Street (the future location of Broomall’s Dam), and running along the western (Upper Providence) side of the valley, while the natural stream continued along the Media side of the valley. An 1860 map of Chester County marks the location of the shingle mill near Ridley Creek!

So what is a shingle mill, and when was it built?

A shingle mill is used to slice a section of log into tapered wedges to make wooden shingles. Before asphalt shingles, most roofs were covered in wooden shingles. You can see photos and videos of antique shingle mills in use on the Ontario Steam Heritage Museum website. Being water-powered, the Scroggie Shingle Mill used a millrace that diverted a portion of water from the natural stream. The millrace would be engineered to accelerate the water down a manmade channel through the valley, turning the water wheel that powered the sawblade at the mill.

According to Dr. Anna Broomall’s notes from 1909, in 1848 John Hill “built the mill for splitting shingles, but, owing to some deficit in the method, the work was soon abandoned… It is not known with whom the name “Scroggie” (pronounced Scrogie, long o and hard g) originated, it dates, at least, as far back as the Hill ownership.” It would seem the shingle mill caused Mr. Hill some headaches over the next decade…

1861 drawing of the Scroggie house – from Anna Broomall’s collection at Delaware County Historical Society

Media’s first fire, and a lawsuit!

The shingle mill was the location of the first fire in Media on June 20, 1851, which, according to the 19th century historian Henry Ashmead, was “the first untoward event in the infant village” (Media was founded in 1850). He indicates “There was no similar disaster until after the lapse of eight years.” The newspaper reported, “The shingle factory of John Hill, at Media, together with a quantity of lumber was destroyed by fire on Friday last. We have heard no estimate of the loss.”

Mr. Hill apparently rebuilt the mill, only to be sued by his neighbor in 1857 over its operation. The outcome of John R. Lewis vs. John Hill is detailed in the local papers. Mr. Lewis alleged that he was entitled to ½ the water of Scroggie’s stream (according to an undocumented 999-year lease), but that the flow of water was frequently interrupted by the defendant placing gates in the run to power his shingle mill. The judge ruled that Mr. Lewis had the right to only about 1/6 of the stream’s water, for the purpose of watering his meadow, and for which he paid an ear of corn annually. The jury returned a verdict of $5 in damages for the plaintiff. It is unknown whether Mr. Lewis was satisfied with this outcome.

The shingle mill location… and an 1800’s photograph?

I have found no records of the Scroggie Shingle Mill in operation after 1861, but I did come across an intriguing photograph on Facebook of a “lumber mill on Ridley Creek in 1864.” The origin of the photo is unknown, but I decided to visit the likely site of the shingle mill within Glen Providence Park to compare the landscape to the 1864 photo. This is the location where the millrace that hugged the Upper Providence side of the valley would have been funneled by topography to join the natural stream, making it the logical location of the mill. The result is similar topography, as shown in these photographs!

“Lumber Mill on Ridley Creek in 1864” posted by Harvey Martin on “I Grew Up In Media” Facebook page – origin of photo unknown.

Probable Shingle Mill location in Glen Providence Park in January 2015 – the shingle mill would be just behind the large tree in the center of the photo

If this 1800’s photograph is of the Scroggie shingle mill, this would make the latest documentation of the mill in 1864, which, according to Anna Broomall, is the same year that Judge John M. Broomall purchased the Scroggie estate, then razed the original wooden house and built the current stone house in 1867. It is plausible that he would have razed the property’s shingle mill around the same time.

If anyone has more information on the source of the 1864 photograph, please contact us! Even if it were not an actual photo of the Scroggie Shingle Mill, it would be an example of a local mill during the same time period.

Observant hikers may find what seem to be signs of the old millrace along the western edge of the valley, bordering the wetlands. You can see the approximate location of the shingle mill marked on our 2011 Annotated Trail Map, which includes the “Shingle Mill Trail” nickname for the path leading to the mill site.

Click on the photos below for more evidence of the Scroggie shingle mill. Coincidentally, the Scroggie name seems to originate from the 1840’s, the same decade in which Charles Dickens was inspired by the gravestone of Ebeneezer Scroggie to write “A Christmas Carol.” 

Sources:

• 1848 Map of Delaware County by Joshua W. Ash, M.D. from original surveys with the farm limits, courtesy of Delaware County Institute of Science, Media, PA
• 1855 Map of Media the Seat of Justice Delaware County, Pennsylvania by Thos. Hughes, C.E., courtesy of Media Historic Archives, Media, PA
• 1860 Map of Chester Co Pennsylvania by T.J. Kennedy, on display in the 2nd floor lobby of the Delaware County Courthouse, Media, PA
• 1909 Map from the “Property Atlas of Delaware County East of Ridley Creek,” courtesy of Media Historic Archives, Media, PA
• “Burned, ” Delaware County Republican, June 27, 1851
• “Error,” Delaware County American, June 17, 1857
• History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Henry Graham Ashmead, L.H. Everts & Co.,Philadelphia, 1884, p. 590
• “Lumber Mill on Ridley Creek in 1864,” I Grew Up In Media PA Facebook page, posted by Harvey Martin September 9, 2013, origin unknown.
• “John R. Lewis vs. John Hill,” Delaware County American, June 10, 1857
• “Local “Witches” of Long Ago Described by Dr. Broomall,” Chester Times, May 15, 1931
• “Louis Little, Rifle Expert, Broker, Is Dead,” Chester Times, November 13, 1948
• Ontario Steam Heritage Museum, http://woodgears.ca/steam_museum/shingle_mills.html
• Photograph album collection of Dr. Anna E. Broomall, Delaware County Historical Society, Chester, PA
• The Rose Tree Families, Jane Levis Carter, KNA Press, 1984

For those who love history, maps, or both(!), it is interesting to track the progression of development surrounding the land that is now Glen Providence Park! We’ve compiled over 20 maps in chronological order, starting with property lines of European settlers in 1681. Early maps were of Chester County, before Delaware County was founded in 1789. Some of the locations and property owners play a part in the park’s history and folklore, as noted in the captions.

Most of these maps are zoomed in from larger maps, focusing on the valley that is now Glen Providence Park. Not all maps are oriented with north at the top, some are almost sideways! The best way to orient yourself is often to find Broomall’s Run, which runs the length of Glen Providence Park, and is shown on most maps.

Thank you to the institutions and organizations that have preserved and displayed these wonderful maps: Delaware County Institute of Science, Media Historic Archives, DelawareCountyHistory.com, Delaware County Courthouse, Delaware County Parks & Recreation, and Brandywine Conference & Visitors Bureau at Rose Tree Tavern. Below the map gallery, there are links and more information about each institution, along with a listing of which maps we found there.

Scroll through time below – you can click on any map for a closer look!

Sources:

Media Historic Archives:
Archival material about Media Borough and vicinity – including photographs, manuscripts, and maps! Located in the Media-Upper Providence Free Library, Media, PA. You can visit by appointment, during library hours.

1855 Map of Media the Seat of Justice Delaware County, Pennsylvania by Thos. Hughes, C.E.
1892 Map of Media
1909 Map from the “Property Atlas of Delaware County East of Ridley Creek”
1941 The Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park issued by Delaware County Park and Recreation Board
1951 Borough of Media, Delaware County, Penna

Delaware County Institute of Science:
One of Media’s hidden treasures, with a wide array of collections, right on Veterans Square in Media! Open most Monday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings, 9:00am – 12:00noon.

1681 Fac-simile of Holmes Map of the Province of Pennsylvania with the names of the original purchasers from William Penn – begun in 1681 (reproduced in 1846)
1683 A draft of some part of the county of Chester in Pensilvania by Charles Ashcom Surveyor
1810 A Map of Delaware County as Divided into Townships
1848 Map of Delaware County by Joshua W. Ash, M.D. from original surveys with the farm limits
1870 Plan of the Borough of Media, PA by G.M. Hopkins, C.E.

DelawareCountyHistory.com:
An impressive collection of documents and maps (more than we show here!) are scanned and well organized on this website – available 24/7!

1785 Township Map of Chester County Pennsylvania by Joshua W. Ash, M.D.
1862 Map of the Early Settlements of Delaware County, Penna – from George Smith’s 1862 History of Delaware County
1875 An Historical Map of Pennsylvania by P.W. Sheafer and others – Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1875 Map of Upper Providence Township
1882 Map of the Township of Upper Providence showing the Early Grants & Patents
1946 Map of Delaware County, Penna. produced by Office of Engineer of Delaware County, A.C. Throne, County Engineer

Delaware County Parks & Recreation:

1945 Plan of Glen Providence Park by J. Earl Kirk, Engineer

Delaware County Courthouse:
On display in the 2nd floor lobby by Council Chambers, along with an 1860 map of Philadelphia and Vicinity:

1860 Map of Chester Co Pennsylvania by T.J. Kennedy

Brandywine Conference & Visitors Bureau at Rose Tree Tavern:

1870 Map from the Atlas of Delaware County, Pennsylvania by Henry W. Hopkins

Personal collection:

1892 Plan of Upper Providence Township from Atlas of Delaware County by J.L. Smith
1995 USGS Media Quadrangle Map

We will add more maps of interest as we find them!

Throughout November, we have been counting down to Thanksgiving by posting daily thanks on Facebook. There is some overlap with our list from Thanksgiving 2012, and so much more to add – it is amazing how much there is to be grateful for! Here are those daily posts – these were in no particular order, and it is by no means a complete list!

27 Days of Thanks in Glen Providence Park
We are thankful for…

Day 1: … the local schools who use Glen Providence Park as an outdoor classroom, teaching their students a love of nature, science, art and more. Thank you Media Elementary School, Springton Lake Middle School, Media Providence Friends School, Penncrest High School – and homeschoolers!

Day 2: … Clifford Butler Lewis, the grandson of park donors George and Eleanor Butler – for his generosity in sharing his grandparents’ photo albums with us and donating their golf clubs to Springhaven Country Club (which they founded!), and for sharing his recollections from his childhood in Glen Providence Park.

Day 3: … Delaware County Parks & Recreation, for repairing the concert stage (damaged in July from a fallen 110-year-old tree) in time for our August concert this summer, for their support of our events and activities, and for their many years of caretaking and managing their 11 parks with over 600 acres(!) of open space for the public.

Day 4: … Taylor Memorial Arboretum in Wallingford, for generously growing and donating 75 native trees and shrubs this year for habitat restoration plantings by Friends of Heinz Refuge, CRC Watersheds, and Friends of Glen Providence Park.

Day 5: … our wonderfully generous Concert Sponsors: Media Recreation Board, Media Rotary Foundation, Diego’s Cantina, Seven Stones Café, and Shere-e-Punjab Indian Restaurant, who made it possible for us to revive the decades-long tradition of free summer concerts in Glen Providence Park!

Day 6: … Samuel L. Smedley, who with great foresight and wisdom in 1927 urged regional planning for open space, and spearheaded the creation of Delaware County Parks & Recreation, which was used as a model nationally for its excellent planning. He personally helped create and plan Glen Providence Park.

Day 7: … all that Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association has done for 44 years to protect, conserve, and restore the watersheds throughout its 132 square mile stewardship area! Its initiatives include annual streams cleanups, riparian reforestation, advocacy, education, and stream monitoring.

Day 8: … our Nature Walk guides who volunteered their time to lead our walks this year: the ever-helpful Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County, John Wenderoth, Ted Cavey, Stephanie Gaboriault, Marcia Tate, Aura Lester, Kyle Loucks, Holly Hoffmann, Chris McNichol, and Charles Randall.

Day 9: … our donors, whose generous support enables us to continue our work to improve the park and plan future concerts, events, and activities!

Day 10: … the Delaware County Conservation District for their guidance, mini-grants, donations, and support for our native plantings over the past 3 years – helping us to combat streamside erosion, restore habitat, provide food for wildlife, and  beautify the park.

Day 11: … the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for their years of involvement in Glen Providence Park going back to at least 1939 – with hikes, cookouts, award ceremonies, meetings, and community service. In the last 2 years, Brownie Troop #5248 and Minquas District Boy Scouts have volunteered in the park!

Day 12: … the wonderful bands who have performed at our Summer Concert Series the past 3 years: Philadelphia Brass, Springfield Clarinet Quartet, the Obsoleets, Me3, Ken Delmar & the Cheers Big Band, Perseverance Jazz Band, Sonoma Sound, and ViVaCe Strings!

Day 13: … T. Chalkley Palmer, 1860-1934, for writing in loving detail about Scroggie Valley in 1889, enabling us all these years later to read about the geology, landscape, flora, and fauna of Glen Providence Park as it was in the 1800′s! He also had remarkable environmental insights for his time. What a gift!

Day 14: … our Invasive Plant Removal volunteers, who meet most weeks to work in the park. In the past 2 years, they have cleared 179 packed contractor bags (and counting!) of invasive plants – keeping trails clear, liberating native plants from strangling vines, improving habitat, and beautifying the park.

Day 15: … the Delaware County Institute of Science, an amazing organization that has been all volunteer since 1833!  Its members have been studying Glen Providence Park since long before it was a park – a 1928 Chester Times article about the valley indicated that “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.”

Day 16: … Delaware County Planning for their thoughtful work on the Delaware County Open Space, Recreation & Greenway Plan, and on our neighboring Mineral Hill Area Master Plan. Glen Providence Park and future generations will be better for it!

Day 17: … Transition Town Media, for all they do to build community and resilience, from their FreeStore, to workshops, to their lovely Annual Candlelight Gratitude Banquet for local nonprofits.

Day 18: … long-time park supervisor James Stokes, Jr. for his years of care for the park. He started work on October 31, 1935 and continued for at least 25 years, and by all accounts really loved Glen Providence Park. He served as park guard, care taker, supervisor, and park ranger – personally building picnic tables, preparing for concerts, planting trees & flowers, teaching visitors about the plants & wildlife, and creating the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park!

Day 19:  … all of the volunteers who have spent their free time working for Glen Providence Park through the years – our dedicated committee members, the dozens of people who have helped at our 11 volunteer days, and all those who volunteered in the park before us!

Day 20: … those who have made our historical research possible, including the Media Historic Archives, the Delaware County Historical Society, and the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library – and Delaware County, PA History for sharing our history-related facebook posts.

Day 21: … the American Chestnut Foundation, for their work to restore this majestic native tree! Chestnuts were called the Sequoias of the east, and they were once the dominant tree species in Glen Providence Park. We have found two surviving trees so far!

Day 22: … the Pennsylvania Amphibian & Reptile Survey (PARS), for their work to gather data for the study and conservation of our amphibians and reptiles! We are glad to have chosen PARS for our 2014 citizen science project.

Day 23: … Media Lions Club and McCarrin Chiropractic, for continuing Glen Providence Park’s longest-running tradition – the Great Media Easter Egg Hunt started in 1954! The Lions have worked since 1917 to fight blindness, and on many other community projects.

Day 24: … the Academy of Natural Sciences, for preserving and researching a wondrous amount of natural history, including early 1900’s microscope slides from Scroggie Run (now Broomall’s Run), and for their generosity and hospitality in showing us those slides.

Day 25: … the array of wildlife, native plants, and other living things in the park, which with the changing seasons provide something new to discover on every walk in Glen Providence Park!

Day 26: … all of those who appreciate our efforts to preserve and enhance Glen Providence Park – our Facebook fans, those who read our newsletter and website, and those who have attended our concerts and history & nature walks!

Thanksgiving Day: We are so thankful for George and Eleanor Butler, who with great generosity and foresight in 1935 donated most of the land for Glen Providence Park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, to be preserved for future generations.  There would be no park without them – we are incredibly grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We were delighted and amazed to find a copy of the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park in the Media Historic Archives, after reading about it in the June 7, 1941 Chester Times.  It was wonderful on a cool, blustery, beautiful day last Saturday to walk the trail described in the guide, comparing plants and features from 1941 and now!  Along the way we referred to early park photographs and descriptions, while searching for ephemeral spring flowers.

The 1941 Glen Providence Park Supervisor James Stokes wrote, “This guide has been prepared as a seeing eye for nature lovers, in order that they may enjoy the abundance of shrubs, flowers, trees and wild life found in this lovely Glen.”  There are quotes from the Delaware County Park and Recreation Board President Samuel L. Smedley, and National Recreation Association Specialist L.H. Weir.

The self-guided 1941 trail starts by the main entrance on State Street, heading down the sledding hill past the concert stage and turning right along the Ice House Trail towards the Broomall’s Dam waterfall.  Some of the still-existing trees and plants described include Flowering Dogwood, Hemlock, large Sassafras trees, Birch, Skunk Cabbage and Iron wood (Hornbeam).

In 1941, we could have crossed “an arched rustic bridge which commands a beautiful view of the Falls”, to pass a fernery and get to the drinking spring by Broomall’s Dam.  As that bridge fell long ago, we made a stream crossing over the stepping stones, past a scenic view of the wetlands fed by the numerous natural springs along Broomall’s Run. We made our way near the drinking spring, and saw the emerging Bloodroot flowers along the trail where indicated by the 1941 Guide.  We first spotted the Bloodroot on April 3 this year during this cold spring, 17 days later than last year’s warm spring!

By the pond is the lovely but now-dry Eleanor Reed Butler waterfall, and in the pond we saw turtles and fish- but it would be two days before the American Toads first emerged.   We took the lower Shingle Mill Trail to its end along Broomall’s Run, where there was once a children’s wading pool with “a very fine view of meadowland” stretching to Ridley Creek Road.  There was also a 100′ rustic footbridge over the marsh and stream!  Still growing is an “Oddity of Nature – nine trees growing from one central root of a Sycamore tree.”

In the absence of the footbridge, we made another stream crossing and connected with the lower Mountain Laurel Trail,  abundant with the state flower Mountain Laurel, and an enchanting patch of Partridge Berry on a fallen tree.  The 1941 trail ends at the pavilion, near our Earth Day Plantings.

While it was a late-blooming Spring, it was beautiful to get a clear view of the park’s landscape with early Spring colors, before the foliage emerges. Thank you to the 14 adults, 2 lovely children and the delightful dog who joined us on our walk!

You can view the PDF version of the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park, and you can view and print our Annotated Trail Map with trail names and historical annotations!

See Glen Providence Park through the eyes of a park ranger from 1941!  We were intrigued during our historical research to find this June 7, 1941 Chester Times article describing a Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park.  We were delighted and amazed a year later to find a copy of the guide in a box at the Media Historic Archives!  Join us as we follow the trail described by this 1941 Nature Guide, and compare and identify specific plants and features described in it!

1941 Nature Guide & Ephemerals Walk

Saturday, April 6
10:00am-12:00 noon
Rain date Sunday, April 7
Main entrance on State Street in Media

Being early spring, we will also look for native ephemeral (short-lasting) flowers, buds, and other signs of this late-arriving Spring.  Some of those ephemerals are described in the 1941 Nature Guide! Of course we’ll look out for wildlife- on last year’s Spring Ephemerals Walk on St. Patrick’s Day, we saw Pickerel Frogs, and the American Toads were out in force on the first day of spring in 2012.  It will be interesting to see how their timing compares in this colder Spring.

Our friends from Transition Town Media will be joining us- they have included this in their new weekly hikes!

Logistics:

Estimated distance: 1-1.5 miles
Estimated time: 2 hours
Free!

We’ll be crossing Broomall’s Run as close as we can to where long-fallen footbridges once stood, so be prepared for stream crossings, steep hills, and uneven (possibly muddy) terrain: wear sturdy walking shoes, bring a hiking pole if you use one, and you never know when you’ll want binoculars!

To add this event to your favorite calendar program (iCal, Outlook, Google, etc.), view the event listing on our calendar.