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!

We were delighted last year when local resident William Vanleer shared with us a series of 12 photographs by his grandfather, GJ Ulshafer, taken in Glen Providence Park around 1939! There are wonderful written descriptions of the park from its early years in the Chester Times and elsewhere, but early photos are harder to find.

These 1939 photographs are enchanting, showing entrance signs for “Glen Providence Bird Sanctuary & Arboretum,” rustic footbridges, and even the park’s original drinking spring by the base of Broomall’s Dam, as described in the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park. That guide was written by long-time park supervisor James R. Stokes, Jr., who may be the park guard in one of the photos! The park visitors’ attire alone evokes a bygone era.

This collection of images is a treasure, and we are very grateful to William Vanleer for sharing his grandfather’s photographs with us.

Click on any photo for a closer look! There is further information about some of the photographs in our History album on Facebook. 

In 2013, we kept a photojournal to document the planned construction area in Glen Providence Park for Broomall’s Dam at 3rd Street. According to the project engineers, 1.11 acres will become a construction zone, with approximately .64 acres of the park buried with earthfill for the new, larger dam.

The 1.1 Acre is a serene part of Glen Providence Park, which includes the Third Street entrance and waterfall, wetlands, a stretch of Broomall’s Run, elegant native flowers, the remnant of a historical footbridge, natural springs that were once a source of drinking water, and of course wildlife.

Plant & Wildlife

Through the year, we watched birds bathing and drinking in the springs, White-tailed deer taking refuge, intriguing insects such as the Ebony Jewelwing and an iridescent golden spider, Pickerel frogs, and endearing baby Wood frogs. We followed the progression of flowering native Wild Ginger, False Solomons Seal, white violets, Trout Lily, and Jack-in-the-Pulpit.  Native Spicebush and American Witch Hazel are abundant, along with ever-elegant ferns. Of course the intriguing Skunk Cabbage is prolific in the wetlands! The 1.1 Acre has 76 trees of 18 species including American Sycamore, Sassafras, American Hornbeam (aka Ironwood), and notably the lovely and Pennsylvania-rare Umbrella Magnolia.

Historical features

We located the source of the historical springs that were once a source of drinking water for the park, and that once fed the Eleanor Reed Butler waterfall by the pond. The masonry structures within the 1.1 Acre show the elegance of the park’s original structures built by the Works Progress Administration, and of the now-deteriorating 1883 dam. The remnants of the original footbridge, described in the 1941 Nature Guide as “an arched rustic bridge which commands a beautiful view of the Falls” that led to a fernery and the drinking spring, would be buried under the planned replacement dam.

Delineating the 1.1 Acre

Throughout the year, we regularly took photographs from the same vantage point near the dam overlooking the acre, giving us a series of 1.1 Acre Vista photos through the seasons. In late April, dozens of volunteers helped us create a human chain along the perimeter of the 1.1 Acre, to visualize its boundaries. While it was a week too late for a clear view due to freshly emerged foliage, you can get a sense of the scope of the construction area in some of those photos below.

We still don’t know the timing of the Third Street Project, but it will be incredibly sad to see the destruction of the 1.1 Acre. It’s a serene part of the park – we encourage you to visit it while it is intact!

Photos & more information

• Below is a sampling of photos from the year – click on any photo for a closer look.
• Our Introduction to the 1.1 Acre Project includes an explanation of the boundary, our tree map of the construction area, and historical photographs.
• You can read the installments of our 1.1 Acre Project photojournal, including the one about the historical springs.
• And you can scroll through all of the photos in one place on flickr.

To minimize destruction to the 1.1 Acre, Friends of Glen Providence Park supports dam removal, stream restoration and a local discussion of an environmentally-sensitive bridge between Media Borough and Upper Providence.

December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our Year in the 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr. 

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It’s our Fall installment of our photos of Glen Providence Park’s 1.1 Acre construction area for Broomall’s Dam! Wildlife loves the natural wetlands in the 1.1 Acre- including this endearing Wood Frog, which breeds in vernal pools and inhabits moist woods. Birds such as the Tufted Titmouse often bathe and drink in the historical drinking springs, and there are intriguing insects like a caterpillar with markings that look like a face.

Unfortunately there are also plenty of earthworms, most of which are actually invasive in our region! We think of them as beneficial for gardens, but earthworms are very detrimental to woodlands.

There were still flowers to be found with the charmingly late-blooming American Witch Hazel, and fall wildflowers. The foliage of Wild Ginger, Poison Ivy, and ferns started to wither and recede for the winter. You can see the progression as the foliage changes (and falls!) in the 1.1 Acre Vista photos.  Check out the photos of all of this below! 

For an explanation of the 1.1 Acre and its boundary, see our introduction to the 1.1 Acre Project.

You can click on and scroll through our chronological pictures below, and you can also view them on our flickr page! You can see more pictures of Glen Providence Park in our facebook albums and in our photojournal.

December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our Fall 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr. 

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As we visited the park’s 1.1 Acre construction area for Broomall’s Dam throughout the month of April, it was exciting to watch how quickly the woods and wetlands transformed! You can see in the first 1.1 Acre vista photo below that the trees were almost bare on April 3, and Skunk Cabbage leaves were just emerging in the wetlands. By the end of the month, the acre was lush and green, and the views across the valley were blocked until Fall.

Before the rapidly emerging foliage and Skunk Cabbage obscured the way, we traced the spring-fed streams to their source by the historical drinking spring. When Media was founded in 1850, and through the 1870’s, the springs feeding Broomall’s Run provided the drinking water for the Borough!

1945 Plan of Glen Providence Park

At least one of those springs continued to be a drinking source into the 1960’s- in Glen Providence Park along the border of the 1.1 Acre! This was an official supply of drinking water for the park, as described in Chester Times articles and marked on this 1945 map. The 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park also describes the drinking spring and its  surrounding wildflowers and fernery. While the area around the spring has largely overgrown, wildflowers and ferns remain!

Our photos below show the remnants of a masonry wall by the spring, and what appear to be two spring sources that merge into one stream. One of those sources is within the 1.1 Acre, and the other is just outside of the 1.1 Acre. It is sad that these historical springs will be destroyed or impacted by the Broomall’s Dam construction area.

Throughout the 1.1 Acre, there was plenty to appreciate- the morning sunlight often gives the wetlands a magical air. There are robust colonies of native May-apple and Trout Lily, with patches of False Solomon’s Seal, Wild Ginger, and the dreaded Poison Ivy– which is actually native and beneficial to birds! There are two Umbrella Magnolias, which we did not catch in full bloom. Wildlife visitors that we managed to photograph were a White-tailed Deer and Carolina Wren. 

For an explanation of the 1.1 Acre and its boundary, see our introduction to the 1.1 Acre Project.

You can scroll through our chronological pictures below, and you can also view them with descriptions on our flickr page! You can see more pictures in our facebook albums and in our photojournal.

December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our April 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr.

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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!

One of the loveliest original features in Glen Providence Park might go unnoticed, if it were not still marked with a dedication plaque. On the west side of the pond, near the island, is the now-dry Eleanor Reed Butler Waterfall.  The stones where water once flowed are now covered in enchanting ferns, and the pool of water that was at the base of the waterfall is dry.

This waterfall was one of the first features installed in the park in 1936- amazingly, it was fed through a pipe leading from the drinking spring 500′ upstream by Broomall’s Dam, which is marked on the 1945 Plan of Glen Providence Park (shown below). The waterfall and pipe feeding it are described in two early Chester Times articles about the park:

– August 8, 1936: “… This water has been piped from that spring nearly five hundred feet down the valley, feeding the lake [the park’s pond] and providing drinking water.”

– February 8, 1937: “A second supply [of water to the pond] is from the larger spring above referred to [the drinking spring near the dam], the water being carried through about 500 feet of pipe and liberated over an artificial cascade into the lake, making a very attractive feature.”

As with any man-made features, the waterfall required maintenance over time. The July 17, 1948 Chester Times describes how the Providence Garden Club was working to improve the waterfall in memory of Eleanor Reed Butler, who with her husband had donated the majority of the land for the park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum. Eleanor Butler also named Glen Providence Park, “because of its glen-like formation and as it is located in the heart of the Providence townships.”

In the Media Historic Archives, we found a photo of the Eleanor Reed Butler Waterfall still functioning in 1975. It is believed that the pipe feeding the waterfall has since caved in. We have hopes that the waterfall can be rehabilitated- as part of public participation in Delaware County’s Open Space Plan, Friends of Glen Providence Park made the suggestion to restore the waterfall, as a re-circulating waterfall pumped from the pond.  This would help to aerate the pond, add to the sound of babbling water, and restore this historical park structure.  Delaware County is considering this suggestion for Glen Providence Park’s Site Plan that will result from the Open Space Plan process.

The Eleanor Reed Butler Waterfall is a lovely tribute to the woman who gave so much to our community by preserving this land- we hope the waterfall can be lovingly preserved for future generations!

Chester Times articles researched on the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library.

If anyone has photographs of the Eleanor Reed Butler Waterfall when it was still functioning, please email us at FriendsoftheGlen[AT]gmail.com!   You can click on the 1945 map, 1975 photo, and current photos below….

It’s our 2013 project to document the plants and wildlife in Glen Providence Park!  We’ll continue our photojournal of the whole park, but this year we’ll focus our efforts on one acre of the park- the construction area for the 3rd Street Dam. 

We don’t know when construction will start to replace the dam, but it may be as early as 2014.  Whenever it starts, according to the project engineers, 1.11 acres will become a construction area, with approximately .64 acres buried with earthfill.  So, in order to appreciate the 1.1 acre while it lasts, we will document it over the next year!

The trees marked on Philly Tree Map are within the 1.1 acre construction area

The perimeter:

Last year, we used the dam construction diagrams from the project engineers at Larson Design Group and Schnabel Engineering to identify the perimeter of the construction area.  We then registered 76 trees within that area on Philly Tree Map– some of our favorite of the 18 tree species we found there were Umbrella Magnolia, American Sycamore, American Witch Hazel, Sassafras, American Hornbeam and Black Tupelo.  The resulting tree map shows the perimeter of the 1.1 acre construction area.
 

History:

1930’s or 40’s photo of footbridge near waterfall. Posted with permission of Media Historic Archives.

The acre has changed through the years, as you can see from early photographs.  There was once a rustic footbridge across Broomall’s Run, where the path led through a fernery at the base of Broomall’s Dam to a drinking spring on the Upper Providence side.  That spring is still there, but difficult to access- and it is right on the border of the construction area, at the base of an enormous Tuliptree.  We cleared part of the then-disused path leading to the spring at our second volunteer day in October 2011.  A footer from the footbridge is still there- but according to the engineers’ diagrams, the new dam will cover it.
 
 

Our project:

American Witch-hazel in the 1.1 acre- where it is abundant!

We’ve been documenting the plants and wildlife in the park through our photojournal, Birding Big Year and Tree Mapping.  Now we’d like to learn more about the 1.1 acre- four of us will visit the park through the year, and post our photographs and observations.  We hope to document what species are within that acre, and identify those valuable plant species that could be transplanted and saved prior to construction.

We’ll be focusing on the 1.1 acre, but it’s a great way to closely observe nature and follow the seasons in the park.  On our visit on a bitterly cold February morning, we observed the Skunk Cabbage already emerging.  And the frozen waterfall and Broomall’s Run have been lovely in the snow!

It’s a serene part of the park- we welcome you to visit it!  It’s an introduction to the 1.1 acre, and a long farewell.

– Amy, Marcia, Shannon & Stephanie
 
 
Here are a few photos so far showing the 1.1 acre- you can click on any one for a closer look.

December was relatively dry and warm- it was 55 degrees on the first day of winter!  While we did not get snow (sigh), Glen Providence Park continued to be lovely: with fog, frost and ice changing the scenery.  And though reptiles, amphibians, insects and flowers may be dormant, birds and trees can be admired year-round!  Good thing Glen Providence Park is a bird sanctuary and arboretum…

Old drinking well with hand pump

We were proud to participate in the Christmas Bird Count, the world’s longest-running citizen science project! It was exciting to get close enough to a Turkey Vulture roost to hear their wings as they moved.  We counted 108 individual birds of 16 species that day, and discovered a few other things in the park, from fungi to an old drinking well.

Yes, there is an old and broken bench buried under that tree

And with further traces of things past, we discovered more fixtures for wiring– the one depicted below was over 15′ high in a dead tree along the path that leads from the sledding hill to the Ice House Trail. We know there used to be lights around the pond for nighttime ice skating(!), and there are old wires in some trees along the Ice House Trail which would seem to be from lights.

Click on any photo for a closer look, or scroll through the photos below for a virtual tour.  You can view more photos in our Christmas Bird Count post, and in our Facebook Albums: including Wildlife, Scenery, and History.

At the Christmas Bird Count in Glen Providence Park on Saturday, we saw 108 individual birds of 16 species!  For comparison, there have been 24 species spotted so far this month, and 70 documented total.  While it was our first year, it was the 112th year for the CBC– the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! Birds were our primary mission, but when they were quiet, we were able to discover a few other things in the park, from fungi to an old drinking well…

We started at the northern edge of the park by Broomall’s Lake, which we included in our bird count area.  It was there we saw the Great Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher, and over two dozen Mallards!  Then it was off to the Shingle Mill Trail, which usually has the best birdwatching in the park.  Some of the first birds we saw were a large roost of Mourning Doves, and a nearby roost of Turkey Vultures. I was able to get so close to the vultures, I could hear their wings as they moved- they are impressive creatures, and they certainly weren’t intimidated by me.  For the rest of our sightings, see our official list below!

I had read about a drinking well with a hand pump that had been installed in the park in 1936, but hadn’t found it.  Now with the foliage down, it practically jumped out at us near the pond (thank you Marcia)!  And just the other week, I found the old spring which was the other source of drinking water for the park- more on that soon!  Not far from the pump we found an old bench that apparently met its demise when a tree fell on it.  It matches the description of the park’s original 1936 benches, with concrete ends.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have more benches again?

Then there was a variety of fungi, and a Holly sapling… there is just always something new (or old) to discover in the park!

Click on any photo below for a closer look, or scroll through the photos for a virtual tour.  As the birds and lighting were not at their most cooperative on Saturday, for more bird photos, visit our facebook Wildlife Album.

Here is our official Christmas Bird Count list for Saturday, December 17:

9 Canada Geese
26 Mallards
1 Great Blue Heron
15 Turkey Vultures
24 Mourning Doves
1 Belted Kingfisher
3 Red-bellied Woodpeckers
5 Hairy Woodpeckers
8 American Crows
6 Carolina Chickadees
1 Tufted Titmouse
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Song Sparrow
3 Dark-eyed Juncos
2 Northern Cardinals
1 House Finch
+ 1 unidentified hawk