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Lansdale Historical Society photograph collection
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Held at: Lansdale Historical Society [Contact Us]137 Jenkins Ave., Lansdale, Pa., 19446
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Lansdale Historical Society. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Once inhabited by Lenni Lenape Indians, the area now called Lansdale became a boom town during the mid-19th century when a junction of the North Pennsylvania Railroad was established where the center of the town is now located.
The railroad brought much needed work into the area, creating the need for housing, businesses and hotels. In 1860, with the influx of people moving into the area, the federal government established Lansdale as a post office village. In less than 20 years, the community "grew from a muddy crossroads to a vibrant town," and became a commercial center in the North Penn section of Montgomery County.
The Borough of Lansdale, named after railroad engineer Philip Lansdale Fox, was incorporated on August 24, 1872.
Bibliography:
Borough of Lansdale. "History of Lansdale." Accessed November 21, 2012. http://www.lansdale.org/index.asp?Type=B_DIR&SEC=%7BDEE01716-0108-4F02-AA89-9E09497FC2E3%7D.
Lansdale Historical Society. "About the Jenkins Homestead." Accessed November 21, 2012. http://lansdalehistory.org/jenkins_homestead1.htm
This collection consists of photographs depicting local businesses, landmarks, and events in Lansdale. The bulk of the photograph collection is organized into binders, primarily by location. Some of the photographs are arranged by subject, including clubs and groups, families, the Lansdale Centennial, schools, churches, sports, aerial views, and bands and parades. There are some out-of-town photographs as well.
There are several sub-collections by known creators as well, including Robert J. Linden, Gordon Young, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Smith, and Dr. Leopoldo Montoya. The Montoya photographs depict the work of architect Milton B. Bean.
The collection also includes postcards, many of which were collected by local resident Verdie Landis, and slides. There are about two-dozen carousels of slides; many were created out of Lansdale Historical Society photographs for slide shows, but others appear to be originals.
Photographs collected at various times by the Lansdale Historical Society.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Lansdale Historical Society directly for more information.
People
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Lansdale Historical Society
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Faith Charlton through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Lansdale Historical Society for information about accessing this collection.