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Eagle Station and Hotel |
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The late C. Herbert Fry completed a manuscript in 1998 on the subject of the “Spread Eagle” which contains pertinent information on the former Eagle station in Tredyffrin Township. The station was most likely constructed early in the 1830s during the early operation of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, and continued as a railroad station under the aegis of the Pennsylvania Rail Road from 1857 until apparently being closed in 1884. The following are excerpts from Fry‘s manuscript, and/or other sources and annotations as noted: The Eagle Hotel stood on land purchased in 1813 by Jeremiah Joynt [1] , part of a Siter real estate venture. It had a house on it when Mifflin Lewis bought it from Joynt in 1835 [2], and Lewis petitioned successfully in 1836 for a license to keep an inn or tavern (there is no earlier record of a license issued for this location.) In 1836, with Lewis as innkeeper, he began operating his tavern in the large stone house now occupied by the Rosato family at 176 E. (Old) Conestoga Road. A large columned veranda graced the entrance, which originally faced the turnpike. Lewis continued to operate the Eagle Hotel, which became a high-class summer boarding home, until his death in 1857. His widow, Eliza Castner Lewis, and daughters kept the hotel operating through 1861 [3]. Thereafter, Thomas D. Serrill was innkeeper until 1866, the last year it is recorded as a licensed establishment. The hotel closed in 1873. 1838 Mifflin Lewis is taxed for the first time for buildings on his property. In 1844 the Spread Eagle post office moved to the Eagle Hotel, and Mifflin Lewis assumed the duties of postmaster as well as innkeeper. Upon Lewis’s death in 1857, his wife Eliza Lewis succeeded her husband as postmaster from 1857-71, and then [his daughter] Hellen Lewis from 1871-75. On Monday forenoon, the 19th [of May 1851], about ten o'clock, the roof and upper stories of the [Eagle Hotel] of Mifflin Lewis on the Railroad, in Tredyffrin ... were destroyed by fire. … The fire is supposed to have been caused by a spark from a locomotive. [4] The Eagle Station was a two story brick building located just east of the Eagle Hotel. The first floor of the station consisted of a passenger waiting room heated by a coal stove and a baggage room. There was reported to be an uncovered bridge connecting the second floors of the station and hotel [though no record is provided as to the source of this information]. Railroad Accident -- Sad Death “On Friday last week [October 28th 1870] Henry Fritz, respected lumber merchant at Reeseville, this county, was killed at the Eagle Railroad Station. He took hold of a horse at the station, and attempted to hold the frightened animal while the [PRR] train passed, but was thrown and fell and was struck on the head by a passing car.” Henry was grievously injured and died two days later, leaving his widow Mary and their two young sons. The horse, ‘spooked’ by the noise of the approaching train, belonged to a woman waiting nearby. Seeing her distress, Henry, the Good Samaritan, had gone to her aid [5]. August 2, 1881 “New Railroad Stations. – The new station house which is being built by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at the Eagle, has been raised and will be finished at an early day by the contractor, William H. Burns, of Berwyn. The new station house at Berwyn, for which Mr. Burns is also contractor, is progressing finely.” Daily Local News [Chester County Historical Society]. September 13, 1881 “Lancaster Turnpike. The Lancaster Turnpike Improvement Company have completed their drive from Philadelphia to within ¾ of a mile of Wayne. The intention is to complete it to Eagle station. So far as it is now finished it is one of the finest roads to be found anywhere.” Daily Local News. September 19, 1881 Road Granted. – The jury on the new road asked for near Eagle station, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, met yesterday for the third time and asked to report favorably on the road asked for by the property holders. Daily Local News. The Spread Eagle post office moved from the Eagle Hotel to the Eagle Station in 1875, and the PRR railroad agent, Annie M. Bloomer, became its postmaster. In 1884 the post office was relocated from Eagle Station to the ‘old Pugh store’ on the P&L Turnpike. August 23, 1883 “ARTESIAN WELL – The artesian well at Eagle station, on which the Pennsylvania railroad company has been working for a year or more past, has reached the depth of 1,740 feet, and a sufficient supply of water not having been obtained the boring will be continued until a depth of 2,600 feet is reached, if necessary.’ Chester County Democrat (West Chester) January 1, 1884 “1883 - During this year the third track on the Philadelphia Division was extended from Beaumont to Devon ... The alignment was greatly improved ... at Eagle.” [6]. 1883 – New passenger stations were built at Devon and Paoli …. and both in operation in January 1884 [6]. 1897 – 1900 Grade crossing of Old Lancaster Road replaced with an underpass.
A map prepared by the Philadelphia & Columbia RR in 1851 showing Eagle and surrounding area
Plan of Eagle Station area 1885. From the records of Court of Common Pleas, Chester County, Case #1031 between Maria Rush (daughter of Mifflin Lewis) and the Pennsylvania Railroad.
We believe an identical signal tower to this shown, along the Pennsylvania right-of-way in Eagle, was constructed in the 1880s adjacent to the SW of the property now designated 218 East Conestoga Road, Devon.
Contemporary Google aerial view of former Eagle area. White masonry structure in center right is purported Eagle station. Former Eagle Hotel at upper left with red roof. Notes and References
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