[PRCo] Darby steps back in time at OcTrolley Fest

[Dennis F Cramer]

Darby steps back in time at OcTrolley Fest
By LAURA WISELEY
Daily Times Correspondent
DARBY BOROUGH - Blink, and it was as if it was 1858 all over again.

There was the green-and-silver trolley chugging down 10th Street, stopping to pick up riders at Main Street. And there were its passengers, decked out in their weekend best: Top hats for the men, long dresses and bonnets for the women.

Of course, it's still 2011. And this trolley was electric, without a horse in sight. But what hasn't changed in the 153 years since horse-drawn trolleys first came to Darby is the importance of the line to the people in this borough and beyond - and that's what they were celebrating Saturday at the borough's seventh annual OcTrolley Fest.

"It's always important to look at the assets we have with new eyes to see their benefit," said John Haigis of the Darby Historical Commission, one of the event's organizers. "Darby has this wonderful trolley system that connects us with Philadelphia and so many other places. It's comfortable, clean, and environmentally friendly, and it's here at a time when other cities in the United States are spending millions of dollars to build their own."

Darby is one of the first "streetcar suburbs" in the country thanks to its trolley line, which today is the oldest surviving such line in America. It started in 1858 as a horse-drawn trolley line, evolving through the years to an electric trolley system, and finally to the SEPTA system that runs through the borough today.

It's a line that also put the borough in the middle of the country's fight for civil rights in the 19th and 20th centuries. At a time when African-Americans were ordered to ride on the outside of streetcars, a handful of activists worked to change the laws, often right in Darby Borough.

"You had Octavius Catto, who led protests against segregated streetcars in the 1800s," Haigis said. "William Still did the same by gathering petition signatures against segregation laws. Carolyn LeCount and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper were staging sit-ins on the trolley line well before Rosa Parks did the same thing against segregated buses. They all played a large part of in our history."

In fact, a contingent of 12 members of O.V. Catto Lodge No. 20 of Philadelphia came to OcTrolley Fest to celebrate their idol's influence on history here.

"We have to keep Octavius Catto's memory going on," said Gregory Freeman, the lodge's Exalted Ruler. "He was a pioneer. We can never forget him, as he was one of the best African-American people in our history."

The vintage PCII trolley that starred in Saturday's event rode right past Eden Cemetery on Springfield Road, where Catto and Still are buried. From its starting point at the historic Darby Library, the oldest public library in the U.S., it also took riders to a number of other historic places, including Darby's Old Borough Hall, the 1904 trolley bridge, Hilldale Park and the Swedish Log Cabin.

About 40 people, many of them wearing historic garb, were lined up at the library for the first trolley ride at 11 a.m. Among them were Haigis and state Rep. Maria Donatucci, D-185.

"This part of the area is what we hope will someday be known as the Meetinghouse Historic District," Haigis said, gesturing to the buildings surrounding the library. "In addition to the library, there's 1000 Main Street, which dates back to 1852, the Tennet House from the 1750s, the Friends Meeting House, which goes back to 1805, and what I like to call the Airplane House, which dates back to 1876. Heritage tourism is one of the few growth industries we have in this country, and people would be amazed to come here and learn what we have in Darby."

Laureen Nearey of Tinicum, a native of Colwyn, was one of the first to arrive for a trolley ride Saturday. She brought along her three children - 7-year-old Joey, 5-year-old Jena and 1-year-old Lauren - for their first trolley trip.

"I grew up on the trolleys, but my children have never been on one," she said. "When we visit my parents, the kids ask to ride on them, so I thought this would be a great opportunity."

They youngsters also had a chance to participate in some of OcTrolley Fest's other activities, including a scarecrow-making station, a Pumpkin Parade and a flea market and historical display at the Darby Recreation Center.

All in all, Haigis said, the event was a fun way to raise awareness of an important aspect of the borough's history.

"It's a great way to celebrate the place we call home," he said, noting that donations made at the event would be used to fix the roof on Old Borough Hall. "We have an amazing treasure here, and we want to share it with everyone every way we can."

http://delcotimes.com/articles/2011/10/16/news/doc4e9a4cbac6524330487225.txt?viewmode=fullstory



          Dennis F. Cramer
http://home.windstream.net/dfc1