Ship Tavern to Lenape Hall
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The Doylestown Correspondent Vol. 5 No.1 (15) Chery Halderson & Jean Rollo—Editors Summer 2017 Inside: SHIP TAVERN TO LENAPE HALL Page 1: Ship Tavern to Lenape Hall Page 2: Pathfinders n 1774 Samuel and Page 3: Pieces of History Joseph Flack built the President’s Message I Ship Tavern, including a Page 4: World War I Centennial carved stone that read, Page 6: New Acquisitions "Doylstown 26 Miles to Then & Now Philad." With stuccoed walls, Page 7: Society Activities 2017 the inn stood at the main crossroads of Doylestown Page 8: Board of Directors where Dyers Road In Memoriam intersected Coryell’s Ferry Memorial Paver Program Road (now Main Street and Upcoming Events: State Street, respectively). It was subsequently known as (see page 7 for details) the Bucks County Inn and » Speaker Series then later as the Bull's Head and served weary travelers for one hundred years. » Book Launch » Historical Walking Tours By 1870, the people of Doylestown were demanding a facility to serve as town June 10, July 8, August 12, hall and for civic gatherings. There was also a need for an indoor market where Sept. 23, and Oct 14. farmers could sell their wares rather than lining the main streets with their Meet in the DHS park at wagons. The Doylestown Improvement Company purchased the Ship Tavern 10:00 am, rain or shine from the Aaron Barndt estate for $12,000, and a stock subscription was put out for sale to raise building funds. The old Ship Tavern was demolished, and in its place was begun Lenape Hall, reputed to be "the finest building in the state." Editor’s Note The new building, named Our Newsletter’s name is a after the Lenni Lenape derivative of the first Doyles- Indian tribe which once town newspaper, The inhabited Bucks County, Pennsylvania Correspondent, was considered to be an established in 1804, predecessor to The architectural masterpiece. Intelligencer, and one of the The structure's three few newspapers in the country facades presented an in continual publication for interplay of Greek, more than 200 years. Romanesque and Italianate architectural influences and Contact Us was created by Philadelphia 56 S. Main Street architects, Addison Hutton 215-345-9430 and Thomas Cernea. Three Museum open Saturdays stories tall, with a footprint 11:00 am—3:00 pm, of 80 feet X 180 feet, or by appointment constructed of one-half million locally-produced bricks and costing $50,000, doylestownhistorical.org Lenape Hall was the largest commercial building of its time in Doylestown. The and look for us on Facebook cornerstone was imported Italian marble prepared by Thomas Hargrave. The gold-lettered clock at its peak was made by jeweler Louis Spellier. Immediately below the clock a block was inserted bearing the date 1874. (continued) → Page 2 SHIP TAVERN TO LENAPE HALL (continued) enape Hall’s ten-foot wide open interior staircase rising from the State Street entrance was L made of two-inch thick ash planks with hand carved railings. On the second floor an 800-seat auditorium was created for entertainment and public events. The third floor provided office and professional space. The first Melinda Cox Library shared quarters with the Borough Council and other civic organizations. Occupying the storefront with a diagonal corner entrance was a pharmacy. The rest of the ground floor was divided into 53 market stalls, open on Wednesdays and Saturdays and occupied by farmers, butchers, and even a coffee and oyster stand. The old Ship Tavern's mile marker was embedded in the rear foundation wall and can still be seen there today. Over the next thirty years, Lenape Hall was the site of plays, musical shows, lectures, church and fire company suppers, dances, high school commencements and other events. With the advent of the motion picture, Otto Kolbe bought the hall and in 1909 opened a theater on the second floor. Remodeled in 1915, “The hallways were more attractive and theatre-like, the floor of the theatre has been raised, the interior beautifully decorated and lighted by indirect electrical effects, the aisles have been carpeted, 600 handsome mahogany theatre chairs have been installed, a $3,500 organ furnishes music for performances, the staging has been overhauled, new picture machines have been installed, and the addition of a gold fibre screen made a wonderful improvement in the brilliancy of the pictures which were the best to be found,” according to the Intelligencer’s report. In 1922, Lenape Hall was purchased by the International Order of Odd Fellows. The tin awnings on Main and State Streets were removed, and the first floor storefronts featured men’s furnishings, stationery, newsstand, shoes, and an undertaker, as well as the corner pharmacy. During this period, the hall also housed the Doylestown post office and the local Bell Telephone Company office. By the late 1920’s fire prevention laws had banned hundreds of people assembling on the second floor. The IOOF then turned the upper floors into a bowling alley and dance hall (until the space was leased by the Army in 1949). The post office and telephone company had moved elsewhere, but stores, businesses, and offices continued to occupy the building throughout the mid-20th century. However, Lenape Hall was showing the ravages of 112 years of use. In 1986, a million dollar rehab restored Lenape Hall as a centerpiece within modern Doylestown. Commercial space was retained at street level with a mix of residential and office use on the upper floors. The exterior was returned to its Victorian elegance, and Lenape Hall took its place on the National Register amidst the Historic District of Doylestown. ACKNOWLEDGING OUR Pathfinder Members » Wm. E. Geil Society « » Wm. W. H. Davis Society « » Doyle Society « Doris Hart Carr Helen Lehotzky, MD Mary Jane Clemens Sharon Holloway Tague Lumber Melissa Eiseman Mary Ann Darlington » Margaret Mead Society « Bucks County Civil War Museum Happ Construction Nejad Rug Gallery Allen & Glenda Childs—Doylestown Bookshop Hearn’s Sign-a-rama & Minuteman Press Paganini’s (Karen Slattery) Theodore P. Croll, DDS McCaffrey’s Market Dennis & Amy Parenti Tuck Elfman Millham Insurance Pine Run Community Fred Beans Family of Dealerships Monument Bank John & Rochelle Thompson Page 3 From the President: ith the summer months upon us, activities at the W Society are in full swing. At this writing, all but one of our World War I commemoration events are complete. Only the rededication of the WWI fountain at ~ Our mission ~ the corner of the county Administration building (the old Preserving and celebrating the creative and historic courthouse) remains, rescheduled due to bad weather. significance of Doylestown and its neighboring communities One of the lasting legacies of all these events will be the fountain itself, which has been restored to its former glory thanks to the work of Gene Hough and Barry Donated by Mary Grady of Doyles- Johnson of ‘Saving Hallowed Ground’ (www. town, this prison guard’s hat and keys savinghallowedground.org). Gene and Barry, who take were from the former Bucks County their work seriously, were out there on at least four Prison, locally known as the “Pine Street separate days, battling weather and for Gene, Hotel” at 138 South Pine Street. The recuperating from knee replacement surgery, using wire prison was opened in 1885 and brushes and toothbrushes to clean the fountain of operated until 1985. Today the site has decades of corrosion buildup. Next time you pass by, become the James A Michener Art take a look at the monument and think of those two in Museum and the Bucks County Free their doughboy uniforms working to preserve our past. Library. Actually, a reporter for Fox News did exactly that. While driving up Main Street, he noticed Gene in uniform, working on the monument, with the result being a four- minute feature segment on TV. Another lasting legacy of our WWI commemoration will be our memorial Paver Program which will be more formally rolled out shortly. But if you’re curious and want to be among the first to purchase one of these memorial stones, call the Historical Society at 215-345- 7596 for information. Our Geil collection continues to be of great interest Bucks County Prison 1885-1985 to a number of groups from China. A five-person delegation from the Cultural Center of Dali, Yunnan Province in southwest China, visited us in preparation for their own planned exhibition. It will feature some of the photos of the Yunnan region taken by William Edgar Clymer’s Department Store published a booklet in Geil during the early 1900’s. Imagine what our interest celebration of their 50th anniversary, and thanks to would be if we discovered hundreds of photos of Jeannette Geiger, the Society has a copy. Beginning as a Doylestown taken a hundred years ago of buildings and general merchandise store at 57 street scenes that are no longer in existence. West Ashland Street in 1897, During the visit, which included walks around town Clymer’s moved to larger quarters and visits to our museums, it became obvious that we at 36-40 West State Street in 1911 have much in common with the Chinese town of Dali. and by the fall of 1929 another So much so, in fact, that we are working with borough move was necessary to an even leaders who are receptive to the idea of establishing a larger and final location in the ‘Sister City’ relationship with Dali. We’ll publish more former George McLaughlin about this as the story unfolds. automobile showroom and garage Along the same lines as the Dali story, we are located at 22-28 South Main Street.