Delaware County history resource

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JoshAustin610
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Delaware County history resource

Post by JoshAustin610 »

While searching for more recent Delco Times archives, I came across this link from the Delaware County library:

http://delawarecolib.newspaperarchive.com/

It has free PDFs of various newspapers covering Delaware County from the late 1800s up until 1977! I've checked, and it doesn't appear any of the other local counties have something like this (Bucks Courier specifically mentions if you want to see old newspapers you have to go to a library and see the microfilm). The search engine isn't perfect (it can't understand the phrase "A&P" for example), but I've already found a ton of new info over the last few days that will help with my research and my Flickr page, for example:

- The Acme in the Granite Run Mini-Mall opened in November 1975, with the Thrift Drug following in early 76. It now takes up almost all of the building. The Acme at 315 W. State St was listed as open as late as 1972, making me wonder if the Granite Run store replaced it.

- The Penn Fruit in Woodlyn (Macdade & Fairview) was converted to Dale's, but was converted back to the Penn Fruit name in 1977 after Pantry Pride took over. Their ads all said "Pantry Pride/ Penn Fruit" at the time. It of course closed anyway in 1979, and became a relocated Acme soon after.

- A lot of info about Pathmark: the Folsom store (420 Macdade) opened in 1967 as a Shop-Rite, but was converted a year later to Pathmark along with 14 other stores in PA, south NJ, and DE. It actually had a pharmacy as early as 1970, and went 24 hours in 1972! One great find was an ad with pictures of actual late-night customers talking about how much they love the new hours, and Pathmark saying how they were unprepared for its success. Marple opened in 1970, and Brookhaven in early 1971 (with Grant City following a few months later, advertised at the time as the largest WT Grant in America).

These articles don't show up in Google News Archives, so hopefully this helps when doing research!

Josh
catnapped
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Re: Delaware County history resource

Post by catnapped »

Excellent find! Also looks as though there were a few more Pathmark stores in Delaware (the state) that no longer exist (one in Dover, another in the middle of Wilmington somewhere). Also has one in Ogletown but not sure if that's the one in Newark or not.
Ephrata1966
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Re: Delaware County history resource

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Granite Run "Mini" Mall? The Acme was originally attached to the mall and is now demolished. Around 1987 it moved to the parking lot.

Here are a couple suspicions I have about the original Woodlyn Acme: it opened in 1964, but the rest of the center was added in 1972, and it was probably a Thriftway or IGA for a while. I also wonder when the Rite Aid in Woodlyn opened, since it coexists with a CVS in the parking lot! If you look closely, that "Raymour & Flanigan" is not an ordinary Raymour & Flanigan at all. This is a clearance outlet that was a Hechinger for many years.

Funny, I would have thought the Broomall Pathmark would have started as a ShopRite. Believe it or not, there still is an "Associates of Marple Pathmark" sign on 476. And "420" is an interesting address for the Folsom one. Acme jumped from 420 and MacDade to Morton and MacDade. Why they haven't killed the Pathmark I just don't understand. The two just seem redundant for shoppers.

Largest Grants in America, huh? Larger than other Grant City units? But I would think that title would have gone to the Clementon, NJ store if anything (built 1963? as just "GRANTS") which was later a Woolco, then a Michaels and is now empty and in bad shape. This store had an Acme next to it which started as a ShopRite and Pathmark, then became Acme in 1979. Hard to believe how long the original Woodlyn store has been gone.
JoshAustin610
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Re: Delaware County history resource

Post by JoshAustin610 »

Here's a link to one of the articles describing the Granite Run Mini Mall, hope this works:

http://delawarecolib.newspaperarchive.c ... rentPage=0

From what I can gather, when people referred to Acme being in "the mall", it wasn't referring to the main mall, it was it's own separate tiny mall. According to the article, Acme originally took up around 33K square feet on the right of the building, then the left had a hallway that went from the front to the back. The Thrift Drug and other stores were along the left wall, and I would assume had entrances into the hallway. From what I can tell over time Acme expanded into that hallway, so that the remaining stores had to face out the opposite way into the parking. This also explains the picture I've seen of Acme having a back entrance, that probably was the original back mall entrance. When the other stores like Thrift Drug/ Eckerd closed, Acme expanded into them as well, so that as of now it takes up almost the entire building. If I'm off on any of my assumptions here let me know.

The Woodlyn Acme opened on 12/5/62, and the Thrift Drug opened on 11/3/64 according to grand opening articles. Here are the other original Thrifts in the 60s and 70s that I've found either approximate or exact opening dates for:

Newtown Square: 5/62 (relocated to the former WT Grant in 1977)
Folcroft: 10/18/62 (still open and in it's original spot!)
Upper Darby (State & Lansdowne): 1963 (relocated in 1996 right before the Eckerd merger)
Woodlyn: 11/3/64 (closed in 2008)
Media: 2/18/65 (relocated in 2001)
Secane: 11/15/66 (relocated to Aldan in 1995; closed in 2000)
Upland: 6/21/67 (closed in 2000)
Wayne: 1970 (closed in 2008)
Holmes (Macdade Mall): 3/2/70 (closed in 2000)
Media (Granite Run): 1/76
Ephrata1966
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Re: Delaware County history resource

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Is it possible that the current Media store was considered to replace the Springfield one? And it sounds like the Acme next door was added after Thrift Drug, since that was a 1975-era Acme until about 2003 or 2004. I think they demolished and rebuilt. The Granite Run Acme had been redone in 2000.
JoshAustin610
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Re: Delaware County history resource

Post by JoshAustin610 »

Later articles closer to when the mini-mall opened said that the Acme opened in November 1975, and the Thrift Drug was a few months later. I haven't seen any reference to a Springfield Acme, if there was it was gone before the early 60s. There was the Swarthmore store that opened in 1961 however; that closed in 1989 after a fire. The building's basic structure still stands, but Acme never reopened the store.
Ephrata1966
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Re: Delaware County history resource

Post by Ephrata1966 »

No no! Sorry for the confusion. I meant Springfield Eckerd and the Acme/Thrift Drug/Eckerd on Baltimore Pike between Beatty and Providence Road in Media.
JoshAustin610
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Re: Delaware County history resource

Post by JoshAustin610 »

Oh OK, the Springfield Eckerd closed in 2000 as part of the 300 or so stores Eckerd closed at the time. The Rx files probably went to CVS, although I'm not sure if their store at Baltimore & Rt. 420 had opened yet (it was sometime in 2000). If not the files probably went to the older CVS further down. The store on the east side of Media was a relocation from across the street next to Acme, but the Eckerd in the old A&P on State St closed around the same time, so it kind of consolidated the two. The east Acme opened 1/15/64, about a year before the Thrift. I'm not sure if it was demolished/ rebuilt or not though.
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