Historical Maps Can Tell a Story
To The Swarthmorean:
It was interesting to read Guy Smith’s anecdote about the origin of the borough’s streets, specifically Swarthmore and Haverford avenues, in the article “New Community Center,” December 3 issue. The story posits that the town was originally laid out by Swarthmore College students. Because of the students’ hatred of Haverford, that street is one of the shortest in town and Swarthmore Avenue is one of the longest.
Amusing, but surely apocryphal, as research of historic maps of Swarthmore will show. In the 1892 map, Lazaretto Road was the name of the entire road running southeastward from the Delaware County Turnpike (later the Baltimore Road/Turnpike) across the railroad tracks and on to the Ridley Township line. The Swarthmore Avenue name does not appear until the 1902 map, when only the portion south of the tracks is so designated. The Lazaretto Road name was retained to the north of the tracks. Finally, the 1909 map assigns the name Swarthmore Avenue to the entire roadway between the Pike and the tracks. And on each of these historic maps, Haverford Avenue exists, in its one block glory, between Park and Yale. Dotted lines indicate a plan for an extension for another block east of Yale toward Ridley. This portion was never completed, although Haverford Place, across Yale and slightly to the east, must have been built around 1950.
One wonders if Lazaretto Avenue did indeed originally run all the way to the old quarantine station in Essington. A fairly straight line can be drawn from the current deadend of Swarthmore Avenue in Folsom across Route 13, Darby Creek, I-95, and 291. A reasonable assumption?
As for those Swarthmore College engineering students, well, who knows what high jinks they may have really got up to!
Louise L. Coffin
Swarthmore
