Hanging Out at the Newtown Square Hotel - 1902

History Spotlight by Doug Humes

A picture is worth a thousand words, but I only get around 300 for this article. What do I see?

Dr. M.P. Dickeson of Media, Pennsylvania, sits in his “horseless carriage,” one of the first in the County. Per the Chester Times of August 8, 1902:

He arrived home from Philadelphia with it on Tuesday night and will find it very convenient for going on his round of visits … It is regarded by the denizens of this community as a great curiosity.

The first horseless carriage to visit the old hotel

Photo courtesy of the Newtown Square Historical Society

He is shown at the old Newtown Square Hotel. Among the denizens, a serious and rough-looking bunch, the tallest one looks like someone with a job because he’s dressed in a suit. Another relatively new invention sits in the foreground: a bicycle. The dangerous high wheelers of the 1870s had given way to the “safety bicycle” of the 1890s. So perhaps the boy on the far right owns the bike. Perhaps he has a job as a messenger.

The other boys likely heard the noise of the horseless carriage and ran out to follow it up to the hotel. Newtown Square was farm country before World War I, and so these boys likely lived on nearby farms. There was not a lot of action out on the farm.

The building? An 1891 newspaper article described it as follows:

“…the old inn has degenerated to an old country tavern, a mere stopping place for the few who still travel the almost deserted turnpike, while the outside benches and bar room chairs offer a gathering place for the idle gossips of the vicinity – the only exception to the humdrum routine being the days when cattle sales are cried from the tavern porch, or in the winter when some merry sleighing party wakes up the nooks and crannies of the old hostelry for the time being.

Who else was there?

Thankfully, the photographer!

For more history on Newtown Square, Delaware County, and membership information, please visit our website:

www.HistoricNewtownSquare.org