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Lansdale Historical Society

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Lansdale Historical Society

It has its headquarters in a two-building complex, located on Jenkins Avenue in the center of Lansdale, Montgomery County, PA.

The Lansdale Historical Society was founded in 1971, and its purpose is to preserve the history of the Borough of Lansdale and the greater North Penn area, and to share its collection of material and resources with the greater community, particularly the youth. The buildings are owned by the Borough of Lansdale. The complex includes the Jenkins Homestead, a 1770-era Federalist-style farmstead that

is the oldest building within the original borders of Lansdale. Portions of the Homestead have been restored and are open for public tours. The Lansdale Historical Research Center, located less than 60 feet from the Homestead, was acquired by the Borough in 2000 and has undergone extensive renovations to make it computer and Internet friendly and a repository for the Society's vast collection of documents and artifacts related to Lansdale and the surrounding North Penn area. The building is handicapped accessible. LOCATION: The complex is located one block off Lansdale's Main Street on Jenkins Avenue between Chestnut and Line Streets. On-street parking is available on Jenkins Avenue.

06/03/2026

BACK THEN by DICK SHEARER

Area merchants and businesses came together to buy a full-page advertisement in the North Penn Reporter listing the names of the 1946 Lansdale High School graduating class.

06/02/2026

BACK THEN by DICK SHEARER

The caption on this June, 1959 photo speaks for itself. I wish we had a follow-up picture of the dog trying to teach the kittens how to bury a bone.

06/01/2026

BACK THEN by DICK SHEARER

Many of us who are old enough to remember still cast a glance to the right as we head north on Route 113 approaching Diamond Street in Hilltown Township. There’s not much to see, just a line of trees, and an unforgiving fence, high enough to shield the houses that have been built behind them. Typical country roadside scenes along America’s suburban roads in 2026.
Not a trace of what took place there on Nov. 22, 1967, but we older folks can’t forget that it was the scene of a heinous triple murder that rocked the North Penn Valley so many years ago.
It was on that Thanksgiving Eve, when a farm equipment dealer, John Brickajlik, 72, his wife Mary, 71 and their 11-year-old grandson William Brickajlik Jr. were shot to death in their modest farmhouse which stood behind a field of used agricultural implements.
Thus began a nationwide manhunt for their killer, soon to be identified as Ronald Eugene Storck, a 27-year-old maintenance worker from Perkasie. Storck was pursued across the country following a series of hit-or-miss tips that finally led to his capture in Hawaii on Feb. 29, 1968. He was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List at the time he was apprehended.
The apparent motive was robbery. A large sum of money was missing from the house, and Storck, who did odd jobs for them, knew that. Young William, who was visiting his grandparents at the time, was likely killed so there would be no witnesses.
Storck was convicted and sentenced to three consecutive life terms in state prison. The latest information we can find says he’s still jailed all these years later. If so, he’d be 86 today.

05/31/2026

BACK THEN by Pat Rieker

William H. Gleaves (1884-1944) was born to be a potter. His father, William T. Gleaves, was considered to be one of the most accomplished pottery design artists in the trade. The family came to America from England in the 1890s, establishing pottery businesses in New Jersey and Indiana.

After graduating from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the younger Gleaves settled in the North Penn area in the 1920s with his wife and children, making his living as a sculptor and potter. He supplemented his income buying and selling antiques at various store locations along Bethlehem Pike. Gleaves’ father was also living with the family at that time and working as a design artist for Franklin Pottery (later American Olean Tile Co.).

The Depression years were difficult for Gleaves. Most people didn’t have money to buy art or antiques. When the government sponsored free adult education classes through the WPA, Gleaves signed on to teach sculpture, pottery and ceramics in the evenings at Lansdale High School. His classes were very popular, and the student projects were exhibited at the Lansdale Theatre and in store windows on Main Street. In 1939, the WPA extended their program in Lansdale by opening a recreation center at N. Cannon Ave & 8th St. Gleaves was placed in charge of the project.

Gleaves continued to deal in antiques until his death in 1944. His objects of pottery and sculpture, some of which are pictured here, have been displayed by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

05/30/2026

BACK THEN by DICK SHEARER

It’s that time of year when folks begin to tackle all those fix-up projects they dreamed up during the winter. That meant a trip to the Estate of George S. Snyder’s was in order back in May, 1976 when this full-page ad appeared in The Reporter.
Not only could you find almost anything you were looking for, but the experienced sales staff was always close at hand to offer advice – a big help to young homeowners.
Snyder’s, a long-time business in Hatfield, closed suddenly in 2004. The Snyder Square Shopping Center on Cowpath Road, now occupies the site of the former store and its lumberyard.

05/29/2026

BACK THEN by Pat Rieker

Our volunteers at the Lansdale Historical Society are pretty good at sleuthing out information, but every once in a while we come across a photo that’s hard to figure out. Today we’re asking for your help in identifying the time, place and occasion pictured in this photo.

The names of some of the people are written in longhand on the back of the photo. The writing is hard to read, but we’ve reproduced the names as best we can. The elderly couple in the center of the photo are identified as Grandmom and Grandpaw Lint.

We’ve been able to find out a little about the pastor, whose correct name is Rev. Harvey S. Replogle (1871-1940). He was a minister of the Church of the Brethren in southeastern Pennsylvania, but we haven’t found a connection to the North Penn area.

Are any of these names or faces familiar? Do you see something in the photo that we’ve missed? Let’s see if we can solve this mystery.

05/28/2026

BACK THEN by DICK SHEARER

Readers have always had a fascination for newspaper cartoons no matter what their purpose. Sometimes they were used to attract attention to advertisements, like this one for Dodson Motors in North Wales.
They seem corny today but back in the grainy black-and-white photo days like 1953 when this one was published in the North Penn Reporter, they were effective.

05/27/2026

BACK THEN by DICK SHEARER

Ah, those record hops! Kids flocked to them in the 1950-60s era. They brought nationally-famous groups to us out here in the suburbs. Most of them were sponsored by Philadelphia’s top rock stations like WIBG and WFIL. Then they went away, leaving few traces for us to follow. Here are two examples:

Information on the hops that were held at Button’s Barn is hard to find. We remember it from the 1960s Par-3 golf course attached to the farm just south of Mainland and north of Old Forty Foot Road.
We played golf there and never went to the dance but remember that it attracted rising stars and was hosted by WIBG personalities, Bill Wright Sr. in this case.
To the best of our knowledge, the present restaurant, golf course and banquet venues make no mention of the site’s past.

The second tiny ad that appeared in a 1962 Reporter reminds us of the short-lived Key Casino Ballroom that operated briefly in the former Key Theater building at Cross Keys (Doylestown).
From the best we can find, the casino lasted only a little more than a year. The owners, whomever they were, must have had high hopes. They envisioned a facility that would appeal to two generations - big-band adults and rock‘n’roll teens, on different nights.
On this occasion they presented Gary U.S. Bonds (“Quarter to Three”) who is still performing at age 86. WIBG Good Guy Jerry Stevens was the emcee.

Please enlighten us if you know more about Button’s Barn or the Key Casino and who appeared at these venues.

05/26/2026

BACK THEN by DICK SHEARER

Newspapers looked much different a century ago as you can see in this 1907 front page from the Lansdale Reporter.
Local news was relegated to the inside pages of the four-page paper while the front page was dominated by local and regional advertisements plus a serial story that often carried on from week to week.
The local news was usually limited to a few paragraphs unless a major event took place like a train wreck or a snowstorm.

05/25/2026

WE ARE AMERICA by Pat Rieker

After the end of WWI in November 1918, the soldiers who returned home to Lansdale vowed to erect a monument to their comrades who had lost their lives in the conflict. Funds were raised through pledges collected entirely from service members. Within a year, a granite marker was ready to be dedicated. It was situated on the lawn of the Hotel Tremont.

The memorial marker was dedicated on the first anniversary of the Armistice. All the merchants in Lansdale agreed to close during the ceremony in honor of the ten young men whose names were engraved on the face of the marker. The service was held in the Music Hall because of rainy weather, but the showers abated long enough for folks to walk over to the Hotel Tremont for the unveiling of the monument. White roses were placed on the ground as the names were read. Following the dedication, Prof. Howard Freed played a selection of patriotic tunes on the steam whistle at the Cox foundry.

A week after the monument was dedicated, it was discovered that another soldier from Lansdale had been killed in action in France. Corrado Sottilo, a native of Italy, had lived on Line St. for five years before entering the Army. His name was immediately added to the marker, but his name was mistakenly reversed and misspelled.

The monument was moved to Memorial Park in 1922.

After today's Memorial Day service, which has been moved indoors to the Penndale Middle School auditorium due to the rainy weather, take a short stroll over to the park and reflect on the names of those eleven young men who were “Our Heroes” of WWI.

Address

137 Jenkins Avenue
Lansdale, PA
19446

Opening Hours

Wednesday	11am - 3pm
Thursday	11am - 3pm
Saturday	9:30am - 12pm

Website

https://lansdalehistoricalsociety.org/

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