Tell us a little about your community, your historic resources, your greatest challenges, and any tips you may have for dealing with them.
Collingdale is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,786, at the 2010 census, 502 above the 1940 count of 8,162. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2), all of it land. Frank Kelly is serving his twelfth consecutive four-year term as Mayor of Collingdale. He has served over 47 consecutive years as Mayor of Collingdale. This is the longest consecutive Mayoral term in the history of Pennsylvania. A significant portion of Collingdale's area is made up of four cemeteries, three of which are active. Eden Cemetery is an African-American cemetery, where many notable persons are buried, including singer Marian Anderson, physician Rebecca Cole, and civil rights activist Octavius Catto. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.[9] Har Zion Cemetery and Mt. Lebanon Cemetery are Jewish cemeteries. The fourth, an American Civil War-era cemetery, has been maintained by a local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post.
Collingdale has a relatively new historical society, founded several years ago by a small band of history minded residents led by Elizabeth Maguire. Here is where to find them:
Collingdale History Society
P.O. Box 14
Sharon Hill, PA 19079
Website: www.collingdalehistorysociety.webs.com
Email: collingdalehistory@gmail.com
Phone:
Contact: Elizabeth MacGuire, President
Purpose: local history society
Their current challenges: Wawa wants to build one of their mega-stores in the middle of the community, tearing at the old fabric of the community to do so. This is the struggle we all face – tearing down the old to build the new. There is value to both efforts. What should be preserved? Just homes linked to famous people? Historic districts? Or perhaps intact neighborhoods with beautiful old housing and retail stock? Each community has to decide that question – and our role as preservationists is to make sure our side of the story is told. That’s where an extended group like this – all of the history minded people of the county – can come together and help each other. Share ideas. If you faced this same issue in your community recently, what did you do, and what do you think worked and what did not work? If you have ideas, share them with Elizabeth, or with the whole group.