Shown here is the newly built beachfront pavilion in 1911 that Johnson Hughes who lived at 128 Rochelle Avenue in Wissahickon, Pa. was able to develop as a result of receiving free land under the Stone Harbor Bond Plan. The image above is compliments of the Stone Harbor Museum archives and it is with great pleasure and appreciation that we are able to spotlight such photographs. It is however most unfortunate that this grand beachfront pavilion and gathering place on the beach had such a short-lived history. In fact, this pavilion and the associated buildings in the rear designed for changing into bathing attire were all destroyed in the severe winter storm of January 1-3, 1914.
The first part of this account is designed to illustrate various scenes of Hughes’ Bathing Pavilion. Therefore this particular first part will feature 3 very early Stone Harbor post cards, all showing the very popular Bathing Pavilion. Secondly, we will then also look more closely at some very specific and interesting elements of just one of these post cards.
Here we see a vintage post card featuring “The Stone Harbor beach, looking south toward Stone Harbor’s first bathing establishment, the Parkway Casino”.
Yet another view, again looking south, of the new bathing pavilion. Here we see a large crowd of people bathing on the fine beach at 96th Street at Stone Harbor.
Again, and looking southward, this postally used post card entitled “Watching the Races” depicts a “Crowd of enthusiastic sport-lovers viewing Motorcycle Races at Stone Harbor. Finest Beach for this purpose in the world”.
Zeroing in and looking very closely at just a small section of this last image is a cropped portion showing a large crowd including a photographer standing alongside his tripod-mounted camera as well as a rider wearing a white shirt seated on his motorcycle.
Interspersed here are two short newspaper notices that appeared as “Specials to The Philadelphia Inquirer” and reported on July 20, 1911 and August 31, 1912 respectively. The articles are hereby reproduced for you to be able to read for yourself. As you will see both accounts contain information about the growing popularity and the great attraction of motorcycle races being conducted on the Stone Harbor beach front. In fact you will also learn that there were many contestants/entries participating in numerous scheduled motorcycle events not to mention other types of racing including boating regattas on the Great Channel. I hope you find these primary source accounts of interest.
In this next image we see a multitude of spectators enjoying watching the races as portrayed on another old post card titled “Bathing Pavilion and Beach”. The caption appearing on the reverse side of this card states: “View of the Unexcelled Beach at Stone Harbor looking Northeast from the Bathing Pavilion”. Judging from these various captions given above, it is quite apparent that the producers of these post cards sure knew how to publicize and promote Stone Harbor in a most positive and effective manner.
We now turn our attention to the second part of this account which focuses on certain aspects of the photograph presented initially at the outset.
Here we have a cropped background portion of the photograph shown at the beginning of the article. This enhanced view encompasses four early homes built in Stone Harbor between the years 1909 and 1913. Please keep in mind that in the year 1913 alone, nearly 100 such homes were actually constructed. As for these 4 rather imposing homes, they were an important part of the early development plan of Stone Harbor and were all built by members of the Founder’s Syndicate on fully improved lots, that were allotted free, with their purchase of what were known as First Mortgage Beach Front Improvement Bonds. The Founder’s Syndicate was operated by the South Jersey Realty Company which was owned by the Risley brothers of Philadelphia. This famous bond plan promulgated and was even heavily advertised to be the basis for the creation and the development of the “New” resort town of Stone Harbor.
Now look specifically at the above cropped photo and you will see depicted 4 early homes. The 4 buildings will now be identified and a brief bit of historical information will be provided for each structure.
Looking at the home on the far left, we see the large Colonial Revival, shingle-style cottage that was located at First Avenue and 91st Street. This structure was built by the noted Philadelphia attorney named Charles A. Farnum who also worked for the South Jersey Realty Company.
Moving now to the right, the second house was the residence of Charles R. Hall. This home that even had an unattached garage was also located on First Avenue at 91st Street and was situated on an expansive 4-lot parcel of land. As you can readily see, this most distinctive and stuccoed Mediterranean style cottage, stood just one block from the ocean and beach. Sadly, it no longer stands.
The third house from the left was known as the residence of G. Franklin Davis and was located at the corner of First Avenue and 90th Street. Unfortunately, this building no longer stands.
Finally, the fourth large house on the far right is noteworthy because it according to good friend and long-time Stone Harbor resident Graham Hueber was the Seamen and Letzkus Apartment house. Graham indicated that “this house with its arcaded lowest level nearest the beach is now located near Second Avenue next to today’s Colonial Motel on 94th Street”. Graham goes on to say “The story from Jane Letzkus, who was an early founder of the Stone Harbor Museum, was that the Seamen and Letzkus house was heavily damaged by the crippling blizzard and ocean surge of March 19, 1914 and afterward the Letzkus family (also owners of the Stone Harbor Lumber Yard) dragged the building back more than a block, rebuilt the foundation and first floor and it has stood in its current location for over 100 years”.