|
Lukens
Station
Jonathan Lukens donated land a few hundred yards from the saw
mill for a train depot on the new rail line. (It would be nice
to know if he also donated the wood, but this is not known.) The
depot was located close to where the railroad tracks crossed the
main street, making a trip from the saw mill to the train depot
a very easy one. When the line opened in 1873 this depot (one of ten stops on the Stony Creek line) was
“Lukens Station”, situated between "Acorn Station" and "Kneedler
Station"
1877
Map showing "Lukens Station" along the Stony Creek
Rail Line.
The saw mill, between Lukens and Kneedler, is marked "J
Lukens S.M."
Next stop after Kneedler's was Lansdale. North Wales is to the upper
right.
The Village
is Born
Almost immediately after Lukens Station was established a
village began to grow around it. Two businessmen from
North Wales, Elias Freed and Henry Moyer, built four hay houses
and a feed mill on a street near the railroad tracks.
Because this complex stood to the west of their main business in
North Wales, they named the mill building “West Point
Feed House”.
Letterhead of the West Point Feed Store. The address across the
lower part is "Lukens Station, S.C.R.R (Stony Creek
Rail Road)." Moyer is accepting an offer for two (train) cars of
bran mill. "Ship at once."
In 1874 Samuel Kriebel bought a
vacant lot from Jonathan Lukens for $225 and built a large
three story building which housed a tavern and general store.
Kriebel also purchased seven acres of the Jones Farm for
$2228 and built the "Grove Hotel." Jonathan Lukens built a feed warehouse that same year. A coal,
grain and feed dealership were built by Samuel Kriebel and
William Heebner. In 1875 three houses were built. Two more houses were added in 1876 and another
three in 1877. In 1878 Abraham L. Reiff owned a steam flouring
mill and Aaron Kriebel had a coal and lumber yard as well as a
planing mill.
In 1878 a post office was
opened in the general store. The
village had no official name, but had been called both
"Lukens Station" and "West Point"
for about two years. The name
"West Point" was chosen for the Post Office, making
the name official. That same year, Jonathan Lukens sold the saw
mill to Rebecca Thomas, wife of Allen Thomas, for $2,200. One
must wonder whether Lukens would have sold the mill if the name
of the village had remained "Lukens Station", or if the timing
was merely a coincidence. At any rate, Lukens didn't live in the
village. The Lukens family lived three miles away on a farmstead
near Sumneytown Pike and Swedesford Road, named the
Meredith House by historian Howard Jenkins.
By the year
1880 the area was becoming more populated. Hosea Kriebel and
William Heebner started
the "West Point Engine and Machine Company" in a little building
on the main street. Zieber’s Park, located within walking distance of the train
station, was seeing a thousand visitors a month.
Amos Jones, owner of the Jones Farm, passed away
on April 3, 1880 at age 85.
|
History
Previous
Page