This event has been postponed. It will be rescheduled sometime in the fall of 2012.
Co-sponsored by the Roxborough-Manayunk-Wissahickon Historical Association
The Schuylkill Center's 365 acres were donated as a nature center by two branches of Henry Howard Houston's extensive family tree, the Smiths and the Meigs. By the turn of the century, the family had amassed 5,000 acres of property from Chestnut Hill to Roxborough and into Whitemarsh. Houston's original vision, shared by his son Sam, was to build a major road from Chestnut Hill to Roxborough, then on across a proposed bridge over the Schuylkill and into the Main Line. Mysteriously, the bridge never happened. Why? Binney Meigs, trustee at the Schuylkill Center and grandson of the land's donor, presents his extensive research into what might have happened. It's a great story that includes other surprises. (Hint: the United Nations is involved!)
short version:
The Schuylkill Center's 365 acres were donated as a nature center by two branches of Henry Howard Houston's extensive family tree, the Smiths and the Meigs. But Houston's original turn-of-the-century vision for the land called for development, not preservation. Binney Meigs, Schuylkill Center trustee and grandson of the land's donor, presents his extensive research into those early plans and the vicissitudes of fortune and family that led to the Center's creation. It's a great story full of surprises.
