Traipsing Through the Woods of Tacony
Page from Howell Bickley’s diary, February 4, 1854. From the personal collection of Joseph Jones.
Researcher Joseph Jones recently approached us looking for images of several estates once located in the present-day Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia. We were able to locate an image of the Lardner family farmhouse, shedding light on an 1854 entry in a diary owned by Jones and written by eleven-year-old Howell Bickley, who grew up on a neighboring farm. In the entry, reproduced above, Bickley describes going for a nine-mile walk in the woods in the vicinity of Mr. Lardner’s estate. Upon further research, Jones was able to determine that the Lardner property mentioned was in fact the estate of John Lardner, also known as “Tacony Farm.”
![Co[u]s[in] Mary P. Lardner’s old house & place at Tacony. From river--on boat. May 2, 1885. From the Library Company’s Marriott C. Morris Photograph collection.](http://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/mcm-587-760x600.jpg)
Co[u]s[in] Mary P. Lardner’s old house & place at Tacony. From river–on boat. May 2, 1885. From the Library Company’s Marriott C. Morris Photograph collection.
In the course of his research, Jones has found that there are currently efforts to redevelop the area where the Lardner estate once stood as Lardner’s Point Park.
The Morris family papers found at the Independence National Historic Park include the personal papers of Marriott C. Morris. The archivists currently processing the collection have created a blog documenting highlights of their findings, as well as a link to the finding aid.
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How so much has changed in over 100 years! Good article!
Further research has turned up image from the New York Public Libary collection of the Lardner Mansion. This one is a closer view that dovetails with the one on this blog.
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=168031&imageID=423548&total=4&num=0&word=tacony&s=1¬word=&d=&c=&f=&k=0&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&imgs=20&pos=3&e=r#_seemore
I am still hopeful of finding more surviving pictures of the Tacony properties and of the families who lived there, especially the Bickleys, in the mid-nineteenth century. (Suggestions are welcome)
Joe Jones