Aldan American Legion Post 1000

The Aldan American Legion Post was formed in 1947, a few years after the second world war. It has served the community faithfully opening up their hall for events such as the 4th of July celebration. They need the community's help now. Their roof is leaking badly. They have a temporary replacement but they need a new roof soon.

Won't you consider coming to their beef and beverage on September 26th....? Good time for a good cause...$25 individual....$40 couple.....at the Post home on Bonsall Avenue

Aldan Sun-Learning about the history of Aldan through the pages of a newsletter

When I first started researching Aldan history, I noticed the binder of newsletters in the small museum pictured here. It used to be a trolley stop, but after Aldan's Centennial in 1993 the historical commission and the borough decided to buy the trolley stop and convert it into the museum.

The 102 trolley line seen here still runs regularly down Woodlawn Avenue to 69th Street Transportation Center. The trolley stop was established August 1906 as part of the "Collingdale" line and featured state of the art trolleys that ran every 15 to 20 minutes. In the background is Aldan Elementary School, established September 1895 in approximately the same location which I learned while reading back issues of the Aldan Sun. These issues have now all been scanned into PDFs, and I'm working to get them easily accessible either through the Delaware County website or through the Aldan Borough website.

Celebrating 120 years as a borough

I admit that I usually go to Founder's Day for the free hamburgers, but this year I also visited the Colonial Playhouse table (seen here). The theater has been around since 1940 at the same location on Magnolia Avenue. It is a bit hard to find, tucked away as it is in a residential neighborhood...yet at the same time being in a residential neighborhood does have its advantages. You don't get the feeling you usually get when going to the theater in the city, you know the one....when you're looking over your shoulder to see if anyone's following you. At the same time you also have the feeling that you're with family enjoying entertainment like they had back in the day. It's a good feeling.                                                  

Here is the picture of the barbecue. Line forms to the left. The hamburgers, chips and drinks are all donated by the borough and local businesses.  I always appreciate the time and effort that goes into this. It does draw a lot of people.                      

Aldan Union Church- A bulwark of the Community

Founded: July 14, 1915, The church met at Neighbor's Hall until the Church of Christ building on Woodlawn Avenue vacated in 1920.

By 1922, the congregation had grown out of the small building and a lot became available on Providence Road and Clifton Avenue.

In this photograph from 1990, you can see how huge the congregation had become since 1915.

Welcome to Aldan Borough's History

Starting this week, I'll be posting some small tit bits of Aldan History that I've collected so far. The project I'm currently working on is scanning Aldan Sun newsletters, so I'll be sharing those tit-bits that I get from them for now.

No pictures yet....but maybe I'll have some soon. I know that there has to be more information out there that is buried about Aldan. It will take a lot of digging to find it before it disappears forever.