Refreshment Stand

At one time this was listed as a Refreshment Stand, I have talked to the present owner of the property, they have no knowledge of what the building was used for, it is locked and they have never been in it.   I talked to some folks a little older than I and they remember it as a Hot Dog/Hamburger Stand, being a Drive-In type establishment selling Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Sodas, and Milk Shakes.  They said it was quite busy, mainly for those returning to Trenton, from the shore.

On May 30 1948, Mr. Louis Mason of Yardville – Allentown Road, Yardville was issued a building permit to construct a garage.

On Tuesday March 2, 1949, Louis Mason of Yardville was issued a permit to use a building on his property as a refreshment stand.  In the Mason decision the board included the proviso that should the stand become a nuisance the permit can be revoked by either the Zoning Board or the Township Committee.
This is how the building, located on the Yardville - Allentown Road, near the intersection of the Groveville - Allentown Road looks today.

Mr. Mason passed away in 1986, His wife passed away in 1985, he was listed as a tailor with Donnelly Men's Store, in Trenton.  Mr. Mason had a son of the same name.

Anyone having any Information on this I would appreciate it, shoot me an Email at Gary401@aol.com.

Well I asked on Face Book if anyone had any memories and information on this place, this is what I received, great job people;

Christine Coughlin Estwan commented; Christine wrote: "That is really nice to know, they were my parents neighbors, my mom always took clothes to him for repair!"

Glenn Scotti commented; Glenn wrote: "It was Shady Oaks. It also had pinball machines that we played for hours. The owner was an elderly gentleman who tolerated us as long as he could. The fruit stand down the road was Mr. Senf's. His two sons George and Fred would work there sometimes. We played Hide and seek all the time around the farm. Great days indeed!!"

Debby Lyons Muench commented; Debby wrote: "I remember. it was a real treat to stop there on a hot summer day and there was a produce stand on the road before that that we frequented"

George Senf commented; George wrote: "I remember the place. I can't remember the name of it. I think Shady something. Maybe Shady Oaks but really not sure. It was open in the late 50s and early 60s. If Glen Scotti reads this he will remember."

Mark Yaple commented; Yes I do it was called “The Shady Oak” or something like that.

Gladys Marsh commented; Gladys wrote: "yes I remember the hot dog stand we used to go there all the time. It wasn't too far from our house"

Barry Raymond Parks commented; Barry wrote: "Remember it well my father always took us there"

Elaine Harvey Kennedy commented; Elaine wrote: "I remember it!"

The Owl House

Much of this information gathered and written in 1914, The Owl House is located on the East Side of Route 156, then the Yardville - Bordentown Road, at the intersection of the Yardville – Allentown Road.  The top photo was taken in 1914, the bottom photo is the house today.

Visitors to Yardville have an opportunity to see two of the most unique homes in the State of New Jersey, homes that are virtually hand-carved.  They are the properties of William H. Mount, the Postmaster and George DeVennaville Keim, a nephew of Joel Middleton.  The last named did the carving in both instances.

The Keim home is the more extensively carved because it was the homestead of the Middleton who died about 10 years ago.  Middleton a cabinet maker by trade, was a very handy man and spent all of his spare time in carving, painting and drawing, although he was never taught the arts.

The Keim Home, the picture of which is picture here, was an old fashioned homestead, without any veranda or front porch, Middleton, conceiving the idea th4 idea that the house would be greatly improved by the addition of a carved veranda and cornice, set out to do the work.  Days and nights were consumed by his carving wood by hand and in piece-meal style.  When he had completed his labors, he erected the porch and placed a new cornice around the building.

When finished, the exterior o0f the house presented a fine appearance.  In fact his work was so praiseworthy that it attracted the attention of the residents of the vicinity.  As a result Mr. Mount had Mr. Middleton do some work on his property?  Over the center of the Keim home is carved an owl, surrounded by bunches of grapes, acorns, and leaves.  Directly above the owl or on the angle of the roof is carved a Sea Dragon.  The cornice of the house is carved with leaves.

In the interior, the skill of Mr. Middleton is illustrated.  On the walls are numerous color painting of scenes in that vicinity and also of gunners with their dogs in the field.  One view, in particular, a view of Lakeside Park, in two parts, showing the mansion house and the old barn, that was recently torn down to make way for modern improvements, this attracts the favorable attention of visitors.

Having been a cabinet maker, Mr. Middleton constructed many pieces of furniture.  A Parlor Table, Book Case, and a Bedroom Suit are evidence of his skill in that line.  In addition to having been talented in the art of painting and carving, Mr. Middleton was somewhat of a cartoonist.  His drawings found a ready market.

He was also an Undertaker and years before he died he made his own coffin.  Before his demise, however, it was destroyed and Mr. Middleton was buried in a more modern casket.

For some reason Mr. Middleton never named his homestead.  At one time he started to carve some words on the side of the house, but after he had “The” finished, he quit.

Edmond Middleton, a relative and Episcopal Clergyman, spent many of his younger days at the house and found enough material for a fiction story from among the charters in the vicinity.  The title of his story was “Gaskill’s Gold Mine”.  The story of a Yardville resident, believing he had found a gold mine in the rear of his house, had employed an expert mining engineer from New York to make soundings.  The near-discoverer had a golden haired young woman in is house and the engineer decided that she was the only gold mine in the village.

In carving the piece for his home, Mr. Middleton was assisted by his nephew, Mr. Keim, then a boy.  Mr. Keim has a number of paintings about the home that he has executed himself.

Sunnybrae Country Club

A question was raised on Face Book about the Sunnybrae Country Club, for those that don’t know this was located in Yardville on South Broad Street where now you find Dover Manor Homes, Dover Apartments, Sunnybrae Gardens Apartments and the Dover Manor Shopping Center.  This prompted a little research;

The Sunnybrae Country Club opened in the 1920's as The Mercer County Golf Cub, in March of 1933 the name was changed and in April, 1933 it reopened as the Sunnybrae County Club.  Among the many amenities advertised there were a Club House, a Restaurant & Bar and Beach Swimming.  On July 16, 1948 a large fire consumed a barn full of hay belonging to the Totten Hay Company of Yardville, and equipment belonging to the Club was destroyed, this was adjacent to the Club House.  The fire was fought by the White Horse, Groveville, DeCou, and Rusling Hose Fire Companies.  In March 1952 it was announced the Club and the 271 acres of golf course had been sold and would be closing.  Three days later they announced they had gotten the OK to start building, in 1956 they began to sell homes.  I can pick out two guys in this photo, Jim Donnell and Eddie Klink.

The Lakeside Community Center

I know I am streching the boundaries of a Groveville Memories Blog, but I find this photo so nice I had to find room for it.

Russ Anson; I took this photo in 1953 of the Lakeside Park Community Center across the street from my home then at 142 Lakeside Blvd. I was 12 years old at the time and learned to develop my own film in my bathroom darkroom.

Yardville in the 60's and 70's

There is a Face Book Group called "Yardville in the 60's and 70's, sharing memories of times growing up during that era, these are great groups, a lot of modern and some old hsory are learned and shared on these pages, thinkiing that this may still be here when the face Book pages are gone I will post the information I find interesting here.

One story started with somone discovering a rusted sign on a pole on Kim Valley Road, Behind the 7-11, at South Broad Street, after discussion this was the sign for American Paint Factory, this was located in the remaining building of the Mack Toy Works and was destroyed by a gas explosion and fire on May 21, 1974.  Now a little History;

American Paint Factory building was originally part of a complex of 3 or 4 buildings, it was the last one standing, it was part of the Mack Toy Works Company, which later became Mack Dinette Company. The company owners home was at the corner of Highland Avenue and South Broad Street, the one on the hill across form the Baptist Church. In the 1960's Broad Street was moved or realigned, it used to be closer to Dover Plaza and The Dover Apartments, which were not there at the time. Broad Street made a hard bend where it intersected with Sunnybrae Blvd., the road to the Sunnybrae Golf Course Club House and Restaurant. They moved it closer to where the 7-11 is now, to soften the bend. The Mack Toy buildings were not as close to the road as they now seem.

Another little fact, the house next to the Rite Aid Pharmacy was not originally there, when they built Yardville Estates, they needed and entrance into the complex, so they put in Winding Way, but there was a house where they proposed to intersect it with South Broad Street, so they moved the house to its present location, next to Mack Toy Works, now Rite Aid.