Delaware
Today in Delaware County history, May 31
100 Years Ago, 1925: The dedication of the new Plush Mill bridge, originally planned for last Armistice Day and which was postponed and scheduled to take place Saturday has been postponed a second time. Last year’s drawback was caused by the delay experienced in preparing the bronze tablets and the second postponement is due to the same cause. Those in charge hope to hold the dedicatory exercises on the coming Armistice Day.
75 Years Ago, 1950: Hundreds of veterans of the Chester Veterans Council, families of the city’s war dead, and spectators, heard Judge Henry G. Sweney, a veteran of World War I, pay the community’s respects to the dead heroes of the nation at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Chester Rural Cemetery Tuesday afternoon. Warmed by a tardy sun, which broke through lowering clouds just as the several-mile-long parade stepped off at Third Street and Highland Avenue at 1.30 p.m., the members paused in reverent commemoration at the monument surrounded by scores of flag-decorated graves.
50 Years Ago, 1975: A work stoppage continues today at Westinghouse Electric Corporation’s Power Generation division, Lester, after 4,000 hourly employees walked off their jobs or refused to report for work Friday. “The whole plant is down,” said a corporate spokesman Friday night. He said the action taken by the members of Local 107, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, is in connection with a three-day disciplinary furlough given to a worker in the heavy machining shop. The Westinghouse spokesman said the worker was given the furlough “for repeatedly violating work rules.”
25 Years Ago, 2000: As the observances of Memorial Day fade into memory, a major supplier of military personnel — the Selective Service System — approaches its 60th birthday. In its initial report card of state-by-state compliance with registration, Pennsylvania had 82 percent of its eligible men registered by the time they turned 20 years old, 1 percentage point below the national average. In Delaware County, 20,886 young men aged 18-25 registered through March 31 out of a total of 504,318 statewide, according to Selective Service spokesperson Lewis Brodsky in Washington,. No breakdown for the percentage of men registered in the county was available, he said.
10 Years Ago, 2015: It was a celebration 125 years in the making in Sharon Hill. A full slate of events was held this weekend to celebrate its landmark anniversary, pulling out all the stops with a parade, a formal banquet and a fireworks show. “It’s a tremendous experience for me,” said Mayor Harry Dunfee, a 55-year resident of the borough.
— COLIN AINSWORTH