After the construction of the West Chester Turnpike, the President’s Inn opened in 1806, serving thirsty travelers between Philadelphia and West Chester. The road also attracted stagecoach companies to provide transportation along the route. These companies carried the U.S. mail out from Philadelphia to the small towns along the route, including Edgmont. From the drop-off point, it had to be distributed or held for pickup – and so on February 25, 1823, the Edgmont Post Office was opened, in a store building diagonally across the intersection from the President’s Inn. By then, Hiram Green owned both the inn and the general store. His clerk, Lewis Verdries, ran the store and the post office until his death in 1839. His store ledgers from 1837-1839 found their way to the Chester County Historical Society collection.
The store business along the busy road continued. By 1870, William I. Hopewell owned the store property and was the storekeeper. The 45-year-old widow, Mary D. Pierce, owned the inn property and the property behind the Hopewell store. She was living there with two minor sons, Edgar and Howard. By 1880, both boys were still living with their mother but working the farm. But in 1887, 34-year-old son Edgar saw the opportunity for a career change, and he took over the store and the post office. He became well known and respected in the community and served in those twin capacities until his death in 1922. His daughter Mary had been teaching school but took over the store and post office responsibilities at her father’s death with her husband, Robert B. Smith, all living under the same roof with her mother. She was officially appointed as postmaster in 1931. By 1938, her husband Robert was president of the Edgmont Township board of supervisors. They were the Edgmont “power couple” of the early 20th century until his death in 1950.
A 25-year-old servant girl, Esther Kelso, who started working at the store in 1910 while living with the family, was still living with the widow Mary in 1950, and listed as assistant postmaster.
I have not yet been able to find the rest of the story on Mary or Esther. In 1950, Mary was 67 and Esther was 65. They had been running the store and post office for about 30 years. I imagine everyone in the Edgmont of that time period would have known them. Further research will find when the store was sold, and when it finally closed. Current residents remember the property at that location as the Dairy Queen. Alas, that closed too, replaced by a bank branch, which closed as well. What will come next to that still busy corner?
For more information on the Edgmont Township Historical Society, visit their Facebook page at: https://facebook.com/groups/edgmonthistoricalsociety/