A Tree Grows in Broomall

History Spotlight by Doug Humes

Photos courtesy of the Marple Historical Society

The Drove Tavern sat next to the current Armenian Delight store, on the Sproul Road side. The tavern had apparently gotten there first, and so Sproul road simply circled around it. The first building was a log structure, built in 1723, by one of Marple’s early settlers, Jonathan Morris. He used it as the family home, and commuted to work, down the Sproul Road hill to Darby Creek, where he ran a saw mill.

The Tavern in 1900, showing the log structure on the east end

By 1798, Hugh and Rebecca Lownes owned the property, and built a large two-story stone addition to the old log cabin. They applied for a tavern license and opened up the Drove Tavern in 1800. As the name implies, the tavern catered to drovers – men hired by farmers to drive their cattle and other livestock to market. The tavern had pens behind it for the cattle, and ale and lodging inside for the men.

Jonathan Morris probably planted the sycamore tree that appears in the earliest photo of the tavern, and by 1923, that tree was considered ancient. The building owner was planning improvements, and so the 200-year-old tree had to go.

The Drove Tavern building in 1915 with its ancient sycamore tree

It was cut down and dragged in large pieces down the road to Broomall Grove. The huge stump was, however, still in the path of progress. The solution: blow it up with dynamite. What could go wrong?

The explosive was placed under the stump, which was then covered in mud. The fuse was lit, and afterwards, what went up started coming down. A huge portion of the stump crashed through the roof of the Hewston family’s home in Broomall Grove. Another chunk fell on the road in front of Marple Presbyterian Church, just missing Miss Mary Long, who was entering the church.

A 1973 re-telling of this 1923 account attached several legends to the tree: a horseshoe that George Washington drove into the tree on his way to Valley Forge; and a “hollow” that Sandy Flash hid in when being pursued. Neither of those stories ring true. I can’t find the original account of the incident. And yet the tree is there in all early photos, and then gone when the storefront has been stuccoed.

The old tavern buildings in 1954, blocking the road next to today’s Armenian Delight

And the dynamite story? It certainly describes how men think. A key witness, the tavern, was demolished in 1955, and took all of its stories with it. But this tree story was too good not to pass along!

For more on the history of Marple, visit the Marple Historical Society website and Facebook page, and join the Society, to keep up to date on coming events.

www.MarpleHistoricalSociety.org