April

In keeping with tradition, Springfield Rotary was pleased to welcome back Ed Zwicker, President of the Springfield Township Historical Society. Zwicker is the well known publisher of several pictorial histories of Springfield Township which he co-authored with his brother. During his recent visit, Zwicker took Rotarians on a journey back to October 8th, 1921 to the “grand opening” of sorts of Whitemarsh Hall or otherwise known as the Edward Stotesbury Estate. Over 800 guests attended the gala, a celebration of the completion of the hall which was a belated wedding gift to his second wife Eva. The glorious building which had three stories underground and three stories above ground, held an astonishing 1000,000 square feet. It took several years and millions of dollars to construct and was filled with a plethora of European antiques and artifacts. A before and after pictorial revealed the downfall of the ” Versailles of the America’s”. It was demolished on May 1st, 1980 to make way for what is now the Stotesbury Townshomes.