The following paragraph appeared in the first edition of the North Wales Record, August 8, 1874: “During the present summer the North Pennsylvania Railroad Company have increased their rolling stock by the addition of a number of handsome passenger coaches. The new cars are not only models of beauty, but also of comfort. The interiors are handsomely frescoed and the paneling is of polished walnut. They are also much larger than the old cars and are furnished with marble-top stationery wash-stands at each end. We have also been informed that the company intends running this style of cars over the Stony Creek Railroad, and that they will be placed on the line in the fall.”
Sensing the noise that usually precedes a Fourth of July, North Wales Borough Council on June 3, 1878 passed the following resolution: “‘that all persons be cautioned against firing any gun, or other fireworks within the Borough of North Wales at any time other than the 4th day of July as the same is a violation of a state law and all persons offending are liable to a prosecution, and if convicted, forfeit and pay five shillings for every such offense, and on refusing to pay the same to undergo an imprisonment for the space of forty-eight hours in the county jail.”
The following is a report of the property taxable for borough purposes in 1878, at the rate of four and one-half mills:
| Improved Real Estate | $175,956.00 |
| Unimproved Real Estate | 6,757.00 |
| Yearly Income | 17,155.00 |
| Horses (48) valued at | 2,370.00 |
| Cows (6) valued at | 170.00 |
| Carriages (27) valued at | 1,530,00 |
| Total | $203,938.00 |
The clatter of the galloping feet of a run-away horse and the resounding crash when horse and buggy collided with a lamp post, resulted in the following motion on July 1, 1878: “On motion resolved that a bill of damages be presented and collected from John Markley for lamps broken on Shearer street by the running away of a horse in charge of W. Weber, an employee of said Markley.”
That council took excellent care of the lodgers in the lock-up [borough jail] is evidenced by the following notation in the minutes: “Doctor W. E. Ely presented a bill of one dollar for medical attention and medicine for T. Boyd, an inmate of the lock-up on the 26th of February 1879, which, on motion, was paid.”
On December 6, 1880, council passed a resolution which was an attempt to correct a very dangerous condition that existed at that time at the crossing of Main street by the railroad. The resolution reads: “Resolved that the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company be notified to extend their culvert on Second street in the borough of North Wales to a length sufficient to make it safe from accidents in crossing over the same, and that the action of the Grand Inquest of the County of Montgomery recommending a flagman to be stationed at Main street where the North Penn Railroad crosses the same in said borough to avert the imminent danger which persons crossing said road at that point are daily subjected to, be complied with by said railroad company without further notice or unnecessary delay.”
On April 4, 1881, a petition was presented to council for the extension of the borough limits, and a public meeting was called on Monday evening, April 11, 1881, in Kiles Hall, to take into consideration the propriety of such an extension. There is no record in the minutes of the action of this public meeting.
The town well pump again occupied the attentions of council, when September 5th, 1881, “a petition praying the town council to put new floor on and a good pump on the well between Kiles Hotel and Harley’s store [Lumber Street], and in case the well should not prove sufficient, then at the earliest date possible enlarge and deepen it until it will be sufficient for all public purposes at the expense of the taxpayers, was presented, and on motion received and resolved that a new floor be put on and a new pump be put in said well, as prayed for by the petitioners and that no water be taken therefrom for any other than culinary purposes, except by those having permission to do so by deed, and in case of fire, and that the pump be so constructed as to take the water out to within eighteen inches from the bottom of the well.
Desirous of keeping pace with the progress of the times, Borough Council changed the construction of all pavements by the following ordinance adopted on April 3, 1882 “That all new pavements shall be of brick, slate or stone, with proper curbing, and no stone to be laid less than two feet square with a smooth surface, and that all board [wood] pavements in said borough upon becoming dilapidated and requiring new string pieces, shall be removed and replaced with brick, slate or stone.”
On August 7, 1882, a petition was presented to council for the enacting of an ordinance prohibiting fowls from running at large in the borough. This petition was laid over for action at the next meeting.
The result of tree limbs overhanging the streets was evidenced at the September 4, 1882 meeting of council when Hunter Van Leer presented a bill of two dollars due by him to Sylvester Bright for repairing a carriage which was injured in contact with a limb in the borough, and claimed that the borough should pay the same. This bill was paid by council on October 16, 1882.
This post is sourced from a column entitled Early North Wales: Its History and Its People penned by long-time North Wales resident historian Leon T. Lewis. The article appeared in its original form in the September 22, 1959 issue of the North Penn Reporter