West Conshohocken – Looking Back… Could there be gold in them hills and in the river?

West Conshohocken

Looking Back In Honor Of their 150 Years Since Incorporation

Could There Really Be Gold in them Hills and In The River?

By Jack Coll

June 1, 2024

     The borough of West Conshohocken was founded in 1874, and is currently celebrating their Sesquicentennial marking 150 years of incorporation.  The West Conshohocken Sesquicentennial committee led by Mayor Danelle Fournier has scheduled a number of events to be held throughout the year in honor of the borough’s 150^th birthday.

     So, I thought I’d write an article on the borough, nothing too serious, and as I plow through my West Conshohocken files in search of something a little different, I came across an interesting article that ran in the Conshohocken Recorder newspaper on December 30, 1949.  Rather than retell the story, I thought I would rerun the article 75 years later word for word, in honor of the borough’s celebration ENJOY!

Conshohocken Recorder Article December 30, 1949

“Thar’s More Gold In Them Thar West Conshohocken Hills!”

     There’s still some gold in “them thar hills” of West Conshohocken, according to a communication just received from Easton, Pa. by Adolph Vivian, 125 Front Street, West Conshohocken.

     Vivian made the news headlines just two weeks ago, when he found two ten-dollar gold pieces dated 1881 and 1883, as he walked across an abandoned dump, adjacent to his home.  His find followed by two months, the discovery of two silver dollars by his wife, Theresa, in almost the same spot.  Shortly before that, her father Nicholas Sarro, 145 Front Street, who owns the ground, discovered several silver dollars on the same plot.

     In the minor “gold rush” which followed numerous persons sought additional cash at the spot, without luck.  No explanation of the mysterious silver and gold pieces has been forthcoming until todays communication, which may shed some light on the unusual find.  In connection with the Easton theory, Mr. Vivian points out that the spot where the gold and silver pieces recently came to light, is situated atop a steep cliff.  It was quite possible he states that the boys, mentioned in the letter, had attempted to hit the cliff with the unrecognized gold pieces.

THE LETTER:

     Dear Mr. Vivian,

     This is going to sound like a story, but I’ve been hearing it eighteen or nineteen years, and it might uncover the mystery of that money you found.   There is a lot more of that kind of money down in those woods and in the river also.

     When my husband was a small boy, living in West Conshohocken, he and his younger brother were coming home from school one day.  As little boys usually do, they were throwing stones and kicking around in the leaves.  Well, my husband had to pass a big tree which had a big pile of leaves under it.  He kicked the pile and uncovered two money bags.   

     Thirty six or thirty seven years ago, very few children handled money. (referring to 1913-1914)  It wasn’t like today, when almost all babies still in high-chairs know all about it.  Those days my husband used to be sent to the store with the store book, instead of money.  So, as he has told me, he and his brother opened the bags, and one by one got rid of the coins before they got home.

     I believe most of them were sailed out into the river, by the boys.  My husband says he remembers he would say to his brother, to take one of the coins, and he would take one, and they tried to see who could throw them farther.  They would try to hit things with them.

     He says he tried to tell his father about what they had found, but his father was too busy or too tired to listen to him.  One Christmas, a few years later, his father got a ten-dollar gold piece as a gift from the railroad, so he asked his father what it was and his father told him.  Then he told his father that those were the things that were in the two bags they had found, but his father wouldn’t listen to him at the time.  Well, you picture the rest for yourself, the scoldings, kicks in the pants and so on.

     So, the money that you just found might be part of it.  He doesn’t recall any silver coins in the bags, but the gold might have interested him more and he didn’t remember the silver ones.

     The bags may have been hidden under that tree by robbers, and before they had a chance to get back to it, my husband and his brother found them and got rid of them.

     My husband lived in West Conshohocken as a little boy, then lived in Conshohocken and when he was an adult about 17, they moved to Easton.  My husband and some friends have sometimes talked of going out to see if they could find some of the coins they tossed away, but I don’t think he ever will.  We’re too busy just living and working to keep living.  Maybe people, eventually, will find that money just as you did, a few coins at a time.

     My husbands aunt saw the piece in the newspapers about your finding the coins and told my husbands mother.  She had remembered my husband telling the story.  My husband feels pretty sure that what you found must be some of the money and we hope you’ll find more of it.

                                     Yours truly,

                                     Mrs. John Martino

                                     602 Vally St.

                                     Easton Pa.

     So, the question that remains is, Is thar really any more gold still in them thar West Conshohocken hills? Who knows.  But should you find a gold coin or two, it can be traced back more than a century.  So, were the gold coins hidden in West Conshohocken following a bank robbery, perhaps a train robbery?  Train robberies were quite common back around the early part of last century as the many factories and mills in the Conshohocken’s would get the weekly pay-roll cash from banks in Philadelphia and transported by train to the Conshohocken train station.

     Happy Birthday West Conshohocken, enjoy the celebrations!

We wanted to share a few West Conshohocken Photos from our collection with you. Enjoy.

If you want to support an organization near and dear to our heart, the Conshohocken Baseball & Softball League is building a batting cage. It is currently being built and could use some funding to add the netting, astroturf, electric and such. Here is a link to the pavers that will help complete this project:

Conshohocken Baseball & Softball League Buy A Brick Fundraiser – (4everbricks.com)