Talk:Overbrook Park, Philadelphia

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Overbrook Park was not developed in the 1950's, but in the late 1940's. My parents bought a house there - before any of the houses were actually built - they saw a "sample house." We watched the houses being built month by month from the digging of the basement up. We moved in March of 1947. Our street, Westbury Drive, was complete on both sides as were the houses all around us. However, there were houses being still being built closer to City Line Avenue.

I remember the original Soupio's (I'm not sure how it is spelt - but that's how its pronounced: Soup-ee-o). They were the orginal landowners and the house/mansion was still there and they had numerous horses many of whom were killed in a fire in the stable. There was also a quarry on the other side of 75th Street. And beautiful French lilacs.

Lamberton Elementary School was not as yet built, so we went to Cassidy Elementary School for about a year and half. I was one of the first pupils to walk into brand new Lamberton School.

At first we had no super market - only a drug store in the basement of a house and then a small grocery store in the basement of another house - both on Haverford Ave. as I recall.

I remember the first time I saw our house it only had a big hole in the ground and two rows of bricks. The neighborhood was overwhelmingly Jewish - clean, safe and filled with returning war veterans who got preferential choice of houses. The streets were filled with kids, kids, kids. In the summer we went to the movie on Saturday afternoons, spent 4-5 hours there (only cost a quarter) and we got to sit in the air conditioning and scream ourselves hoarse at the scary parts.

I loved the golf course and spent many many hours walking there and picking violets in the spring. It was a long long time ago............ —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Basheva (talkcontribs).