The I. Frank Lees Collection forms the backbone of the collections of the Media Historic Archives Commission, and is its reason for being. MHAC--an official arm of the Media, Pennsylvania government--was created to administer a collection of photographs and other material which I. Frank Lees (1919-1999), a lifelong resident, donated to the borough in 1981. The collection contains roughly 15,000 items, including the more than 1,800 photographs which are presented here. More photographs from this collection, and from other collections donated after Lees' death in 1999, will be added to this site in the future.
THANKS TO
- Chris Welc, for scanning more than 1,000 photographs in the photograph folders that Frank Lees had created. and for creating the first version of the Excel spreadsheet that became the basis of the catalog records on this site.
- Adam Levine scanned hundreds more photographs, fleshed out the photograph descriptions, and created the final metadata now attached to each image.
- Media Borough Council approved the purchase of a new computer and scanners for MHAC, and funded the creation and upkeep of this website.
Spatial Coverage
Media, Pennsylvania and vicinity, as well as other locations (including the Panama Canal Zone) related to Media people.
Caption on reverse: Car No. 27 was made by the Jewett Car Company equipped for train operation. They had high back leather seats of the reclining type. This type car was placed in operation 1902 to 1913 incl. They were used on the Ardmore, Media, and Sharon Hall divisions. Frank Lees caption, on folder, indicates that this was "the first trolley type used on Media Line."
Councilman A. Shelby Martin, second from left, chairman, Media Bicentennial Commission. Other people, probably other members of the commission, not identified.
Frank Lees caption reads in part: Sweeney's Market once occupied [this corner]. When Bill Battey's Sporting Goods remodeled the building they uncovered this advertisement on the side of the building. After the photograph was taken, they covered the sign up again. Date is of the print; photograph may be older.
Untitled panoramic photograph showing large crowd gathered for what looks like a political event, perhaps the visit of the U.S. President. A large factory is on left, houses in the middle, and what appears to be a train station is on the left. Original was rolled and broke into several sections when unrolled. These pieces were scanned individually and reassembled using Adobe Photoshop.
Frank Lees caption: "The Union Railway Company, was formed in Chester in 1890. The intentions were to build an electric railway from Linwood, through Chester, and into Media. This never came to be. Eventually the company did run cars into Marcus Hook, car #13 shown here, was the first car into Marcus Hook. Eventually they succeeded in running a line into Eddystone and then into Upland. " Copy of original photo; source not noted