In the video above, Herman Rademacher talks about some of the owners and uses of the property previously belonging to The Chester Institute. It had been used as a boarding house, a school for girls, the home of former Mayor Budd, and the first home of Mangels’ Candy. Budd had mining interests in Chester during the 1860s. Later, it served as a nursing home. The owners of the nursing home demolished the building, cleared the woods, and created Grogan’s Pond, which is where the Shoprite shopping center is located today.

The postcard shown below the video documents the land and structure when it was used as the Chester Institute. The majority of the image features tall evergreen trees obscuring the building. A wooden double swing can be seen in the lower left quadrant of the image.

Video transcription available here: Chester Institute Video Transcription.

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Exhibit Publication Date: Published in 2015. ©Copyright Chester Public Library