“Making Marathon: A History of Early Wyncote”

 Facetiously called “Marathon” by a famous author and resident, the area was discovered in the second half of the nineteenth century by wealthy industrialists and capitalists who made it the first Gilded Age suburb. This lecture follows the development of the land from William Penn’s green countryside, through Gilded Age resort, to the village for “the rest of us.” Nationally known bee-keepers, international bankers, entrepreneurial congressmen and dabblers in the novel sport of professional baseball made the community we know as Wyncote today. They flocked to the new village for the clean air, lush landscapes, and picturesque rolling countryside that promised “calm contentment and restful influences of country homes.”