Now, wandering back to Sewell Rd., we had plenty to explore in our own area. To the south, all there was were woods, pre Brentwood Park. Sewell Rd. went dead at the foot of the block. Weldon Rd. connected Sewell with Stevens Rd. Stevens was a paved road from Byberry to Weldon, then went to dirt. There were 3 houses on Stevens back then, with old lady Young's house being the biggest and spookiest. It was a big, white Tudor style house, while ours were tiny Cape Cod style. Young's house was already old, probably 19th century, and it had a monstrous sycamore tree in the front yard, and a barbed wire fence on the sides and back of the property. She had a couple adult sons and we immediately branded her as a "Ma Barker", with her and her sons being crazy and mean. What was amazing was...we made up all these outrageous "legends", but after a time we believed them. It was unfair to the people on the receiving end, but it was great fun for us.

There was a rotted, rather thick, fallen tree in the lot behind my friend Lee's house. We called this the "rocket ship",and we would make believe we were flying it into outer space. We would also crouch behind it and "spy" on old lady Young's house, making up wild stories about her, her sons, and the many shotguns, tommy-guns, and the devious plans they were brewing up. A few yards from the "rocket ship" was a pile of brush we called the "hornet's nest" and we avoided it religiously. There was a huge nest of hornets every spring and summer and we took notice.

Down at the end of the paved portion of Stevens Rd., where the road turned into dirt, was an old barn and the remains of an old house. Only now do I know what their origins were. They were the clubhouse and barn for the Fairgrounds racetrack. They were bat-filled, spooky structures...just made for a bunch of goofs like us. The barn was falling apart and the old unreinforced masonry of the old house was crumbling, but we played Alamo and Elfego Baca til we were exhausted. Storms and time eradicated these landmarks, but you can see them in the full size 1928 Fairgrounds pic (above). The woods behind here were our shortcut to Bustleton Ave. and Lumar Shopping Center. When they finished the Brentwood Park development, they paved Stevens Rd. and we had a straight bike or auto route to Tomlinson Rd. and the Acme.

A real big thrill was a trip downtown. I don't remember taking the El, as there was no reason. We grabbed the Reading Line at Somerton Station. The West Trenton Local would whip us into town, coming to rest in the giant shed (headhouse) in the Reading Terminal. The Horn & Hardart Automat was a real trip. I remember thinking that all the food was made automatically, all the pie was cut automatically, etc. In my 6 or 7 year old mind, there was a gargantuan Rube Goldberg contraption churning out sandwiches, cake, pie, soup. The day I looked in one of the little compartments and saw a middle aged lady with too much lipstick looking back at me, with a piece of boston cream pie in her hand, was the last time the Automat held any truck with me.

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