Abstract:
Facetiously called “Marathon” by a famous author and resident, Wyncote is a close-in suburb of Philadelphia. The area was discovered in the late nineteenth century by wealthy industrialists and capitalists who made it the first outpost of the Gilded Age. From bee-keepers to international bankers, entrepreneurial congressmen to dabblers in the novel sport of professional baseball, this is the story of the millionaires – followed by more ordinary citizens – who 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.”