Merion in autumn, 1922

[John Burnes]

Maybe you guys saw this already, but came across it doing some research..really cool image of the course in '22 and rare by the date of things.

http://twitpic.com/d30ryf

[DMoriarty]

Thanks for posting.  I don't think I have seen that particular image.

How sure are you of the date?   Looking at the course and the state of construction in the surrounding neighborhood, I'd guess that it looks contemporaneous (or perhaps slightly after) photos from the Hagley Collection dated 1925.

Also, do you have a source or a link or perhaps a higher resolution image?   I am looking at where the old 10th green should be, and I can't make it out, but perhaps it is the resolution. (It was still clearly visible in the Hagley images marked 1925.)

Again, thanks for posting. 

[John Burnes]

On the back of the image, is a stamp printed "September, 1922."  It is part of the Phila Aero Collection as that is stamped on it as well.  I live in the Philly area and have seen the Hagley stuff (cool collection).  I noticed alot of their stuff is mid to late 20's and that is why this image stood out for me (also the angle on which it was shot).

I am working on a different project, with a slight connection to Merion, and was attempting to show the time period for context of the era while purusing the collection.  I merely stumbled upon this stuff.

You could be right, it might be later than '22 and the person who marked it made a mistake (we'll never know).  But the image is in a book of images that are sequential in nature, the preceeding image before this one, is of Haverford College (of the same vintage, marked '22) and the image after it is of the Delaware River Bridge (now known as the Ben Franklin Bridge).

Why that is significant is that contruction began on the bridge in January of '22 and finished in '26.  I took these images with my iphone but happen to have my portal scanner with me too (which I did scan them).  If you PM me your email address, once I download them, I can send to you.  Again, I am not sure of the quality because I was scanning blind (no laptop with me).

Ben Bridge here:

http://twitpic.com/d34sxm

[DMoriarty]

Thanks for the information.  It sounds to me like there is good reason to be pretty confident in the September 1922 date.

[ChipOat]

The "new" 10th - 13th are fully in play in this picture.

I thought that didn't happen until mid-to-late 1923 - the year before the Amateur.

However, I could be mistaken.

[DMoriarty]

Chip,

By various newspaper accounts I think the land was acquired in 1922 and construction started sometime in late 1922. 

As I explained to John in a message offline, I think perhaps the date on the image may be mistaken after all.  I've compared the surrounding development in the Aero image to that in the Hagley images, and it seems that this photo was taken after those marked "1925" in the Hagley Collection.  I can't vouch for the accuracy of the Hagley dates any more than I can the Aero date, but 1924-1926 seems to better fit the timeline of the creation of those golf holes and some of the other details in the photo.