Rita's is one of the hot spots in the heart of the Ambler borough during the hot summer season. But what was there before Rita's came into town?
Rumor has it there was a fish market located on the corner of Butler and Ridge Avenues. Was it true?
Henry Sluttler
The home that stood where the Ambler Theater currently stands belonged to a carriage maker named Henry Slutter (1838-1913). Born near the Montgomery and Bucks counties line, he was a wheelwright in trade, and was employed in both counties in Hatboro, Plumsteadville, and other places. He then formed a partnership with Sylvester Bright in North Wales in the early 1870s until their partnership dissolved. Henry ended up finding shops in Spring House to work at until landing a permanent position and home in Ambler in 1878.
It was the third house built on the 10 acres of land owned by Charles Shoemaker at the time. Henry purchased 100 feet on Butler Avenue from Charles for $1,000. After selling his home to Dr. Albanus Styer, he bought more ground from Charles Shoemaker on Butler Avenue for $500. On that property, he built his home and workshop. He continued the carriage-making business until 1907, selling his business to Arthur R. Hayden.
Joseph S. Angeny, Jr.
While Henry Slutter was running his carriage-making business, druggist Joseph S. Angeny, Jr. (1865-1950) ran his pharmacy in the Ambler Opera House since July 28, 1888. Joseph graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1888, and immediately began his practice in Ambler.
Fun Fact #1 : Joseph's younger brothers Ferdinand ('90) and Granville ('92) also graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.
In 1904, he relocated his pharmacy to the former Sunnyside Academy building on Butler Avenue and Main Street.
Fun Fact #2 : In 1903, he patented a label for "Chlorodyne Plaster".
In the early 1910s, Joseph moved again to Butler and Ridge Avenues where a large building was built for his drug store and other stores.
At one point a gas service pump and tank was placed at the lot, and it stayed there for a long time.
Meyers' Dairies
Everything starts to change when longtime Ambler resident Gernard F. Meyers (1886-1943) purchased the former Angeny lot in the 1920s. He transformed the old Slutter frame shop into his dairy factory, known as Meyers' Dairies.
Bibliography
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"Gernard F. Meyers Laid To Final Rest." Ambler Gazette. March 18, 1943. Page 1. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/wivp-gazett/id/19455/rec/2.
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History of Monmouth County, New Jersey 1664-1920, Volume 3. (New York and Chicago: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1922): 263.
Hough, Mary P. H. "Early history of Ambler 1682-1888." A Celebration of Women Writers. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hough/ambler/ambler.html.
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Mueller, A. H. Atlas of the North Penn Section of Montgomery County, Pa., Plate 26, 1916.
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I love learning the history of the individual buildings on Butler. There has been talk and work in favor of putting up historic markers throughout Ambler. What a great idea. Thanks, Yen.