Letter: Resident comments on plans for “pocket park”
There is a move on in Moorestown to develop a pocket park at the corner of main Street and High Street — right in the center of the downtown. It is offered as a scenic replacement for the gas station and auto repair shop that long sat on this site. Margo Foster is the originator of this idea and, along with others, wishes to enhance the park with a statue of a Percheron horse. There are several good points for giving serious consideration to this idea.
In 1839 the Percheron was introduced to the United States, right here in Moorestown, from France, by Edward Harris, a gentleman farmer who once lived in the house, which is now the home of the Historical Society of Moorestown. Through the years the Percheron – very big, very strong — became America’s farm horse.
I myself recall childhood visits to a local farm owned by Joe and Binnie Doppler. While my sister and I played in the hayloft, Joe was plowing his fields with horses. No tractor for Joe. A gift of nature, the horses were mightily strong, manageable at their tasks, and placid in disposition.
Those were the days before families had two or three cars. Some families had no cars. But, in the countryside, horses were a regular sight. In Philadelphia, horses still pulled delivery wagons.
In addition to the farm horse, there was another common farm animal — the mule. My dad told the story of Asa Roberts who farmed on Stanwick Avenue. Asa bought a number of mules from the mid-west. They were delivered to Moorestown by train. Feisty creatures, while being unloaded from the train next to Third Street, they got out of hand and ran away. It was a child’s delight to see the adults trying to round up the escaped mules — a western scenario in an eastern town.
But, getting back to horses, another reason to instill a life-sized statue of a Percheron is the artistic value. A grand sculpture of a magnificent animal is uplifting. It takes us out of ourselves. We can see the power and beauty of nature’s creation.
Unique local history, a reminder of pre-industrial Moorestown and American, and beauty are, I believe, valid reasons to install a statue of the Percheron horse. You will love it.
-Ann Condon
