Rash's Surname Index
Notes for George Brooke ROBERTS
George Brooke Roberts (January 15, 1833 - January 30, 1897) was a civil engineer and the 5th president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (1880–96).
Born on Pencoyd, his family's ancestral farm in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Roberts graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1849, and taught there for 2 years before becoming a rodman for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). From 1852 he worked for the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad, returning to the PRR in 1862 as assistant to the president, J. Edgar Thomson. Roberts oversaw the construction of bridges and other engineering work, including the Connecting Railway Bridge over Schuylkill River in Philadelphia (attributed to John A. Wilson, 1866–67) for a PRR subsidiary. He became a PRR vice-president in 1869, and succeeded Thomas A. Scott as PRR president in 1880.
Early in Roberts's tenure the PRR completed Broad Street Station in Philadelphia, a seminal event in the city's history. Prior to this, PRR locomotives did not cross the Schuylkill River into Center City, but deposited passengers at West Philadelphia Station (32nd Street). Construction of a bridge and a 10-block viaduct between the river and Broad Street—the "Chinese Wall" -- carried the PRR tracks 2 stories above street level and into the Wilson Brothers-designed station. With the 1871 decision to build Philadelphia's City Hall at Broad & Market Streets and the 1881 opening of the PRR station, the center of Philadelphia's business district rapidly moved westward. The station's location at the heart of the city made commuting via the PRR practical, fueling suburban growth (especially on the Main Line). A dozen years later, the PRR hired Frank Furness to greatly expand Broad Street Station, turning it into the largest station building in the world.
Roberts's ancestors had been among the founders of Pennsylvania. The first emigrant, John Roberts, bought a 1,100-acre (4.5 km2) parcel along the Schuylkill River in 1682, and built a house 2 years later that he named "Pencoyd". This was part of the "Welsh Barony", a 40,000-acre (160 km2) tract bought by Welsh investors from William Penn. The "Welsh Barony" made up much of the Philadelphia suburban region now known as the Main Line, named for the Main Line of Public Works, a cross-state rail/canal system that ran through it.
Roberts was the 6th proprietor of Pencoyd, and proud of his Welsh heritage. He chose Welsh names for some of the suburban PRR stations, including Bala and Cynwyd.
Roberts hired Frank Furness to expand the family house at Pencoyd, and in 1890 the architect designed the PRR's second Bryn Mawr Hotel (now the Baldwin School). Theophilus Parsons Chandler, Jr. designed St. Asaph's Church, at the southern end of Roberts's farm. Author Nathaniel Burt quipped: "The Church of St. Asaph, dedicated, as the saying goes, to the Glory of God and the convenience of the Roberts family."
In 1868, Roberts married Sarah Brinton, who died the following year after giving birth to George Brinton Roberts. In 1874, he married Miriam Pyle Williams, and the couple had 5 children: Algernon Brooke Roberts, T. Williams Roberts, Elizabeth Williams Roberts (married Percy H. Clark), Isaac Warner Roberts, and Miriam Williams Roberts (married Spencer Ervin). Miriam Roberts died in 1913.
T. Williams Roberts became the 7th proprietor of Pencoyd, removed all the Frank Furness alterations to the house, and lived there until his death in 1962. Pencoyd was sold, and demolished by developers in 1964. Office buildings and a Saks Fifth Avenue department store now occupy the City Avenue site.
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