02/13/2026
An elegant lady in her winter finery and a horse-drawn carriage traverse fresh snow by a picturesque village church: 1890s Narberth as Americana by Currier and Ives.
Actually, it's by John K. Ketcham of Narberth: he built the Narberth Presbyterian church, and he shot the photo from his back yard. The Ketchams were a family of builders. John and his brother's firm, Benjamin Ketcham's Sons, were the favorite of Philadelphia's most eccentric architect, Willis G. Hale. They built his Hale building and Garrick Theatre at 1326 Chestnut, once mocked as "crude...violent...revolting", today on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.
In Narberth, Ketcham built the church in 1897, after fire destroyed the original 1891 wooden chapel. That fire launched the Narberth Fire Company, and Ketcham built Elm Hall, its firehouse on Forrest Avenue. It became the borough offices and council chambers. (Elm Hall was demolished after the current Borough Hall was built in 1959.) The church that Ketcham built was hidden under expansions in 1925 and 1955; his 1897 structure can only be glimpsed from the parking lot on Grayling Avenue.
Ketcham also built houses in Narberth. It's hard to find documentation, but the twin at 126-128 Chestnut is a strong circumstantial candidate. It sits on 3 lots deeded to Ketcham in 1905. #128, on the corner, was gifted to Ketcham's son John S. Ketcham just before the latter's wedding. John S. joined his father's company soon after, and eventually took it over, so it seems a safe bet he had a hand in its construction.
The photographs that hooked me were a series of aerial photos of 1900-ish Narberth from a magazine clipping at the Lower Merion Historical Society. They had no title or date, but a caption: "The photographer was John Ketchum, whose exposures were made on glass negatives, some of which are still preserved." Over time, learning about Mr. Ketcham and uncovering several glass plates at the Historical Society. I started to recognize his photography. Ketcham photographed for pleasure, and to document his work, often taking several exposures of the same scene. The church photograph is a set of three, one shot a few minutes earlier, another during the summer. The point of view shows they were shot from Ketcham's nearby property on Haverford Ave.
NarberthHistory.org/views/presbyterian-church
All five Ketchams named above were members of the Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia, whose headquarters Carpenters' Hall was the site of the First Continental Congress in 1774. John K., shown here at age 23 upon his election to the Company, and John S. were both elected president of the Company.
NarberthHistory.org/views/watertower-panorama
NarberthHistory.org/views/elm-hall NarberthHistory.org/people/ketcham/john/k has a gallery of Ketcham buildings and his turn-of-the-century Narberth photography.
