Overview

• Building Type: dwelling
• Client: Elkins, George W.

Location

Huntingdon Valley, Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County, PA

Comments

"JUSTA FARMS George W. Elkins purchased the farmland for Justa Farm in the 1920s. Elkins was the grandson of William L. Elkins, the traction magnate for whom Elkins Park was named, and son of George W. Elkins, the founder of Abington Hospital&. At its height, Justa Farm totaled some 600 acres and extended from Byberry Road north to County Line and from Buck Road west across Huntingdon Pike to Heaton (now Creek) Road. The property included a dairy farm and at various times herds of Black Angus cattle and Brahma bulls. Elkins' wife, the former Natalie Crozier Fox, was vice president of the Woman's Board of the hospital from the founding of the hospital until her death in 1954. From 1946 to 1956, the hospital's main benefit, the June Fete, was held on the grounds of Justa Farm.

In 1928, Elkins, in partnership with his eldest daughter, Stella, then 18 years old and a fine rider, constructed a stable and racetrack on the fields of Justa Farm. The course opened in October and included a half-mile racing track, a three-mile steeplechase course&. It cost $500,000 and was considered one of the finest privately owned racetracks in the country. The races held at Justa Farm were among the high-society events of the year, and attracted thousands of racing enthusiasts." Taken from http://www.plainvanillagraphics.com/test/2009/jan_09.html

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