Harry J. Ketcham

First property owner, first father in Narberth Park

At age 26, Ketcham was a charter member and first secretary of the Narberth Park Association (1889–1895).

"The first person to purchase a lot in Narberth Park was Mr. Harry J. Ketcham. This lot was on Narberth Avenue, just south of the Railroad estate, and was purchased by him through his friend, Mr. Simpson, even before the village was laid out," wrote Carden J. Warner in 1905 in Narberth's Historical Prelude, p. 39.

Warrner continued, "As well as being the first property owner in the village, he had the additional distinction of being the father of the first child born in Narberth." That child was Horace Alburger Ketcham, born June 16, 1890.

Harry became a character in Narberth's 1914 Historical Pageant (PDF), which was based on Warner's booklet. His role as "purchaser of first lot" was played by John S. Ketcham, related through an 18th-century ancestor.

"H. Ketcham" is located at 218 N. Narberth Avenue in Atlas of Lower Merion (Philadelphia, A. H. Mueller, 1896), plate 4. The minutes of the June 13th, 1893 Narberth Park Association meeting "notify Mr. Ketcham that his resignation would not be accepted unless his tenant became a member of the Association", implying he had moved from Narberth by then. (Harry's resignation was finally accepted November 14th.) The Ketchams sold the property in April 1897.

Household

Updated August 3, 2025.