Augustus J. Loos

As a founder and first President of the Narberth Civic Association, and as a Trustee of the Narberth Y.M.C.A. (1908–1920), Augustus Jacob Loos played central roles in the development of Narbrook Park, and Narberth Park and its Community Building that houses the Narberth Community Library. The Shirley Road neighborhood was developed on land owned by Loos, its first houses built by Loos & Dothard, his son and son-in-law.

"One of Narberth's oldest and best-loved residents" reads the first sentence of his obituary in Our Town on February 13, 1926. In an appreciation published the following week, he was "the chief architect of Narberth's moral and intellectual structure."

The largeness of his contributions to the community life of Narberth has usually been missed because of the modesty of the man, but his own gentleness, which made him great, was a chief factor in making Narberth the really unusual community that it is. There is a community centre, there is a Narberth Park, there is an "Our Town,"" there are a great many good things in Narberth because Augustus J. Loos lived in it.

—Howard A. Banks, "A. J. Loos: An Appreciation", Our Town, February 20, 1926, page 2

Updated February 24, 2026.