Well now that I have your attention, 
I want to tell you a little about the Boogars of Waterford.
I was helping an old friend of mine complete his application package for several variances for the construction of a pole barn down here and we got to talking about local history. I have lived in Waterford for 37 years and knew a lot of the old timers and learned quite a bit of the local history but my friend has lived here all of his 67 years and knew more than a little more than me.
The conversation turned to Boogars old gas station and he asked me if I knew where it was and I told him no. When he described it, I knew exactly what property it was but the building was torn down when he was a kid. I only know it as a vacant lot on the Old White Horse Pike between two very old homes. I have driven past it twice a day for the last 37 years.
The following is a text that my friend Jimmy sent me. Curreri's house is at the northwest corner of Pennington (aka Chew Road) and the Old White Horse Pike.
Boogers store was in the empty lot behind Tom Currieri's house. It was run down bldg and no one lived in it that I ever remember. But it had a small overgrown back yard that was always damp with rotten stumps we use to turn over the stumps and there would be some different looking kind of earthworms. They had lighter color rings on them and we would get them on the way to walking to Beaver Dam or Amatuzio's irrigation hole to go fishing. Always had to sneak in Beaver Dam in back to fish. The gas pump in front of Boogers store was the kind that you had to pump the gas up into the glass top then it would come out from gravity .
A few days later Jimmy sent me the attached photos and photo key that still has me glazed over. He was given the photo by an old resident that he was doing block work for and one of our other long time residents helped him with the photo key. The picture of all the men in the road was taken in 1922 in the middle of the Old WHP looking southeast towards the intersection. I have tried to figure out the branding of the gasoline but so far I have struck out. It looks like Standard but I can't find that type of logo.
It is interesting to me that so many of the names in the key are family names that are still prevalent in Waterford. Charles Boogar ,who owned the store and gas station and who is pictured below, died in 1948 and is buried in Berlin Cemetery. According to Finda-Grave, there are several Boogars buried n the Berlin Cemetery. According to the key, Elson Boogar died at 32 of throat cancer.
Now when I pass that vacant lot I see a whole different image. I can see Jimmy pulling worms from beneath the stumps and the old guys doing what men do best shootin' the shit out in the middle of the road.
Enjoy.
I am attaching a Historic Aerials image of the location. If this is improper, please delete it.
I want to tell you a little about the Boogars of Waterford.I was helping an old friend of mine complete his application package for several variances for the construction of a pole barn down here and we got to talking about local history. I have lived in Waterford for 37 years and knew a lot of the old timers and learned quite a bit of the local history but my friend has lived here all of his 67 years and knew more than a little more than me.
The conversation turned to Boogars old gas station and he asked me if I knew where it was and I told him no. When he described it, I knew exactly what property it was but the building was torn down when he was a kid. I only know it as a vacant lot on the Old White Horse Pike between two very old homes. I have driven past it twice a day for the last 37 years.
The following is a text that my friend Jimmy sent me. Curreri's house is at the northwest corner of Pennington (aka Chew Road) and the Old White Horse Pike.
Boogers store was in the empty lot behind Tom Currieri's house. It was run down bldg and no one lived in it that I ever remember. But it had a small overgrown back yard that was always damp with rotten stumps we use to turn over the stumps and there would be some different looking kind of earthworms. They had lighter color rings on them and we would get them on the way to walking to Beaver Dam or Amatuzio's irrigation hole to go fishing. Always had to sneak in Beaver Dam in back to fish. The gas pump in front of Boogers store was the kind that you had to pump the gas up into the glass top then it would come out from gravity .
A few days later Jimmy sent me the attached photos and photo key that still has me glazed over. He was given the photo by an old resident that he was doing block work for and one of our other long time residents helped him with the photo key. The picture of all the men in the road was taken in 1922 in the middle of the Old WHP looking southeast towards the intersection. I have tried to figure out the branding of the gasoline but so far I have struck out. It looks like Standard but I can't find that type of logo.
It is interesting to me that so many of the names in the key are family names that are still prevalent in Waterford. Charles Boogar ,who owned the store and gas station and who is pictured below, died in 1948 and is buried in Berlin Cemetery. According to Finda-Grave, there are several Boogars buried n the Berlin Cemetery. According to the key, Elson Boogar died at 32 of throat cancer.
Now when I pass that vacant lot I see a whole different image. I can see Jimmy pulling worms from beneath the stumps and the old guys doing what men do best shootin' the shit out in the middle of the road.
Enjoy.
I am attaching a Historic Aerials image of the location. If this is improper, please delete it.
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