Long before there was a turnpike in Pennsylvania, tolls were collected.
Today’s photo, submitted by Dennis Boyles of Towamencin, proves that.
This photo shows the tollhouse that used to be located at Main Street and Church Road, on the east side, in Lansdale.
According to Boyles, his grandfather, William Boyles, was the tollkeeper there from 1896 to 1902. His father, John W. Boyles, was born in this building on Aug. 25, 1902.
But Boyles has other information to share as well from his collection.
Among his information:

From the Lansdale Reporter, Dec. 13, 1900:
“William Boyles, a stone mason who lives at the toll gage on the Montgomery Turnpike, below Jenkins Woods, is suffering with a broken leg. The wheel of a wagon he was loading ran over his left leg, when he fell and the horses started.”

According to Boyles, his grandfather’s leg was broken so badly that he walked with a serious limp for the rest of his life, but he worked as a stone mason until age 87 and lived to be 96.

From the Lansdale Reporter, Feb. 13, 1905:
“At the sale of the toll house on the Freed Turnpike, from Lansdale to Montgomery Square, Oliver G. Morris of Line Lexington bought the one near the Catholic Church for $110.”

And, from the Lansdale Reporter, April 23, 1905:
“The tollgate situated on the Lansdale Pike, opposite the Lansdale Catholic Church, was purchased by a person from Springhouse, who wished it moved to that place. After having been moved halfway, it became stuck in the mud, and was stuck so badly, it was impossible to move it. The building had to be torn down to let the traffic through.”

And so ends the saga of the Lansdale tollhouse.