Last hurrah for 153-year-old Main Line institution

The Fritz family lumber business is going the way of the milkman, the bread truck, and coal deliveries, but customers this weekend will have a chance to buy a piece - or pieces - of a Berwyn institution that dates to the Civil War.

Having fallen victim to chain stores, the Great Recession, and lack of interest among family members after five generations of ownership, Fritz Lumber Co. yielded to the development boom in its Main Line community and closed its doors in August.

But on Saturday, it plans to open for business one final time, auctioning off the last of its lumber and hardware. Two weeks later, a local preservation group hopes to capitalize on Fritz-related nostalgia with a party at the lumberyard to commemorate the Fritz family's contributions to the community, and to raise money to preserve another piece of local history.

"We're sad," said William H. Fritz III, Fritz Lumber's 88-year-old owner. "It's been 153 years, and we'd like it to continue, but times have changed."

Fritz and son William Howard Fritz IV, 62, are retiring. Area residents have been walking in off the street to say they are sorry to see the business go.

Before Eadeh Enterprises, the property management company that bought the Fritzes' land, closes it off to turn it into a retail and residential space, members of the public are invited to buy their final pieces from the company at Saturday's 8:30 a.m. auction.

The Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust and Eadeh Enterprises, which purchased the 1.7-acre property for $2 million, will sponsor a party on the land Oct. 22 to raise money to rehabilitate the 18th-century Jones Log Barn. It was from the Jones farm in Berwyn that a British general launched the Revolutionary War attack later called the Paoli Massacre, according to the preservation trust.

The group plans to reconstruct the farm's barn at a Chesterbrook site and turn it into the Living History Center, which the public can visit to learn about local history in the Valley Forge region. It hopes to raise about $150,000.

The party starts at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 and will include live and silent auctions, food, drinks, and live music. The Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust is selling tickets on its website.

"Puttin' on the Fritz . . . A Party at the Yard" also will honor the Fritz family, members of whom helped start the former Berwyn National Bank in 1889 and the Berwyn Fire Company, which began serving the community in 1894 and now handles about 3,000 emergency calls per year. Fritz Lumber allowed many employees to leave work to respond to fire calls in the fire company's early years, Chief Eamon Brazunas said.

"The fact it's not going to be there anymore is a big deal," he said.

Craig Postlewait, a board member at the Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust, said the party will be an opportunity for the community to see the historic buildings on the property, "and also honor the Fritz family for serving the community for as long as they have."

mbond@philly.com

610-313-8207@MichaelleBond