Few businesses in our area have the staying power to make it past their 100th year of operation.  One local operation that is open as scheduled each week is the Perkiomenville Auction and Flea Market.  Rain or shine, every Monday the sale grounds have vendors willing to sell just about anything, buyers looking to buy it, and those who just enjoy walking around browsing and enjoying the art of looking at the items on the sellers' tables.

In 1938, the need to expand forced the auction to a large property where a 150' x 150' barn and several other buildings were constructed.

            You can buy antiques, and items that are not so antique.  You'll find knickknacks, flowers, clothing and collectibles.  There are auctioneers conducting business simultaneously at different areas of the grounds. 

            At one time, it was the home of the Monday evening livestock sales – the reason it all started in the first place.

            The Perkiomenville landmark had a humble beginning.  Prior to 1920, the early sales were held in a building called the "auction house" across the street from the Perkiomenville Hotel.  Cattle from Ohio, shipped in by train, augmented the local

The barn usually held hundreds of cattle waiting to be sold but most of the animals were hauled away by purchasers before the fire.  The security officer was successful in herding the cattle out of the barn, but 25 of them ran back into the inferno and perished.

livestock for sale.  The cattle-laden train cars arrived at the Perkiomenville railroad station just down the street.  From there, men and boys were paid to drive the herds across the bridge and into the barnyard.  At the time, the auctions were held every Friday night.  The sale, along with dinner at the hotel, was a night out for many local farmers and butchers.

            In 1922, an enterprising cattle dealer named William Espenship took over the sales at Perkiomenville.  He was no newcomer to the livestock business.  He gained the better part of his training working as a farmhand.  He often worked as a runner and drover for the large livestock sales of Jonathan Hillegass, of Pennsburg.  He learned how to handle a six-horse team from the seat of a wagon hauling milled goods from the W. K. Heebner mill in West Point.

            The business grew under the guidance of Espenship as he made weekly trips to Virginia to buy livestock for re-sale at his local auction.  Each week, two shipments of cattle arrived at the railroad station in Perkiomenville.  By 1929 William needed to

The fire broke out in the one-story 150' x 150' barn.  The blaze spread quickly to a two-story attached building where the auction office was housed on the first floor and an apartment on the second.

secure larger quarters.  Wanting to stay close to the railroad, he found a spot just a quarter mile down Perkiomenville Road – a stone's throw from the old auction house.

            In 1938, the need to expand forced the auction to relocate again.  This time, it was moved to a large property, right behind the old Perkiomenville railroad station, on modern day Route 29.  The tracks are long gone.  So is the station. 

            It was at that location where a giant barn along with other buildings were constructed.

            Here, a new aspect of the business grew.  Farmers, hucksters, and other merchants in large numbers began selling their wares at the new site.  Today we refer to the collection of peddlers as a "flea market", back then they were called "carnivals." 

            All was well with business throughout the years until 1977.

            Around 8 p.m. on the May 25, 1977, a fire broke out in the one-story 150' x 150' barn.  The blaze spread quickly to a two-story attached building, where the auction office was housed on the first floor and an apartment on the second.

            The apartment was the home of the complex security officer, Henry Dieffenderfer.  If was Dieffenderfer who discovered the fire and notified the fire company.  The security officer then went to work trying to herd the animals that were housed there out of harm's way.

            Dieffenderfer lost all of his belongings in the fire. 

            At the time, the barn usually held hundreds of cattle waiting to be sold.  Since the auction was held on Monday, most of the animals were hauled away by purchasers prior to Wednesday.  Dieffenderfer was successful in herding the cattle out of the barn, but 25 of them ran back into the inferno and perished.

            More than 75 volunteer firefighters from Green Lane, Upper and Lower Frederick, and Upper Salford battled the blaze for more than four hours.  The concrete block and wood barn, along with the attached two-story building were completely destroyed.  However, their quick and decisive actions kept the fire from spreading to three nearby buildings.  A fourth building which housed a restaurant was spared from the flames though it suffered a severe loss when the electric lines burned and cutoff power to their freezers causing a loss of all refrigerated items.   

            The loss was estimated at $250,000 ($1.2 million in today's dollars).  A cause was never listed.

            As he watched the buildings burn, the president of Perkiomenville Sales and Stables, Inc. at the time, Norman Moyer lamented that "We won't be able to hold any more auctions here."

            But rebuild they did.

            Today the auction and flea markets are held at Perkiomenville Auction House and surrounding grounds every Monday.  Come early so you have lots of time to browse around.  There are plenty of spots for enterprising merchants to set up and show off their wares, and most of them are ready to sell when the flea market opens at 6 a.m. and the auctions start at 7 a.m.

            The cattle auctions are long gone and are now just a memory for those who sat in the wooden bleachers and listened to the auctioneer's voice rattle off amounts and watch the bidding.

            The fire destroyed the barn in 1977, but 45 years later the Perkiomenville Auctions and Flea Market still continue.