Parkesburg, Pa., history told by the bottles

Some people know Gerry Treadway as a teacher who imparted woodworking skills at Unionville High School for 35 years.

Others know him as the character who dresses up as Uncle Sam and marches in parades on patriotic holidays.

Still others know him as the unofficial historian and one-man historical society of Parkesburg, a quiet village in western Chester County.

But to folks who are passionate about old bottles, especially those with local ties, Treadway is the dean of this peculiar pastime and an astute collector whose authority is based on decades of diligent research.

Treadway's focus is bottles with a Parkesburg connection. Over the last half-century, he has collected more than 150 pieces - malt-liquor bottles, milk bottles, apothecary bottles, whiskey bottles - all bearing the name Parkesburg, either embossed or printed on labels. The collection ranges from bottles made as long ago as 1852 to plastic prescription containers from the nearby Wal-Mart Supercenter.

"I've always liked bottles," Treadway says. "If a bottle could talk, it would be very interesting to hear what it has to say, where it's been, and what it's done."

For Treadway, every old bottle has a tale to tell, and piecing together that story is the true delight.

"It's like a treasure hunt," says Treadway, 74, who has published the stories of many of his bottles in a book with the straightforward title Parkesburg Bottles.

For instance, bottles bearing the name A. Jimason led him to investigate the life of Alexander Jimason, who probably worked as a machinist in the Parkesburg repair shops of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, where he devised and patented a locomotive valve shield, before becoming a bottler.

Through county records, Treadway discovered that Jimason died in 1876, at age 56, and was buried in York County. When Treadway went looking for Jimason's grave, he found it in New Park, Pa., in a Presbyterian churchyard - only yards from where his own parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents rest.

It took Treadway about six years to produce the book, which he constantly revised and corrected as information came to light. His wife, Barbara, who is sympathetic to his hobby ("it keeps him happy"), typed the manuscript into the computer. His son, Bryan, who teaches graphics at Unionville High, did the layout and design.