George Brooke Roberts

[2] As PRR's first vice president, Roberts oversaw the construction of Broad Street Station, a seminal event in Philadelphia history.

Before this, PRR locomotives did not cross the Schuylkill River but instead deposited passengers at West Philadelphia Station (32nd Street) where horse-drawn streetcars brought them into Center City.

The station's location at the heart of the city made commuting via the PRR practicable, fueling massive suburban growth, especially on the Philadelphia Main Line.

In 1892, Roberts hired architect Frank Furness to greatly expand Broad Street Station, consolidating PRR offices in a single building and turning it into the largest passenger terminal in the world.

The PRR's Stone Bridge over the Conemaugh River in Johnstown acted as a dam, trapping debris that covered 30 acres (and soon caught fire).

The first emigrant, John Roberts, bought a 1,100-acre (4.5 km2) parcel along the Schuylkill River in 1682, and built a house two years later that he named "Pencoyd".

Roberts hired Frank Furness to expand the family house at Pencoyd in 1883, and in 1890 the architect designed the PRR's second Bryn Mawr Hotel (now the Baldwin School).

[10] Author Nathaniel Burt quipped: "The Church of St. Asaph, dedicated, as the saying goes, to the Glory of God and the convenience of the Roberts family.

Until only a few months before her death, she never missed Sunday morning worship at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, where she and her husband were dedicated members for many years and where they raised their family.

The Ervin grave-marker at the Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia reads (translated from the Latin): "We know that Christ has truly risen from the dead; You, Victor King, have mercy upon us."