Reggie Jackson’s childhood home in Montco will be demolished next week
Jackson was raised on the second floor of his father’s tailor shop in Wyncote. The developer hopes to place a historical marker at the site.
Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson’s childhood home in Wyncote is officially set for demolition on Monday, according to Cheltenham Township officials.
Jackson lived in the two-floor home with his father, Martinez Jackson, a former Negro Leagues second baseman for the Newark Eagles, and two of his five siblings. Growing up, Jackson played for the Glenside Midget Baseball team and for Cheltenham High School. In addition, Jackson played football and basketball and ran track, earning a football scholarship to Arizona State, where he later switched to baseball.
During Jackson’s senior year of high school, his father, who ran a tailor shop on the first floor of the home, was arrested and jailed for bootlegging moonshine out of the basement.
“I did anything I could not to go into the shop and have to work on the pressing machine,” Jackson told The Inquirer’s Frank Dolson in 1994 upon his father’s death at age 89.
The house changed hands several times before being abandoned in the 1970s, and it is now slated to become a parking lot.
“A lot of the history and character of that building had been removed and destroyed,” property owner and developer Matt Sigel told The Inquirer in 2022.
There are plans to add a historical plaque to the site after the house has been demolished later this summer, Sigel told the Philly Voice.
Jackson, 78, played 21 seasons for the Athletics, Orioles, Yankees, and Angels, winning five World Series titles and earning the nickname “Mr. October” for his postseason prowess. He was a 14-time All-Star and his number is retired by both the Yankees and the A’s. Jackson works as a special adviser for the Houston Astros.