Posts Tagged ‘PA’
December 15, 2007
As reported here previously, Idlewild Park along the Lincoln Highway in Ligonier, Pennsylvaia, will be sold as part of Kennywood Entertainment to Parques Reunidos of Spain, the third-largest European operator of amusement parks. The company only entered the U.S. market two months ago by purchasing 33 water parks. A British private equity firm acquired the company in January 2007 for $1.22 billion—such corporate entanglements worry fans of Idlewild and the other old-fashioned parks currently owned by parent park and company Kennywood.
Here are some vintage postcards showing how Idlewild’s entrance changed over time (the first is from Cy Hosmer). The same round building can be seen in the first two views. This area still serves as an exit but the entrance was moved to the east years ago so that waiting cars would not back up onto the LH/US 30.
Tags:amusement park, gas pumps, Idlewild park, Ligonier, PA
Posted in highways, history, Road trip, roadside, signs, transportation, travel | 1 Comment »
November 21, 2007
Ron Warnick’s Route 66 News has an interesting story about the “Joliet Kicks on 66” campaign. That Illinois city is promoting sites along the famous Chicago-to-LA road as explained in a news story. The Kicks web site offers lots of places and things to see, including 5 good-looking, very detailed replica gas pumps. Here’s a snap of the page showing the pump at the intersection of 66 and the Lincoln Highway:
Road buffs know there’s another crossing of the two historic highways. To the west, a later alignment of 66 ran through Plainfield where 66 actually shares the road with the LH. Banners there celebrate the pairing.
Lincoln Highway fans also know that the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor in Pennsylvania established a fantastic Pump Parade a few years ago. Along the 200-mile corridor from Irwin to Gettysburg are 22 fiberglass replica 1940s pumps, though differing from these in that they were decorated by artists. Here’s one at Schatzer’s Market, a fruit and produce stand west of Chambersburg:
Tags:Chambersburg, gas pump, highways, history, IL, Joliet, PA, Plainfield, Road trip, roadside, Route 66, travel, vacation
Posted in highways, history, Road trip, roadside, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »
November 20, 2007
Chesterfields Restaurant, a popular dining choice in North Huntingdon Twp., Pennsylvania, closed recently to make way for a Walgreens drug store and a Starbucks. The Lincoln Highway landmark just west of Irwin (now across from Norwin Shopping Center) opened as the El Dorado in 1934, then for years was the Ben Gross Supper Club, famed for its dinner theater. It had been Chesterfields since 1986, and was one of the last of the region’s legendary dinner spots. According to The Daily News [McKeesport, Oct. 23], with the current owner’s husband passed on and their two sons not interested in a labor-intensive business, they sold to Walnut Capital brokerage firm for $1.5 million. The restaurant was host to many local banquets, celebrations, and Rotary meetings, and until recently had 87 employees. Also likely to be demolished is the adjacent Kirk Haight Auto Sales, best known in years past for having a car atop a pole. See a short video of Chesterfields final day at WPXI.
1934: Signs advertised spaghetti, steak, chicken, beer, and dancing to an orchestra.
2007: You can still see the roadhouse and to its left, a one-story building with gable windows.
According to a Tribune-Review article, the 3.6 acre plan needed a variance or it would not have been allowed under the shopping center code, so 58 parking spaces will serve where 87 would otherwise be required for that size development. Also, the township asked for an electronic community bulletin board along the Lincoln Highway across from the intersection with Lincoln Way (a road deceptively named in the 1920s to divert LH traffic through the Mon Valley). An Eckerd Pharmacy already sits across the road at that intersection.
According to Walnut Capital’s site, the developer also bought and is demolishing the 1964 Colonial Revival headquarters of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County on the Lincoln Highway to the east in Hempfield (west of Greensburg) for a Walgreens and other retail. (That 16.1 acre site went for $6 million.) In a nod to the road, it will be known as Lincoln Place. Click here for images of that development.
Tags:Chesterfields, highway, history, Irwin, PA, restaurant, Road trip, roadhouse, Starbucks, travel, Walgreens
Posted in highways, history, roadside, travel | 1 Comment »
November 15, 2007
The famous Haines Shoe House in south-central Pennsylvania got a fresh look through the efforts of Hampton Hotels’ Save-A-Landmark program. Built in 1948, the 3-story stucco shoe and its fence were painted at no charge of materials or labor. Carleen and Ronald Farabaugh have owned the house since 2003, giving tours and selling ice cream, and occasionally staying overnight. Carleen told me there’s always work to be done but they are thrilled with what the company’s 15 volunteers accomplished: “The Shoe House was desperately in need of a facelift. Hampton’s generosity should help to preserve the Shoe House for years to come so everyone can enjoy it.” She adds that all revenue is put into its restoration.
The house was built as a promotional gimmick for Mahlon Haines to advertise his chain of shoe stores—he’d loan the shoe (actually, a work boot) free to honeymooners and retirees who lived in a town that had a Haines Shoe Store. The house was set back a bit from the Lincoln Highway, but a Route 30 bypass now runs just outside its windows.
Chris Epting, author of numerous books on roadside landmarks, was there as spokesman for the Save-A-Landmark program doing TV and radio spots: “This was another wonderful opportunity to be a part of helping to restore a vital roadside landmark. This program continues to succeed on levels that are unprecedented for these kinds of efforts, and I’m very proud to be working with Hampton Inn as we move forward to the next landmark.” Also attending was Kyle Weaver of Stackpole Books, editor of my books and working with Epting on a forthcoming Stackpole title, The Birthplace Book. The photos seen here were graciously loaned by Kyle.
Hampton donated $20,000 in supplies for the Shoe redo, and organized a collecting effort for Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization that collects and distributes shoes for people affected by natural disasters.
Hampton Hotels’ Save-A-Landmark program has helped preserve more than 30 American architectural oddities since 2000. The Shoe has it’s own Hampton page, and an article about the event ran in the York Daily Record.
Tags:attraction, Hallam, Hellam, house, PA, restoration, Road trip, roadside, shoe, travel
Posted in highways, history, roadside, travel | Leave a Comment »
November 6, 2007
I just received a letter from Shirley Gillespie complimenting my Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler’s Guide book but noting that I missed the story of a potato chip factory along the route operated by her family. My text mentions a Frito-Lay plant west of York, PA, off Gillespie Drive, but little did I know that the road name was a key to the plant’s heritage. The El-Ge Potato Chip Company was founded in 1937 by Leonard Gillespie, named for his initials. A story in the January 1982 Snack Food trade journal reported that the 105,000-sq-ft factory, built in 1965, could produce 4 tons of chips per hour. By then, Shirley’s husband Bob, a nephew of the founder, was president. Here’s a picture from the Snack Food profile showing Bob and Shirley at the El-Ge plant:
Shirley says the family sold to Southland Corporation in 1984, which kept the name, then a succession of owners led to Frito-Lay’s purchase. I’m glad Shirley wrote and preserved an important part of her life and Lincoln Highway history.
Tags:factory, PA, potato chips, roadtrip, snacks, travel, vacation, York
Posted in highways, roadside, travel | 16 Comments »
November 3, 2007
One of the reasons for making the trip to Gettysburg was to see the sights of Fall along the Lincoln Highway, especially produce stands. Central PA is known for its apples, peaches, cherries, and other farm products, though suburbanization is a looming threat to orchards. On the way home, we stopped to buy some pumpkins, tomatoes, apple butter, and Halloween decorations.
West of Chambersburg is Shatzer’s Fruit Market (2197 Lincoln Way West), founded 1933. Outside is one of the LHHC‘s Pump Parade decorated fiberglass pumps:
Relatives of the Shatzer family, Bingham’s Orchard and Market (9823 Lincoln Way West) farther west in St. Thomas has a larger building stocked with cider, jams, and such:
Tags:Autumn, Chambersburg, Fall, farm, fruit, PA, produce stand, pumpkins, roadtrip, travel, vacation
Posted in highways, roadside, travel | 1 Comment »
October 29, 2007
Unlike most cities in PA, neither Chambersburg nor Gettysburg ever got a LH/US 30 bypass, so the route through the center of each town is often congested. You might hesitate to stop, but it’s not that hard to find a spot or get back into traffic. In Chambersburg, head a block south (109 S Main St) to grab breakfast or lunch at Molly’s. Its traditional name is the Molly Pitcher Waffle Shop, named for a Revolutionary War hero.
Theo Katsaounis cooks and sometimes delivers the food himself while Annamarie Erkson handles the work out front. They took over just eight months ago and bring some Greek flair to the menu. You’ll find traditional PA Dutch chicken with gravy over waffles, or try Anna’s Bananas Foster with a buttery rum sauce over caramelized bananas on a Belgian waffle. Omelettes are made open faced, that is, baked in a mini-casserole dish. OPEN Mon-Sat 8am-3pm.
About a block west of Gettysburg’s square is the Ragged Edge Coffeehouse (110 Chambersburg St). Open 7 years, it offers a range of coffee and teas, fruit smoothies, breakfast sandwiches, and pastries with some seating inside or on a patio.
It’s a fashionable hangout for the college crowd but draws a broad clientele. The coffee shop is next to what was built in 1916 as a lavish theater-turned-early auto garage named Eberhart’s then Epley’s, seen in vintage postcards. OPEN daily 6:30am-9pm.
Tags:Chambersburg, Coffee, Gettysburg, Molly Pitcher, PA, Waffle
Posted in highways, roadside, travel | 5 Comments »
October 26, 2007
I’m leaving early Saturday for 3 days on the LH to Gettysburg, PA. No, the 1960 Chevy is not my car, though it is for sale along the Lincoln just west of Minerva, OH. I did own a ’60 Pontiac and ’60 Buick years ago, but that was BK – Before Kids! – so we’ll be in our trusty blue minivan with big LH logo magnets on the side.
Tags:1960, Chevy, Gettysburg, Minerva, OH, PA, Road trip
Posted in highways, roadside, travel | 1 Comment »
Lincoln Highway News 