Back in the late teens?
A parade to honor a WWI veteran killed in action.
This is Main Street looking South.
The false fronts of stores –
Some remained as I was growing up in the 50s and 60s!
The big building at the top right was a hotel –
I never saw that as I was growing up
And was a brick Chevy dealership called Burrs-
Where I worked the summer between my Junior and senior years!
That also has been demolished, and a bank is there today.
An early view of the ball park and town.
I assume this to be the late 1800s or early 1900s.
Many of these buildings were gone by the time I was born in 1949!
The ballpark was way different when I was growing up!
A chain mail fence and a road ran alongside the first baseline.
Tall telephone poles with lights surrounded the field, and it was groomed to perfection.
The diamond itself was set back toward the right?
The outfield – we would meet and play tackle football.
There were tennis courts and a basketball court.
The park behind the home plate had restrooms and swings –
a small merry-go-round and a large covered pavilion-
slide and huge old maple trees.
A creek called Barden Brook ran down the side of the field to the Alleghany River.
Later, the Army Corps of Engineers made it underground because of the annual flooding!
Every Spring, it seemed we had water on Main Street.
Here are pictures from 1889!
In 1972, Hurricane Agnes dropped so much rain-
That up to 12 to 15 feet of water submerged MAIN STREET!
It was after that, years later –
The Army Corps of Engineers developed a dike system –
And I believe it solved the flooding problem.
Here is the busy main street of Eldred, Pa.
I grew up here much later than this picture.
Many businesses had moved to other locations by then.
This is looking toward South Main Street,
And those trees were still there as I was growing up!
The Gustafsons’ drug store had moved to the left-
And that building became Todd’s Ford dealership
We had Ford, Chevy, and Dodge car dealerships in town when I was growing up.
This was the fire department as I grew up.
I could see it from the sidewalk in front of my home.
It was here that I took the hunter safety course upstairs!
We had a 10 o’clock curfew –
The fire siren would blow then every night-
And I believe it to be that way now.
All kids had to be off the streets when the siren blew.
We would sleep outside overnight-
And the worst we ever did was raid gardens after curfew.
I hope you enjoy this blog –
My next blog will also be on Eldred, Pa.
Thanks for reading-
PAPA’S World
My site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog
For over twenty years – AGING AS HEALTHY AS WE CAN!
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