Here is a cool shot of Tenth Street, taken from the middle of the block between Peach and Sassafras, in Erie, Pennsylvania, looking east. The old Lawrence Hotel is the tall building on the left. The sign for Shea's Theatre is visible just beyond the Lawrence.
The Baldwin Building (now the Renaissance Center) is the light colored building on the horizon on the right side of the photo. The YMCA is the tall red building on the right. The State Department of Public Welfare was located at 103 West 10th Street for many years before the building was demolished. This building is shown on the far right of this postcard.
An eagle-eyed reader pointed out this interesting fact: "If you look on the right you can see the bowsprit of the old Eastern Shore Restaurant, which eventually moved to West Lake Road and became Barnacle Bill's Eastern Shore." [Thanks, J. H.!]
Yes Virginia, the Erie Daily Times was located on West 10th Street before the company built a new facility on West 12th Street to this location: http://oldtimeerie.blogspot.com/2012/11/bessemer-railroad-12th-and-sassafras.html
Here's a photo of Shea's when it was known as the Majestic Theatre: http://oldtimeerie.blogspot.com/2012/10/majestic-theater-and-scott-block-erie-pa.html
The south west block of 10th and Peach: On the corner, City Cleaners and Laundry owned by Sam Barnett (the father of my childhood best friend). Businesses west of that included S. A Wagner Insurance Agency, as well as the Eastern Shore Restaurant (the interior was like a ship's hold with booths on either side), entrance to an interior large garage (not sure what it was used for), and a restaurant. Across the street was Weschler's Shoes on the corner, and on one side or the other of The Erie Daily Times was the entrance to a second floor bowling alley and Halle's clothing store.
ReplyDeleteThe YMCA hosted a weekly high school dance in the gym, always with live, local "big band" orchestras (Neal Charles and Gene Parlette are ones I remember), and other entertainment during intermission -- ASTEC, an acronymn for the 5 high schools (Academy, Strong Vincent, Tech, East, and Cathedral Prep) -- the in-place to be, comfortably crowded with singles and couples. I don't recall many discipline problems or even police presence. An equivalent for junior highs was the "SHY Club" -- sponsored by Sarah Hearn Presbyterian Church, but that seemed to attract mostly nw Erie youth. The tie-in between ASTEC and SHY was John Gillespie, an employee of the Y and a member of Sarah Hearn.