8th and State Woolworth's and Penn Bldg Erie PA

Postcard courtesy of Erie Police historian Ken Sidun.

This postcard shows a couple of Erie, PA landmarks that no longer exist- Woolworth's on the left and the Penn Building on the right. The F. W. Woolworth Company was located in the Gabel Block at 810 State Street. In this early version of Woolworth's, the store was more prominently known as the S. H. Knox Co., a five and dime retailer. The Woolworth's that most of us remember in Downtown Erie was much bigger than the store shown here.

Check out the old Woolworth's from a different angle: http://oldtimeerie.blogspot.com/2012/06/knox-5-and-10-became-woolworths-in.html

The Penn Building was located at 801-813 State Street, on the southeast corner of 8th and State. The Peoples Bank was located on the first floor of this red brick building. Look closely and you can see the yellow sign for the bank, right above the frame of the awning.

"The Penn Building was erected in 1868-1869 and was known as the Noble Block, having been built by Orange Noble. In January, 1894, the Jarecki estate bought the building for $80,000 and spent $60,000 for rebuilding and improvements. In the late 1890s, fire partly destroyed the structure, after which it was then remodeled again." -Erie Dispatch, January 17, 1914.

Orange Noble, by the way, was formerly the Mayor of Erie.

Security Savings & Trust Company, the Peoples Bank and haberdasher Frank S. Bond bought the Penn Building from the Jarecki estate for $250,000 in January of 1914. Security Savings merged with Peoples Bank to become Security Peoples Bank. Isaac Baker, whose store was located at 629 State Street, was a director of Security Peoples Bank until he died in 1929. Oh, what a tangled web we weave!

First Niagara Bank currently occupies the site of the old Penn Building in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Knox 5 and 10 became Woolworth's in Downtown Erie, PA

Knox 5 and 10 became Woolworth's in Downtown Erie, PA

S. H. Knox & Co. 5 and 10¢ store at 818 State St. became Woolworth's.
This 1915 postcard courtesy of Joanne Marchant Heim.

The old card is postmarked 1915. It shows the S. H. Knox 5 and 10¢ store on the right in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania near Eighth and State Street. This chain was owned by Seymour H. Knox and it appears to be the third store in his retail chain. Seymour later partnered with Frank W. Woolworth and changed the name to Woolworth's, said Joanne Marchant Heim. Woolworth's had a long history in downtown Erie and was a mainstay until it closed in 1994.

Woolworth's opened a store in the Liberty Plaza in October of 1955. You can read about the Liberty Plaza store here.

Woolworth's also had a store in the Perry Plaza for a brief time. The Perry Plaza store opened in 1952.

Enjoy more fun facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie

Woolworth's Liberty Plaza 1955 Grand Opening Erie, PA

-ad in Erie Daily Times, Oct. 12, 1955

Woolworth's Liberty Plaza 1955 Grand Opening Erie, PA

F. W. Woolworth Co. held a grand opening for its new Woolworth's store in the Liberty Plaza October 13 to 15, 1955. The plaza boasted parking for 900 cars, and Woolworth's touted its new Self Service counters. 

The lunch counter at this new Erie, PA location on Liberty Street had 21 seats, and you could get a banana split for a quarter, a hamburger for 50¢, a hotdog for 15¢, hot chocolate for a dime, or a cup of coffee for 7¢.

You could also buy a parakeet for $2.27, a gold fish in a bowl for 37¢ or a blouse for 97¢. The store also had a curtain department and a wrought iron department.

Woolworth's still had two locations in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1994, one in the Liberty Plaza (3622 Liberty Street) and one at 818 State Street in downtown Erie. Both of these stores closed in early 1994.

Woolworth's had a store in the Perry Plaza in 1952. Not sure when this one closed.  The Perry Plaza had parking for 1,000 cars: http://oldtimeerie.blogspot.com/2012/06/perry-plaza-in-erie-pa-turned-60-on.html