Marvintown Golden Dawn, 28th and Parade, Erie PA

Golden Dawn at 28th and Parade Street in Erie, PA. Photo ©Debbi Lyon 2012.

This area of town at 28th and Parade Street in Erie, Pennsylvania is known as Marvintown. Golden Dawn, shown in the photograph above, was a mid-sized grocery store located on the east side of Parade Street at 28th Street. The store was managed by Raymond Fitzgerald.

Robert's Five & Ten Store was located next door, to the north, at 2711 Parade Street. It was previously known as Meister's, and was a really neat old-style store with a creaky wooden floor. It had dump bins full of items and the setup was such that you could see across the entire store. I bought a clear 'shatter-proof' ruler at Robert's, which broke in two when I used it as a drumstick to tap on my desk. (Shatter-proof and unbreakable must be two different things, like a 'wrinkle-resistant' shirt.) The store was owned by Robert and Patricia Tatara.

Golden Dawn and Robert's were demolished to build a drug store.

This shot was taken around 1979 looking north from the parking lot at Herman's Cafe, 2802 Old French Road. The cafe, which is not shown here, would be on the left of this photo. The cafe was owned by Herman Marquardt, Jr., who died in 2007. Herman's was formerly known as the Marvintown Inn. This building still stands.

There were two donut stores right in this vicinity: Dunkin' Donuts at 2801 Pine Avenue and Mighty-Fine Donuts at 2612 Parade Street. There was also a gas station on the northwest corner of 28th and Parade.

Old French Road and Pine Avenue converge at 28th Street, forming a triangle at the traffic light. 

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