Lou Tullio's Transitway Mall

Tullio's Transitway Mall. Looking north on State from 10th St.

Now you see it, now you don't. Erie mayor Lou Tullio envisioned a retail mecca in downtown Erie, PA and he secured hundreds of thousands of dollars into construction projects in the hopes of attracting shoppers to State Street. A recent study claims that 39,400 people lived within one mile of the area pictured above. The idea was to build a pedestrian-friendly area with wide sidewalks so that throngs of locals and tourists could meander from store to store and boost the local economy. And people would conserve gasoline and ride the EMTA buses to get downtown.

So, what happened? People hated it. If you look closely near the bottom of the picture, you'll see a yellow sign with two arrows, pointing east and west. Look closer and you'll see three round red circles with the friendly, welcoming words, "Do Not Enter." It worked. Erieites are quite attached to their vehicles and most of us like to park as close as possible to our favorite store, not in a parking lot several blocks away. You can't change human nature. 

Here is a photo of the Transitway Mall near 8th and State.

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Chacona's Chocolate Box

Chacona's candy and chocolate store was located between 7th and 8th (closer to 7th) on State Street in Erie, PA. Owner George P. Chacona opened his first store, the Erie Sugar Bowl, on October 15, 1893 at 810 State St., just eight years after coming to America with his brother Spero Chacona. In 1917 the store moved to 712 State St., where it remained until 1930, when the store moved to the ground floor of the Ariel Building. Mr. Chacona, who was born in Greece, also had stores in Ashtabula and Conneaut, OH. Chacona's became known for its hand-pulled taffy, homemade candies, chocolates, fudge and caramels. Eleven children of George and Anna Chacona were involved in the family business. 

After Chacona's closed, the building became the Carriage House Restaurant.

One of my relatives gave me a box of negatives years ago, which I had put in a bigger box with photos and other negatives. I didn't think much about it until I was looking for a picture and rediscovered the Chacona's box. I wonder if this box was a Valentine's Day gift ages ago.

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Commerce Building on State Street in 1926

I found this cool shot of State Street taken in 1926, so I took a break from my studies to write a new post. This photo shows the east side of State from 10th to 13th Street. The tall cream colored building on the left is the Erie Trust Company (later the Baldwin Building  or Renaissance Center) at 10th and State. It still stands. The tall building to the right is the Commerce Building at 12th and State, which has since been demolished. 

The sign for Lawrie Brothers Furniture, at 1207 State St., is partially visible. Reliable Furniture was located next door, at 1213-1221 State St. The Wayne Furniture Company, at 1223-1225 State, rounds off Erie's original Furniture Row. Erie Sea Food House was located at 1227 State, and Erie Window Glass Co. was on the corner of 13th and State (1229 State St.). 

The New Commercial Hotel was across the street at 1301 State, Schneider Hardware was next door at 1303 State, and Joseph Erhart sold harnesses, horse supplies, trunks, bags and leather goods at 1305 State St. Most of the buildings south of 12th Street still stand.

In case you're curious, I'm studying the human genome. Be thankful I'm writing about State Street rather than bombarding you with details of DNA, nucleotides, cytosine and histones. 

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10th and State 1893 to 1938 Merger

Ever wonder what it would be like to step back in time and see a shot of the City of Erie before and after side by side? I know I have, so I tinkered around on the computer to see what I could come up with. I started with a photo of the west side of State just south of Tenth Street then found one taken from approximately the same spot 45 years later. The Scott Building, shown here on the right, was the home of Grant's for many years on the northwest corner of 10th and State. 

So, we have two views, one from 1893 and the other from 1938. Downtown Erie has changed considerably, especially at this intersection. State looks very muddy in the old shot, and the trolley tracks are visible in the middle. There's a man wearing a jacket and a bowler hat strolling by on the left, and there are a couple of large stones near the curb that were used as carriage steps; one is near the telephone/telegraph pole.

In the "new" picture on the right, there are some cool old cars heading south on State St. (one might be a '36 Chevy). There are a lot of well-dressed pedestrians shopping for items on a sunny afternoon. The dark color building on the southwest corner of 10th and State was the old offices of the Baldwin Bros. real estate company. 

Click here to see the original 1893 photograph.

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Boston Store Charge Card

It seems like there is a card for everything these days. One for insurance, the library, the bank, Master Card, Visa and one for each grocery and department store...your wallet is probably bulging with cards. But, before there was plastic, there were aluminum cards tucked into a hard plastic carrying case. These were issued by large department stores like the Boston Store and Trask's here in Erie, PA. Customers would give this card to the cashier when they wanted to put items on their account. The cashier would put the card in a machine and pull a handle down to emboss the name and address on the receipts, one original and one carbon copy for the customer. There was a paper card tucked into the back of this Charga Plate Credit Token with the customer's signature on it.

Chuck Hess found this Boston Store Credit Token, along with the steel wheat penny, while he was hunting with his metal detector recently. I'll keep the location a secret so he can go back and look for other items, but I will say that he found it in the City of Erie. 

This card was issued to Mrs. A. C. Locke who lived on West 30th Street in Erie. The Boston Store issued these in the thirties, forties and fifties. Customers would carry them when they went shopping in Downtown Erie. I will have to do some more research to narrow down the time frame for this one.

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Map Out Your Marketing Strategy

Map out your marketing strategy with this sketch of the old 12th Street Market in Erie, PA.  Many local grocers, butchers, fruit dealers and florists got their start in this block-long, enclosed market, which proved to be a good investment for many years.

Dave Warren, whose father Robert was the manager of the Modern Grocery until 1949, was kind enough to provide a sketch of the interior of the 12th St. Market. "For 16 years, the 12th St. Market, its variety of merchants, smells, and occasional sounds from the second floor bowling alley and roller-skating rink were a wonderful part of my growing up," said Dave.

"As a child, I was fascinated with John Sperides' candy stall. In his kitchen he had hooks for pulling taffy for Christmas candy canes, and vats of chocolate. Mr. Sperides didn't show up for two days, which was very unusual. Dad went to his home, where he lived alone, and found him dead. The only thing I can remember occurring in his vacated stall was a visit from "the real" Aunt Jemima, spending a day making free pancakes," said Dave. Mr. Sperides passed away in March of 1947.

"I remember during WWII, when a shipment of coffee arrived late in the day, we would spend a few hours after closing pre-grinding the bags of beans, in preparation for the lines of people coming in the morning for that scarce and rationed item. Customers could enter through doors on French Street, East 12th or East 13th St. Vendors received shipments on the Commerce St. side and kept their stock farm-fresh. Cars were parked in a lot in the lower level. Some people remember their mothers buying live chickens in the southwest corner of the market.

The 12th Street Market opened around 1927 and operated until it was destroyed by fire in 1951. Familiar vendors include Scolio and Del Porto (fruit); Urbaniak Brothers, Rudy Voss and Joyce Bros. (meat); Picardo (horse radish) and the Balkan Baking Co. 

People came from all around the city to shop at the 12th Street Market. They also came in droves to the market crash when it was hit by lightning. Eleven companies fought the consuming fire. "Twelfth St. was jammed with people, almost from curb to curb, as many clubs emptied of their members, late movies had just ended." Daylight brought even more people to the scene. "About 15 policemen were on duty Sunday, keeping thousands of curious Erieites out of the gutted structure. Traffic on 12th St. was in a continual snarl due to motorists who drove by to see the burned-out shell of a building" -Erie Dispatch, April 30, 1951.

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Dinner at Kresge's for 59 Cents

Remember when you could head to Downtown Erie on a Saturday afternoon, do some window shopping, then stop at Kresge's for a complete meatloaf dinner....for 59 cents? 

SS Kresge's had sales at the beginning of June in 1959 to celebrate their 60th Anniversary. They advertised a number of items that sold for less than 60¢ to draw people into the store. In this instance you could saddle up to the lunch counter or cram into a booth for a meal and a free Pepsi. Oh, and the dinner included the "good gravy."

Kresge's was one of the places that kids liked to hang out when they had a few minutes to spare while waiting to transfer to another bus route after school. It was on the corner of 9th and State in Erie, Pennsylvania.

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New Grant's Store at 9th and Peach

The new Grant's store at 9th and Peach Street in Erie, PA opened on August 5, 1954. W. T. Grant, the store's founder and namesake, was in town for the grand opening and Erie Mayor Thomas W. Flatley cut the ribbon. 

"Curious crowds, anxious to witness the new landmark in Erie's downtown shopping center pushed against the doors this morning in an effort to be among the first to take advantage of the many unique bargains planned for family shoppers during the opening week."-Erie Dispatch, Aug. 5, 1954.

Grants no longer has any stores in Erie; there were 500 locations in the chain in 1954. The store at 9th and Peach was built by the Henry Shenk Co. According to the Dispatch, this building was the largest in the Grant's chain, and it had a mile and a half of counter space. Grants was close to the Gannon College campus and easily accessible to shoppers by car and local bus routes at a time when people regularly shopped in Downtown Erie.

Grant's opened its first Erie store in 1916. Here's a more recent item about the store: Grant's 1972 ad

Learn more about the history of Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie

Boston Store Before the Big One 718 State St

Old Time Erie: Boston Store (Erie Dry Goods Co.), 718-726 State Street.

Here is a photo of the Boston Store before the Big One was built. By Big One, I mean the building at 716 State Street that is so beloved in the memory of so many Erie natives. The one with the restaurant, the decorations, and several floors of merchandise. The one where you met your friends 'Under the Clock' at 716 State Street in Erie, PA.

The Boston Store was housed in the building shown above, at 718-726 State, before the one at 716 State Street was finished around 1931.

The Boston Store which was known as the Erie Dry Goods Company. The original retail store was located at 1604 Peach Street when it first opened in Erie, PA in 1885. At that time, the store had eight clerks and 2,175 square feet of floor space. Quite a bit smaller than the behemoth building that people remember shopping in on State Street, where there was a department (and sometimes an entire floor) for each category of items, such as toys, cameras, jewelry, ladies blouses, men's suits, children's back to school clothing. You name it and they probably had it in stock. 

The statistics from 1926 were impressive: "The present organization, in peak times, reaches a total of nearly 1,000 employees and more than 210,000 square feet of floor are now used. The Boston Store occupies the larger portion of an entire city block and has entrances on four streets. That the Boston Store meets all of Erie's needs in a fully satisfactory manner is apparent when its great progress is considered." This was one of the biggest employers in Erie County in the twenties.

Click here to view a shot of the Boston Store from 1932. If you would like to see other photos of the store, type 'Boston Store' in the search box near the upper left hand corner (to the right of the orange B). You'll be glad you did.

Enjoy more fun and fascinating historical facts about Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie

Duggan-Rider East 8th and State Erie PA

Eastside of State St. from 7th to 8th. Photo by Chester Wasielewski. ©Debbi Lyon 2012.

Check out the giant camera perched atop the Duggan-Rider Office Supply Co. at 727 State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania around 1967. If this scene does not look familiar, it's because most of these buildings have been demolished. (The facade of the smaller First National Bank building at 715 State St. was moved to 138 East 26th St. in Erie.)

The businesses that are visible in this photo, from left to right, are the Erie Sport Store at 709 State; First National Bank, 715 State;  Block's Billiards; Strub's Restaurant at 725 State St.; Duggan-Rider at 727 State St., Beneficial Finance Co. at 729 State St. Beneficial was on the southeast corner of 8th & State.

The buildings to the north of Erie Sport Store in the photograph above were torn down in February of 1969 to make way for the new Erie Sport Store building. The construction caused the collapse of 709 State Street, and damaged buildings at 713 and 715 State St. Six employees were inside the Erie Sport Store when it started to crumble on February 18, 1969. A construction worker ran inside to warn John 'Jack' Weber to get out of the building. "I yelled back one last time for anybody inside to get the hell out of there," Weber told the Erie Daily Times, "then I got out. Minutes later  the whole thing came down."

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield can currently be found at 717 State St. Here is a map of this block from 1950 which lists the names of all the stores.

Here is a picture of the east side of the 700 block of State

Enjoy more fun facts about the history of Erie, PA at: Old Time Erie

State Street, Palace Theater and Baldwin Bldg., Erie PA

This postcard, taken on 12th and State Street in Erie, PA looking north, is courtesy of Ken Sidun. The Erie Trust Company Building on the right is better known as the Baldwin Building or the Renaissance Bldg. The Boston Store is visible in the distance on the left side of the image. The Sherman's sign was still hanging on the east side of State between 10th and 11th in the early seventies. You can also see the old Palace sign on the right.

The area shown here on the right currently contains the Crooked I and the Docksider and the Plymouth.

A portion of this postcard showing the Baldwin Building is visible in a shot from the early seventies.

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

Corner of 7th and State Street, Erie, PA Hall's Restaurant

Corner of 7th and State Street, looking north. Photo by Chester Wasielewski; copyright Debbi Lyon 2012.

Remember Hall's Restaurant at the southwest corner of 7th and State Street in Erie, PA? The businesses in Downtown Erie used lots of cool neon and Coca-Cola signs to advertise their stores. Hall's was torn down, along with the Elk's Club and everything else on the block to make way for City Hall. The billiard hall and the news room were also demolished by the wrecking ball. 

The Hotel Richford, which was the old Ford Hotel, is visible on the right side of this photo. Richford Arms is now an apartment building. It is on the east side of State Street. 

Erieites are pretty hardy. It might be twenty degrees outside, but you just throw on an extra sweater and a pair of boots, put on a pair of mittens over your gloves and head outside. 

Find more facts and photos of Erie, PA at Old Time Erie

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

P.A. Meyer Fire State Street Erie, PA part 1

P.A. Meyer Fire State Street, Erie, PA pt. 1

P.A. Meyer & Sons aftermath of fire. Photo by Chester Wasielewski. ©2012 Debbi Lyon.

P.A. Meyer & Sons was located on State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, in between the Warner Theatre and Trask's department store (which was torn down and replaced by Mid City Towers, shown on the right in the  picture above.) P.A. Meyer's caught fire in the winter and was completely gutted.

See the article "Warner Theatre State Street about 1965" for a photo of P.A. Meyer's before the fire: P. A. Meyer before the fire. This article was published on Old Time Erie blog on May 21, 2012.

Bruce Moorhead was a rookie on the Erie Fire Department when the call came in. "Got called in on Friday night, around 7 p.m., got relieved Sunday morning at 7 a.m. I believe the snorkel froze with the basket hanging out over the burnt out building," said Bruce. "That was one h--- of a cold night." He responded from Station 8 at 23rd and Ash Street.

The building that formerly housed P. A. Meyer & Son caught fire on Friday, January 27, 1978. By that time State Street had been changed to include a pedestrian friendly shopping area as part of the Erie downtown redevelopment under Mayor Louis Tullio. The planters shown here are barely visible with all the snow plowed up against them.

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

Warner Theatre State Street about 1965

Warner Theatre State Street about 1965

Warner Theatre photo by Chester
Wasielewski, © Debbi Lyon 2012.

This shot of the Warner Theatre at 811 State Street in Erie was taken about 1965. The movie on the marquee is "Your Cheatin' Heart" starring George Hamilton as Hank Williams, Sr. 

The remainder of the stores, from left to right, are:

815 State St. ?

815 1/2 State St. Household Finance Loans

817 State St. P.A. Meyer & Sons 

827 State St. Trask's 

The Warner Theatre has been restored to its glory days and many special events are held here, including concerts, dance recitals, high school graduations and weddings. The Floral Gallery is next door at 815 State St. There are law offices at 821 State St. Mid City Towers occupies the corner where the old Trask's department store used to be. Mid City Towers, which has an address of 12 East 9th Street, has several businesses on its ground floor. P.A. Meyer was destroyed by fire and later demolished.

Here are some Erie movie theater ads from 1948.

Enjoy more fun facts and old photos of Erie, PA at Old Time Erie