I couldnt get the link to work so I did a copy/paste of this article. Its about bygone buildings and places, one of which is Willow Park. Its an interesting read. Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005 The Express-Times The things featured here were identified by readers who responded to our call for ideas of bygone buildings or places. The research and writings were compiled by Our Town editor Debra K Hess and staff writer Meghan Smith. The Hillcrest Club The Hillcrest Club, built in 1918 by Ingersoll-Rand Co., was a popular social and community center in Delaware Park, Lopatcong Township. The building was designed by an Ingersoll-Rand employee, George Morgenstern, an architect, of Easton. An addition to the club was built in 1929. The one-story white frame structure included a 65-foot by 124-foot auditorium, six bowling alleys, a squash court and a meeting room. In addition, the center included a stage, meeting rooms, large locker rooms, tennis courts and basketball courts. Though the center, which was set on about 12 acres, was constructed mainly for activities for Ingersoll-Rand employees and their families, it was also used by many local community organizations. The Hillcrest Club boasted the first organized semi-pro basketball games in the Phillipsburg-Easton area which were played on its basketball courts. In addition, the center was a popular spot for banquets, union meetings, wedding receptions and athletic events. A fire destroyed the club on March 9, 1966. The cause of the fire, which was fought by eight local fire companies, was undetermined. After much consideration, officials at Ingersoll-Rand Co. decided not to replace the club. Instead, the site was approved for an apartment complex. Willow Park During the summers of the 1960s, the sounds of children laughing could be heard coming from the 18.3-acres of Willow Park in Butztown, Bethlehem Township, Pa., near Nancy Run Creek. Until 1970, it was one of the few operational amusement parks in the Lehigh Valley. The park opened in 1931 under proprietor Daniel Shelbo. After Shelbos death, his family handled the park affairs. Daniel S. Horninger purchased the property in July 1959 for $125,000 and added 11 amusement rides to the two existing attractions. Park rides included the Wild Mouse, a merry-go-round, kiddie airplanes, kiddie boats, train rides, miniature golf, flying scooters, and handcarts. People flocked to the park to enjoy the penny arcade, bingo, dance and picnic pavilions and ample lawn space for family picnics. The outdoor swimming pool at Willow Park was an appealing attraction. The pool, on the site of a former cow pasture, measured 34,754 square feet and could contain about 850,000 gallons of water. In the late 1960s, Bethlehem Township commissioners entertained the idea of purchasing the property to be used as a recreation area, but later revoked the idea. John Posh, president of Posh Construction Co., purchased the park in July 1971. Mohican Market The Last of the Mohican was The Express-Times headline for the article Oct. 16, 1992, telling of the early-morning fire that swept through and destroyed the three-story 114-year-old landmark at 23-27 S. Fourth St. In the following weeks, the building was demolished. Several pieces of sculpted stone and capital stone from the Mohicans facade were rescued by the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society, according to the article. Throughout the years, the Mohican had many owners and uses. Early on, Mohican patrons would arrive at the market in horse and buggy. The Mohican served as a grocery store, selling soy beans, pickles and peanut butter in wooden barrels. Bread sold for a nickel a loaf. Tubs of lard and butter were strategically placed in the market. The inviting smells from the bakery in the back of the building would draw plenty of customers inside. In 1977, the building served as a marketplace with a variety of shops and a nightclub. The 19th- century building was bought in 1991 and then sold and bought again in June 1992. The once-flourishing marketplace lost its grandeur to bankruptcies, auctions and bad business transactions. In 1994, the nearby Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church bought the lot where the Mohican stood. Grist Mill - bottom of College Hill and others John Brotzman and John Herster owned and operated the 1789 mill at the foot of College Hill after constructing a road along the left bank of the Bushkill Creek from the Third Street Bridge. The property was transferred in 1810 to Jacob Mixsell, who owned it until 1842, when it was then turned over to Enoch Green, followed by I.N. Carpenter and Mann E. Allshouse in 1868. At that time, the mill had a capacity of 50 barrels per day with a 9-foot fall of water. The old method of making flour was still used at the site. At one time, according to Grier Scheetz, an Easton historian in 1917, there were 17 mills along the two Bushkills, including oil mills, distillers, grist and flour. Groetzingers Mill, built about 1830 by Peter Ihrie, began as a fulling mill then changed over to a grist mill with a 4 run of stone and a 51-foot fall of water. The Old Butz Mill, owned by Michael Butz, was built in 1762 by Peter Kichline with a 12-foot fall of water and 3 run stone. The Old Grist Mill along Bushkill Creek in Easton was owned by Edwin Binney and C. Howard Smith, cousins. In the beginning, the owners produced talcum powder. But because far upstream there proved to be an abundance of slate, they turned to manufacturing pencils. In 1903, Binney initiated the idea of producing the crayon, heralding the start of Binney & Smith Corp., maker of Crayola crayons. Boyd Theatre The Boyd Theatre, at 52 N. Third St. in Easton, was the place to go for fun and entertainment. The theater, previously named The Seville, opened on Feb. 22, 1929, during the heaviest snowstorm of the winter. In addition to the theater, the location included apartments and three street-level stores. The theater boasted 1,600 seats and maintained an extravagant Spanish theme. The theater was in good company during those days. Downtown included Abels Opera House, the Jewel Theater, the Orpheum, and the Fourth Street Theater. Before showing movies, The Seville presented vaudeville shows and silent films. During the Great Depression, the theater closed for a short time. Boyd Enterprises purchased the theater in 1933. The first movie shown was The Redskin, starring Richard Dix. According to Easton Express newspaper articles, the Boyd was open six days a week until the 1940s, when Pennsylvania state laws were changed to allow movies to be shown on Sundays. Frank Buehler, the last of the three owners of the Boyd Theatre chain, died in 1969. Buehlers heirs sold the chains theaters, including the one on Broad Street in Bethlehem and the Bethlehem Drive-in in Butztown. Another group of Easton businessmen, known as E-Park, recognized as the Easton Parking Association, purchased the theater at a public auction in January 1971 for $96,000. The group decided to raze the building and two neighboring buildings for a 90-car parking lot. More than 1,500 residents signed a petition to prevent a wrecking ball from ending the life of a distinctive relic of an era gone by. The groups hope was to restore life to the theater and bring back entertainment with guests like Sha Na Na, which performed at the theater in December 1971. The effort failed. The theater closed its doors on May 24, 1972. The last movie shown was The Ten Commandments. One month later, in June, the structure was demolished. In a 1971 Express article, city officials decided the area was in great need of more parking, which would prove beneficial to businesses, churches and residents. One other conclusion drawn by the officials was that the building had no historical value. The Boyd Theatre left behind some pieces that have been distributed to other places. For about 20 years, a 56-inch model of a U.S. Navy World War I submarine chaser was on exhibit in the lobby of the theater. A Phillipsburg resident restored the piece in 1981 and subsequently donated it to the museum at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. A section of a Spanish-style fresco at the theater - one of three such pieces - is currently on display at the Quadrant Book Mart and Coffeehouse on Third Street in Easton. Embassy Theatre The Embassy Theatre, at 342-350 Northampton St. in Easton, was the site of the former Abel Opera House. The opera house presented many dramatic and operatic companies in the late 19th century and early 20th century. A large lodge room and two stores also comprised the historic building. In an Easton Express article written by John Bonnell in 1957, Bonnell said the buildings site was one of the most historic in the city. Admission was 25 cents in June 1913 for those patrons who wished to see Thomas Edisons talking pictures during Old Home Week. Two fires struck the theater in a little more than two years. One fire was started by a discarded cigarette on June 12, 1924. The second occurred March 26, 1926, due to defective wiring. Around that time, the operators decided to turn the place of live theater into a movie house. The last movies played at The Embassy in May 1966. When Gangland Strikes and Doctor at Sea brought an end to an era in Easton. The property was sold to Arthur P. Siegal to be transformed into a ladies apparel store. Old Armory - Northampton Street, Easton The Battery D213th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft), the former Easton National Guard Unit, was once located in a gray brick and stone building at Seventh and Northampton streets, Easton. The battery was federalized on Sept. 16, 1940. The unit was called into action during World War II and members of the unit served in campaigns in Africa and Europe. The unit was initially gathered in Easton as the Easton City Guard, Co. 1, 13th Infantry. Only later did it become an infantry unit and then a machine gun battalion, serving in France and Germany during World War I. The unit became the Battery D of the 213th Artillery, fighting in World War II and the Korean War. Later, the unit was reorganized into the Easton unit in an anti-aircraft battalion, the infantry and signal corps. The battalion became a maintenance unit in 1971 and was transferred to Bethlehem in 1975. The Easton building was consequently sold. In 1989, a new Battery D unit was formed and was housed in Wilson Borough. Island Park, Easton Built in July of 1894, Island Park on the Lehigh River was a popular amusement park advertised as the most beautiful recreation resort in eastern Pennsylvania. Advertisements in early 1900s editions of The Easton Express also referred to the park on Smiths Island as The Peoples Popular Playground and Natures Beauty Spot. For nearly 25 years, park-goers enjoyed rides such as an early figure-eight-style toboggan roller coaster, a Ferris wheel, pony rides and the old mill. There were concerts, Vaudeville shows, minstrels, and plays in an open-air theater known as the Casino and a nearby band shell. Among the band shells many concerts was one featuring legendary march composer John Phillip Sousa. The 100-acre island was also home to a bathing beach, sand pit, boating and picnic areas for visitors to enjoy. Open-air trolley cars helped shuttle passengers back and forth from the bustling park, with trips running every five minutes. Others visitors could elect to walk the Donkey Bridge instead. But heavy ice flows along the river frequently damaged the trolley-trestle. That damage, in addition to severe flooding sustained in 1919, made repairs too costly, and the park was closed. The Bee Hive Community Center, Bangor The Bangor Bee Hive was the place to be for Slate Belt area teens in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Bangor Borough Council first authorized the communitys young people to use the old Library Band Hall Auditorium on North First Street in 1944. Dr. Harry Eisenberg was the district superintendent, and a leading proponent of the youth center project. The two-room brick building got its name during a contest sponsored by art teacher Kathryn Oxford. Darien Smith submitted Bee Hive and won the $5 award. For a small fee, teens came together to dance to jukebox music, play ping-pong and spend time with friends. The highlight of the year was the annual Bee Hive Minstrel and the crowning of a king and a queen, which was held at the Bangor High School Auditorium on Fourth Street. But in March of 1967, the building was destroyed by a fire. Community members then got together to reopen a new Bee Hive at 197 Pennsylvania Avenue one year later. Over time, interest in the Bee Hive as a youth center diminished, and the space is now rented to various community groups, cheerleading and wrestling clubs. Hesss Department Store, locations in Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown Charles and Max Hess, two brothers from Perth Amboy, opened the legendary Hesss Department Store on Hamilton Street in Allentown in February of 1897. The extravagant flagship store from another era opened with 27 employees and grew to nearly 1500 workers. Hesss became known for not only its cutting-edge fashions, but also its world-famous Patio Restaurant and special celebrity appearances, such as Superman George Reeves. Hess hired the TV superhero one day to fulfill various duties, including elevator operator, delivery driver, stockroom clerk, shoe salesman, fashion director and more, much to the delight of customers. But the 70s saw significant expansion for the store. By 1974, there were four Hesss stores within a 15 mile radius of downtown Allentown, with 14 more stores opening beyond the Lehigh Valley within the next five years. Over-expansion within its own market eventually led to the stores decline almost 100 years after it first opened. Local Hesss locations were sold to The Bon-Ton in 1994. Portland - Columbia Covered Bridge Before the Flood of 55 washed away the famous landmark spanning the Delaware River, the covered bridge from Portland to Columbia was a popular way to commute from place to place. The bridge was constructed in 1869 and quickly became a unique spot for advertisers to plug their products. In 1903 an ad for Pure and Harmless Sozodont for the Teeth and Breath appeared, and was said to be the largest in the United States at the time. A Coca-Cola ad appeared in 1917. The wooden bridge was 775 feet long, 18 feet wide and cost $40,000 to construct. Before being sold to the Joint Commission for the Elimination of Toll Bridges in 1927, the bridge was privately owned. It was then opened to vehicles through 1954, when it was converted into a walking bridge. Early bridges in Easton Early bridges in the Easton area had a difficult time holding up. Eastons first bridge was made of wood and spanned the Bushkill Creek. Built in 1762, it was located at what is now Fourth Street. The bridge was replaced in 1792 by a stone bridge, and later by an iron bridge in 1873. In 1798, in Easton, another bridge was built over the Lehigh River at Third Street, but collapsed just days after it opened. Abraham Horn, builder of the bridge, constructed another one to replace it, but that only lasted until a flood in 1811. Its next replacement was a chain suspension bridge. It and another bridge built at the site were also washed away by floods in 1841 and 1862. Several later bridges also suffered the same fate. The bridge is now called the George Smith Memorial Bridge.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 02:32:09 +0000
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