Old Photos of Pittston (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: home, movie theaters, luxury)

[Gerania]

I was doing a bit of research on cemeteries in Wilkes-Barre and found this great collection of old photos, post cards, scans, of the Pittston area. Just thought I'd share.

Google Image Result for http://www.family-images.com/pa/pittston/Pittston%20PA%20M%20E%20Church%20and%20Presbyteria n%20Church%201907.jpg

[ScranBarre]

Thanks for sharing this link with us. I always get depressed whenever we eat at Savo's in the Pittston Commons in Pittston Township because inside their main dining room they have a full-length wall mural of the way Downtown Pittston used to look when it was still vibrant and replete with foot traffic. Savo's itself was formerly located downtown before it followed its clientele out to the rapidly-growing suburban areas. Now Downtown Pittston is TRYING to make a comeback with a new Victorian-era street scape and new businesses on the way, but I'm skeptical that it will EVER be as vibrant as it once was in the 1950s-1960s, the era depicted in the mural at Savo's.

Pittston used to have 21,000 residents. It was the "hub" for an area of what was probably approaching 75,000 immediate area residents at the time from Avoca to Wyoming and everywhere in between. Today the "city" (which is much smaller than many boroughs and townships in our area) is home to a mere 7,000 souls in a market area of about 48,000 that has now stagnated---the rapid growth of the suburbs has now kept pace with the decline in the older towns in and around Pittston. Downtown Pittston is DEAD at night. It was eerie when my friend and I patronized a new business, City Perk, a couple of weeks ago, as we thought we were going to see tumbleweed rolling on by. During the daytime the city looks vibrant with high-end SUVs and luxury sedans everywhere, but once those suburban professionals close up their offices and retreat out of the Main Street area, you can hear a pin drop!

Pittston has AMAZING potential to become something marvelous. We sit right along the Susquehanna River but are at too high of an elevation to flood. We are equidistant to Scranton or Wilkes-Barre and have major interchanges for I-81 and I-476, along with being home to the international airport. I never understood why, even as Scranton and Wilkes-Barre are turning themselves around, Pittston just sits in the dust?

[odessa3]

Oh-my-GOSH! I was looking through the titles of the photos, and found my grandfather!! He is in the St. Casimir's 1916 church choir photo! He died long before I was born, and I had never seen any photos of him! This was very exciting for me!

[mgb]

What a great thread! Is there anything similar for Scranton?

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by odessa3

Oh-my-GOSH! I was looking through the titles of the photos, and found my grandfather!! He is in the St. Casimir's 1916 church choir photo! He died long before I was born, and I had never seen any photos of him! This was very exciting for me!

How cool is that? I'm so happy for you!

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by mgb

What a great thread! Is there anything similar for Scranton?

I went to the main page of the site ad looked for Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and didn't get anything, but the miscellaneous page has a few from each area.

Family-Images.Com providing historians and genealogists with hard to find images.

[Gerania]

One more. Here are some photos and post cards of Wilkes-Barre. This site used to have pages and pages of them, but I can't find most of them now and many links are broken.

Google Image Result for http://www.northeast.railfan.net/captclint/sterling4.jpg

[dansdrive]

Great photo's thanks for sharing! American Auto...wow had not heard that name in for ever. Use to have an American Auto on S. Main in W-Bvand they gave out S&H Green Stamps!

Some of the pictures of main street brought back memories of my cousins who lived in Inkerman in the mid 1960's. We would walk from Inkerman to down town Pittston for something to do. Can't even remember the stores we went in, maybe S. S. Kregsly {sp?} or Woolworths....OK Pittston history buffs what was the big Dept. store in downtown Pittston in the mid 1960's?

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by dansdrive

Great photo's thanks for sharing! American Auto...wow had not heard that name in for ever. Use to have an American Auto on S. Main in W-Bvand they gave out S&H Green Stamps!

Some of the pictures of main street brought back memories of my cousins who lived in Inkerman in the mid 1960's. We would walk from Inkerman to down town Pittston for something to do. Can't even remember the stores we went in, maybe S. S. Kregsly {sp?} or Woolworths....OK Pittston history buffs what was the big Dept. store in downtown Pittston in the mid 1960's?

There was a Woolworth's and a JCPenney in Downtown Pittston in the 1950s-1960s, along with movie theaters. I used to live right on Main Street in Inkerman, not far from the former Haggerty's Sunoco Station. Small world!

[dansdrive]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

There was a Woolworth's and a JCPenney in Downtown Pittston in the 1950s-1960s, along with movie theaters. I used to live right on Main Street in Inkerman, not far from the former Haggerty's Sunoco Station. Small world!

A;Ha! SO it was Woolworth's and yes seen a movie or two when I was a kid in the Pittston Theater. There was a small gas station on the corner of Main Street, don't remember its brand but they use to have penny candy. My cousins lived down the hill from the gas station, down by a club like the Veterans Club or some other social club like that. I bet I would not know that place anymore. Use to play baseball up on the other side on Main Street at a ball field up there. Small world indeed!

As I said on other treads I lived in many places outside of NEPA and still have not found a single place like NEPA. I have been away over 20 years and I know it has changed but there is something about the ethnic fiber of the area with the Italians, Polish, Slovac, Czec's, Middle Eastern, and Irish communities.