Lewisburg Photo Tour (Pittsburgh, Scranton, Williamsport: home, neighborhood, to buy)

[jessnboys]

OMG!!! I was blown away by your photos...thanks so much for a trip down memory lane. I graduated from Bucknell in 94 and so many of your pictures brought back a flood of memories. I spent quite a bit of time at the Bull Run, which was really the only bar in town for students (Towne Tavern across the street was primarily a "townee" hangout) and seeing all the little shops really put a smile on my face. You even captured two of the places I lived...my freshman year's Vedder Hall (the brick dorm building with the phallic structure in front of it) and my senior off-campus house just down from the Derr House (we used to steal the apples off their trees in the back). All those homes back to the Susquehanna River--too cool!

Thanks again for all the photos...great job!

[susquehannock]

Originally Posted by jessnboys

memories. I spent quite a bit of time at the Bull Run, which was really the only bar in town for students (Towne Tavern across the street was primarily a "townee" hangout)

Did the students still call The Bull Run Inn, 'Dunkle's' and 'The Town Tavern ,'Tack's?'

Those were the names of both places until the mid '60s when both bars changed hands. The original names were still in use by the students as late as the '80s.

[jessnboys]

No, sorry, never heard either of those names before. Guess those names had been forgotton by the time I was 21 in 1993. I remember when I went back to visit for Reunion in 1999, the Bull Run was being renovated and from the outside pics it looks like they did a really nice job.

Anyone know the tuition nowadays for Bucknell? It was scary high 15 years ago..I can only imagine now what it must be.

[unicorn]

Thanks for the photo tour of the ol' home town. The old timers still call them Dunkles and Tacks. The flood of 72 did some incredible damage- besides tha A&P and western auto, it took out Donohues furniture, Dauberts(I think) plumbing store up the street, the lumber yard and coal yards on St. Louis street. The photos of the town are great. There was a cool barber shop on third street that is now a coffee shop., they have a photo of the barber shop inside. Lewisburg is a nice slice of Americana, that hopefully stays that way.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by unicorn

Thanks for the photo tour of the ol' home town. The old timers still call them Dunkles and Tacks. The flood of 72 did some incredible damage- besides tha A&P and western auto, it took out Donohues furniture, Dauberts(I think) plumbing store up the street, the lumber yard and coal yards on St. Louis street. The photos of the town are great. There was a cool barber shop on third street that is now a coffee shop., they have a photo of the barber shop inside. Lewisburg is a nice slice of Americana, that hopefully stays that way.

I think Lewisburg will remain a tranquil, pleasant, friendly "slice of Americana" for quite some time to come. Union County is growing, but its growth rate has been slow enough for the local townships and boroughs to keep pace with in terms of increasing municipal services, unlike Monroe County, which has noticed a worsened quality-of-life due to its inability to adapt to its growth. Lewisburg's isolation from major cities is actually a blessing in disguise for it; you can't easily live in Lewisburg and then commute to Harrisburg, State College, etc. for work on a daily basis. While I saw out-of-state cars everywhere in town, I'd suspect that they were mostly owned by college students, brand new professors who were just settling in, as well as some newer retirees to the area; Lewisburg isn't exactly known as a "hot-spot" for real estate.

There is some ugly commercial chain-store sprawl to the north of town along Route 15 near to Evangelical Community Hospital, as well as some newer housing developments in nearby Kelly Township, East Buffalo Township, and Buffalo Township. Crime remains very low in Union County, and it will be a pleasure to visit again later this summer to do my photo tours of Middleburg, Selinsgrove, and Mifflinburg. Lewisburg was the type of town where people would race me in a dueling fashion to be the first to say "Good morning," unlike here in Luzerne County where such a gesture is returned with a grunt or an "I don't know you." I'll never forget the kind words of that one older man near the Bucknell campus who told me it would be "great to have me in town this Fall." That totally floored me, as I'm accustomed to the local idiots in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre who try to scare newcomers AWAY.

[Pj3422]

Wow -- what a treat to see my grandparents' home included on your photo tour! (4th from the bottom, 213 N. 4th St.) The new owners are making some wonderful changes to the house and I've been following their progress at 1855 Zeller House Remodel - Gutted to Green . Now if Bechtel's could only be revived; no one here in San Antonio has heard of teaberry ice cream!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by CelticX

Dear SWB - during a "Celtic" search I ended up on this site because you mentioned my shop, and I loved reading the wonderful things you said about our town. I registered just so that I could thank you! It really is as nice a town to live in as your words and pictures portrayed - and what a gorgeous day you had for photographing. Of course, I scrolled down through all the lovely photos and had to laugh when you mentioned my Mini Cooper! She'll be pleased to be referred to as 'sexy', I'm sure...

Again, thanks for the great review of the 'burg -

Thanks very much for the kind comments; it's refreshing to hear a few nice reviews in a row after I had a few negative ones in a row in a few other tours. I was very impressed by your shop, and I wish I had time to saunter in and do some shopping. My grandmother just turned 80, and I'm sure you would have had just the right Celtic object to make her smile.

I'm always pressed for time on these photo tours simply because I'm young and have overbearing parents. Even though I'll be turning 21 this November, they are very strict as far as keeping a "leash" on me, and they would never in a MILLION years permit me to drive alone to such far-flung places as Lewisburg, Williamsport, Binghamton, East Stroudsburg, etc. for my photo tours. As such, I need to leave in the mornings just after they leave for work, and then I have to ensure that I am home in the early-afternoon before they return home from work. By doing so, I am able to travel within a two-hour radius or so to do my photo tours, but I have to miss out on a LOT of the subtle little nuances that I'd love to explore in these communities, including your Celtic shop. I don't yet have the money to move out (only about $6,000 saved for a home), but as soon as I'm on more solid financial footing, you can bet that I'll be moved out of my parents' home and into a home where I can come and go as I please (at which point Lewisburg will be seeing regular pilgrimages from me for its many festivals!).

Also, I'm currently on the prowl for a Mini-Cooper. My once-reliable Ford Contour has just cost me $800 in repairs, and it still doesn't feel quite right. Considering I'm nearing 90,000 miles on it, and the car is now about nine years old, I should start to consider an upgrade to something flashier and more fashionable. Your Mini-Cooper had me drooling, and I was so mesmerized by it that I almost actually kissed the fender! LOL! I saw another Mini Cooper while doing one of my Scranton photo tours, and I did a little "Happy-Dance" of sorts around it, even though I was on a main road. All of my friends have more well-to-do parents who all bought them flashier vehicles on their 16th birthdays while I paid for my "grandma-mobile" 100% on my own. However, I'm now nearing the point where I'm able to trade on up to an eye-catcher like a Mini Cooper.

P.S. Where did you buy your Mini? I've researched this quite well and have determined that there aren't any Mini dealers in Northeastern or North Central Pennsylvania, so if I needed to schedule regular maintenance for it, where could I go? Thanks in advance for your help!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by Pj3422

Wow -- what a treat to see my grandparents' home included on your photo tour! (4th from the bottom, 213 N. 4th St.) The new owners are making some wonderful changes to the house and I've been following their progress at 1855 Zeller House Remodel - Gutted to Green . Now if Bechtel's could only be revived; no one here in San Antonio has heard of teaberry ice cream!

I just spent quite a bit of time reading that blog, and I found it to be quite a fascinating and intriguing read. Thanks for the link! I was also happy to hear that they were going with their "local hometown appliance store" (which I assume would be Stamm's), as opposed to Lowe's, Sears, or Home Depot. Lewisburg's residents seemed to be very supportive of their own mom-and-pop stores in their downtown business district, and I hope that trend continues, even as more chain stores take root up and down Route 15.

Lewisburg is the type of place I'd love to retire to someday---a walkable atmosphere, tree-lined streets, historic homes, and friendly people; what more could anyone want in a community? It certainly beats here in Pittston, with its lack of sidewalks, depletion of shade trees, decrepit coal miners' homes, and rude people.

Teaberry ice cream, eh? Sounds yummy! My mom is a fan of Honeydew ice cream, and I'm a fan of Maine's blueberry ice cream.

[Dawne]

Originally Posted by jessnboys

Anyone know the tuition nowadays for Bucknell? It was scary high 15 years ago..I can only imagine now what it must be.

Last I heard it was in the low $30,000s per year for room, board and tuition.

[Dawne]

Originally Posted by Pj3422

Now if Bechtel's could only be revived; no one here in San Antonio has heard of teaberry ice cream!

Quite a few of the local soft serve places have teaberry as their third (or fourth) flavor sometimes. Still, soft serve isn't the same as Bechtel's ice cream.

Did you ever have a cho-cho? It was a chocolate malted ice cream in a dixie-cup-type container with a plastic lid. You got a popsicle stick with it which you pushed through the lid. You rolled the cup in your hands to soften it up a bit, then removed the cup and had a "popsicle" to eat. It kind of tasted like a Wendy's chocolate frosty but much creamier and MUCH better! We sold those at our campground for years, and then Bechtel's got new machinery and couldn't fill the smaller cups any more so they stopped making them. That was a sad, sad day at our campground, and I'm sure many others in the area.