Bloomsburg Photo Tour (Pittsburgh, Reading, Scranton: houses, neighborhood, movie theater)

[SteelCityRising]

Hello everyone! During my day off today I decided to trek down Route 11 from Kingston all the way down to the college town and Columbia County seat of Bloomsburg. I passed through Downtown Plymouth, which was once the area's "Furniture Capital." Further on down the roadway I went past the Garden Drive-In Theater, the waving gorilla in Downtown Shickshinny, the State Correctional Institute at Retreat, and, most imposingly, the PPL Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant, which had two large cooling towers that dominated the landscape about ten minutes northeast of Berwick in the suburb of Salem Township (stay tuned for photos of that in my upcoming Berwick Photo Tour).

Bloomsburg is home to roughly 12,000 residents and is situated roughly midway between Berwick and Danville in the Central Susquehanna Valley. It is also located just off of I-80 and has its own small airport. The town hosts the annual Bloomsburg Fair, which is the largest agricultural fair in the Commonwealth. It is also home to Bloomsburg University, a 4-year state school with an attractive campus that has been nicknamed "Boozeburg" for its reputation for being a huge partying/drinking school. (There was even a small alcohol-induced riot in town during a recent student block party that outraged nearby residents). The university enrolls about 8,500 undergraduate and graduate students combined, accounting for more than half the town's population (In all reality the town would be just another "dead" small Central PA town without the college).

The town has two major "sprawl" districts. Scott Township extends along Route 11 just to the northeast of the town and is home to Staples, Applebee's, the town's former Wal-Mart (which has since been converted to a power equipment store), a Tractor Supply Company store, a movie theater, a Weis Market, and various other chain stores and fast-food restaurants. Just to the west of town is the village of Buckhorn in Hemlock Township, which is home to the Columbia Mall, Panera Bread, Lowe's Home Improvement, Home Depot, Wal-Mart Supercenter, etc.

There's currenty a major sewer line project underway along Main Street in the downtown area that has vehicluar traffic backed-up and has deterred foot traffic from patronizing local businesses. The reason why I didn't snap as many photos of Bloomsburg as I did of, per se, Lewisburg, was due to the disgusting conditions created downtown by all of the construction---I just wanted to get out of the downtown area as soon as I possibly could due to the strong asphalt stench and all of the noise. WNEP-TV recently did a story on how downtown merchants are suffering, and here's the link to the article:
Construction Hurting Bloomsburg Businesses (http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=6583456 - broken link)

Here are some more links of interest:
Bloomsburg Today
Visit Downtown Bloomsburg, PA
The Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce - Serving Bloomsburg, Danville and surrounding communities.
153rd Annual Bloomsburg Fair - September 22 - September 29, 2007
Bloomsburg Area School District
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

Please enjoy the tour!

[SteelCityRising]

After parking my car along West First Street in a residential neighborhood, I set off on foot towards Bloomsburg University, where I began snapping away.


Welcome to Bloomsburg University!


Carver Hall, which sits majestically at the intersection of East Second Street and Penn Street, was built in 1867. It is the oldest building on campus and houses the Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium, the office of the campus president, provost, and vice president for academic affairs. Originally named Institute Hall, the building was renamed in 1927 to honor Henry Carver, the first principal of the school. It sits on College Hill and is perched overlooking the town of Bloomsburg below.


Scranton Commons is an air-conditioned dining facility with 1,175 seats and a serving capacity of 3,000. A pizza shop and convenience store are located in the lobby of the building. The building is named after former Pennsylvania Governor William W. Scranton, who served from 1963 to 1967.


Looking up East Second Street with Lycoming Hall on the left. This building, which was built in 1976, is a residence hall that houses 250 students.


This building, built in 1956, houses the University Store, the campus police, and the campus post office.


Shown here are Sutliff Hall (left) and Centennial Hall (right). Sutliff Hall was built in 1960 and houses the College of Business and the departments of accounting, finance and legal studies, business education and business information systems, computer information systems, management, and marketing. The building is named after William Boyd Sutliff, who was a mathematics professor and athletic director at the school from 1891 to 1921 and the dean from 1921 to 1937. He wrote the university's alma mater. Centennial Hall was built in 1939 and is home to the School of Graduate Studies, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the departments of audiology and speech pathology, anthropology, and exercise science.


The Harvey A. Andruss Library, which has over 400,000 volumes and government documents, 2,000,000 microforms, 1,700 periodicals, and 32 newspapers. The building is named after Dr. Harvey A. Andruss, who was the campus president from 1939 to 1969.


Lots of construction is underway on campus. Shown here from left to right are the Bakeless Center for the Humanities, McCormick Center for Human Services, and the Waller Administration Building. The Bakeless building was built in 1970 and houses the departments of English, economics, philosophy, and political science. The building is named in honor of the Bakeless family, who were large university benefactors. The McCormick Center houses the College of Professional Studies, including early childhood and elementary education, educational studies, secondary education, and nursing. The building also houses communication studies, mathematics, computer science and statistics, mass communications, instructional techonology, psychology, sociology, and social welfare. It is named for James H. McCormick, the college president from 1973 to 1983. Finally, the Waller Building was built in 1972 and houses administrative offices and services. It is named after David J. Waller, Jr., who was the son of the university's founder, who started the school in 1839.


Shown beyond the parking lot is the 56,000 square foot student rec center. It houses a fitness room, free-weight room, four basketball courts, a 55-foot rock-climbing wall, racquetball courts, and a running track, among other amenities.


Headed back towards the town proper along East Second Street. Check out the mountainous vista in the distance! It was along this stretch of roadway where a car full of girls slowed down next to me to flirt with me. I was speechless!


The view looking down Locust Street from the campus.


An attractive on-campus home.

(PHOTOS TO BE CONTINUED BELOW)

[SteelCityRising]

Before heading into the heart of downtown to snap some photos, I lingered around the residential fringe a bit.


A unique home perched high up on the hill overlooking the intersection of East First Street at West Street.


West Street







Some scenes from along East First Street.


A home at the intersection of East First and North Market.


Bloomsburg Ambuance Assn., Lightstreet Road







A few scenes from the block of East Second Street that connects Main Street in the downtown area to Bloomsburg University, on the hill above town. Shown in the bottom photo is a bed & breakfast inn.


(PHOTOS TO BE CONTINUED BELOW)

[SteelCityRising]

The primary east/west main drag through town is known as "Main Street." There was a major construction project occurring here that was snarling traffic and making the day just a little bit unpleasant for pedestrians nearby.












The Main Street Business District





Market Square


Looking east on Main Street from the west side of town towards Bloomsburg University in the distance.



Columbia County Courthouse

(PHOTOS TO BE CONTINUED BELOW)

[SteelCityRising]

The primary north/south artery through town is Market Street.




A pair of churches along the street.


Bloomsburg Post Office


Bloomsburg Technology Center


Bloomsburg Elementary School


A handsome brick building built in 1893.














Some residences along South Market between Main and 5th.

P.S. I also found it interesting that while the east/west streets in the town were numbered, the "thirteenth" street, closest to the river and the town park, was named "12 1/2" Street. Superstitious, anyone?


(END)

[Baltic_Celt]

Beautiful, little town, Paul, thank you for sharing your pics. You must have had a lovely day there. Some very gorgeous, unusually shaped homes in addition to the flat-front ones that are so PA'n to me, from Reading to W-B. Yes, you can see I have little architectural knowledge, I'm afraid. I never made it to the yearly fair, but, hopefully that will change soon. When is the fair, by the way? Summer, I'd imagine?

I can't see your last 10 pics. I'm wondering why I'm having some trouble seeing parts of your tours. Perhaps my slow dial-up? I'll have to try again later to reload the page.

Thank you again... VV

[Katarina Witt]

Great pix, SWB. When I was in college in the late 60s, my parents lived in Bloomsburg (I went to Pitt). I actually took some classes there one summer. They only lived there about 2 yrs, and I was in Pittsburgh most of the time. My brother graduated from Bloomsburg HS. We lived up the hill from the U. in some apts.

[Dawne]

KittensPurr, the Bloomsburg Fair is held the last week of September. It sometimes runs into the beginning of October. The weather is usually beautiful for walking around such a large area, although sometimes there's rain and I do remember one year being downright frigid! They get some of the best entertainment possible. Check out their website at:

153rd Annual Bloomsburg Fair - September 22 - September 29, 2007

Paul, the "small alcohol-induced riot" that you mentioned resulted in over 100 arrests! The mess that the students left behind had residents (and students) using snow shovels to clean up the debris in the streets.

It's too bad about the downtown construction. Bloomsburg has one of the most beautiful, vibrant downtowns, with sidewalk cafes and all kinds of specialty shops.

It's unfortunate that the beautiful town park near the river and several streets in that area are prone to such devastating flooding. Bloomsburg has the best of everything, with a small downtown feel, a college town, a thriving retail area, and easy access to Interstate 80.

And, Bloomsburg also has the distinction of being the ONLY "Town" in Pennsylvania. Every other municipality is a "borough", a "city", a "hamlet" or whatever.

[AmeriKenArtist]

Great pics of Bloomsburg! I moved to this town in the beginning of this year. This is a great town to live in! Apart from the University, there is the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, Four art galleries, Many art studios throughout the area. Starbucks is here. Quiznos is coming. The Town Park, located at the end of Market Street, along the Susquehanna River is huge with many accomodations....Bandstand, A lake, Many pavilions, Tennis, Baseball, Kidsburg, Disc Golf! A nice variety of restaurants right in town! Thanks for the pics... Ken

[graysmom8]

Bummer, no pictures of fair food ? That's my favorite part of Bloomsburg (I grew up in Berwick).