[PRCo] Re: 22 Crosstown

[Bob Rathke]

I also relate the North Avenue trolley scene to medicine:

In the 1940's, our family physician was was Dr. Berkowitz whose office was 
in the light facade building behind the black car in the photos. He was 
multi-specialty, making house calls for our childhood illnesses, being my 
dad's surgeon, and my mothers obstetrician. One day in 1947 I fell on a 
broken glass bottle at West View Park, and that evening was taken by a 
10-West View trolley to Dr. Berkowitz's office to be stitched up (I still 
have the 3" scar on my right palm). He must have worked 18 hours a day.

By the early 1960's Dr. Berkowitz retired, and his son - an 
ophthalmologist - took over his office space and performed eye exams for our 
family. Then, in the mid-60's that location became the office of our new 
family physician, Dr. Frank Santora, whose previous office was above the 
drug store on the northwest corner of North Avenue and Federal St. (the 
building seen above and behind the roll sign on 1464).

>From the 1880's through the 1920's my (maternal) great grandfather had a 
tailor shop on E. Ohio St. at James St. (I have his tailor shears and a wood 
coat hanger imprinted with his shop's name and address) . His oldest son 
also had a tailor shop on East St. near North Ave. that lasted until he 
passed on in 1953.

And a couple of blocks east of there my (paternal) great grandfather was 
fire engineer for the City of Allegheny from 1859-1900.

I have photos of them all.

Bob 11/17/09


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Schneider Fred" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 4:47 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: 22 Crosstown


> In December 1953 my maternal grandfather was apparently running
> downtown to catch a 8 car home and the stress caused a heart
> attack.   He got off at this corner, apparently because of Allegheny
> General Hospital being a block down the street.   He never made it.
> He collapsed here and the policeman came to tell my grandmother.   He
> only made it a few doors down to Aberly's Funeral Home.
>
> His father, an immigrant from Germany who spoke limited English like
> most immigrants then and now, lived downtown on Virgin Alley (later
> renamed without widening it to Oliver Avnue).   When the trade for
> his tailor shop moved to the north side (norside?), he did to
> settling on Sandusky Street, behind the camera 2/3rds of a block, and
> then up the hill to the the right a half block.   House is still
> there across the street from the hospital.   He came here because he
> was sick and tired of fighting other people's wars and immediately
> wound up in our civil war as a condition of getting U. S. citizenship.
>
> So much for memories of the North Side.
>
> On Nov 16, 2009, at 5:02 PM, Barry, Matthew R wrote:
>
>> Here is a pic from Historic Pittsburgh, dated August 1946, car 1464
>> on the 22 Crosstown route, North Avenue, just past Federal.
>> Matt
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
>> -- Type: image/jpeg
>> -- Desc: crosstown_AUG1946.jpg
>> -- Size: 77k (79367 bytes)
>> -- URL : http://lists.dementia.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/
>> crosstown_AUG1946.jpg
>>
>>
>>
>
>