[PRCo] Re: Another comment on the PAT union pictures

[John Swindler]

That's not a grave yard to left in pix.  It's an old folks home.  At one time a mine branch from PRR bisected Jane St., the old folks home property, and continued behind the photographer for a short distance.  But it was gone very early.
 
At one time Wilkinsburg was known for large number of churches.  But as you said, Fred, times have changed.  
 

 

> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Another comment on the PAT union pictures
> From: fwschneider at comcast.net
> Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:57:47 -0500
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
> 
> Thanks Bob. There is so much in those pictures beside just the streetcar. We too often forget that the streetcar was simply a part of a much larger environment that it existed to serve. 
> 
> I see the church, the grave yard, that yellow brick home in the classic prairie style, the mailbox in red and blue (remember when they were all olive?), and all those cars with four headlights -- a scheme that began in 1957 in some states and all states in 1958. 
> 
> As for Trinity Reformed? There is no listing for a Trinity Reformed Church today on the internet in Wilkinsburg. There is no listing on the internet from which I might infer that it moved. There is listing under Wilkinsburg Churches today for any denomination at that intersection. Shall I act surprised? First of all, I think we all know that attendance in mainstream churches has declined significantly over the last half century. Furthermore, the population of Wilkinsburg has dropped from 29,583 in 1940 to 15,930 in 2010. Homewood, Braddock, Point Breeze, Swissvale have all dropped. Even Penn Hills Township lost people in the last decade. 
> 
> But I remember, Bob and the rest of yins, when there were no restaurants out in Penn Township (now Penn Hills). If my parents wanted to go out for dinner on Saturday night with two kids, we went to beautiful downtown Wilkinsburg. Yes, that was before Monroeville was a major destination .... Monroeville was where you went to buy milk from the farmer on Sunday when all the stores were closed and your baby sister needed formula. The other options might have been Oakmont or East Liberty.
> 
> To get back to route 64 and its environment.
> 
> I always felt that if I am ever working at Arden on a major church holiday like Easter and 1138 is available, I would grab it and run it with a 66 Wilkinsburg sign simply for the excuse of explaining that it was a weekday rush hour route ( a short turn 64 ) but that it ran on certain major Sundays in order to haul people to the cemeteries. I would not want to overlook the opportunity of explaining how the world has changed. Today our cemeteries are empty.
> 
> 
> 
> On Feb 27, 2012, at 1:46 PM, robert netzlof wrote:
> 
> >> On Behalf Of Fred Schneider [fwschneider at comcast.net]
> > 
> >> http://atu85.org/v2/images/IMG_6284.jpg
> > 
> >> And it was taken so close to where I grew up in Penn
> >> Hills. I probably drove by that
> >> intersection hundreds of times with my parents as a young
> >> boy. It was in route to the family
> >> doctor. It's Rebecca St. at Swissvale
> >> Avenue in Wilkinsburg. (I have no idea what
> >> the huge church is down at Coal Street ... I suspect that as
> >> the population dropped, it lost its function and is
> >> something else today.)
> > 
> > Can't speak to "today". According to the Hopkins and the Sanborn maps, 'twas Trinity Reformed Church.
> > 
> > The 1903 Hopkins map shows just the configuration of tracks shown in the photo, that is, single track left-to-right on Swissvale, one track coming down Rebecca and turning left to a switch onto the track on Swissvale. The church is marked "Reformed Church".
> > 
> > Curiously, the 1915 Hopkins map shows only a single track on Swissvale, no track on Rebecca. The church is now marked "Trinity Reformed Church".
> > 
> > The 1927 Sanborn map shows "Trinity Reformed Church" still there at Coal and Rebecca. Sanborn maps almost never show street car tracks and this one is no exception.
> > 
> > The lawn enclosed by an iron fence in the left of the photo appears to be the lawn of "Home For Aged Protestants" (1903), "Home For Aged Protestant Women" (1915 and 1927). "Home For Aged Men and Couples" (1915 and 1927) was farther to the left on Swissvale.
> > 
> > Bob Netzlof a/k/a Sweet Old Bob
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
>