Dan Antion

Driving by Pittsburgh Doors

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Well, this post went sideways when I discovered that I had a large collection of drive-by doors from the main street of my old home town (Bridgeville). Some of those doors haven’t changed in over 50 years. The doors are described in the captions. They might not mean much to most people, but they bring back a lot of good memories for me and my brother.

I hope you will take a few minutes to check the comments for links to other participants. If not, please come back on Sunday for the complete recap.

This is a Lebanese restaurant. We had some takeout from there during our visit.
Back door to the Lebanese restaurant.
Neither brother nor Ican remember what this was. But it has a nice corner door.
Sarasnick’s Hardware. That’s what it was in the ’50s. I remember many trips to that store.
This was Wise News. Newspapers, magazines, paperback books, greeting cards, etc.
The building in the center was the Rankin Theater. You could see two movies, some cartoons and get a large candy bar for one low price on Saturday mornings. 2nd floor of the first building was a really bad family doctor.
This became a dentist’s office when I was in high school. I spent a lot of time in his chair.
Bridgeville Appliance – My brother worked here one summer, mostly delivering appliances.
The building on the right side was a bowling alley. There was a State Store (liquor and wine).
This is the Post Office where our dad worked and where I worked for three summers.
Bethany Presbyterian Church.
Bethany Presbyterian Church. Interesting corner-ish door.
You’ve seen this before. It’s the new building of my Grandmother’s church. We see it every visit as it sits across from the cemetery where she and a lot of our family are at rest.
Police station. I never had the pleasure.
The police station is on the right side of these doors.
Dairy Queen with the curl on top. When my dad coached Little League, he brought the team here after games. Still operating.


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The Evil You Choose
When Evil Chooses You

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113 comments

  7. I love the look-back in these. What they used to be. But to think that a place that used to sell paperbacks and newspapers and cards and great stuff like that now sells vaping products is too sad. The whole look of the town, though, certainly speaks of sturdiness. The dentist, bad doctor, postal workers, etc., might all be gone, but those buildings carry on.

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    • I almost didn’t include the Vape Shop, Maureen. I used to spend time scanning the magazine rack in the news shop. Imagine, all those subjects, important enough to have a magazine. Sad that most of those stores are gone (or behind the security line at an airport). In simpler times, you could spend an entire day on that street. Today, we have time to take photos because we’re stuck in traffic.

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  13. Haha! Apparently we went to the “bad doctors” brother…also a bad doctor! I called him Dr. Quack.

    I agree with Maureen that where once newspapers and magazines and books were sold, the building now houses vaping products that, instead of engaging the mind, fog it up. Sad indeed.

    Your grandmother’s new church is just beautiful. Love the twin bell towers with stained glass windows and a very welcoming entryway.

    It’s a tribute to that hardware store to still be in business at the same location after all these years when so many small town businesses have faded away.

    Looks like you and your brother had a grand time “remembering when”, and you can’t put a price on that.

    Ginger

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    • I enjoyed our text exchange as we tried to remember “what was where.” My brother reminded me that our father always referred to Doctor Hess and “Mr. Hess” – I remember being taken to him a couple of times when we lived in that town.

      The recent transformation of the news shop is sad. I have so many memories of browsing inside that store, choosing exactly in what magazine / comic book to invest my allowance.

      I interviewed the current owner (family) of the hardware store for a blog post many years ago. They have worked hard to keep the store going.

      I hope you have a nice weekend, Ginger – stay dry!

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    • No, I’m sorry, I should have pointed out that while we were visiting Pittsburgh, these photos are from the small suburb where we grew up (Bridgeville). Not much on the scale of a city, but still rather busy. I was able to get these pictures as we were stuck in traffic.

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  19. This was a nice trip back to your childhood, Dan. It made me think of the stores we used to go to to buy candy and scan the latest comics. Once I moved down here to Florida, I never went back to NJ. I pulled up photos of the house I grew up in and barely recognized that, so don’t even want to think of what all the old haunts look like. I imagine you and your brother had fun going down memory lane with these photos.

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    • We texted back and forth last night, trying to remember (with precision) what shop used to be where on that block. Sadly, that news stand, two restaurants and a bar are missing from the modern day street. Amazing that an appliance store remains in business.

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  22. I love the shape of that Presbyterian Church! And how bad a person does it make me that I read “Sarasnick” as “sarcastic”? A sarcastic hardware store? You go in and the clerk says, “You’re going to fix it yourself? I guess you know which end of a plunger to use.”

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    • We don’t have much mid-eastern food available locally. I think, in terms of architecture, western Pennsylvania and Ohio start looking like everything in between east and west.

      I enjoyed your doors!

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    • Thew rounded portion of that church is amazing to me. I was glad it had a door (I would have included it anyway). I have many memories of being in that Post Office. I’m glad you enjoyed this post. I certainly enjoyed yours.

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  55. Hi Dan – lovely reminiscences of your youth doors, and with the changes made over the years … I’d love to try the Lebanese restaurant … great photos – cheers Hilary

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