1922 The dedication of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church Compliments of Josephine Almasy |
Up and Down the Neighborhood - A Look Back |
1951 Friendly Corner Grocery 17th and Clark S.W. Martin Lehotay, left Helen Lehotay and Rosalie Stradnicky, right; inside Friendly Corner Compliments of Josephine Almasy |
Today it's Carolyn Bergstrom's home, formerly Panasiti Barber Shop and TV Repair. Do you remember Tony the Coalman? |
Martinez's Confectionary Today |
Did you know that Bakers' original place of business was in the little "Y" at Cleveland and Bolivar, down by the freeway entrance? This was the first location for Friendly Corner Grocery, which was there with the Last Chance Cafe. It was renamed Bakers when Friendly Corner moved to Seventeenth St. Walking north on Hammond where you now find Sacred Heart's parking lot, was a Catholic School. It lies beneath the blacktop, and if you look real hard, you can see the indentation where the basement was. Just north of this was an apartment building, with housed The Hammond Grill and Dubina Grocery downstairs. 15th and Stark had a confectionary, a beauty shop and next to that, a barber shop. Bush Grocery, a bar and Serotec Grocery were near here too. Fifteenth and Henry was the place for good home cooked meals at Rinaldi's Bar. U.S. Steel was across the street. Custom Weld and Barbco is there now. Falasco's Grocery was near 16th Street. The Polish Club and the Slovak Club are still where Kay and Peg remember them. Labak Grocery was at 17th Street. Three C's Trucking was located at 19th and Stark, where Kay and Peg would stop to get a pop out of the machine. They must have moved over to 15th and Cleveland sometime before the tornado hit. Where Galt Alloy currently is, at 15th and Cleveland, there used to be a Kroger store, which later was Olympic Plating. Home Plate Bar was called Augie's. The AmVets at Cleveland and Market was a grocery store called Falasco's. At 19th and Cleveland, where Maggiore's is now, there was a hardware store called Weaver's. Kay and Peg remember a horse trough in front. Across the street in the tiny brick building where Dexter's used to be, was a Crispy Creme Doughnut Shop. Note from the editor: Amazing, isn't it? As I was putting this together, I couldn't help but wonder, why so many bars, barbershops, confectionaries, restaurants and grocery stores in our small area? Maybe there was something in the food that made your hair grow fast, which sent you to the barbershop, where your haircut made you depressed, so you stopped at the confectionary for a treat, which made you thirsty, which sent you to the bar? What do you think? Thank you, Kay, Peg, Josephine and John!! We're looking for old photos of any businesses , schools or homes in the neighborhood. If you're willing to share your history, we're anxious to talk to you! Contact Holly. |
Kay Broucker and her sister, Peg Davis, have memories. They both attended Stark School, a photo of which appeared in the last newsletter. Seeing that started them reminiscing, and they sent an e-mail to SWING. We got together on the phone, and they kindly allowed us to share what they remember from their childhood here in the SWING corner of the city. The night before this issue went to press, Josephine Almasy was getting ready to call it a day after helping set up for the Slovak festival. When we stopped to talk, she mentioned that her husband was a postman, whose route was in our neighborhood. WOW! He wrote down what he remembered, and Josephine just happened to have some old photos of her mom and dad's store, and Sacred Heart Church. |
In 1955, Kay was an eighth grader at Stark School, which housed first through eighth grade. She believes the school was torn down in the late sixties. This was a time when she and her sister played marbles and jump rope. Currently she resides just outside of SWING boundaries, on Bank Place. Peg lives here on Henry Avenue, and could be heard in the background adding to, and revising Kay's memories. |
At one time, the sisters lived in a brick building called the Victor Building, just south of Navarre on Dueber Ave. It burned down on New Year's Day about five years ago, but used to hold apartments upstairs, and a post office on the ground floor. Next door was Schumann's, later turned into Peoples Drug Store, a barber shop, and two bars that competed with each other, The Pub and the Ringside. Most of what is now The Timken Company and Route 30 used to hold homes and businesses. Dumonts spread itself out past the back alley of Dueber SW. Sima's Bakery was located in the 1400 block of Dueber. Fifteenth and Dueber used to have a fire station and an apartment building. In that same corner was Fifteenth Street Barbershop, which had a flower shop behind it; Cusma Greenhouse, a gas station, a Lawsons, a candy store, a church and Kropp's Garage were in that area. A tornado that swept down Dueber and 15th St. on Friday, Aug. 13, 1943 took the floor boards right up in the apartments. It also took out Three C's Trucking (now H&H) and a bar where the T-Bird is now. |
16th and Dueber held Rennies Restaurant. Kutt's Bar was right on your way down Dueber to The Busy Bee Restaurant at 18th Street. You passed Dueber Garage on your way to Keller Stag, just before 19th Street. This was a pool hall, with only men allowed in. At 19th and Dueber, you found Schwartz's Bar, and you could get dinner at John Serban Bar & Restaurant down on 20th Street. After you dropped your clothes off at the dry cleaners, you could shop at the A&P at 20th and Dueber. According to Kay, the sidewalks in this area were so smooth, you could roller skate from 20th Street to Fifteenth with no bumps! Looking back at the northwest corner of Navarre and Garfield, you found a hardware store with apartments upstairs. The Silver Moon Bar was in this area also. Going south across the street, there was Norlene's & Arlene's Restaurant, now called Dexter's. At 15th and Garfield was the ever popular Martinez's Confectionery, which had a counter, booths and a juke box. The cute building that housed it still stands today. (See photo below) The north west corner had Gecklers Drugstore. This same corner also held Clark Cut Rate Drug. |
Down on 16th and Garfield, you could shop at Garfield Grocery, which still exists after many changing owners; then quench your thirst at Clock Cafe (now Harry's.) If you were hungry for a cream puff, you stopped at Chmel's Bakery on 17th and Garfield. Depending on your mood, you could hop down to 18th St. to have your hair done at the beauty shop, or look for a new end table at the furniture store. Need something to cook for dinner? Rodriguez's Grocery Store was right there at Garfield and 18th. A shoe shop was located in the rear of a building here, also. If you felt like some exercise after dinner, you could drop your car for service at the Cloverleaf Garage, and walk next door to Nick Serban's Bowling Alley. Afterwards you'd walk down a ways to a place that made pastel colored potato chips. Well, that made you thirsty, so it was off to 19th and Garfield where you had your choice of two bars, Jose's or Sermay's. Tilley Peterman's rooming house was also here, and there was a shop called Sermays and another barbershop behind Jose's. An empty lot on Garfield was used by the Zeleskys to do tricks with lariats on their horses. Kay and Peg remember watching home made cowboy movies that the Zeleskys filmed at "the hills" on Dueber past 20th Street. Like most of the groceries in the neighborhood, Balanti's Grocery on 19th and Clark would give you credit on your purchases. Kay and Peg spent a bit of their childhood at 1914 Clark Ave. S.W. It is now a Timken parking lot, but they still visit from time to time, and map out where each room was! Josephine's mom and dad owned a grocery store called the Friendly Corner at 17th Street. Lombardi's Shoe Shop was on Clark, across the street from Sacred Heart Church. Reliable Dry Cleaners was housed between 15th and 16th. Up the street, Carolyn Bergstrom's home used to be Panasiti Barber Shop, with a TV Repair Shop on the side. Carolyn still has the original sign! Kay and Peg believe that particular shop had a tradition of cutting your hair, then setting it on fire, to singe it. They must not have had fluorescent dye and eyebrow rings back then! |
When you wanted ice cream, you could go up to the 1700 block of Navarre, where there was an Isaly's. Miller's Confectionary at 19th and Hammond was another favorite place to stop. They sold ice cream and candy, and the storefront came down to the sidewalk where you could sit on the stoop to eat your treats. |
Current site where Stark School used to stand. |
Stark School 19?? |
