Jennie Molovinsky Was A Quiet Neighbor

For nearly a hundred years the Wenz Memorial Company had a tombstone factory at 20th and Hamilton.  Their parcel extended from Hamilton Street back to Walnut Street, across from the home of former mayor Joe Daddona.   Years ago, large granite slabs would be delivered by railroad, using the the Barber Quarry spur route.  During the Phil Berman era,  the facilities were also used to produce large stone sculptures.  Behind the office and production building, most of the property was used for storage of tombstones.  Some of the stones were samples of their handiwork, and others were old stones that had been replaced with new ones, by family members.  Such was the case with my great grandmother's first stone, which has laid at wenz's for several decades.  The row houses and their front porches on S. Lafayette Street faced this portion of Wenz's, and it was very quiet, indeed.

Some readers may have noticed that Wenz's has been demolished, and the parcel will now contain a bank,  Dunkin Donut, and Woody's Sport Bar.  The residents of Lafayette Street,  experiencing complete quietness for all these years, attended the zoning hearing as objectors.  Their previous view, a dark, quiet lot, would now be replaced with a lit parking lot, with bar patrons coming and going.  Although I will not comment on the zoning issues,  residents were supposedly told by the zoners that the development would improve their quality of life.  It's one thing to have the quality of your life degraded,  it's another to have your intelligence insulted, to boot.  Perhaps the zoners need some training in sensitivity.

reprinted from May of 2016

Ice Skating At Union Terrace

The skating pond at Union Terrace was a rite of growing up in Allentown.  Putting aside climate change, the pond was frozen every winter.  Maybe the park department intentionally slowed, or even shut off the flow of water.  A fire was kept burning in a metal barrel by the southwest corner of the ice rink.  Benches lined the south side where a kid could put his skates on.

While Albeth Ice Ring on the east side was a skating option for the serious skaters,  Union Terrace was the choice for us less graceful, but more interested in socializing.  There were no iphones or youtubes,  just kids interacting with other kids.

The center city and west end kids walked home from the pond.  There were no cell phones to call for a ride,  and nobody would want to be seen getting into their parent's car.

At that time the park department was a significant part of growing up in Allentown.  Come summer each part of the city had its own pool.  For some things, like Allentown and its park system, going backwards wouldn't be a bad thing.


molovinsky on allentown is published early morning every weekday.

The Sunday Drive

My family wasn't much for recreation.  My father worked six days a week, from early morning until early evening.  We did go for a long car ride on Sundays.  Back then gasoline was cheap, and having no destination wasn't thought of as wasteful.  Children were more content to sit in the back seat and look out the window, now they want a video screen in the vehicle.



Even children's play then involved more imagination and interaction.  Howdy Doody was just a puppet on strings,who spend most of his time talking to an adult, Buffalo Bob, can you imagine?

 Sitting in that back seat in the mid fifties, I might well had



my "coonskin" hat with me.  Fess Parker was a genuine American hero.  It mattered little if he played both Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, both were king of the wild frontier.  The ride probably lasted for two hours and then we would go to a restaurant to eat dinner.  Compared to now, there were very few restaurants.



My mother would cook all the other meals that week, and we probably ate out more than most.  Supermarkets were the new rage in food shopping, but the butcher, baker and candle stick maker were still going strong.  If my father headed west or south, chances are we ended up at Shankweiler's Hotel, famous for chicken and waffles.   They were at the intersection of Old 22 and Route 100.  The building still exists and currently is a bank.  The family also owned another hotel on Route 309.  Both locations also operated adjoining Drive-In movies.



If my father headed north or east,  we would end up at Walp's, which was on the corner of Union Blvd. and Airport Road.  Walp's was a much more urban place.   While Shankweiler's was an old country inn,  Walp's was built as a modern restaurant.  I enjoyed those rides, they were a learning experience.

reprinted from September 2017

MLK Day At Shiloh

In 1945, when the Shiloh Baptist Congregation took over the former Episcopalian Church on the corner of 21st and Church Streets,  it was in the heart of South Philadelphia's black middle class neighborhood.  With two large Baptist congregations, and the black run Philadelphia Tribune paper nearby,  the congregation filled up the massive Frank Furness designed church with various groups and activities.

As the years progressed,  many middle class blacks moved to more suburban areas, and the neighborhood became poorer.  Lately, the congregation's membership has been challenged by the gentrification of the area,  further reducing the congregation.

In its effort to keep the lights on, the church now houses both a dance and theater group in its massive facilities.

The church is led by Rev. Edward Sparkman, who is also a lawyer.  Yesterday,  they celebrated Martin Luther King Day by offering free legal advice to the community.

Shiloh Baptist Church is my second exploration of Philadelphia's historic middle class black neighborhood.  An assistant pastor kindly explained their current outreach mission.

Protest In Fountain Park

Long time Readers of this blog know that I have been an advocate for the WPA structures for over a decade, with some modest results.  Recently, my research discovered an old newspaper article from 1935, which adds another dimension to my understanding of that period.

Lehigh Parkway, Union Terrace and Fountain Park are the WPA masterpieces in Allentown.  In Fountain Park, there is the stairway which leads up to Junction Street, and then continues through a tunnel in the massive wall on Junction Street,  up to Spring Garden Street.  After the steps were completed, hundreds of workers would use these stairs every day,  to go from their center city row houses to the Mack and Traylor factories on S. 10th Street.

On September 11th, 1935 there was a protest involving the 400 WPA workers assigned to the stairwell and wall construction.  The rally took place by the creek, and was led by the Lehigh County Unemployed League, Keystone Workers Association and the Citizens Welfare League.  Although there was no violence, tools were tossed into the creek.  The protest centered on the $55 monthly wage, and the 35 hour work week.

The concept of workers during the Depression being upset with conditions frankly never occurred to me.  I just assumed that they were grateful for the job, and whistled while they worked.  Next time I walk those steps,  my thoughts will be somewhat more informed.

Jordan Heights

In 1903, the 600 block of 2nd Street housed one Russian Jewish family after another. They built a small synagogue there, which was kept open until about twenty years ago. My grandfather, who then worked at a cigar factory, had just saved enough to bring his parents over from the old country. They lived in an old house at 617 N. 2nd. The current house at that location was built in 1920. By the time my father was born in 1917, the youngest of five children, they had moved to the suburbs just across the Jordan Creek.

My grandfather lived on the corner of Chew and Jordan Streets. He butchered in a barn behind the house. The house is still there, 301 Jordan, the barn is gone. He would deliver the meat with a horse and wagon. On the weekends, when the family wanted to visit friends, the horse insisted on doing the meat market route first. Only after he stopped in front of the last market on the route, would he permit my grandfather to direct him. excerpt from My grandfather's Horse, May 13, 2008

Allentown has just designated the neighborhood west of the Jordan to 7th Street, and between Linden and Tilghman Streets, as Jordan Heights. The area encompasses the Old Fairgrounds Historic District. Allentown's old fairground, in the years between 1852-1888, was in the vicinity of 6th and Liberty. It was an open space, as is the current fairground at 17th and Chew Streets. When my grandparents moved to Jordan Street it was a modern house, just built in 1895. Many of the Jewish families moved to the suburbs between Jordan and 7th. The Jewish Community Center was built on the corner of 6th and Chew, today known as Alliance Hall.
I wish the Jordan Heights initiative well. There's a lot of history in those 24 square blocks, and hopefully much future.

reprinted and retitled from previous years

photo: Opening of Jewish Community Center, 1928, 6th and Chew Streets.  Now Alliance Hall

The Jersey Shore Sand Wall

This past fall I made a number of trips to the New Jersey barrier islands to observe the dune construction project (Shore Protection Project), which grew out of the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.  The dune project was controversial, with both private citizen and municipal objectors.  This isn't your grandmother's seagrass dunes, which were staggered and collected sand over the years.  This is a straight, massive sand fortification being constructed by the Army Corp of Engineers, assisted by private contractors. The wall is twenty two feet high, and twice as wide at the base... It completely blocks the view of the ocean.  The construction is ongoing, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Large dredge ships, a mile off shore, pump the sand through pipes onto the beach, where large bulldozers shape it into the wall.

As someone who doesn't sit on the beach per se, but enjoys seeing the ocean,  I consider this new dune wall a gross overreaction to a 100 year storm.  I believe that thousands of shore-goers this coming summer will be shocked and disappointed by the restricted ocean view.  However, I must report that every shore property owner I met in the Seaside Park area, without exception,  was in favor of the new dunes.

sand dredgers, a mile off shore, pipe tons of sand to waiting bulldozers

molovinsky on allentown is published early morning every weekday.  Although mostly Allentown centric,  occasional forays out of town are taken to places of regional interest.

Strata Curiosity Solved

Readers of this blog know that I have been perplexed by the Strata Loft apartments occupancy rates. While Reilly's City Center Realty and The Morning Call maintain that there is a waiting list, dark apartments, empty streets, closing stores and common sense say otherwise. We learned that Reilly provides his commercial tenants with guest apartments, but why the charade between leased and occupied? Recently, my curiosity was put to rest.   From an article about the Moody's  bond ratings.... 

Fully leased residential buildings indicates the area’s desirability continues to improve,   Moody's bond analysis

Revenue bonds are a key ingredient of Reilly's strategy. The bonds finance the construction with a much longer term than conventional commercial loans would allow. If claiming the buildings are fully leased helps sell the bonds, let the proclamations begin. My only question is how the Morning Call staff can work across the street, and write that myth, while staring at the dark Strata windows?