(Courtesy of Beatrice Bobb)

Shown in the composite photos above are two Beavertown men, Paul and Ira Bobb, now deceased, who went into the plumbing business and served their customers in the Beavertown area well in all respects, for a more than fair price. Today, there are no plumbers living in Beavertown. Shown also is Paul Bobb’s trusty panel truck.

(Who was the last plumber located in Beavertown? Answer next month.)

Answer to Last Month

The trees that survived the building of US 522, opened September 30 1930, were those just inside the beginning of the square just beyond the child care center (Lepley’s General Store when 522 was built).

There were maple trees on the north side and horse-chestnuts on the south side.

None of the original trees are left. The last was cut down a few years ago.

(Courtesy of Fred Lerch)

This photo was taken from the square looking east. Most of this impressive tunnel of shade which was in place for 6 months of the year was gone when your editor was young, in the early 1930s. When US 522 was opened, in September 1930, Market Street had to be widened, so many trees were cut down. Before air conditioning, shade was very important. Other photos of this time show Center Street equally shaded with numerous trees, now mostly all gone also.

(Where were the last trees that survived longest located that are shown here? Answer next month.)

Answer to Last Month

Was the Union Cemetery always well kept? No, and here is why.

Prior to the embalming law, about 1910, the Union Cemetery was covered with a growth and tangle of briars and weeds. This was due to the many large rats that occupied that place and who feasted on the buried bodies. They had holes dug down into the caskets within hours of the burial.

When a new burial had to be made, the vegetation was removed at the grave site and men armed with rifles would stand guard while the graves were dug, and during the burial itself.

We can be grateful that things are very different today!

(Courtesy of The Beavertown Historical Society)

The photo above shows several trellises and the back side of the Hetrick Mausoleum (on the extreme left side) of Kline’s, plus the school, the Union Cemetery, and the “Three Sisters” which were the only three churches in town at that time. It was always a well kept graveyard, as it remains to be today.

(Was the Union Cemetery always well kept also? Answer next month.)

Answer to Last Month

The Charles Mattern General Store was located at the present address of 117-119 East Market Street, where today Robin Dressler operates the Tender Years Day Care Center.

It was built to be a store by Mr. A. H. Bowersox in the early 1870s. Later this store was operated by the Matterns, the Rhoads family including son Simon, Ira Lepley and family, the Erdley family with Dick as manager, and others before it closed as a general store.