Memories of Hellertown: It ‘Was the Best Place in the World to Grow Up In’

A trolley travels south on Main Street in Hellertown circa early 1950s, near the end of the local streetcar era. Mom’s Diner can be seen at right. Today a two-story apartment building is located there, in the 1300 block of Main Street.

A Facebook post asking local residents to share their memories of some of the fun things they used to do/places they frequented in Hellertown elicited reminiscences of everything from ice skating on the grist mill pond to building forts out of appliance store cardboard boxes to sledding down closed roads and much more.

The post on Saucon Source publisher Josh Popichak’s Facebook page generated more than 500 comments from current and former residents who waxed nostalgic about what the borough and surrounding Saucon Valley were like in days gone by.

“I have so many memories from Hellertown,” commented Bonnie Kichline. “That was the best place in the world to grow up in. I miss it so much.”

Here are some of the memories that have been shared (so far). Feel free to share your own in a comment on this story.

TREASURED MEMORIES OF HELLERTOWN

• Mary Beth Pendrak Zingone remembered the tennis/ice skating rink at the end of Saucon Street (now a parking lot), as well as the closing of side treets for sledding in the wintertime.
• Christopher Post remembered going to Judd’s on Penn Street for candy.
• Patti Santoro Tritle remembered PMP Lanes and J’s Steaks and Subs, which was located where the CVS now stands in the 1300 block of Main Street.
• Maria Makkas remembered Sauconfest, which was a summertime fair held at Town Hall Park on Old Philadelphia Pike in Lower Saucon Township from 1989 to 1995.
• Tracy Haggerty Baciocco remembered the ice cream festival and dancing in Dimmick Park.
• Bruce Rosenberger remembered the Plaza bowling alley (name recalled by Chris Sem) that was located on the second floor of what is now the RMI Building, above what was then Rauscher’s Hardware Store. The lower level of the building at 782 Main Street, Hellertown, also housed an exotic pet shop (remembered by Cathy Leibensperger) and a clothing store called My Dad’s Store (remembered by Roseann Wargo) over the years. Bruce also remembered turning left at Patterson’s Stables and right on “Ticklebelly Road.”
• Genifer Rhoads remembered a bowling alley below what was then Prosser’s Drugstore, which today is Advanced Optics, 834 Main St., Hellertown.
• Mary Beth Pendrak Zingone remembered Meterko’s, a corner grocery store located where Borger’s Rare Coins is today (237 E. High St., Hellertown), as well as Grant’s, a store that was located near the IGA on Main Street and sold dyed chicks at Eastertime.
• Becky Case remembered J&L Fresh Meat and Deli on Linden Avenue, across from the former Hellertown Bakery. Dale Leidich remembered that before it was J&L it was Pasternak’s market and sold ice cream and fresh donuts.
• Paula Jones-Eisenhart remembered the A&P grocery store that was located where Roma Pizza is today (702 Main St., Hellertown), as well as Hiawatha Pool, which was a large, unfiltered swimming pool located near the intersection of Hickory Hill and Bingen roads, about a mile west of Hellertown.
• Kristy Katz remembered the Carvel ice cream store that was in the Shoppes at Hellertown (formerly known as the Spring Hill Shopping Center).
• Pamela Young remembered Dan’s IGA and the freshly made donuts they sold.
• Michele Gerenscer Gubish remembered nighttime swim parties and diving contests at the Hellertown Pool.
• Lisa Lewis-Green and Tiffany Headman remembered the sidewalk sales that were held in downtown Hellertown into the early 1990s. The (then-famous) Musikfest “Chicken Lady” led a community “chicken dance” at one of them.
• Randy Stull remembered sledding on the Silver Creek Golf Course across from Lost River Caverns; sledding on Tobias Drive and Magnolia Road, after barricades were put up; and summer softball league with teams from Reinhard School, Wolf School, Center Valley, Bingen, Steel City and Lower Saucon; and watching the Scarlet Knights (a local drum and bugle corps, popular circa mid-late 1960s) practice at Reinhard School.
• Barbara Bickle remembered the wooden castle playground (c. 1980s) at Reinhard School.
• Anne Ginthner Laslo remembered her mother putting money aside for purchases at P.J. Hoffner, a jeweler that was located at 1220 Main St., Hellertown.
• Mary Beth Pendrak Zingone remembered the 5 o’clock (dinnertime) and 9 o’clock (curfew) whistles that would sound in the borough.
• Brad Frey remembered the Panthers Den in the back of Guro’s, a soda fountain and popular hangout for teens in the 1950s and 1960s that was located where Saylor’s & Co. is today (corner of Main Street and Thomas Avenue). “It had pinball machines, a pool table and a jukebox. Andy made a decent cheesesteak. Ann wore too much perfume and contaminated our coffee, but was a nice lady. We used to smoke up a storm in there. Cigs were 23 cents a pack. A game of pool was a quarter. You could play pinball for a nickel. All the girls had teased up hair. Many good times,” he recalled.
• Erna Branco remembered the news agency on Main Street for its coffee and penny candy.
• Brad Frey remembered the fish-and-pay days at the grist mill pond, when a bucket of nightcrawlers cost $1 and the water wheel still worked in the chase. He also remembered riding the trolley from Nicholas’s five and dime on Main Street in Hellertown to South Bethlehem when he was five.
• Denise Neith remembered bands such as the Columns (a band Brad Frey was a member of) playing at the Third Avenue basketball court.
• Heather Saltzer remembered a c. 1980s nightclub near where DiMaio’s is currently located–in the Shoppes at Hellertown–which Brad Frey remembered was earlier a bar called the Springhouse Tavern. She also remembered two arcades that were located on Main Street. Roseann Wargo remembered an arcade on Water Street.
• Heather Saltzer remembered ice cream stands that were located at the north and south ends of Hellertown–one near where Wendy’s is today (Rt. 412 and Silvex Road) and one near where McDonald’s is today (Main Street and Polk Valley Road).
• Brad Frey remembered that Skate a Date–a roller skating rink–was in the building that today houses the American Family Services thrift store at 1804 Leithsville Road, Hellertown.
• Jessica King remembered Marlin Lake in eastern Lower Saucon Township, which many years ago was open to the public for swimming and fishing.
• Sandy Hawk-Hackman remembered walking to the movie theater on Main Street (today the building houses Saucon Dental Group) and then heading to “Hellertown Bakery for a treat.”
• Brad Frey remembered Frey’s shoe store, which stood where the BB&T bank branch is today (741 Main St., Hellertown).
• Rick Marshall remembered the Park Hotel, which stood where Dunkin’ Donuts is today (730 Main St., Hellertown).
• Emily Justemily remembered when Saucon Valley Manor was still a public school and Kasey Lynn’s–a popular breakfast/lunch restaurant–was located where Saylor’s & Co. is today.
• Brad Frey remembered Mom’s Diner, which in the 1950s was located in the 1300 block of Main Street, across from where CVS is today. (Today there is an apartment building on the site.)
• Joe Kolesnik remembered “Frog Rock” at the bottom of Willow Road.
• Heather Saltzer remembered the arson fire that destroyed McCrory’s in 1985. McCrory’s was later rebranded Newberry’s, and was destroyed for good by an October 1996 blaze, according to an archival Morning Call story. Also destroyed was the adjacent Dan’s IGA store.
• Brad Frey remembered the soda counter at Prosser’s drugstore, where Tootie worked and sold “ice cold” bottles of Pepsi for a nickel as well as vanilla Cokes. Joe Kolesnik remembered getting a “cherry ricky” there for a dime. Bruce Rosenberger remembered the “cherry phosphates” and comic books Prosser’s sold.
• Lynn Sarko remembered the tacos from Branco’s Lounge, which was located on Rt. 412 in Bethlehem just north of Hellertown.
• Kathy Weierbach Lichtenwalner remembered buying 45s at Becker’s TV and bootlegged 8-track tapes at Kimberly 8 (in the Sauconia movie theater building), as well as the Gulf gas station that was where 7-Eleven is today (corner of Main Street and Thomas Avenue). She also remembered Charlie’s Place, which stood at the corner of Main and Depot streets (where a discount cigarette store is today). Charlie’s Place was destroyed in a fire on Christmas Day in 1969. Two local men lost their lives in the blaze, which was one of the worst in the borough in living memory.
• Heather Saltzer remembered Cheseapeake Seafood, which was in the red schoolhouse building at Main and Pine streets. Brad Frey remembered that it was the original Hellertown High School building and later home to Brown & Borkek Lumber Co. She also remembered Jerry’s Airport Inn, which stood roughly where I-78 now crosses Main Street. The long-gone Airport Inn was itself named after the Bethlehem Airport, which was located in that vicinity at one time. When I-78 opened in October 1989, Saltzer remembered there was a street fair held on the finished interstate for local residents. “We rode our bikes out to where 33 is,” she recalled. “Coming down that hill was amazing as a kid on a bike!”
• Dale Leidich remembered Acme and Grant’s.
• Kathy Weierbach Lichtenwalner remembered when the Wine & Spirits Shoppe was known as the state store and was located in a building at Main and Saucon streets in Hellertown (today it is in the Creekside Marketplace shopping center in Lower Saucon Township). She also remembered Breezy’s appliance store, and building forts out of the large boxes refrigerators, washing machines and other appliances came in, as well as late night live bands at The Meeting Place. Brad Frey remembered that before it was The Meeting Place it was the Midway Tavern, and beneath it was Beckett’s Catering (known for their clam chowder and seafood bakes). Main Street Gym today is located where The Meeting Place was.
• Lynn Lechner Weidner remembered when Holmes Restaurant was at Main Street and Thomas Avenue.
• Dale Leidich remembered Stehley’s men’s shop and Paula Jones-Eisenhart remembered Verna’s dress shop.
• Rob George remembered getting truck inner tubes from Geyer Tires on Main Street (where the Lehigh Valley Health Network building across from Borough Hall is today) and taking them to Kichline’s garage (Front Street) to be filled with air before walking the old railroad tracks to Bingen and then floating down the Saucon Creek in them.
• Brad Frey remembered that Travisano’s bakery and restaurant was located where Sagra Bistro is today, and Stern’s market was located where the Offices of Brad Wagner (attorney) are today.
• Randy Stull remembered that behind the (now gone) Hellertown train station on Front Street, the arched ruins of the Thomas Iron Works buildings were still standing in the 1960s.
• Bonnie Kichline remembered smudge pots in front of Reinhard School on Northampton Street, huge Easter egg hunts and watching a movie at least twice for 25 cents.
• Gordon Koerner remembered seeing “Gone With The Wind” at the Sauconia movie theater and the audience’s stunned reaction when Clark Gable told Vivien Leigh, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
• Carolyn Stocklas remembered meeting her husband on the corner by Prosser’s drugstore and enjoying lemon phosphates there.