Emlenton Hill - The Old Brick Road - Looking Back
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Photo submited by Shari & Larry McCall
Turn Back The Clock: The Hairpin Curve on the River Hill Across from Emlenton - This picture shows the hairpin curve across the river from Emlenton, where routes 38 and 208 go up the hill to Eau Claire and Lisbon. It is here they meet with route 268 which follows the river to Foxburg and Parker. Efforts to date this photo turned up some interesting local history. It was not possible to find when this road was first cut out of the hill side but it replaced a hill road in the downriver direction whose outline can still be seen. PENN DOT records show the road in the photo was probably first paved with bricks, shown here, in 1906. The next PENN DOT record shows a 1952 Asphalt resurfacing, over a previous asphalt surface, in turn over the bricks. The date of the first asphalt surfacing was not available. The Foxburg/Parker road has not yet been paved at the time of this photo. The best estimate of its first paving from PENN DOT is 1931, which seems late.
As an aside, the bridge, not shown, at the foot of the hill was first built of wood in 1858 and lost to the ice in 1883 when it was replaced by the steel one we knew. Records shot it was still a toll bridge in 1898, but unfortunately this doesn’t help date this photo. Some help could be obtained from the signs shown in the photo. The sign on the right side of the descending leg of the road reads: JM Grant - The Department Store, Everything to Eat or Wear and refers to Grant’s store that opened in 1904 and was located in the Farmers National Bank Building. In our childhood years that location was occupied by the Just Rite Store run by “Rip” Gates. J.M Grant was the grandfather of Lee and Margie Grant whom we knew when their family moved to Emlenton sometime around 1942-43. The date Grant’s store could not be found and of course many signs outlive the organizations that spawned them.
The sign on the bottom of the foot of the hill reads: Crawford’s Garage. No record of its origin or ownership has been located.
In the original photograph there was a sign posted in the inside of the curve, but it had been blocked out in the copy from which these prints were made. The first word on the sign appears to have been “Goose” but no more is legible, nor is there any apparent reason for its removal unless it was a temporary sign that someone felt detracted from the aesthetics of the scene.
Lacking a date for the closing of Grant’s store and an earlier date for the paving of the route 268 the best estimate for the date of this picture is the rather broad range of 1910 to 1930. Since the bricks look as though they have been in place for a few years1915-1930 could be reasonable.
Note: Arch Newton who has since passed, and local historian, gave considerable assistance in supplying historical facts for these notes at the time.
