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Transportation in the automotive age
What's on this page:
- 20th- and 21st-century automobile-related businesses (with pics and reader comments)
- Automobile-related businesses listed in directories 1917-1940
- Transportation
companies
- Transportation by horse
- Haulers, drivers, express, movers, storage, junk dealers
- Railroads that served the Freeland area, by Charlie Gallagher
- Service station
at
Centre and South Streets
- Car dealerships
- Liveries to garages (page in progress)
Automobiles in the U.S. date to the 1880s, and they were becoming more common in the late 1890s, but it wasn't until Henry Ford introduced the Model T and William Durant founded General Motors in 1908 that they really began to take hold here. BEFORE THAT there was a lot of reliance on horses and mules for hauling and hard work (horsepower) as well as for business deliveries and personal travel. The mules were mostly used in the mines. Horses were used everywhere. And, of course, back then people also walked a lot more. Freeland was full of all kinds of businesses and if you were in good enough condition to walk, you could walk to anywhere in town and pretty much find whatever you needed.
20th- and 21st-century
auto-related businesses
Automobile sales and repairGarages, gas stations
Auto supplies
[Additions from the 1940 Federal Census come to us courtesy of Ed Merrick. In some instances, it's not clear whether the individual is the owner/proprietor of the store or an employee, but we'll list them here. Some of the addresses from the 1940 Census might be home addresses rather than business addresses. He adds: The handwriting was hard to decipher in many instances, and so corrections are welcome. Many of the businesses have been in the same family for years, and so the first names may differ in earlier or later years.]
Al's Texaco - Ridge St., below Carbon St.
Alexander Auto Center - Mobil Gas and Service (1964 Minamek yearbook, from Ed Merrick) - Also, 719 Pine Street, Automotive maintenance and service. “No job too big – no job too little.” (1951 Minamek yearbook, from Ed Merrick) (Ed asks: Would this be the Al’s Texaco that you have listed? CT answer: I don't know.)
American Auto - 624 Centre St.
Atlantic Service Station - Centre and South Sts. - James E. Lutz - Atlantic Ultra Wash gives protective washing for nylons, woolens and all fine fabrics, available here (from Ed Merrick, 1946 ad) - See also Stoffa's, below; see page on the Centre and South Street service stations, researched by Ed Merrick
Balas Service Station - South Street, Freeland/White Haven highway (1951 Minamek yearbook, from Ed Merrick) (CT: they also sold tires) (December 22, 1959 newspaper reported a large fire there "fed by hundreds of tires stored in a new L-shaped addition completed about a month ago."
A. Beisel & Son - 416
Washington street (Arthur Beisel, proprietor, and son Marvin) - (From
Charlie Gallagher: If it’s 1930 and you
need a new Hupmobile,
look no further than A. Beisel & Son, 416 Washington St.; ad
comes from Charlie; and a memory from
my brother Steve Tancin: he remembers
passing this garage frequently on his way to and from Boy Scout
meetings at the
Knights of Columbus building on Front and Washington (the old Lindsay
building), and he says he remembers seeing two little Sunoco gas pumps
there)Paul Biggan Sales & Service, State Inspection and General Repairs - East South St. (from 1986 St. Casimir's booklet via Ed Merrick)
Bookie's Service Station
- Centre and South Sts. - Earl Buchman - Atlantic gas and oil, and
Atlantic Toms River lubrication; Lee of Conshohocken tires; Excide
batteries (from Ed Merrick, 1941 ad; accompanying article says Earl
Buchman of UL has taken over the Art Holland Service Station, after
working there as an attendant for several years)
Boyle & Curry
Gasoline and Service Station - Washington St., behind the Post
Office
(Conal J. Boyle, Jr. and Joseph A. Curry) - (1928 ad, thanks
to Charlie Gallagher) - CT: GMC trucks are mentioned in the ad, but I
can't
tell whether they were selling GMC trucks or just servicing themHugh Boyle's Service Station - Washington St. (behind the Post Office) (1954 Minamek yearbook, from Ed Merrick).
James W. Boyle Garage - 415 Johnson
St. - Studebaker and Ford dealer (1919, from Steve Yaskewich);
Studebaker motor cars, storage, repairs, supplies (1922 ad); (at left,
from Joe Moore, 1928 receipt for a Studebaker Dictator that his father
bought from Boyle)Henry Branz - 919 Main St., mechanic, garage (age 41 in 1940 Census)
Andrew Breznitsky - 437 Hemlock St., proprietor, garage (age 42 in 1940 Census)
C. Brogan - 609 Centre St. - Auto accessories and Tydol gas, "at our new store quarters on the main business thoroughfare" (1924 ad)
Peter
Brogan - 614 Washington St. gas station, proprietor, home 1155
Schwabe St. (age 30 in 1940 Census) (photo at right cropped from
larger photo by Ed Merrick, with Lindsay's hardware store at Front and
Washington in background)Earl Buchman's service station - Centre and South Streets - see page on the Centre and South Street service stations, researched by Ed Merrick
Butala Atlantic Service Station
- Centre and South Sts. (Eugene G. Butala and John C. Butala) (1952 ad
from Ed Merrick) - see page on
the Centre and South
Street service stations, researched by Ed MerrickLester Calello, Used Cars & Trucks - Main Street, Drifton (from 1986 St. Casimir's booklet via Ed Merrick)
John Carter - 516 Washington St., proprietor and mechanic, auto garage (age 38 in 1940 Census)
Da Grossa Garage -315
Centre
St., later Poppalardo's (from Ed Merrick, 1939 ad)Danko's Overland Agency - South St. (George Danko) (from Billy Kuklis, 1932 FPD Ball program) (from Ed Merrick, 1919 ad)
Danko Ford - 905
South at Ridge St. (John M. Danko), established taxi service in 1913 at
827 South St., and in 1919 he took over the Ford agency and moved to
1221 South street; in 1924 he had the building built at NW corner of
Ridge and South streets and relocated there (J. Jewell Oscar bio) -
Danko Ford, "Ford, the universal car" (1922 ad) - I have seen a John
Danko 1927 receipt with the header: Danko's Garage - Authorized Dealer
- Lincoln, Ford, Fordson - Cars, Trucks, Tractors; in the late 1920s or
early 1930s the Washington Silk Mill operation run by the Meadow or
Meadows brothers was moved briefly to the Danko building at South and
Ridge after mine settling damaged the factory that was next to (on the
north side) what was later Belekanich's, so I'm guessing that at that
time Danko had moved back out to 1221 South St. Danko Chevrolet / Danko's Garage - South St. at Hemlock (Peter Danko) - Chevrolet Sales Service, Peter Danko, Freeland (from Billy Kuklis, 1932 FPD Ball program; also listed in the 1928-1929 directory) - I have seen a 1921 receipt with this header: Danko Chevrolet - Supplies, Accessories, Repairs, Storage.
Dave’s Garage - Tires, batteries, and accessories (1954 Minamek yearbook, from Ed Merrick)
Pat Delregno's
Auto Shop - 1015 Luzerne St. (previously
Pat's Texaco - 224 Ridge St., from 1986 St. Casimir's booklet via Ed
Merrick)Ed's Auto & Truck Repairs - Highland Road (Ed Petrick, proprietor) (from 1986 St. Casimir's booklet via Ed Merrick)
Fairway Motors - 200 E. South Street, Freeland-White Haven Highway (Al Corazza) - Chevrolet car and truck dealer. From a December 3, 1963 article: Al Corazza bought the property and adjacent property from former owner Peter Funk and Patricia Funk. He took over operation of the business in 1960, leasing the property. Fairway Motors employs 15 people; the purchase included the main building with complete shop and show rooms (7,000 sq. ft.), one and a half acres, and another acre across the road, used for used car sales. Corazza is president of the FDIC (Freeland Industrial Development Corp.) and a former partner at the Free-Land Dairy. (1963 article from Ed Merrick)
Feussner's
Ford - South St., near the Public Park (Roy Feussner)
(From George Feussner: My father
George and uncles Roy and Jake started
the business in the mid 1940's.) (From Charlie Gallagher: Feussner's
also sold Hudsons 1949-1954, and also Mercury for a time) (ad at
right
from Steve Yaskewich)
Firley's Garage - 709
Main St. (1946 ad at left from Ed Merrick)
Fisher Brothers - 525
Main St. (Harry and Clyde Fisher) -
garage, car sales, Durant and Star cars (1925 newspaper notice) - A
new addition to the
garage allowed them to store cars for the winter for a fee (1924 ad) -
(1923 and 1922 ads at right, Ed Merrick) - Note that this is one of
those instances where a livery stable business transitioned to an
automobile-related business. The garage opened in 1922.
Freeland Garage - 417
Johnson St. (James W. Boyle) (1917 telephone directory; see also James
W. Boyle Garage, above) - Photo from Steve Yaskewich.Freeland Highway Motors - E. South St. (1953 ad)
Freeland Tire & Battery Co. - 726 Centre St. - Automobile accessories, gas and oil, 8 hour battery charging service (1924 and 1925 ads)
Funk
Chevrolet-Oldsmobile (later Funks Automotive) - 200 E. South St.
(Peter F. Funk)
(1948 and 1957 phonebooks) (this business note and photo at right from
Charlie Gallagher, who adds that this later became Fairway) Funk's Garage - 415 Johnson (Andrew E. Funk, since 1923) (1941 phonebook)
John R. Gallagher Buick Motor Cars -
816-818 Front St., behind the First National Bank (John R. Gallagher) -
In 1926, he was at 235 East Broad St. in West Hazleton with an office
in Freeland (Charlie Stumpf, 1926 ad center left) - His 1963 obituary
says that he
owned the Hazleton Buick Company, "had established a Buick dealership
in Freeland in 1915, transferred it to West Hazleton in 1924, and had
continued to operate it in the borough until the time of his death." He
was born in Freeland but lived in Hazleton from 1924. (from Charlie
Gallagher, 1963 obituary) - Further note from Charlie Gallagher: I
think he started in Freeland then began selling in Hazleton in the '20s
and that was the primary location. The Freeland
location was only run
as a satellite office. After the war, Kopski became the Freeland Buick
franchise and Gallagher was no longer in Freeland. He was only at the
Broad Street location after WWII. After his death it became
Steckert Brothers Buick and then Stephen R. Butcher Buick.
Gould Battery and Electric Co.
- Main St., below Washington (an
official State headlight focusing station) (from Ed Merrick, 1928 ad)Wilbur Gower - 315 Adams St., mechanic, automobile garage (age 32 in 1940 Census)
Griffith Garage - Carbon
St. (James Griffith) - Chevrolet (from Ed Merrick, 1922 ad at left,
listed in 1954, 1964 Minamek yearbooks); also, he sold used cars (1922
ad) - 1987 photo by Ed MerrickAugust C. Gross Garage - Front and Washington streets showroom (February 16, 1935 news report from Steve Yaskewich), then at 818 Front St. (1939 ad), previously the site of John R. Gallagher Buick - 24-hour service on auto tags in 1939 (from Ed Merrick, 1939 ad); Steve Yaskewich shared this February 16, 1935 news notice citing an earlier location at Front and Washington streets:<br>
Display Room Opened<br>
August C. Gross, local Ford dealer, has opened his new show rooms in the Freeland Auditorium Building, on Front street, and new models are now on display.
H. J. Chemical Company - Centre St., near MMI (From Tom Yaruso: I worked for "Pappy" Halko , last name may be mispelled, he was our science teacher at Foster Township high school; I worked for him 2 to 3 nights a week at the H.J. CHEMICAL COMPANY, it was in his big shed in his yard on Center Street going north, a few houses before M.M.I., I have in front of me a can of his ALL-PLUS, THE SCIENTIFIC SURE SOLDER FOR LEAKES IN RADIATORS AND CRACKED BLOCKS. His other product was RUBBER BUFF for patching tires; its been almost 50 years and I can remember filling 1 qt. cans of rubber buff by hand pumping out of 55 gal. drums. I am sure some of the oldtimers will remember him.)
Halko Gas Station - East
Carbon St. (Halko & Son) (1930 and 1931 ads at right from Ed
Merrick)
Heller's
Exxon
- Centre & Hazle Streets (John Heller, proprietor, Towing, Hauling,
Body Repairs, General Repairs, and Painting, as listed in 1986 St.
Casimir's booklet via Ed Merrick) (From J. Heller: My grandfather Jack
Heller owns a garage on Hazle Street, formerly owned by my great
grandfather Mesko) (From Mike Bobby in 2000: Heller's Exxon was one of
the gas stations at Center and Hazle Streets near the Foster Twp.
School. Across from it was a Sunoco and further down the road was a
Mobil station which is currently the site of an Orloski's outlet.)
(From Charlie Gallagher and Paul Lesser: this was Pete Kobrick's
station, then Mesko's, and then John Heller's) - See Kobrick's below,
for more info and photos.
Herbener's Gas
Station and Home Heating - 201 Johnson St. (Julius Herbener,
proprietor) (1940 city directory) (From Pat Ferko Miller: Herbener's
Gas Station (Flying A Gasoline) and Home Heating Business (both coal
and then added oil for delivery) was on Johnson Street behind Berger's
Lumber Yard.) Art Holland's service station - Centre and South Streets - see page on the Centre and South Street service stations, researched by Ed Merrick
Kernevich's Amoco Station - South Ridge St. (from Ed Merrick, 1946 ad)
Kislan’s Service Station
- Hazle and Centre Streets (Jack Kislan) - Sunoco gas and oil. Dealer
in Kaiser and
Henry J’s. (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 Minamek yearbooks, from Ed Merrick)
(From Charlie Gallagher: later owned/run by Pete Komishock and then Don
Silvernell)
Charlie very kindly sent these clippings at right, from
1938, 1943 and 1961. When Peter
Komishock took it over
from Jack Kislan in 1961, the newspaper report said that Kislan had
been there for 27 years. He opened the station in 1938. Thank you also
to Joe Moore for helping me to get it straight which of these garages
at the base of Centre street was which.
Kline Garage - 509 Johnson St.
(William D. Kline) - taxi service, also sold and repaired Gardner cars
(1919 ad) (From Steve Yaskewich: a May 27, 1919 newspaper noticee said
that "Eckley Kline, of Johnson street, who withdrew form the Kline
Bros. garage on Pine strewt, that was recently established, has
accepted a position with the East Point Coal Company and is now
employed at their Pond Creek colliery.") (these two 1922 ads come from
Steve Yaskewich and Ed Merrick)
John Klinger's Saddler Shop
- 739 Front St. - In 1923, "Specialists in repairing automobile tops,
cushions and side curtains"; harness and leather goods for the teamster
and horse fancier; also shoe repair (for people, not horses - here you
see someone on the shifting ground from use of horses to automobiles,
finding ways to adapt and market his skills to different audiences -
CT) (from Charlie Stumpf, 1923 ad) - Dress and working gloves,
sheepskin coats, automobile tires and accessories (1924 ad) 
Kobrick's
Garage - 104 Centre, Centre & Hazle Streets (Peter Kobrick)
(1940 city directory) (From Pat Ferko Miller: Previously
Heller's Garage.) This Kobrick's ad at left comes
from Ed Merrick. Also, Marigrace Heyer writes: Pete Kobrick was
married to the former Mary Evancho, and they had no children.
(this is
a correction to information previously posted here about a possible
connection to Heller of Heller's garage - thank you, Marigrace!) Joe
Moore wrote and helped me to identify which of those two garages at the
base of Centre street was which, and he gave me a link to a Facebook
page where Paul Lesser had recently posted information about Pete
Kobrick's garage, with photos. Charlie Gallagher gave me the names of
owners for this one. (From
Charlie Gallagher and Paul Lesser: this was Pete Kobrick's station,
then Mesko's, and then John Heller's.) (Paul Lesser: With the end of Heller's Gas Station at
Center and Hazle Sts, here are some old pictures from before Heller's.
Previously, it was Meshko's, which were related to Hellers. Before
that, it was Kobrick's, and Hudsons were sold there. Pete Kobrick, and
Mary, his wife were my aunt and uncle. They sold the station I believe
in the late 1950's.) Thank you to Paul Lesser for permission to
reproduce his comments and photos, showing the Kobrick garage before
the late 1950s, and Pete Kobrick in the same time period. Thanks to all
who contributed to this post.
More
about this garage: On
June 10, 2021 Charlie Gallagher wrote to let me know that another
Freeland business building was being demolished: Well, it’s time to say goodbye to the
former Kobrick, Meshko/Mesko, Heller garage at Centre & Hazle Sts.
The roof collapsed last evening. So Foster Township was there this
morning and they are looking at demolition. Thank you, Charlie. Komishock - Pete's Sunoco
(Komishock)
- Center & Hazle Streets (Pete Komishock) (From Charlie Gallagher: Re Sunoco on Hazle
St.: Don Silvernell took that over in ’67-68 time frame (he was a
mechanic at Feussner Ford before that). Before Don, it was Pete’s
Sunoco. Pete Komishock. Before that, Jack Kislan had it for a time.
Before Kislan I believe it was a Novak or Nowak that had it. I’ll have
to dig into that. [See Kislan, above, for more information]
Kopski Automotive - 450 Ridge
St.
(Joe Kopski) (ad at left from Ed Merrick) (From
Steve Yaskewich: Around 1935 August
Gross became a Ford Dealer on Front Street ... Joe Kopski worked for
Gross, then quit and started the Buick Dealership…Joe Kopski sold
Buick, and tractors and lawn mowers by Gravely, and Ariens. His
personal specialty, at least in the 1960s and forward was small
engines. My father worked there as a body man, and I spent many hours
there as a boy, hanging out. Various company representatives would come
to the shop, and one of the Gravely representatives showed me how to
make a particular type of paper airplane and we spent time flying it
outside. I still remember how to make those paper airplanes.)
(From Ed Merrick: Your Buick dealer (1951, 1952, 1953 Minamek
yearbook); Sinclair gasoline (1954 Minamek yearbook); Your dealer for
Buick, Gravely, Briggs & Stratton (1964 Minamek yearbook); Kopski's
also gave S&H Green Stamps, double stamps on Wednesdays (1956 ad) The Little Foreign Car Shop - Freeland-Drums Road (Mike Oleyar) - Mike died in 2019. From his obituary: "He was a charismatic entrepreneur who, along with his former wife, Marie, owned and operated the Little Foreigh Car Shop in Freeland where they sold MGB, Jaguar, Subaru and Harley-Davidson." Mike also raced cars actively all over the U.S. and Canada, and inspired a group of racing and foreign car enthusiasts in the region. (from Joe Moore, 2019 obituary)
Jim Lutz, Atlantic Gas - Centre and South Sts.
Masley's Wreckers / Masley's Junkyard - Butler Terrace Road, across from St. Michael's Cemetery (Pete Masley) - Salvage business founded in the late 1940s (from Charlie Stumpf, 1998 obituary)
(From Mary Ann Rosetta Schaeffer: My cousin, Pete Masley use to own and operate a junk yard, started about l949-l950, which was across from the St. Michael's cemetary, I believe. He had it when I was a little girl, until he got sick some years ago and had to sell it to his nephew Thomas Masley about l986-l988, and later he sold it to a person from Blakesly, Pa. around l998-l999)
Maury's Gas Station - Centre St., between Front & Walnut Streets
Medash's (mechanics, car repair)
Charles Merkt - 706 Centre St. - U.S. Tires: plain tread, Usco tread, chain tread, nobby tread, Royal Cord; grey and red tubes (from Ed Merrick, 1921 ad)
Mesko’s Service Station -
Hazle and Centre Streets - Esso gasoline, towing, radiator repairs,
steam cleaning. (1964 Minamek yearbook, from Ed Merrick) (From Charlie
Gallagher and Paul Lesser: this was Pete Kobrick's station, then
Mesko's, and then John Heller's) See Kobrick, above, for more
information and demolition photos.Miamee's Auto Repair - 818 Front St. (From Eddie Barna: In the late 40's and early 50' S & S was located in the building directly behind the Citizens Bank. As little kids, we would hang around there and occasionally get samples from the workers. The building is still there and is an auto repair shop now. The name of that auto repair shop is "MIAMEE'S". It's been there for some years.)
Morgan's Gas
Station
- west South St. (Ray Morgan,
proprietor) - Photo from Tom Morgan and Bill Morgan. See the Ray Morgan
page for information about the gas station and Ray's gunsmithing.
An earlier ad from Ed Merrick shows that before Ray had the gas
station, he was selling Hood tires at 154 Washington street as early as
1928. The 1928-1929 Freeland directory listed him at r154 Washington
street as a machinist.
Nosal's Auto and Welding Service
- 1005 Walnut St. (from Ed Merrick, 1947 ad)O'Donnell's (mechanics) - Carbon St.
Joseph C. O'Donnell - 727
Front St. - Firestone and Oldfield tires (from Ed Merrick, 1926 ad)
- Oldsmobile six's and eights - Kelvinators and General Electric
radios and automobile accessories, Front St. (from Billy Kuklis, 1932
FPD Ball program) - Automobile repairing, auto accessories, Tydol gas
(1924 ad) Orloski's gas station - Ridge St. & Rte. 940
Perky’s Service Station - South & Fern Streets (1964 Minamek yearbook, from Ed Merrick) (CT: was owner Stanley Perkosky?) - also sold used tires
Toots Pollack's - South & Centre Streets (From Mike Bobby in 2000: I remember it as an ARCO station. There was a small car wash behind this station. A vacant lot is all that remains today. Near this site was a recent mine subsidance.) - see page on the Centre and South Street service stations, researched by Ed Merrick
Poltrock's Garage - Bus service for parties, anywhere within a radius of 50 miles from Freeland (from Ed Merrick, 1926 and 1927 ads) - Batteries charged, prompt service; Fisk tires (1925 ads)
George Popick's
Automotive - across the highway from
Balas's (From Robert Poddo: I
believe he carried the Sinclair brand
name and later changed over to Texaco. He was located across the
highway from Balas' (Freeland/White Haven Highway) and had been
at that location for some time.) Popovich's Garage - 721 Pine St. - Auto repairs, body and fender; Auto glass; welding and blacksmith (from Ed Merrick, 1948 ad)
Poppalardo's
- 315Centre St., between Carbon & Luzerne
Streets (previously Da Grossa garage)
T. J. Richards Garage - 818 Front St. (Thomas J. Richards) (From Charlie Gallagher: Did you ever have anything on T. J. Richards Garage? See ad from November 14, 1936 Hazleton Plain Speaker. I don’t even know where this would have been located. … And a day later he wrote: Found T. J. Richards Garage, apparently it was at 818 Front Street after Hazleton Buick! - thanks to Charlie for this find and this ad)
Ridge Service Station -
(Jack and Louis Amentler) - Sinclair gasoline and oil; accessories;
tires; cars washed and greased; brakes adjusted (from Ed Merrick, 1937
ad)Rimshaw's Garage - 419 Johnson Street (1964 Minamek yearbook, from Ed Merrick)
Rohrbach Garage - Washington St.
(Henry Rohrbach) - importance of the scraping in of the bearings in
your car's engine
(from Ed Merrick, 1922 and 1925 ads)Marshall Romig - 1025 Birkbeck St., [Zemany and Romig garage], garage manager, own place (age 42 in 1940 Census)
Sacco’s Service Station - South & Fern Sts. - General repairs, body work (1953 Minamek yearbook, from Ed Merrick)
Schott Overland and Willys-Knight Autos - Carbon St., salesroom and garage (Michael Schott, distributor) (1924 ad)
Shelack & Jack, Auto service station, corner Fern and South Sts. (from Billy Kuklis, 1932 FPD Ball program)
Shiner's Garage - East South Street (Andrew Shiner, proprietor) (from 1986 St. Casimir's booklet via Ed Merrick)
Silvernell's Sunoco -
Hazle and Centre Streets (Donnie Silvernell) - previously owned/run by
Pete Komishock and before him by Jack Kislan (thanks to Joe Moore and
Charlie Gallagher for info). See Kislan, above, for additional
information.
Stanley Garage - Dewey
and Johnson (Stanley C. Novitsky) - Nash car sales (previously at
315-317 Centre St.; in the 1950s that former Centre St. location was
Poppalardo's garage; before that it was Da Grossa's garage) (1927 and
1931 ads from Ed Merrick) 
Stoffa's Garage - Centre
and South Sts. (Tom Stoffa) - moved from 608 Cedar St. (this new
site formerly the Atlantic Gas Station, previously operated by John
Butula, Jr. of McAdoo but closed Dec. 1952-Feb. 1953) (from Ed Merrick,
1953 ad and article) - see page on
the Centre and South
Street service stations, researched by Ed Merrick - (From Joe
Stoffa: If you check it out Tom
Stoffa owned the Atlantic Gas Station on the corner of Centre and South
Streets 1953 to 1956. He was well knowed for being a top auto mechanic
in the area. Times were hard and while dad hauled stone for the PA
Turnpike N.E. Extension during the day of 1953 and 1954 I ran the gas
station from 7am to 6pm. I was 11 & 12 at the time. Before the gas
station he ran his auto mechanic business from under our home on 608
cedar street.)Tancin's Recapping - Centre & Carbon Streets (John Tancin) Recapping, Vulcanizing tires (1964 Minamek yearbook, from Ed Merrick) (CT: This was my grandfather's garage (see photo at top left of this page), now torn down. He and several of his sons worked at recapping, vulcanizing, repairing tires, and had a gas station selling Atlantic and later Texaco gas, I think. This was his 3rd location, previously being at 520 Washington St. behind Genie Boyle's and before that behind his house on Main St. in Upper Lehigh.) (Please see also a special page on Tancin's Auto Supply and Garage.)
Tancin's
Auto Supply (John Tancin) - 303 Centre St. (From Chuck
Tancin: This was the other part of my grandfather's business relating
to cars. He sold new tires and various auto supplies in this store that
had windows fronting on Centre St. I remember rollerskating in the big
front room of his store as a young kid, loving how soft and smooth the
old and well-worn wooden floor felt under my wheels.) (From Peter
Kundra: I recall the tire recapping business that the Tancins operated
in the rear garage and the machines in the basement that cut up tires
into strips and then assembled them into rubber door mats. I often
wonder whether those mats were the origin of the same type of mat that
is still available today.) (Please see also a special page on Tancin's
Auto Supply and Garage.)Tancin's Tires - Carbon St., west of Fern St. (Steve Tancin) (CT: After working for his father for several years, my dad decided to start his own tire business. He bought property 3 blocks away and built a garage in 1955, repairing and selling used tires. In 1960 he was doing well enough that we built a new house next to garage.)
Western
Auto - Centre & Main Streets (Steve Kistulentz)
(Photo comes from John Zubach.)Wilson Garage - 639 Centre St., rear of Stirling's Music Store - Repairing of generators, starters, batteries, vacuum cleaners, and electric auto systems; agents for the USL batteries; general automobile repairing; autos to hire for all purposes (1924 ad)
Wilson's Pontiac -
419 Johnson St. (James H. Wilson) "Wheel Alignment, Wheel Balancing,
Brake Specialists,
Goodwill Used Cars, Carburetor & Hydromatic Specialists" (1952,
1953, 1954 Minamek yearbooks, from Ed Merrick) (also have seen address
as 415 or 417 Johnson St.)
Frank C. Yoch - 905 Pine
St. - Hudson Super Six and Essex Motor Cars, general repairing (1926
bill) (CT: This garage may have been at or next to the site of the old
Halpin Wagon Works)
Zemany and Romig Auto
Repair / Zemany's Auto Electric Service
- 632 Main St. (Roy Zemany and Marshall Romig) (from Ed Merrick,
1927 ad)(Ed Merrick writes: When I was looking at the church page, I checked out the Slovak Lutheran and brought up the photo of the historical marker. On it was the name of Michael Zemany. I then checked out your garage listings and realized you didn't have Roy Zemany's auto repair garage, which Roy Zemany, Michael Zemany's son, ran on Main Street just east of the Cottage Hotel on Washington. Roy's sons, John and Martin, worked for him.) - Photo courtesy of John Rock
Zip Simko's Sunoco - Washington St., near Main St. (From Mike Bobby: Bagged Coal could be purchased from Simko's as recently as the early 1970s.)
Alex Zmiejko's Mobile station - Ridge St. & Rte. 940 (later Orloski's)
Andrew Zurko - 130 Main St., school bus, proprietor (age 39 in 1940 Census)
Automobile-related businesses listed in directories 1917-1940
1917 telephone directoryIn general listings:
Boyle, James W., Studebaker dealer - 415 Johnson St., garage
1921-1922 city directory
In business listings:
Danko, George S., Hotel & Garage, 827 South
Freeland Garage, 417 Johnson
Merkt's Garage, rear 706-10 Centre
1928-1929 city directory
In business listings:
Beisel, A. & Son, automobile repairing and service station, 416 Washington
Beleykanich, A. Michl, automobile accessories and supplies, 360 Center
Boyle, Hilda, Mrs., automobile accessories and supplies, 231 Center
Boyle's Garage, automobiles; automobile repairing and service station; automobile accessories and supplies; automobile garage, 405 Johnson
Boyle's Garage, automobiles, 405 Johnson
Buckley, Daniel S., justice of the peace, also automobile licenses, 824 Main
Danko Chevrolet Co., automobiles; automobile repairing and service station; automobile accessories and supplies; garage; 1221 South
Danko, John M., automobiles; automobile repairing and service station; automobile trucks and tractors; automobile head light focusing station; automobile accessories and supplies; garage; 905 South at Ridge
Fisher, Harry, automobile repairing and service station, 525 Washington
Freeland Service Station, gasoline and oil service station, 453 Center
Freeland Stewart Co., automobile dealer – commercial cars and trucks; 609 Center
Freeland Tire & Battery Co., automobile accessories and supplies, 610 Washington
Gould Battery & Electric Co., automobile repairing and service station, 632 Main
Griffith, Jas E., automobile dealer, 548 Carbon
Maury's Tire & Battery Co., battery service station, 726 Center
Nash Motor Cars, automobiles, 315-317 Center
O'Donnell, Frank, automobile dealer, 444 Center
Poltrok, Herman F., automobile repairing and service station, 118 Oak
Rohrbach, Henry G., automobile repairing and service station, rear 625 Center
Schott, Michael, automobiles, automobile garage, rear 249 Center
Stanley Garage, automobiles; automobile wrecking and towing; automobile repairing and service station; automobiles for hire; automobile accessories and supplies, 315-317 Center
Stine’s Bus Service, automobile tires and tubes, 418 Johnson
1940 city directory
In business listings:
American Auto Stores, automobile supplies, 626 Centre
Brogan, Peter A., gasoline and oils, 614 Washington
Casper, Andrew, gasoline and oils, 727 Front
Danko, Jno M., automobile repair, 1221 South
Ferdinand, Frank J., automobile repair, 315 Centre
Funk's Garage, automobile repair, 415 Johnson
Funk's Garage, automobiles, 415 Johnson
Griffith, J. E. & J. H., automobile repair, 544 Carbon
Griffith, J. E. & J. H., automobile supplies, 544 Carbon
Griffith, J. E. & J. H., gasoline and oils, 544 Carbon
Hazleton Buick Co., automobiles, 233 Centre
Herbener, Julius, gasoline and oils, 201 Johnson
Hess Bros., gasoline and oils, 220 Fern
Holland, Arthur, gasoline and oils, 455 Centre
Kislan, Jno A., gasoline and oils, 103 Centre
Kobrick, Peter, gasoline and oils, 104 Centre
Kopski, Jos., automobile repair, 444 Centre
Magarosky, J. G., automobile repair, 235 Centre
Maury, Harry D., tires, 726 Centre
Maury, Harry, automobile repair, rear 726 Front
McHugh, Chas. J., gasoline and oils, 527 Washington
Morgan, Raymond W., gasoline and oils, South corner Kalmia
Popick, Geo., automobile repair, 601 Fern
Potochney, Geo., automobile repair, 416 Washington
Prokovich, Jno. J., gasoline and oils, 420 Carbon
Quinn, Jos. W., gasoline and oils, 450 Ridge
Ravina, Jos. Jr., gasoline and oils, 224 Ridge
Schott, Michl., gasoline and oils, 100 Ridge
Stefanik, Jno., gasoline and oils, South corner Fern
Tancin, Jno., gasoline and oils, 520 Washington
Taub Motor Co., automobiles, 761 W. Broad, Hazleton, Pa.
Wilson, Jas. H., automobile repair, 732 Pine
Zemany & Romig, automobile repair, 632 Main