Rotogravure: A Hazleton History

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On Oct. 15, 1977, thousands turned up to watch the Mummers Parade in downtown Hazleton. The next night a steady rain sta...
10/16/2026

On Oct. 15, 1977, thousands turned up to watch the Mummers Parade in downtown Hazleton. The next night a steady rain started falling. It soon turned to snow. When it was over the next morning a heavy 13-inch blanket of snow covered everything. The surprise storm -- localized to Hazleton itself where it was just cold enough to snow -- stranded drivers, closed roads and schools and knocked out electric service to thousands. As these photos show, it made for some pretty scenes. But the effect on daily life wasn't so pretty. However, by the next day, most of the snow had melted.

Hazleton used to have a multitude of parochial schools. Today there is only one: Holy Family Academy in the former St. J...
10/14/2026

Hazleton used to have a multitude of parochial schools. Today there is only one: Holy Family Academy in the former St. Joseph School on Laurel Street. This photo, taken at a meeting in 1968, shows sisters from 10 area schools. They were meeting at St. Joseph Convent to discuss the planned establishment of operationa departments at schools throughout the Scranton Diocese. Rev. Eugene G. Blish, diocesan director of religious education, led the discussion. One nun from each school was to serve as a coordinator. Left to right are: Sister M. Celestine, O.P.N., Transfiguration; Sister Mary James, S.C.C., Holy Trinity; Sister M. Jolith, Ss. C.M., St. Joseph’s; Sister M. Gabrielle, D.M., Our Lady of Mt. Carmel; Sister Mary Grace, D.M., Our Lady of Grace; Sister M. Masiae, O.S.B.M., St. John’s and Father Blish. Standing left to right—Sister M. Lucille, R.S.S.M., St. Ann’s Freeland; Sister Barbara, D.M., Most Precious Blood; Sister Roger Marie, R.S.M., St. Gabriel’s; and Sister Irene, D.M., St. Mary’s Freeland.

The Hazleton area used to have a multitude of parochial schools. Today there is only one: Holy Family Academy in the for...
10/14/2026

The Hazleton area used to have a multitude of parochial schools. Today there is only one: Holy Family Academy in the former St. Joseph Elementary School. In the 1960s, teaching nuns still made up the majority of the faculty in the Catholic schools. Here's a photo of sisters from 10 local schools in 1968. It was taken at a religious educational discussion at St. Joseph’s Convent. Rev. Eugene G. Blish, director of religious education in the Scranton Diocese, briefed the nuns on a planned departments of religious education. One nun in each school was to head each department as a coordinator. Left to right are: Sister M. Celestine, O.P.N., Transfiguration; Sister Mary James, S.C.C., Holy Trinity; Sister M. Jolith, Ss. C.M., St. Joseph’s; Sister M. Gabrielle, D.M., Our Lady of Mt. Carmel; Sister Mary Grace, D.M., Our Lady of Grace; Sister M. Masiae, O.S.B.M., St. John’s and Father Blish. Standing left to right—Sister M. Lucille, R.S.S.M., St. Ann’s Freeland; Sister Barbara, D.M., Most Precious Blood; Sister Roger Marie, R.S.M., St. Gabriel’s; and Sister Irene, D.M., St. Mary’s Freeland.

For decades Hazleton marked Columbus Day with a parade and a program at the Christopher Columbus statue that in Memorial...
10/12/2026

For decades Hazleton marked Columbus Day with a parade and a program at the Christopher Columbus statue that in Memorial Park. The statue, sculpted by Archimedes Giacomantonio, was erected in 1952, the culmination of a years-long drive chaired by J. Anthony Christopher. Hazleton's Columbus Club and Sons of Italy both participated in Columbus Day events. These photos are from the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Check the captions for details.

On Oct. 12, 1955, a light plane struck the roof of St. Gabriel's Church in Hazleton and crashed into the rear of two hom...
10/10/2026

On Oct. 12, 1955, a light plane struck the roof of St. Gabriel's Church in Hazleton and crashed into the rear of two homes on South Wyoming Street. Somehow the pilot and his passenger escaped with their lives. Standard-Sentinel newsman M.V. Coll was standing in front of the Pioneer Fire Co. on North Wyoming Street with Bernie Brennan, Hurley Shucker and Henry Diehl, the night fire driver crew. It was about 7 p.m and they were watching an airplane doing stunts near St. Gabriel's Church when Brennan exclaimed, "It's going to crash!" The Cessna 140 piloted by former West Hazleton resident Francis O'Donnell, 42, with 25-year-old Richard Moore of South Wyoming Street in the passenger seat, struck the ridge of the main roof of St. Gabriel's Church, barely cleared the rectory next door and crashed into the rear of the residences of William Letcher and John J. Boyle at 112 and 110 S. Wyoming Street. Donald Marino, 22, of Alter Street, was among the first to reach the scene. He found the two men lying on the rear porch of the Boyle home. Amazingly both men survived but they suffered multiple fractures, shock and lacerations, Moore was discharged from the hospital in early November. The photo shows the tail section of the plane resting on the porch roof of the William Letcher residence at 112 S. Wyoming St. Witnesses said the plane had been buzzing the neighborhood for several minutes before the crash. Although the accident damaged the church's slate roof and sent debris through windows in nearby home, the interior of the church was undamaged. Give us a like and follow our page and you'll never miss a post.

Walter “Big Train” Johnson and Lou Gehrig playing ball together in Hazleton? It happened 102 years ago this month and RO...
10/06/2026

Walter “Big Train” Johnson and Lou Gehrig playing ball together in Hazleton? It happened 102 years ago this month and ROTOGRAVURE has the very rare photo to prove it. Johnson, the legendary Senators hurler, was the big draw. Gehrig was an up and coming player for the Yankees in 1924 and would break out in a big way the next season. The Major League All Stars were here to face a team of local players at the Cranberry Ballpark. We're including two photos: an overall view of the players with fans seated in the background, and picture that offers a closer look at the players. They're identified in the caption under the closeup photo. In a way, the game was like a baseball version of a Harlem Globetrotters basketball game with the Senators’ Nick Altrock providing the comic antics. With the Major League season over, they took the field at 4 p.m. before a crowd of 1,500 fans, a turnout the Standard-Sentinel called “a keen disappointment.” The venue, Cranberry Ballpark, was a baseball shrine for decades. Rotogravure features stylized and colorized photographs from Hazleton's past. Give us a like and follow our page and you'll never miss a post.

In the 1920s, going downtown involved getting dressed for the occasion. Jackets, ties and hats for men and Sundays-best ...
10/04/2026

In the 1920s, going downtown involved getting dressed for the occasion. Jackets, ties and hats for men and Sundays-best dresses for women. Downtown was almost always busy, as these scenes in front of Hazleton’s Bon Ton store show. The sprawling store did business from 1903 to 1962 on the south side of Broad Street between Laurel and Church streets. The upper floors contained professional offices and apartments. After the building was sold, Elton’s Department Store operated in the space. Follow our page and you’ll never miss a ROTOGRAVURE post.

Colors starting to pop.
10/03/2026

Colors starting to pop.

There's no doubt that Laurel and Hardy was one of the greatest comedy teams of all time. But before Oliver Hardy came al...
09/28/2026

There's no doubt that Laurel and Hardy was one of the greatest comedy teams of all time. But before Oliver Hardy came along, Stan Laurel teamed up with another rotund partner: Hazleton's own Martin Wolfkeil. Weighing around 400 pounds, Wolfkeil was known as "Tonnage." After working as a railroad brakeman in Hazleton, he found his way to Hollywood where he appeared in Hal Roach silent movie comedies. He was an early partner of Stan Laurel, later serving as his bodyguard during Laurel's turbulent marriage to his third wife, Vera. Wolfkeil was a world traveler who regularly made visits home, After appearing in a motion picture in Scotland in 1922, he headed home to visit his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Wolfkeil. Hazleton cinematographer Karl Malkames used the occasion of one such visit to shoot a short film here in which "Tonnage" falls from a window in the Markle Bank Building. In the 1940 Census, Tonnage was listed as a guest of Laurel in his Canoga Park, Calif., house. But in 1941, he sued Laurel for nonpayment of services and was quoted as saying, "I've been through hazardous experiences in four corners of the world. I was torpedoed three times. I would rather take a few torpedoes than put in another nine months like those with my friend, Mr. Laurel." Later he was working in a shipyard at San Pedro, Calif., and during a period of wartime rationing made national news when he wired President Franklin D. Roosevelt, asking him to allocate enough material to make trousers for him. An Associated Press story put it this way: "The wheels of government rolled today to avert a shortage of work pants which threatened to expose 386 pounds of shipyard worker to the California breeze." Wolfkeil later served with the U.S. Merchant Marines traveling back and forth between the U.S. and Europe. He also was erroneously reported dead on more than one occasion and sent a letter home in 1943 in which he claimed to have married a Russian girl, divorcing her and then marrying an English girl who perished with her family when a N**i bomb hit their residence. He wound up in Cincinnati where he worked as a "constructing engineer." After Wolfkeil's death in 1962, Laurel wrote in a letter to a friend: "I just head that 'Tonnage' died. Glad I was not invited to be a pallbearer. Imagine carrying all that heap." If you enjoyed this story and want to see more tidbits from Hazleton's history, like and follow our page so you never miss a post.

The Hazleton House, built in 1837, was one of Hazleton's first buildings. It was constructed by Lewis Davenport just as ...
09/27/2026

The Hazleton House, built in 1837, was one of Hazleton's first buildings. It was constructed by Lewis Davenport just as Ario Pardee's Hazleton Coal Co. was getting started. In the early days it was just two stories, as seen in the second photo in this post. Over the years the hotel housed a number of businesses on the first floor, including the Hub clothing store and Hazle Drugs. One of the earliest tenants was Benjamin Bauer's clothing store, which was on the ground floor at the east end of the building. The building was torn down in 2002 and Hazle Drugs now occupies the site.

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