Mahanoy Area Historical Society

07/24/2026

Last call to reserve a place for the fire video and walk this Sunday.
Text YES to 570-810-9367. Filling up fast.

07/08/2026

Perhaps the best photo of the destruction caused by the Memorial Day fire of 1945 is the one taken by Mahanoy City barber and amateur photographer, Maurice Pedriani , on the morning after the fire. I asked Google Gemini to colorize the photo. It shows the complete destruction of the 100 block of West Centre on the north side, the middle of the block on the south side and the Guinan Department Store at the beginning of the 200 block on the north side. The short video clip was shot by Bob Fletcher . We now have about ten minutes of fire video which will be shown on Sunday July 26 at the Village Inn.

05/24/2026

To read Terry Rang's story about Harrison Ball and the Mahanoy City Lumber Company go to:

https://mahanoyhistory.org/mclc.html

02/25/2026

Here's a better shot of the first block of East Centre. This postcard view is from 1946 or shortly thereafter. The Liadrakes store opened in 1946.

Boomers may remember Lech's Cafe which was where the Mecca Bar was located in the picture. Rocco and Rose Timm Gaultiere had there popular burger hangout next door to Lech's .

I've attached an article from a 1966 Record American about the bench we sat on in front of Rocco's as we watched the numerous cars going up and down Centre Street ala " American Graffiti".

For more on 34-36 east Centre go to Terry Rang's aticle on our website.
https://mahanoyhistory.org/pascolis.html

02/24/2026

Recently the former Liadrakes property at 29-31 East Centre Street was sold prompting some questions about the history of the property. Going back to the early 1900s it was the site of Minnie Seivert's Women's Store. Minnie was the daughter of John Hersker who built the Hersker Opera House at the beginning of the 100 block just yards from Minnie's Store. John Hersker was signer of MC's Charter in 1863. The opera house later became the State Theatre also known as the Family Theatre. Later Prensky's, Mortons and Davidsons furniture stores were in the building. The property was destroyed by fire in the mid 1970s.

Back to Minnie Seivert's property at 29-31 E. Centre.. Minnie died in 1929 and the property had various tenants and also remained empty at times until 1943 when it was bought by Emanuel G.Liadrakes and his wife Florence, both Greek immigrants, Emanuel from Crete and Florence from Constantinople. The Liadrakes Home and Auto Store opened at the site in 1946. You may remember it as the Firestone Tire Store. The Tregellas Shoe Store was next door to the east and Heiser's to the west.

Emanuel died in 1965 and Florence in 1995. They had two children a daughter, Crete, and a son ,Constantine (Junior) . Notice the geographic references to the old country.

Both children were Mahanoy Area grads. I remember Junior from my boyhood days in the late 1950s playing in the alley near the post office. Junior died tragically in an automobile accident in 1970 at the age of 25. After Florence died the property was purchased by Michael Cheslock and Gary Senavitis in 1997 It was recently sold by them.

The video is from 1916 taken outside Minnie's Store, probably on a busy Saturday

02/23/2026

This post is in response to some recent interest in the Silliman Building on North Main Street. I lived there from 1949 to 1954 in the second floor apartment and yes there was a bowling alley in the basement.

The building falling down across Birch Street from Sillimans was the Joe Pasieka Cafe.

Edward S. Silliman opened the first colliery in the Mahanoy area. The breaker was torched in 1870 and Silliman sold the colliery to the P&R. He founded the First National Bank, the water company, the light company, the gas company and the Silliman Guards. He died in 1904. My grandmother's half sister was married to Edward Silliman's brother James.

The video is from 1916. I colorized it. It shows the building in 1916 before the front was remodeled in the 1920s. The water company was in front of the first floor and the Silliman residence occupied the rest of the building.

To read more about Edward S. Silliman go to Bill O'Brien's Mahanoy City Chronicles article on our website at:
https://mahanoyhistory.org/Mahanoy%20City%20Chronicles/June%2018,%201988%20Silliman%20Was%20Foremost%20Citizen.pdf

02/02/2026

I was recently contacted by a woman from Poland who's great grandfather lived in Park Place in the early 1900s. She asked for information about the Patch. I made a video . Take a look.

Scenes of early Park Place, a recent drone flyover and a visit with a current "patch" resident. Opening music - Movavi Audio

12/21/2025

Go to the link below to view the 1965 St. Canicus May Procession.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcBk-j98Byo

12/20/2025

Stephen Kufrovich was a World War II veteran rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He came back to Mahanoy City after his military career, married and had a son. Stephen became an engineer and later in life specialized in memory enhancement. His sister, Florence, taught 4th grade next door to me where I taught 5th grade at Mahanoy City Catholic School in the 1970s. I remember that one year Florence had Stephen, an excellent magician, come to MCCS during Catholic Schools Week to do a magic show for the students.

Later in retirement, Stephen was involved in historical preservation in Quarryville, Lancaster County.

Stephen Sebastian Kufrovich died in November 2009 and is buried in Washington's Crossing National Cemetery .

You can read Stephen's memories of growing up in the West End at:
https://mahanoyhistory.org/westendmemories.html