An occasional survey of jobs both unusual and extraordinary, and the people who make them happen. It’s an exciting time at Ridley Motors, headquartered in the Howard Street Anchor Architecture and Engineering Building just south of 63rd Ave. And no…
The City’s Pneumatic Mail Delivery System
“Nobody writes letters anymore,†or so the saying goes. But for over one hundred years our city was home to thousands of letter writers and the nation’s fifth largest post office branch (after New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit, Michigan).…
Friday Facts: Abe Beats Chuck, Budget Fun, The Old Condor
:: 565-acre Pratt Park disappeared into a sinkhole on this day in 1905. ::Â Number of people who showed up for the ceremony and forum commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday at Bowman House (the city’s longstanding Republican club): 470 ::…
The Eight Great Zoo Hoaxes
It’s for no small reasons that our fair city is often called “The Home of Zoo Hoaxes.†What follows are the Eight Great Zoo Hoaxes, as determined by the Board of Directors of the Zoo Hoax Historical Society, an informal…
Nice Work If You Can Get It: Larger Parking In Rear
An occasional survey of jobs both unusual and extraordinary, and the people who make them happen. Although his business card describes him as merely an engineer, Hank Beck’s assistants and partners have more colorful terms for his area of expertise.…
Divers Unable to Find Source of Oil Sheen
Despite a day-long search, scuba divers from the city’s police and fire departments were unable to locate the source of a thin slick of oil that spread yesterday over the western half of Micshcoon Lake, the disused reservoir on the…
Snapshots: Last Days of the Riverfront Transit Center, 1933
April, 1933 – This photo was taken one week before construction was “temporarily” halted on the City Transportation Company’s (Now the City-Suburban Transit Authority) planned transit center on the Ostahanoc Riverfront. To be built in stages, the center would have…