A man wrote in "The Ledger" recently
about a trolley tunnel which ran from Washington Street underground
to the Public Service building on Park Place. When I was a very
young child, my uncle owned a lady's undergarment shop on Halsey
Street across the street from Kresge and near the YMCA building.
In order to keep me out of mischief, I was always sent to the back
yard which faced Washington Street and was high above the entrance
to that tunnel. Being fascinated with trolleys at that tender age
of about 3 or 4, I used to stand there for hours watching the trolley
traffic going into and out of the tunnel below from my advantage
point. Later on when the trolleys were taken off the streets, the
tracked roadway in the tunnel was tarred over the tracks in order
to allow buses to utilize the passage directly to the basement to
the Public Service building. If a person was in the Public Service
building and wished to take a trolley in the subway, he went down
to the cellar where he first crossed this Washington Street tunnel
roadway with the buses and then on to the trolley subway.
I also remember a trolley ramp that went into the rear of the
Public Service building's second or third floor from Mulberry Street.
The ramp went high above Pine Street right into the building. I
have no idea if it was the terminus of the trolley line and the
trolleys were turned around in the building and exited down the
ramp or went to another destination first. Each side of the ramp
which was in an open lot, was used for automobile parking.
My father owned a tavern during Prohibition on Center Street just
east of Park Place during the late 20's and 30's. This was close
to where the original Hudson Tube trains began their run to New
York before they were rerouted to the Pennsylvania station.
I am enclosing a photo taken (above) of my mother carrying me
east on the north side Market Street between Halsey Street and Broad
Street near what was A. S. Beck Shoe Store at the time. Notice the
Orbach's sign in the rear of the photo. If you look closely behind
the H in the sign, you can also see part of the famous Bamberger
Clock.
In those days of the depression, a man would stand on the street
and snap every passerby's picture. He gave you a card with a number
and when you mailed it in with a quarter, your photo was mailed
to you.
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