I lived on South Sixteenth Street between
Avon Avenue and Springfield Avenue from 1940 through 1960. It was
a street of lovely 2 and 3 family homes with people of all nationalities
who got along beautifully. I first lived close to Avon Avenue on
the second floor in a house owned by an iceman, Mr. Russo. During
the summer, he would pull his truck up, get out his ice pick and
call all the kids and give them pieces of ice. This was a big treat
for the kids myself included. When you crossed Avon Avenue, you
continued down the street to Madison Avenue. On this corner, was
Madison Avenue Junior High School, grades K through 9. There was
also a playground. As you continued down 16th Street, the next cross
street was Clinton Avenue. Along the way, you passed a couple of
churches, etc. and finally on Clinton Avenue was the Roosevelt Theater
where we spent many a Friday night. If you walked along 16th Street
in the other direction, you reached Springfield Ave. first, walked
past the Good Humor warehouse and on to West Side Park, an absolutely
beautiful park with a lake and lots of entertainment for the kids.
It was a great place to grow up.
Postscript:
Since I have been back to 16th Street in the past few years because
I wanted to show my youngest daughter where I grew up. It was a
terrible blow to find out that only because the street signs were
there did I know where I was. It was a beautiful, friendly, warm
place to grow up. If we could go back, I would do it in a heartbeat.
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