News & announcements Saving your history Early accounts Maps Nearby towns People Churches Schools Municipal Organizations Businesses The mines Transportation Streets Buildings Entertainment Celebrations Sports Ethnic groups	Home -:- Site map -:- Links -:- Print resources -:- Contact
	History of Freeland, Pa. Business pages - 20th- and a few 21st-century businesses
	What's on this page: 20th-century (and a few 21st-century) Freeland businesses, organized by kind of business Some people highlighted who owned / ran businesses Photos of several groups of Freeland factory workers Freeland Chamber of Commerce Annual Fashion and Appliances Show, 1950 Comment on Freeland businesses On related pages: 19th-century Freeland business pages organized by kind of business Mercantile listings in mercantile directories and assessment lists Business listings and ads in directories, maps and newspapers - all types of businesses combined Freeland products Freeland address numbering, for deciphering old addresses The image at top left shows some of the businesses on the west side of Centre Street, just below Front - I'm not sure, but I think the photo for this postcard was taken back when when what became Woodie's was owned and run by Elwood Fairchild, before being taken over by Elwood Whitehead. Links for 20th- and a few early 21st-century businesses, along with comments, memories and even some ads and photos, many from readers of this site. On many of those pages, there's also a link to older lists of those kinds of businesses that were listed in directories and on maps, 1873-1900, and/or to related businesses. Grocery / food stores Meat markets and butcher shops Stores on wheels Dairies and milk products Bakeries Confectioneries and ice cream shops Flour, grain, feed mills / stores Ice sellers and companies Restaurants - old page, not yet updated Saloons, bars, etc. - old page, not yet updated Beer distributors Bottlers Hotels General stores, dry goods, variety, five and ten, and department stores Clothing stores Tailors, seamstresses and milliners Shoe stores Shoemakers / shoe repair shops Jewelers, watch stores and watch repair Laundries and dry cleaners Sewing machines and fabric stores Factories and other industries - new page begun here, to be expanded soon Barbers and barbershops Hairdressers and hair salons Physicians Dentists Pharmacists Nurses Optometrists Veterinarians Undertakers and funeral parlors Contractors and construction Lumberyards, hardware stores, plumbing Decor, furnishings, appliances Property and building sales, building design Automobile-related businesses Transportation companies Transportation by horse Haulers, drivers, express, movers, storage, junk dealers Banks Attorneys Insurance agents Cigar, cigarette and tobacco shops Cigar manufacturers Billiard parlors and pool rooms Music stores and other music businesses Photographers and photography Stationers, newspapers, news dealers Florists More businesses - old page not yet updated Water services Electricity and energy services Telephone and telegraph Highlighted people who owned/ran businesses (I'm looking to expand this list - please help!) Frank Balon Lou Corazza Benjamin F. Davis Francisco Giovanni Ferrari Gabuzda Brothers Edward Gallagher Henry George Joseph Greshko Anthony Kuklis Charles Maso Tony Merrick Ray Morgan Nick Nocchi George Palya Ralph Pecora Joe Ranieri Mike Remak Allen Sharp and Ed Sharp John Tancin Note: There is a similar but longer list of links to pages about specific people, not all of them business owners, in the People section of the website. Freeland factory workers Two pages feature factory photos showing both workers and owners/supervisors. One shows photos of several groups of Freeland factory workers and another page, Working in a 1914 factory, shows workers in a garment factory in 1914. Freeland Chamber of Commerce Annual Fashion and Appliances Show, 1950 In 1950 the Freeland Chamber of Commerce had its annual "Fashion Show" at the Public Park Pavilion. In addition to seeing some new fall fashions, the audience was able to see all of the new household appliances coming onto the market. Bernie Gallagher and Potsy Zaroski of Centre Electric staged the event. The photos from Charlie Gallagher are terrific! His narration explains what was going on. Definitely worth a look! In Freeland's first several decades and well past the first half of the 20th century, the town was more of a hub of activity, largely due to its being a free town in the midst of a number of coal company towns, as well as due to a number of industries employing people. Freeland's businesses also served folks from nearby towns. Even in the 1920s and 1930s my dad and his family and friends would walk from Upper Lehigh on Sundays to go to church in Freeland, and he and his friends would walk to Freeland sometimes to go to cowboy movies at the Rialto. My aunt Aggie's family in Sandy Run attended church in Freeland. There were folks from Eckley, Upper Lehigh, Drifton, Jeddo coming to Freeland for church. Many from these various places also came to Freeland to buy food, clothes, drinks, and various products and services, as well as to visit friends and family. The directories for the 1920s list several bus and taxi service companies bringing people to and from Freeland. All of this made these businesses listed here flourish.

--- TOP OF PAGE ---

Site contructed by C. Tancin.
The URL for this page is: http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/ct0u/frldbsns.html