Five Point Diner- Tamaqua, PA

This is an unusual 1940 O’Mahony. It looks like the diner was a fairly standard pre-war monitor roof Monarch model. The roofline looks like it was a square-cornered model, but a later-production one, after they dropped the trapezoidal transoms. With the remodeling and the imprecise nature of the linen postcard, though hard to be 100% certain of that. The postcard is from c.1955, so it’s entirely possible that the stainless over the windows was a later 40s or early 1950s update (along with other aspects of the facade), covering those windows for a more streamlined look.
What makes it really unusual is its siting and the treatment of the entry. It is sited as though it were a flatiron building, on a long, narrow finger of land projecting into a five-way intersection (hence the Five Point name), with an extended end vestibule, projecting three windows further from the beginning of the diner proper. The end-vestibule looks to have a combination of curved glass and glass bricks for the corners, but without a proper photo, it’s difficult to say for sure.

The diner has suffered at the hands of remodeling and usage change. The counter and fixtures are gone, but the original ceiling is still visible. The exterior has been bricked over and a peaked roof has been dropped overtop the diner, but the fantastic stainless front door belies the building’s diner pedigree.
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3 thoughts on “Five Point Diner- Tamaqua, PA

  1. So tonight in traveling down memory lane with my grandmother, we stumbled upon your site. You see, my grandfather and grandmother owned the Five Point Diner for 18 years starting in 1966. When they took it over it wasn’t the pristine diner you see in the above picture, but after hard work and great hospitality they turned it into a popular place again. If your interested, we might be able dig up some other photos and details to contribute to your site.

  2. My Aunt and Uncle owned an older diner on this spot, and brought this diner in in the early fifties. That might explain some of the updates that were noted. I was under the impression that it was custom built, but it might have been a refurbished model. Not really sure when it was sold, but the family was very upset at what happened to it.

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