The City Line Diner, Harrisburg, PA

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

The City Line Diner was located at 1946 Paxton Street, Harrisburg, PA. It was built by the Jerry O’Mahony Dining Car Company, and opened on October 25, 1940. It was originally owned by C.H. Wertz Jr. The diner sat 36, 22 at stools, and another 24 at six booths. It was painted the usual 1930s-1940s color scheme of white and green.

According to an article from the opening, at the time of its construction, this was one of the widest diners in Pennsylvania, which necessitated that its transport from New Jersey be entirely by truck, instead of the usual rail transport. Police had to close roads for its transportation, as it took up both lanes of the two lane highways upon which it traveled.

The diner was replaced in 1956 with Mountain View no.478. It was demolished in 1981.

The Capitol Diner, Harrisburg, PA

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

The Capitol Diner, located at 615 N. Cameron Street, in the shadow of the State Street Bridge, opened on October 2, 1940. It sat on a 10,000 square foot lot, roughly where the Goodwill donation is currently. The diner was built by the Jerry O’Mahony company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and was originally owned by James S. Banford and Richard K. Enders. It had a brown paint scheme and sat 25, 17 at the counter and 8 at four deuce tables.

By the summer or 1941, directories list the lot as the site of a used car dealership, which it would remain for decades. It is unclear what became of the diner.

Little Tavern Washington No. 22

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Spencer Stewart

While doing research at the Madison building of the Library of Congress, I happened across this picture, taken c.1940 of a Little Tavern located at 33-1/2 Independence Ave (more or less), which is the same location as the building in which I was doing my research. Construction started on the James Madison Memorial building in 1971.

Great picture of a Little Tavern. I find it interesting that it appears there is no signage. I would guess this was taken before it opened?
I also love the building next door and the dark colored vitrolite (or maybe its enamel) that wraps the entire lot and the building next door.

Bridgeville Diner- Bridgeville, Delaware

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

I thought this would tie in nicely with my previous post. The bridgeville is a ’40s O’Mahony, a particularly large model, featuring a striped red and blue enamel and stainless exterior, with blue upper windows. I like the diagonally ribbed tile on the interior, but I’m not sure if it’s original, I’ve never seen it before. This diner is very similar to the recently restored Road Island Diner, though this one has five bands of color, while the road island has four. This exterior is a nice transition from the fully enameled exteriors shown in the previous post to the later fully stainless ones.

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Tag Archives: 1940

Little Tavern Washington No. 22