(first posted 3/17/2016) Today, McKeesport, PA is a hollowed-out former steel town. But in 1958, the “Tube City” was the heart of a still-thriving Mon Valley. 50,000 people called it home, almost 10,000 worked at U.S. Steel’s National Tube Works, and the city, located at the confluence of the Monongehela and Youghiogheny Rivers, was Mon Valley’s shopping and entertainment center.
Strung along Fifth Avenue were three department stores, four theaters, and dozens of specialty shops. And over a dozen automobile dealers could be found on and off Walnut Street’s”auto row”. Compared to downriver Pittsburgh, McKeesport was small, it but acted big. The city was the headquarters of G.C. Murphy Co., a regional 5 & 10 chain, and several manufacturers. It sponsored its own symphony orchestra and theater group. And every winter it hosted its own auto show, held in the still-functioning Palisades Dance Hall along the Youghiogheny River.
Back then, my father, Bill Swartz, was working days at Standard Auto Company, his in-law’s Chrysler-Plymouth dealership, while getting a graduate degree at night. And thanks to him, we can travel back and get a preview of the 1958 McKeesport Auto Show in glorious Kodachrome.
Let’s start with America’s favorite brand, Chevrolet. Chevy was one of the few all-new cars for ’58, and the folks at Deveraux Chevrolet put a fine two-tone Bel Air hardtop at the front of their display. Local ads asked you to “Get a Chevy from Devvie” and the agency was literally on the move, becoming the first brand to leave downtown for a suburban location.
They were soon joined by Peckman-Rojohn, whose bulky Lincoln and space-age Mercurys can be seen in the background. Bill Peckman was a popular member of the Youghiogheny Country Club, and well into the 70s, Lincolns, and not Cadillacs, filled the parking lot there. Barely visible behind the white Lincoln are a pair of relatively sober Oldsmobiles from Bruce Brown, later the town’s Toyota dealer.
And let’s take a moment to reflect on the banner in the upper left corner, put up by John Mooney, the town’s new Edsel dealer. Fresh off the demise of his Packard franchise, Mooney must have felt cursed, but his next venture made him a small fortune – he became the town’s Volkswagen dealer.
Turning around, we get a nice view of a taupe Mercury and the graceful flank of the almond-colored Fury Galen & Jones DeSoto-Plymouth brought to the show. But what’s that somber black car intruding on the right? It’s a Vauxhall Victor, the British GM compact sold by Palmer Pontiac. Quite the contrast to the Big M, and a sign that things were changing, even in the industrial heartland.
Moving down the hall and back to the opening image, we can see Galen and Jones also brought a Fireflite 4-door hardtop to their display. On the left, and looking uncomfortably similar, are a Pontiac hardtop from Palmers Motors, and a hint of a Series 62 from Superior Cadillac. But pride of place goes to the 2-tone lilac and white Fairline from Joe Eger – who took over the town’s Ford agency in 1938 when my Great Grandfather decided to hitch his wagon to then Number 2 Chrysler Corporation. Incidentally, the last true dealer new car preview I attended was at Eger Motors in 1975.
Speaking of Chrysler, here’s the Standard Auto display. My dad managed to pry enough money from my Great Aunt, then Chrysler’s only female dealer, to roll out the red carpet for a trio of all-whit-ish Mopars. There’s a Plymouth Sport Suburban, an Imperial Custom sedan, and a New Yorker convertible.
Let’s take a closer look at that Imperial. The truth is, we didn’t sell many of these – maybe 5 or 6 a year. The bulk of the business was Plymouths and lower-level Chrysler Windsors, although that didn’t stop my dad from propping up another New Yorker convertible with a Highlander plaid interior as a showroom display. And in a sea of two-tones, those monochrome Mopars really stood out.
As we take one last look, a few notes about the brands not on display. Both the Dodge and Buick franchises were in flux, but Paul Jones Dodge and Sullivan Buick would soon be fixtures. The Rambler dealer’s absence was easy to explain – the franchise was literally downstairs, on the ground floor of the dance hall. And there hadn’t been a Studebaker dealer in town for years, although the old dealership building on Walnut Street is one of town’s finer remaining buildings.
That’s it for our trip back to 1958. The next year, my dad finished his industrial management degree and went on to a career in food chemicals. The dealerships continued to generally prosper into the 70s, although many followed Deveraux out to the suburbs. My Great Aunt resisted, and finally closed Standard Auto in 1967. (I was 2 years old and didn’t have a say, to say the least.) The building still stands as the warehouse of Sunray Electric Company, a prosperous business in a once-prosperous town.
Has anybody noticed the black and white photo is annotated “1960s”? That Plymouth in front of the dealership and the one in the showroom window both look like 1950 Plymouths to me.
Yep, This annotation is recent (using “comic sans” font, so post 1994) The photo is obviously older than the ’60s. (and 1950 seems right.) This happens all over the web. For eexampl,seemingly half of the black and white films on YouTube from 1930 to 1970 is called “1950s” in their descriptions- drives me nuts!
I think you are right. The Plymouth in the show room is either a ’53 or ’54. The Plymouth on the street looks to be a ’49 or ’50. The model changes were do subtle it’s hard to be specific with the quality of the photo The other vehicles are also from that period. The Chevy/GMC pick up could be in the early ’50s and what I believe to be a Buick looks to be in the late ’40s. The car in the show room is what dates the photo. It wasn’t unusual for people to keep a car for 10 years or more back then so the cars on the street wouldn’t indicate when the photo was actually taken. You have a critical eye for detail.
Anyone know where i can locate an old dealer plate Benedict Inc, a small Studebaker dealer in mckessport. Company was around in the 50’s
Not sure if this will be any help but it may be worth chasing it down. There was a guy by the name of George Krimm that had a garage on Finney Road in Lincoln Boro. He had tons of Studebaker NOS parts and memorabilia. Unfortunately, he passed away about two years ago but his son Jonathan may still have the contents of the garage. If the parts were sold, he may be able to put you in touch with the person who purchased them. I don’t have his contact information but the last I heard, he lived on the corner of Duncan Station Rd and Georgetown Place in Mt Vernon, Elizabeth Twp.
Thanks again for the info, hopefully he can assist with locating any items from this old dealership
I had never before noticed the styling similarity between the 58 Ford and the 58 Chrysler.
These are fantastic photos, and they remind me that I first became aware of new model introduction time when the ’58s came out. I was 5 years old in the fall of 1957.
I grew up just a few miles downstream of McKeesport, on the opposite (west) side of downtown Pittsburgh on a hill above the Ohio River.
Same view of 5th Ave. in McKeesport (from Google). Buildings are still there, but doesn’t appear to be the bustling shopping district it once was.
Here’s a pic of 5th Ave during the filming of Mindhunter. It was taken in July 2016 and was transformed into Richmond, VA in the mid 70’s for the purpose of that segment.
Wow, I have to see that film!
They just demolished the Jaison’s building – the one with the yellow-and-white facade on the left.
It’s a series on Netflix but if you do get a chance to see it, you might recognize the old Daily News Building. It was transformed into the Sacramento Police Department. They filmed in the area for months but only the locals would recognize some of the backgrounds. In one episode I had CA plates on my car and the next I had VA plates.
I’m from that “once bustling” part of PA. Grew up in the 60’s , 70’s in Butler. (about an hour from McKeesport).
Your article and pics really brought back a long forgotten era of my life.
Did you know 1958 was the first year that twin headlights were legal in all states, so as you see all the cars in the photos had them. That feature was brand new!
We had Peckman Lincoln Mercury (DeTomaso too), Deveraux Chevrolet, (Get your Chevy from Devey!), Eger Motors (The Redcoats save you Greenbacks!), John Naretto Buick, John P. Mooney Co. (had Packard, Edsel then one of the very first Volkswagen dealers), Bendik Oldsmobile and Kilment Studebaker (one of the last to close) near Forest Hills. Our area was home to Fisher Body too! Check out this link: http://www.tubecityonline.com/history/cardealers.html
Also, for any who are still local, my Grandfather John F. Montgomery was mayor of Versailles, PA for many years. -John Montgomery – (Grandson)
I’m probably a little older than you but In addition to the dealerships you mentioned, there was also Standard Auto – Chrysler/Plymouth, Superior Cadillac, Galen and Jones – DeSoto, Sullivan Buick (before Naretto), Palmer Pontiac, and Bruce Brown Oldsmobile, later to become the area’s first Toyota dealer. In addition to the Clement Brothers you mentioned, Studebakers were also sold by Poinsetta Motors in East McKeesport and early on by J.P. Mooney who also in addition to the Packards, Edsels, and VWs, sold Checkers and later Toyotas. The two that I’m having trouble remembering are the Kaiser/Fraizer dealership in Glassport and the Rambler dealer that was on the ground floor of the Palisades building. Whatever you fancy, you didn’t have to go far to find it We had it all.
Hi Tom,
Thanks so much for the follow up reply! The link below even has a map of all McKeesport dealers. http://www.tubecityonline.com/history/cardealers.html
I was best friends in High School with Paul Bendik, son of Paul Sr., owner of Bendik Olds (Don’t say Olds, say Bendik Olds!)
Since you are from a Chrysler family…may I highly recommend the book “Visioneer” about Virgil Exner, lead stylist at Chrysler 1949 to 1961. Fantastic book! I work for a company here in SC that has been selling Chrysler for 57 years, since 1965! We have a auto museum called Benson Memory Lane that has a 59 Fury and many other Chrysler, Ford, Mercury and Chevy cars of the 50’s and 60’s! Come visit sometime!
Her’s one I totally forgot about. After the Galen and Jones split, Paul Jones opened a Dodge store on Eden Park Blvd right behind the Eat’N Park. Bought a couple of pick ups from him.
Nasty CC effect: The mention of G.C. Murphy stores got me thinking of the one a mile from me in the 70s at Bradlee shopping center on the Alexandria/Arlington line. I was thinking something notorious happened there, a multiple murder, but it was at the Roy Rogers 2 miles away, not the one in front of Murphy’s. My sister’s HS friends once streaked the Bradlee Roy’s in the innocent 70s. Just now, I found out there was recently a gang rape requiring hospitalization among the 9th graders in the school behind Bradlee. The school board apparently tried to cover it up.
Small world – Bradlee rang a bell, so I checked the map. Turned out it was the shopping center within walking distance of where we lived from 1979-83. We were on the Arlington side, in the Fairlington Villages neighborhood. Giant was the supermarket in Bradlee’s at the time.