The Tyrone Area Historical Society recently received a 1920 “Rand McNally Official Auto Trails Map,” which was a predecessor of the “Road Atlas” that’s so popular today. Come with us back to the year 1920 and, through the pages of this “Auto Trails Map,” we’ll think about how things were then.
The 1920 edition covered Pennsylvania, New Jersey, southern New York, northern Delaware, northern Maryland, northern Virginia, and northeastern West Virginia.
“Recommended” Places
In addition to the large road map attached to the booklet, there are special lists of “approved” hotels and garages for each community.
Keep in mind that these were the earliest days when people were beginning to use automobiles for long-distance travel. And, part of this was the necessity to stop overnight. It was customary — almost obligatory — that each auto should be “stored” overnight in a garage near the hotel.
At that time, travel was unpredictable. So, the 1920 “Atlas” cited a garage in each community that offered not just overnight storage but repairs, too.
Tyrone Eighty-Two Years Ago
Let’s look at Tyrone’s listings in the Hotel and Garage Register. Perhaps because of the many railroad branches that originated here, Tyrone was an important highway center, or “hub,” although that expression had yet to be created in 1920.
The sixty-room Arlington Hotel offered rooms for $3 and $3.50 per night. This hotel, located at 10th St. and Logan Ave., where the Choice Gas Station is now, had the American plan, whereby the daily rates covered the costs of three meals — similar to today’s bed-and-breakfasts.
The Colonial Hotel and Restaurant, operated by the Bloom family, was located adjacent to the theaters at 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. Thirty rooms were available, from $1 to a suite at $2.50. This hotel was on the European plan, with meals at the restaurant extra. Twenty-two years later, in February 1942, fire destroyed The Colonial Hotel.
Garages
The atlas lists two places in Tyrone for overnight auto storage: Smith’s Garage, located across from Epworth Manor, and just up the street from the Arlington. Smith’s had an amazing storage capacity for 100 autos, with the price of 75 cents to a dollar per night. And Smith’s labor rate for repairs was $1 an hour. We’re not sure where in Tyrone the Liberty Garage was located, but they had space to store twenty-five cars at a dollar each per night, and the repair rate was 90 cents an hour.
Nearby Places
Every community had one or more recommended hotels. In Altoona, only one hotel “made it.” No, not the Penn Alto. It was the Colonial on 12th Ave. between 12th and 13th Sts. The daily room rate was $2 or $2.50 with bath. The recommended storage garage was located several blocks away, at 7th St. and Chestnut Ave. It was the Market House Garage and Machine Shop.
Huntingdon featured the Leister House, across from the Pennsylvania Railroad station. Room rates there were the highest in central Pennsylvania, at $3, and a bathroom was 50 cents extra. The Cadillac Service Station offered accessories. It was part of the dealership owned by Charles Vuille, who was the great-great-great uncle of Rich and Tim Brown, owners of Stultz & Brown Ford-Mercury of Tyrone.
Speed Limits
There were strict rules in 1920 for speed limits. In Pennsylvania, no more than thirty miles per hour! Of course, any speed higher than this could shake your auto apart. There were strict rules for speed traps in those days, requiring two persons, one at each end of a measured stretch of not less than one-eighth of a mile. In Maryland, you could really zoom along, with thirty-five mph being the allowed top speed. In Virginia, the top speed permitted was twenty.
The Main Highway
A trip anywhere was a day-long process in a 1920 motor car. The main east-west highway through this area is now Rt. 22. Back in those days, it was designated Rt. 9.
Coming from Pittsburgh, Rt. 9 left Ebensburg and came only as far as the brick streets of Cresson. It did not go down the mountain to Hollidaysburg; instead, it proceeded north along the mountain top to Ashville and then down the present Rt. 36 to Altoona. Rt. 9 went through downtown Altoona, but did not go over into Pleasant Valley. There were no roads beyond “Good Road,” which today is 5th Ave. Instead, Rt. 9 exited Altoona on Chestnut Ave. and headed straight toward Tyrone. When Rt. 9 arrived at Tyrone, the highway then went southeast to the village of Water Street and on to Huntingdon.
Highways Built Since Then
In those days, there was no direct connection from “the Tyrone Pike” to Philipsburg. Instead, the road went through Osceola Mills. And there was no road from Houtzdale to Clearfield. There was no highway down the valley from Milesburg to Mill Hall and Lock Haven. The road that’s now Rt. 64 was the way you had to go. No road existed over Pine Grove Mountain from Huntingdon.
State College was a hamlet, with no connections to the west or south. The only roads came in from Pine Grove Mills, Boalsburg, and Bellefonte. There was no such thing as Sky Top. What is now Rt. 550 took the same path eighty-two years ago as now, except that there was no crossroads at Carson’s Corner. No road over the mountain from Warriors Mark to Bald Eagle. No Janesville Pike. No Skelp Mountain Rd. No Tipton Reservoir Rd.
Routes I-99 and 220
The north-south road from Bedford through Tyrone and on to Bellefonte, which is now I-99 and Rt. 220, was designated Rt. 10 in those days. At Bellefonte, it joined Rt. 11, which was an east-west highway that roughly followed today’s Rt. 322.
Railroads Dominated
It’s important to keep in mind that in 1920, rail travel was the primary means of transportation, besides walking. For the “sporty set,” nothing could beat a shiny, new 1920 roadster or a family touring car out on a sunny Sunday afternoon. A trip to Pittsburgh, or to Philadelphia, or even to Harrisburg was a major undertaking — and took a looooong time.
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