tyrone, pennsylvania: my hometown - Page 2

glowrock · #21 Posted **Jun 2, 2011, 12:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ex-Ithacan

Good ole Tyrone. Sad to see so many more buildings gone, but still enough there to make it worth the stop imo. Kind of surprised the po-po let you back into town (or did ya sneak in?).

Since the old eyes aren't what they use to be, I'm wondering if that blow-up Jolly Green Giant is still on the balcony of the green house to the right?

Thanks for revisiting the homestead. Hope you enjoyed the visit.

Nah, Gio's allowed back in Tyrone, it's just that you might not be allowed back in Ithaca!

Aaron (Glowrock)

volguus zildrohar · #22 Posted **Jun 2, 2011, 4:54 AM**

I say Tyrone's in the hoooouse.

There has to be an indescribable feeling when one returns to one's hometown, especially if it's a small place. My mother oftens bends my ear with stories of the small town in South Carolina where she's from and how much it has changed since her youth but where her's is a story of change with time, Tyrone seems to be one of suspended animation. I've never been there nor know any place like it well but can imagine men in beat up coveralls and jeans at DJ's when Ratt sold out arenas the same as it probably is now and Friday night football - a timeless American type of visual. There has to be a feeling both of warm familiarity and distinct melancholy that home is and is not exactly as it was when you left.

Great set, as always.

wisla_krakow · #23 Posted **Jun 2, 2011, 7:53 AM**

lovely and melancholic thread

http://mauleofamerica.com/tyrone2011..._lolamanda.jpg

this reminded me of our forum's great dallas photographer, who for the life of me i cant remember his username.

Austinlee · #24 Posted **Jun 2, 2011, 11:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wisla_krakow

lovely and melancholic thread

http://mauleofamerica.com/tyrone2011..._lolamanda.jpg

this reminded me of our forum's great dallas photographer, who for the life of me i cant remember his username.

Ninjatune?

flar · #25 Posted **Jun 2, 2011, 1:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

There has to be an indescribable feeling when one returns to one's hometown, especially if it's a small place. My mother oftens bends my ear with stories of the small town in South Carolina where she's from and how much it has changed since her youth but where her's is a story of change with time, Tyrone seems to be one of suspended animation. I've never been there nor know any place like it well but can imagine men in beat up coveralls and jeans at DJ's when Ratt sold out arenas the same as it probably is now and Friday night football - a timeless American type of visual. There has to be a feeling both of warm familiarity and distinct melancholy that home is and is not exactly as it was when you left.

I guess change is more noticeable in the small towns. In some ways they're anachronisms. We live in a society of constant change, yet somehow it feels strange when you see the changes in your hometown. My own hometown looks completely different than when I left seventeen years ago, and like Tyrone and many small towns in North America, more has been lost than gained.

Excellent, informative set!

Austinlee · #26 Posted **Jun 2, 2011, 1:46 PM**

Talking about small towns dying; The area I grew up in Aliquippa, PA has been a ghost town the ENTIRE time i've been alive. My area peaked at 28% unemployment in 1983 when I was 1.5 yrs old. http://www.ucsur.pitt.edu/files/peq/peq_2008-12.pdf
That's worse than the Great Depression peak of around 25%. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US..._1910-1960.gif

My whole childhood I thought the world was a run down shit hole. One positive thing is I never had these sad feelings for my town dying. It has always been dead.

Ninjatune · #27 Posted **Jun 2, 2011, 3:59 PM**

Blast from the OG inspirator.

Nineties Flava · #28 Posted **Jun 2, 2011, 6:08 PM**

This was a great tour. It was interesting seeing how the history has gradually disappeared. While it's sad to lose history, losing it is also an opportunity to create it... 100 years from now the buildings they're building now will be the history (and will likely be history if the way America typically treats its old architecture offers any insight, lol). What's more disturbing imo is the lack of an economy that you're describing... Is it heading for Cairo-like abandonment or is there light at the end of the tunnel?

Austinlee · #29 Posted **Jun 2, 2011, 8:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninjatune

Blast from the OG inspirator.

Wow! It's like you were summoned.

Evergrey · #30 Posted **Jun 2, 2011, 10:07 PM**

great commentary on that moronic "rolling stop" sign... typical misguided, delusional hardassery from a hopeless rural PA mountain town...

the meltaways are great, though

wisla_krakow · #31 Posted **Jun 3, 2011, 1:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PA Pride

Ninjatune?

yes!! thank you.

and hallelujah for the not so often return!

dugdogmaster · #32 Posted **Jun 3, 2011, 1:56 AM**

Sweet tour. Reminds me so much of the towns around where I live, Sharpsville, PA. Hell, all over the PA rustbelt region for that matter.

giovanni sasso · #33 Posted **Jun 3, 2011, 1:54 PM**

the warm familiarity is always the best thing about going home, but the distinct melancholy is what i always take away with me. not entirely, though, because there really are some great places still standing, survivors really. i mean there isn't even a freakin' SUPERMARKET in town any more. the last one closed maybe two years ago, and i've heard there were all sorts of shenanigans involved in the building's sale to a prospective new tenant that's now in court. i hear an old car dealership well on the outside of town is going to open as a supermarket soon, but it's not at all the same as the old riverside market in the heart of town.

i've gotten a ton of response from fellow tyroners too, on facebook and comments on my site. it seems that most people agree with the sentiment, although most of it has come from people who have also moved away. one person who's stayed local remarked that it's good to hear a perspective from someone who only sees the town on occasion, that it's easy to miss the change living there on a daily basis. that's true anywhere.

ithacan, your memory is a steel trap. i totally thought of you as i was taking that photo looking up logan avenue. i looked, but i think the jolly green giant has moved on. or was demolished because it's tyrone.

wisla: nice hat! and nice work on summoning ninjatune back to the table.

pride, that's crazy about aliquippa. i didn't realize it was that destitute. do you remember when the statue of jesus in that one church "cried" when we were kids, and it was a big deal like the virgin mary on a piece of toast? i think someone in aliquippa was just watching madonna's "like a prayer" video.

flava, tyrone isn't dead, and it's not altogether dying. there is potential there, be it in wind farms (or god forbid, natural gas drilling) or potential rebirth from i-99's accessibility. tyrone could be the sleepy commuter town for penn state university -- it's only 25 minutes on the new highway -- and there is plenty of cheap real estate, both residential and business. but so far, it hasn't happened yet.

thanks everyone.

toyota74 · #34 Posted **Jun 3, 2011, 8:59 PM**

Nice thread and a bit sad.Is there a connection with country Tyrone
in N.I.

giovanni sasso · #35 Posted **Jun 3, 2011, 9:36 PM**

yes there is, matter of fact. tyrone is named for county tyrone in northern ireland, and the shamrock on the town's welcome signs is a nod to that:

toyota74 · #36 Posted **Jun 3, 2011, 10:32 PM**

Its pretty clear on that sign.

Tyrone in Irish= Tír Eógan..which is "land of Eógan(Eoghain)"
Eógan mac Néill who was an Irish king.

Sekkle · #37 Posted **Jun 4, 2011, 11:51 PM**

great tour. Reminds me a little of upstate NY.

KevinFromTexas · #38 Posted **Jun 5, 2011, 9:21 PM**

Very cool. I don't think I've seen a thread of your's on Tyrone. Pennsylvania is beautiful.

Sweet truck.
http://mauleofamerica.com/tyrone2011/tyrone_hamers.jpg

lol - I love my dog, I even have a photo of her on my mp3 player, but wow, a photo on your shirt with their name. haha
http://mauleofamerica.com/tyrone2011..._lolamanda.jpg

Ashxsteele · #39 Posted **Apr 25, 2024, 1:52 PM**

Any chance anyone has any pics of the old brewers mansion in tyrone, pa before they tore it down for I-99? I was told my great grandfather had owned it.