About Our Hometowns

[Roy]

I'm from Whittier, CA. In the years before the Mexican war, Governor Pio Pico lived in what would become Whittier. Here's his home, known as El Ranchito:



One of my high school friends lived very close by here.

After the war, some Quaker residents named the town for John Greenleaf Whittier, a notable Quaker poet.

[Roy]

This is Fred C. Nelles, the longest-running reform school in California. It was opened in 1891, and closed in 2004. It's seen here, ca. 1901:



While we're on the down side, the largest cemetery in the world is also in Whittier, albeit the unincorporated part. It's Rose Hills Memorial Park. You have to go past much of it, to get to Rio Hondo College, the local community college. I had to walk past there at night, when I was at school late making out IBM punch cards.

[HONDO74]

**

[chuck]

Pearl River, NY. A "hamlet" aka unincorporated portion of Orangetown, Rockland County.

Claims to fame/shame

Home to what was once the largest psychiatric hospitals in New York State:



Former headquarters for Lederle Laboratories (Makers of Centrum), what's left is part of Pfizer



Home to the 2nd largest St Patrick's Day parade in New York State

Was the main manufacturing site for the Dexter Folder company. The made equipment to fold and assemble newspapers, magazines



BTW, the plant was the originally Braunsdorf's factory where they made Aetna sewing machines. He (Braunsdorf) is considered the founding father of the community in terms of getting the railroad to come through town (and getting the name changed from "Mudddy Creek" to "Pearl River".

BBTW the station, factory, most of Lederle and RS Hospital are still standing and used in some fashion. While the station is a station, the building is now a cafe.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Roy, I'm glad you started this thread.
A good sized part of life in my hometown was about the immediate neighborhood, work in the steel mill, a large amusement park nearby, religion , friends (as many as possible), and school (NObody didn't go to school, going to movies, shopping...

[E7]

You Can't Go Home Again

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

You Can't Go Home Again

I wouldn't even want to. That was then. This is now. But I sure do treasure where I was then because my hometown is my foundation , upon which my whole existence has been built.

Good people . Good place. Good values . Standards . Ethics.

[E7]

You Can't Go Home Again

So, where do you go then at night after the day's work is over?

I'm retired!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.

[Roy]

I'm retired!

Are you saying you're homeless? An awful lot of Americans are.

[chuck]

Most of the good old days were more old than good. People still did bad things but there wasn't an Internet to instantaneously broadcast to the world. Ignorance was bliss and we were some of the happiest people on the planet.

I don't miss polio or a plethora of childhood diseases that could lead to serious health issues in later life.
I don't miss the pollution that was running rampant, you could see the particulate matter in New York City with the naked eye.
I don't miss the blatant and not so blatant discrimination against "fill in the blank" (aka "them", whomever they were)

The things I do miss are much more subtle and that may be why they have slipped away so easily

I miss people understanding that education is important and should be valued
I miss people not understanding/accepting responsibility for their own actions.
I miss people that were more concerned about holding themselves accountable and less concerned about getting away with something (whatever that something was).
I miss people that actually believe that cheating, stealing, and lying were bad and were things to be avoided.
I really, really miss people that looked down on such behavior and let the ones that did those things know about it instead of admiring or worse trying to emulate such behavior.

I don't know how we got to this point but trips down memory lane aren't going to get us out The pictures are great for building 1/48 scale replicas as an homage to the past but hold little in the way of guideposts for the future.

It's very true that they don't make them like they used to. When they do it right they do it better. I'm not sure why doing it right isn't considered important anymore.

I hope the drift doesn't derail what could have been a fun topic and I apologize in advance for my part in contributing to that drift.

[E7]

I'm retired!

Are you saying you're homeless? An awful lot of Americans are.

Fortunately, not so far! My days of hanging out are pretty much history. Can't recall the last bar I was in, unless you want to count one of the Appalachian Brewery's Restaurants. I maintain a pretty low profile these days, plus the really cold weather here in the East kills my desire to go out and about as much.