Longtime Pine Grove area residents might remember the Red Arrow gas station or the remnants of the Filbert House Hotel.
Time flies by, and Dean H. Klinger wants to make sure successive generations have some idea of the borough’s past — not just in words, but pictures.
He’s already published “A Photo History of West Pine Grove,” a 360-page hardcover with more than 900 glossy photos. And, he’s pretty far along in doing one for the east side.
In the meantime, with Paul Medeiros, he’s compiled “Pine Grove Borough Historical Pictures,” a compendium of hundreds of photos that focuses on the business district.
In February it’s bound for the printer — Little Mountain Printing in Myerstown.
Already, he has reservations for copies. His first book, published in 2019, sold out at 300 copies.
“The people of Pine Grove have a strong passion for their past,” said Klinger, 67, of Pine Grove Township. “I’m doing these books so others can enjoy it.”
He shared his love of Pine Grove’s history recently at Dean Klinger’s Auto Parts & Recycling, a salvage business he operates in the township.
The office itself is a repository of history, packed with collectables and the complete interior of Al Miller’s Barber Shop on Tulpehocken Street.
Some years ago, Klinger bought the entire contents of the shop — the elaborate hardwood barber’s bar from 1896, the barber chair from 1909, the cash register from 1913 and even the leather straps on which Miller sharpened his razor.
It’s all there, assembled as if open for business, amid a collection of old Craftsman wrenches and a photo of Miller in his shop, which went out of business in 2014.
Indeed, that’s one of the photos in the book.
“I used to get my haircut on this chair,” Klinger said, resting his hand on the white pedestal barber chair.
Klinger’s interest in Pine Grove area history began a decade or so ago, and has blossomed into a passion.
He credits residents like Jane Roth and Pearl Kriechbaum, who donated photos and recollections of decades gone by. Once it got out that he was doing a book, customers would bring in photos from their family scrapbooks.
Klinger was given access to the photo collection of Alvin Schwalm, who was born in the 1890s and spent a lifetime taking photos of the town on a Kodak Brownie camera.
Alvin made postcards of his photos and sold them in Schwalm’s General Store, run by his parents.
Klinger pumped fuel at the Red Arrow in the early 1970s, when Citgo gas was 48 cents a gallon. At various times, the site was a car lot, a Trailways bus station and an early version of a convenience store.
One of the photos in the book shows owner Steve Ninkovich’s five daughters in uniform in front of the Red Arrow, where they pumped gas.
“Believe me,” Klinger said, “they brought in a lot of customers.”
Highspire, the mansion of Harry and Adelia Gensemer, is also in the book. Harry was an owner of the Gensemer and Salen tannery, which was destroyed by fire in the late 1950s.
Another photo shows troops from the Pine Grove Armory marching off to World War I in 1917.
Medeiros, a Massachusetts transplant, has developed an abiding interest in local history.
“I’ve learned that a lot of people in town have a strong passion for their past,” said Medeiros, 54, an industrial salesman. “I share their passion, as if I was born here.”
Medeiros digitizes the photos and lays them out in a computer.
One of his innovations is a “Now and Then” feature in which he juxtaposes an old photo and a current photo atop one another.
Klinger expects to do a press run of 300 to 400 copies of “Pine Grove Borough Historical Pictures.” Proceeds will be donated to the Pinegrove Historical Society, of which Klinger is a charter member. For information, contact Klinger at 570-345-8778.
Source: Berkshire mont