The adventure below is the latest in a series sharing my quest to explore Pennsylvania by visiting each of the sixty-seven county seats and eating a hot dog while in town.
On March 15 My Jane and I decided to ‘Squeeze-In’ three county adventures in one day. Our first stop in Sunbury was the highlight of the day for two reasons. First, we were meeting our good friends Dave and Tammy at one of Dave’s favorite hang outs, the “Squeeze-In” hot dog joint. The ‘Squeeze-In’ and it’s owner Chris were the second part of the day’s highlights. Let me just stop a moment and say this one thing, “Go visit “Squeeze-In” on Market St. in Sunbury, PA.” About a dozen folks suggested this place to me when I started the quest and they know what they are talking about.
Chris and his sister-in-law Jen (that isn’t their baby) are celebrating the 70th anniversary of “Squeeze-In” during Chris’s fifth year of ownership. Chris also is a High School business teacher on the side!
The two photos show the entire interior of “Squeeze-In”. Almost everything inside has been kept original in an effort to maintain the ambiance of the establishment. There are five stools at the counter and a serving window above the grill for walk up orders of delicious Kuntzler hot dogs.
If you look at the photo of the front of the joint you will be able to see, above the sign, the walls of the two buildings on either side of “Squeeze-In”. Seventy-one years ago the space between the two buildings was an alley-way. In that year the original owner of the shop built a couple of walls and started selling hot dogs and the rest, as they say, is history. April 29 from 5-9 pm is the date for the 70th anniversary party with half price hot dogs. Wow! What are you waiting for, go get in line! Just type “Squeeze-In” into your Facebook account and learn more.
Northumberland County was created in 1772 from parts of Berks, Bedford, Cumberland, and Northampton Counties. By 1813 the county had donated land to 20 other counties to create it’s current acreage.
My Jane, Dave, Tammy and I decided we needed dessert after our hot dogs and chips so we walked across the street to “The Edison Hotel”. The hotel is just down the street from the beautiful courthouse. Before 1883 the hotel was known as “The City Hotel”. The name changed after Thomas Edison wired the hotel in July 1883 making it the first building ever to be wired for electricty. Later on the same day Edison wired the Railroad Station on Second Street. The lobby of the hotel is a sort of Edison museum.
None of the four of us had eaten pie on ‘pie’ day so we ordered pie and enjoyed a wonderful reunion in the Edison restaurant. Good friends are precious.
Northumberland County must have been a hot bed of science in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries because Joseph Priestly who discovered oxygen, moved from England and settled in the town of Northumberland right next to Sunbury. Priestly was more than a scientist however, he was a theologian, dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, educator, political theorist and lived in a really big house. He caused a few up-roars with his theological and political writings. (My kind of guy!)
My Jane and I managed to “Squeeze-In” a lot in Northumberland County in a short amount of time. (Because there were no antique malls in town!)
See you next time.