Turnpike History
Pennsylvania is in the process of rebuilding its service
plazas along the turnpike. I am a man who drinks too much coffee, or sometimes
needs a place to stay overnight when traveling along with my office-on-wheels.
I have paid many visits to the ones that have been revitalized, and they are
very nice. The old plazas were
completely demolished, and the new ones built from the ground up, so that would
be expected. It’s been a slow process. One goes down, and it takes several
months until it opens again. When the project is completed, the workers move on
to their next victim.
All of this has been bearable until the closing of the
Midway South Service Plaza located near Bedford. Once that was shut down, and
signs posted that it was closed for reconstruction, I was sad for two reasons.
The first was because it has a Sbarro’s Pizza restaurant that surely won’t be
back when the new plaza opens. Second, I love the old stone building that
housed the amenities that were located at that plaza. I grew up in a farmhouse
that had been around for more than a hundred years, and I like all farmhouses because
of it. I wasn’t sure what the historical significance of the building was, or
why it served as a turnpike plaza, but I would soon find out.
Because I live such an exciting life of adventure filled
with nothing but fun, I spent some time researching what this building was all
about during some home time last weekend. But, I accidentally learned much
more.
I learned that the PA Turnpike was opened the first of
October in the year of 1940. Tollbooths were called ticket offices. People
would often stop and ask the attendants how much longer it would be until a man
came along in a fancy black and gold truck to take pictures of the majestic
sunsets and sunrises. (The answer: 65 years. They got tired of answering the
same question and eventually hung signs.) The Midway plazas (one on the north
side and one on the south side) were in the middle of the original span, which
only went about 160 miles from Carlisle, to just east of Pittsburgh.
The Midway plazas were smack dab in the middle of the original
span, and were considered the showcases of the turnpike. That’s also why they
were named Midway, even though they are near the town of Bedford. The south
side plaza (in this picture) is a real beauty. It has two stories but her
sister to the north has only one. Standard Oil handled the fuel, while Howard
Johnson’s restaurant served full course meals. (It wasn’t until later that cars
got faster, along with life, and people demanded fast food. All the truck
drivers got diverticulitis because of it. Okay, maybe not all of them. I might
have been an unlucky one.)
The south plaza had not only a lounge area for truck
drivers, but also “dormitory style lodging.” (I am so sorry I missed that. Life
on the road is pretty good. If only I could park my truck and go sleep on a cot
in a room with a bunch of snoring and stinky truck drivers, it would totally
rule! By the way, not all truck drivers snore and smell funny. I may be one of
the unlucky ones.)
During my research, I uncovered a most interesting piece of
information. The two plazas are connected by a tunnel that runs under the road.
How neat is that? One of the websites where I did some learning actually had
this warning: “It is strongly urged to NOT ask employees or management of
either facility to see the tunnels or second floor of the South Midway Plaza. These are restricted areas.” I read that and
thought, “Restricted areas are meant for airports and government buildings. I’m
so gonna flow someone twenty bucks and take Miss Nikon down for a picture!” (I’ll
let you know how that works out.)
There is a lot more information that I learned as a result
of this picture I took last week. I could tell you more, but I have to get up
and go play truck driver in the morning. I know- what a bummer. That’s how it has to be until
writing starts paying better. By the way, I did not intend to take this
picture. I stopped at the north side plaza which is still open and in need of a
good renovation. I was there to use the restroom and was forced to take a
picture of the sky. It was magical that morning, rays of sunshine radiating
through the clouds, neat stuff. Anyway, the building under construction on the
south side caught my eye. I noticed that there is wood in the windows, a sure
sign that they are going to restore the building instead of razing it and starting
anew. My sadness over its loss is no longer there. The closing of this gem may
be bearable after all. When it opens, I will have a whole new appreciation for
its past. The fast food style pizza that I loved won’t be there, but that’s
okay. It wasn’t healthy for me anyhow.
Sources:
Comments
In my opinion, places such as these should be preserved for History's sake. Even though it is being torn down, the design should be kept as close as possible to the original building. I'm sure that with today's modern tech and design this could be done.
Also, in relation to this, you can always tell where the good places along the Turnpike are to eat, just by looking to see how many trucks are there. If there is a bunch of them parked side by side, you can expect good food. The big semi's know where the good food is, because they travel so much.
When I used to travel the "big slabs" of concrete with a Honda Goldwing 1500cc and pull a trailer, I sometimes would rely on the "truckers" to tell me where the good eats were. At each place I stopped, we were never disappointed with the food. The "big semi's" always treated us on the "big touring bikes" quite well.
Keep posting on your travels. Wish I could ride along someday just to see what it's like.
Les