If you have ever traveled the PA Turnpike towards Pittsburgh, you should be familiar with the Breezewood exit. I was recently reading about the Greyhound Post House that was there for many years.
In 1964 nearly 100 Greyhound trips a day pulled off the turnpike at Breezewood. By 1968, after schedule consolidation, 14 of the 16 westbound trips from NY City--most bound for Pittsburgh and points west--stopped at Breezewood, as did all seven daily westbounds from Baltimore and Washington (plus two extras on weekends). Eastbound, 14 of 15 Pittsburgh-NY City trips and all seven Pittsburgh-Baltimore/Washington runs (one additional on Sundays) pulled into Breezewood. For some trips, Breezewood was the last stop before NY City (a 4-1/2 hour run) and in the opposite direction it was the first scheduled stop after departing Manhattan. In addition there were three Pittsburgh local trips in each direction travelling via Johnstown of which one pair originated and terminated at Breezewood. Altogether 48 daily trips departed from this small PA community. By 1992, the count was down to 15 a day, all but three enroute to or from Baltimore and Washington.
The big attraction at Breezewood was, of course, the Greyhound Post House, the company-owned chain of cafeteries where passengers could grab a snack or eat a hearty meal, all chosen from a Greyhoud menu and consumed on Post House crockery. The Greyhound Post House opened in 1964 replacing three other meal stop locations along the Turnpike, at Brandywine, Midway (Bedford) and Butler. The end came at 11 pm on Sunday June 27, 2004, when the doors closed and were actually locked--possibly for the first time in 41 years. Aramark, a national restaurant operator, took a lease on the Post House in December 1998 and it was expiring on June 30. The property owners wanted to sell the land and buildings and Aramark wasn't interested. Within days of its closing, movable metal gates barricaded the driveway into the darkened Post House and signs bore a start and unprecedented message: "Keep Out."
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What was the location of the Greyhound Post House in Butler, PA. My wife is from that area, and I have been visiting Butler and vicinity since 1966, but cannot recall seeing a site which might have been a former Post House.
ReplyDeleteSorry I don't know the exact location--the information I was reading did not give it.
ReplyDeleteDon,
ReplyDeleteThe post house was right off the highway at the Breezewood exit off of I-80. There was a big truck stop right next to it. I can't remember what the name of the truck stop was,or what brand name fuel they sold. I use to travel I-80 back and forth from Chicago to Clifton NJ in the early 70's Hope this helps.
Dave
the Butler rest stop was at the Howard Johnson's at the turnpike service plaza, as were all rest stops on the turnpike. The Breezewood Post House was off the turnpike. Even though Greyhound had to pay slightly more in tolls by getting off and back on for through schedules, they more than made up for it by operating their own facility which even had GL mechanics based there to service and fuel the buses and perform running maintenance. There was even a ticket office there and passengers could in fact originate or terminate their trips there. This was my favorite Post House and recall many pleasant trips through there......."passengers in on rest stop on coach 4599 from New York City enroute to Chicago, please return to your coach through the west gate on lane eighteen, reboard, and reclaim your seats...your rest stop is over."
ReplyDeleteI wish I could experience that one more time.
Prior to the Post House, I believe the schedules going from the turnpike to and from DC stopped at the Gateway Restaurant, which has an interesting web site with historic photos.