Shamokin and its discontents
I've always had a warm spot in my heart for Shamokin, Pennsylvania, an old mining town in the Anthracite Region about 75 miles northeast of my home in Harrisburg.
My first newspaper job was in Shamokin, and it was my home for 12 years. I wrote my first book there, Unseen Danger, about the Centralia mine fire. It was a great party town, with pretty girls and friendly guys. Beer was cheap and rents were low. And it was a great news town for a young reporter. Story followed on story, from huge embezzlements that went undetected for years to the appearance of the image of Jesus on an altar cloth in the Episcopal Church (more recently, Shamokin saw the shooting of Santa Claus with a pellet gun during a parade). Politics were in your face and personal. And lets not forget the longest culm bank in the world, which loomed hundreds of feet over the town and was on fire. Shamokin was a world away from my sedate and pious hometown of Holland, Michigan. I loved it.
Even while I was there from 1975-87, the town was in economic decline. The great era of anthracite coal mining pretty much ended in the 1950s, just as it did in nearby Centralia. An industry that once employed thousands of men disappeared, replaced by garment factories which employed hundreds of women and a few men. Other men, the lucky ones, found construction jobs on the nuclear plants being built throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, or commuted to Harrisburg for state jobs. Or drew unemployment or disability. Much time and effort were spent by the city fathers in trying to attract new industries, but successes were few and often fleeting.
I still go to a dentist up in Shamokin. Dr. James Bull is friendly and competent with a wry sense of humor, and I never saw any reason to switch to someone down here. Besides, it gives me an excuse to go back to Shamokin twice a year. I see Jim, get the latest on what's happening in Shamokin, and then ruin his good work with lunch at the Coney Island grill on lndependence Street. The Coney Island has been run by the same two women for as long as I can remember, and they serve the best Coney Island hotdogs I've had anywhere. I do mean that. Nothing about it ever changes.
Outside, the town's decline appears to be accelerating. The arrival of a Wal-Mart Super Center up the road has decimated what was left of the downtown business district, while giving local residents shopping opportunities that do not require a 25-mile drive. I went looking for Liachowitz Jewelers last Saturday while I was there, hoping to get a new battery for my wristwatch. Mr. Liachowitz, a gentle, cultured man, phoned to congratulate me the morning Unseen Danger was reviewed in the Sunday New York Times Book Review on Jan. 4, 1987. That was something Shamokin had over Harrisburg then--you could get home delivery of the Times at a reasonable price. I wasn't the only one who subscribed.
But the Liachowitz store was gone (I'm told he still does watch repair in the back), replaced after so many decades by a beauty parlor and nail salon. Many storefronts in downtown Shamokin are empty, or have the sort of tenants who reflect a town's decline. I drove up to Wal-Mart to see if I could get a watch battery there. No problem. The woman at the jewelry counter installed it and charged me $2.95, less than half of what I normally paid. You can get haircuts there, too, $12.50 for an adult, $8.50 for children. I wouldn't be surprised if Wal-Mart soon starts offering funeral services.
