Wandering back to East Brady

East Brady is a small Pennsylvania town located on the Allegheny River. It was the bridge across this river that I wrote about in my blog “Wondering About a Strange Excuse”. It was the bridge that the ice took out back when I was a boy. My Aunt, Uncle, and three cousins lived there and if not stopping there, we went through this town on our way to Philipston to see my grandparents.

Here is a link to a Mapquest satellite map. Click here. When you take a look, click the arrow to expand the view to full screen width. Now look to the upper left and you will see where route 68 crosses the river. Follow this road across the bridge and it will take a 90 degree right turn and follow the river through the business district of town and then it will make another 90 degree turn to the left and go up the hill.

Look to the bottom of the map and the next town along the same side of the river is Philipston, where my grandparents lived.

Looking at the upper left where the river almost runs back into itself, you can see an area on the north side of the river where there are homes. My cousin has a home there along the river. That high narrow section between the river is called “the narrows” and here is a picture taken from there looking down on my cousin’s house:

And a zoomed in picture:

And one looking up the river:

The main road leaving East Brady and going up the hill is very steep. Many large trucks have lost their brakes and went into the river. There used to be a house at the foot of the hill where the road turns but the run-a-way trucks did away with it.

I found a couple of picture taken back in 1984 that shows how steep the road is as it starts up the hill. There were places on up the hill that were steeper.
This first picture shows a thinner and less grey me on the left, my old “ham” buddy, and my cousin on the right. Notice the woman climbing the steps as she walks up the hill on the side walk:

And another shot of just me and Les:

I spent a lot of my time at either East Brady or Philipston. By the way, Philipston used to be spelled Phillipston, with two “L’s”. So, if you ever see me spell it both ways, you know why.

I will have a future blog on my old ham buddy. He was a great guy.