Tamaqua Heritage Day set for Sunday

Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.
·3 min read

Oct. 5—Although the street fair, car show, crafters, food vendors and amusements had to be canceled for this year due to the borough's handicapped restrictions, the 38th Tamaqua Heritage Festival will go on this Sunday.

The Tamaqua Historical Society plans to celebrate local history at historic sites that will be open, as well as at a number of local businesses.

The following will be open:

—The Tamaqua Historical Society Museum Annex and Scott Art Gallery at 118 W. Broad St., will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On display will be new artifacts including the original bull whistle from the Reading Railroad engine house, the Schuylkill Canal artifacts and newly restored neon signs.

—Polka Joe Manjack and the WMGH Polka Program will be live in front of the historical society museum from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

—It will be the final day to see the Lehigh & New England Railroad special exhibit in the Dudley Exhibit Hall next to the museum, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

—Lehigh Anthracite bus tours of mining operations will be conducted at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Boarding will be in front of Tommy's Italian Restaurant, North Railroad Street, for a 90-minute tour of its mining operations between Tamaqua and Coaldale. Tickets are being sold in advance at Tink's Antiques from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets will also be sold at the bus boarding site Sunday. Tickets are $12 per person, and will be cash only.

—The 1848 Hegarty Blacksmith Shop will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hegarty Avenue and Nescopec Street. Due to major repairs ongoing at the blacksmith shop, but there will be no working blacksmith on Sunday. Visitors will be able to tour the shop and learn about its history on its 175th birthday this year.

—Tink's Antiques on South Railroad Street will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

—Tap S Trees, 103 E. Broad St., will be open from noon to 6 p.m.

—The Festival Marketplace with crafters and vendors will be set up at the Tamaqua Community Art Center's parking lot, and will be open from noon to 6 p.m.

—The Tamaqua Anthracite Model Railroad Club, 139 W. Broad St., will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with its huge, operating HO scale train display.

—The Tamaqua Railroad Station and the Tamaqua Station Restaurant will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

—Coal Cats Café, 209 W. Broad St., will be open and celebrating its first anniversary.

—Zion's Church Heritage Day fundraiser at Mauch Chunk and Greenwood streets will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with homemade soft pretzels, chili dogs and halushki.

—Many local restaurants will be open for dining, including DiMaggio's La Dolce Casa Italian Restaurant, Tamaqua Station Restaurant, Wheel, Sisters Cantina, Tommy's Italian Restaurant, Luigi's Italian Restaurant, Basille Italian Restaurant, The Beacon Diner, Two Kings Restaurant, Leiby's Restaurant and Ice Cream House, and Asia Star.

Next year, the Tamaqua Historical Society plans to apply to PennDOT to shut down the highway on West Broad Street in a four-block area, and reorganize and consolidate the full festival in the street between South Railroad Street and Lehigh Street. It will included crafters, street vendors, entertainment, food vendors, car show and amusement rides and games. Visitors will then walk down the center of the street.

For further information, contact Dale Freudenberger, president of the Tamaqua Historical Society, via email at dalefreud@gmail.com.