Sleigh Riding
Sleigh riding is the favorite winter activity in the Coal Region
(at least until you're old enough to drink boilo).
This poll went way beyond a top-ten list.
We got so many varied responses to this poll that I've decided to
just post all of them. Thanks to everyone for their submissions!
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There is an alley between Indiana Ave. and Ohio Ave. in Shendo Heights yo. The
offical name of the alley is Union Ct. (I got that from www.mapquest.com. I
grew up there and didn't know the name.) It is one block east of Swatara
Rd. I don't know what the angle of this thing is but it is STEEP. My family
has owned cars that wouldn't go up this thing in the summer. We called it
the "Giant Food Market Hill" or later the "Giant Fuji" as there used to be
a little store at the bottom (Ohio Ave) of the hill. The plows/ash trucks
wouldn't go near the thing, so it stayed good for a long time. The only
problem was the plows/ash trucks would hit Ohio Ave so you'd be sledding
along at mach 2 and hit wet road at Ohio Ave, that would usually stop the
sleigh but not the rider. Much to the dismay of the residents of that
street, we would usually pile up snow to get across without tearing up
ourselves and our sleighs. I remember one bonehead going under a car there
because he was dumb enough to go down with no one watching for cars.
Believe it or not he just got scratched up.
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Growing up in Tamaqua was peril enough, one would think; but, we found
other ways to find an avenue out of the town (death, dismemberment). Our
two favorite sleigh riding hills were:
1. The Mine Road: A stretch of heavily rutted, coal strewn "roadway
stretching from Summit Hill to Tamaqua's East End with "strippins" on one
side and "sticker bushes" on the other. We only used the 1/4 stretch
behing the East End. Who knew what was in Summit Hill?
2. Patterson Street Hill: From Mountain Avenue to the old Lehigh New
England tracks in the East End. Sometimes, if we were lucky, parents would
watch for cars.
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The hill at 2nd & Beech in Mt. Carmel.
Always 20+ kids during any snowfall.
We'd build ramps & always have a lookout at the bottom for cars.
On a good run, you could almost reach 3rd street
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Best sledding hill is German Hill at St. Mauritius in Ashland.
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The best sledding hill is High 2 at the Fountain Springs Country Club.
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Carney's Hill in Shamokin
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Old time winters were great - lots of snow! A favorite hill in
Girardvile was the hill by the Methodist Church and Rudy's Tailor Shop.
This hill was two-tiered and you got a wonderful ride all the way to
Ogden Street and the bridge by Razzi's Bar! Someone had to be "lookout"
and yell "Lehigh" when a car was coming!
Another favorite with the Ashland crowd was the FSCC golf course hill!
A good ride, too. Both hills did have a long hike back up to the top!
Fun, fun, fun!!!!!
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Stiney Groff's Hill in New Minersville
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Clay St. Tremont, from Maurer's farm past Tremont High School
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Market Street Hill in Mt. Carmel
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In Hazleton, the best place to go sleigh riding was easliy Scamper's Hill
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My favorite sleigh riding hill was "Carney"s Hill" in Shamokin. My next
best favorite was the "Cemetary Hill" in the Polish Pocono's section of
Shamokin.
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Rasberry Hill in Shamokin. On the way to Ashland from Shamokin.
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The Third Street hill in Mt. Carmel was and still is the Best!
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Center street hill in Jim Thorpe!
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Walnut Street hill in Delano.
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The best sleigh riding hill was Cremos' hill next to the Minersville
swimming pool.If you made it to the bottom and could make the turn at
Haneys' house that was something. Sometimes we would try to go down with
2 or 3 kids stacked on one sleigh. That was the best. The worst part of
the whole night was walking back up the hill. If some of the kids didn't
have a sleigh we shared ours or took turns.
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Bell's hill in the Glovers Hill section of Shenandoah.......
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My favorite sleigh riding spot was a dirt road coming down from Jumbo's
Breaker in Atlas. There was a kink in the hill about halfway down with
some sort of little shanty or booth at that spot. It was fun to try and
make it past that area, though I remember a playmate, M.A.C., who didn't
and got a hell of a gash straight up her outer thigh. They had to haul
her away to get stitches. I heard she got something like ten stitches,
then somebody said fifteen, then twenty-four . . .
This event did not deter us. In fact, we found one farther down a coal
road with a ski jump inside a sort of crater. But Jumbo's was still the
best. (This was around 1956.)
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Chester St. (200 and 300 block) in Shenandoah. Probably the steepest and
longest hill in town. You could ride from West St., past Gilbert St.
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I always enjoyed sleigh riding on the golf course at the Fountain Springs
Country Club.
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I feel that the Fountain Springs Country Club is one of the best places in
the area.
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Snake Hill in Tamaqua!!!!
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Great poll question! In Frackville there were two infamous sleigh runs:
1. The Nun's alley: this is the alley between Center and Nice streets that begins at St. Joe's Church
(the alley actually starts at the corner of the
old nun's convent accross from the church; hence the name).
This senic route ran by Billy Delinsky's house, and ended at Oak Street.
2. The top (north) end of Balliet Street.
This was a nice run that included senic views of John Paluski's and Ed Domozik's house...a thrilling ride.
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When 8th street was closed between Mahanoy City and Delano, due of
course to mine cave-ins, our family would gather together( aunts and
uncles) and do our sledding there. You could go for miles....
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Favorite sledding hill was the back streets of Mechanicsville and behind the
Mechanicsville Elementary School. On a good day, you could start at the top
of Pottsville street and go downhill, up the next hill, turn right, go
downhill to Anderson (?) Addition...no better ride than this!!
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The Hill along side "Jumbo's" Coal Breaker. (Corbaccio family enterprise.) in Atlas, PA.
Patch next to Mt. Carmel.
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My favorite hill was Chestnut St. between Park and Second in Mt.
Carmel. Snow removal/cindering being rather primitive in the late 50's
andearly 60's, this hill could be used for days, especially with
constant sleigh use, and an occasional car that made it up/down which
then packed the snow very tightly.(As my Busia told me, Like leftovers,
they get better if they sit a while) On a good day you could with a
running start, of course, begin at Third, come down the Chestnut street
hill, past Second, past the Avenue, Down the next Chestnut st hill,
cross the RR tracks and the "s**t crick" bridge, pass Bachies
distributors at the corner of Center and Chestnut, and come to a stop
where Chenstnut ended in those days near the old culm bank. That was a
distance of 5+ blocks. If conditions were optimum (snow packed so hard
it was on the verge of ice)& you had a large sleigh like our Flexible
Flier, you had a good "guider" as my dad, and enough weight, you could
attempt the ultimate. My dad laid flat with two kids on him, our legs
spread so a fourth kid could kneel between the legs on the back of the
sleigh (he was also the "push guy"). We started at Third, down the
Chestnut st hill, past Second, (where Sarisky's corner grocery was),
past Bartos, Pupo, Coleman, Becker, Slater, and Shutt's--don't forget
the Gondols, (I include this for my old friends from Mt. C who may still
remember the old neighborhood) then begin a long sweeping right hand
turn from Breslin's on the left to Nestico's bar on the corner and go
down the Avenue Hill past Klacik's, over the tracks, past Walnut,past
Murdock's on the left and Glovacki's market on the right, past Locust,
across the "s**t crick" bridge til we came to a slow stop. Again,
another 5+ blocks, BUT with the big turn, that greatly increased its
degree of difficulty. Almost as much fun was the long walk back up to
the top. Invariably, everyone talked at once and related their "death
defying" experience of the just completed ride: How Bobby Bartos
"almost fell off on the turn" or Paulie Shutt "just about suffocated
under the weight of Jackie Slater" who was on top of him, etc.etc. Its
funny, but these long rides almost always happened at night(a scary
thing when looked at today through adult eyes)no doubt adding to the
adventure. Your site is absolutely great, particulary your "coal country
speak", and I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute a few of my
memories.
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Down the Broad Mountain on Meadow Run trail in Lake Hauto.
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Girard Park in Shendo!!!!!!!
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The gun club hill in St. Clair. We would say- "we're goin' up da
gunnie for a ride."
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1. The Fountain Springs Country Club. Not just one hill, but three, and, like diving cliffs, all requiring
varying skill levels:
a. The small hill closest to the clubhouse. For the little kids. A
long, straight hill with a low angle that was clearly meant for toddlers
to get some experience with their first sleighs.
b. The big hill after the first green. Steeper, a straight ride, but no
greens. Could be fun if it was one of those sleety snows that allowed
for higher rate of speed, but, in general, not a very exciting ride.
c. The big hill below the Ashland State Hospital power generator. A
monster of a hill -- steep, with a green right in the middle. It was
rumored that anyone who went over the green on a sleigh -- a straight
drop of about eight feet -- would get a broken back. Most kids who
tried simply wiped out and laid there groaning for about 10 minutes.
But this was THE RIDE for anyone interested -- and the more kids who
showed up, the slicker the paths grew. Also, there was inherent danger
in that the back road to Gordon cutting through the Country Club was
only a few dozen yards from the bottom of the hill, and it was often
hard to stop before reaching it, usually requiring the rider to pull an
Evil Knievel and wipe out on purpose and go tumbling into the snow. The
worst part was running back up it afterwards -- seemed to take forever.
RUNNER UP:
2. Fountain Springs Catholic Cemetery. A long, steep hill, with paved
roadways, so that when it was an icy snow, the speed would increase
dramatically on the asphalt. Sometimes we'd go up to the top of it and
pour buckets of water down at the start to ensure even better rides.
Sane kids simply stuck to the snow-covered paved road and had a great
ride. The nuttier ones detoured through the tombstones and sometimes
cracked their heads open when they couldn't maneuver their Flexible
Flyers out of the way. This was highly dangerous and would have been
totally unapprovable to any adult, which made it all the more
glamorous. Next to throwing rocks at a hornets' nest, this was the most
dangerous thing we could do as kids. Since it was right in town and
open to the scrutiny of passing adults, it lost points for not having
the Country Club's air of sleighriding exclusivity. People might have
gone to the cemetery on a winter's night to pay their solitary respects,
but one went to the Country Club on a winter's night for one reason
only.
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The best place is Big Mountain Road, down in the Fifth Ward Shamokin!!
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What a great topic!! In the 5th Ward(the Bloody Fifth), a hill known as
the Rasberry Hill was a great place to sleigh ride. The Dancott Colliery
was located on the hill and made a series of zig-zag roads for their
trucks to bring in the coal for processing at the "breaker".The trucks
also used the roads to dump the slag left over after the coal was
sorted. The result of this process were large rock banks and roads that
were perfect for the beginner, intermediate and "whacked-out" sleigh
rider.
The older and crazy riders would take their "Flexible-Flyers" over the
edge of the rock banks straight down to the street conveniently called
Rock St.The less experienced and more timid would use the zig-zag roads
Long trains were made by lying on one's stomach and placing your feet in
the openings of the sled behind you. Of course piling 2 or 3 people on
top of one another was a common practice do give pleasure to those who
didn't have sleds and to those who were beginning to enjoy the opposite
sex.
So, "goin' upda Razzie" was a popular practice during snowstorms.A major
part of the Razzie was just natural grass and rock and a popular spot
for coal shovels and cardboard sleds. On many occassions did one find
themself smacking into a neighbors fence, car or chicken coop.
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Lumber Company hill on W. Centre St., Mahanoy City. My father would put
ashes across the bottom so we wouldn't end up on Centre St. (Rt. 54).
Today I guess parents would consider it dangerous!
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Best sledding? Hands down Mary Rose's hill in Nesquehoning. A steep hill
that curves at 90 degrees to the left so when you go down it you fly off
the little cliff at the edge of the woods and land down near the rail
road tracks, with your body contorted in ways previously thought
impossible to attain.
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This is a little addendum to the Mary Rose's hill email, but just about
any hill in Nesquehoning is good for sledding. In fact Nesquehoning
means 'narrow valley' in Lenape. You can see it too...the valley forms a
V and the Italian side(New Columbus) and the hunky side(Nesq.) sort of
creep their respective sides of the V. So anyway, out of all of the
Panther Valley towns sledded in, Nesquehoning's got the best hills, and
the best of the best is Mary Rose's.
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Stoney Point sometimes called Rocky
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Ft. Springs Country Club golf course, 2nd hole
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The hill across the street from Centioles was the best sleigh riding
hill of all time. No traffic, a steep double hill, and a block from the
Jiffy mart for when you get thirsty.
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Catawissa Road, Ashland, PA
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The best, fastest, scariest sleigh ride in the coal region started at
the spot where the minefire melted the snow on the old Mahanoy City road
and ran down to where the Shenandoah Babe Ruth field is. There is no
comparison, especially when it was a bit icy. This site will not win
simply because of the fact that there are so few of the riders left to
tell the tale.
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The best place I ever went sleigh riding was down Oneida St. in Shamokin.
It was a short, steep road with a sewer grate right in the middle of it which kept
cars from using the street, but worked great as a jump when using a snow tube.
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My favorite sleigh riding place was the clay banks in Blackwood with a
quart of yuengling in my hand.
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Without a doubt, the best place ever to go sleigh riding was Fun Hill in New Philadelphia.
You could go as fast as you wanted to(until you ran into the fence
at the bottom). Klim Avenue was(and still is) another popular place
to go sleigh riding.
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I vote for "Big Steepy" Up Da Heights (Marion Heights).
This legendary steep incline street is the last to get plowed
(if it even gets plowed) and is for expert sleigh riding only.
Everyone know Da Heights is one big hill and gets plenty
of snow. If it gets too deep, this area is used as a snow
dumping area. It is between Warsaw and Clermont Streets
or 3 blocks south of the Tower Of Pizza (formerly Dukes).
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Dutch Hill In Tamaqua....1st choice - Snake Hill, 2nd choice - Columbia
Street.
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Da #1 Vote for the sleigh riding hill...for a quickie but steep with a "fun"
finish...you get to dodge da cars...is Poplar Street from Jardin on down to
Main Street in beeutifull downtown Chendo.
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My favorite sleigh riding moments were interlaced with technical
difficulties, which, at the time would send me home crying, but now give me
the best laughs. I lived in West West Terrace, and had a four wheeler and a
sled and a rope. That should explain enough, but just in case it doesn't,
here's what happened. The sled was connected to the four wheeler via the
rope. The four wheeler was then used to pull the sled and its occupant on
one mother of a wild ride through the streets of West West Terrace all
through the night. This was where the best memories were made and the most
fun was had. Then the snowplow came and sort of 'bumped' my rider. Well the
plow driver was pretty upset, and the cop (an unforgettable
figure) came and told my dad. Then I wasn't allowed to do it anymore. But
while it lasted it was the greatest thrill in the world!!
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Market Street hill between the avenue and railroad street in Mt.Carmel
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My favorite sleigh riding spot is the uni-della behind St. Nicks hall in
Primrose
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Pridokas' hill (Actually Julia Street) in G-ville. Known as "Perdokies
Hill". Not especailly long, but pretty steep. If it was icy, you could
make it almost to Main St on a Flexible Flyer, properly waxed.
I used to do a lot of night time sledding with my friends on that hill as
a kid. This was done with my parents' permission and blessing. Now
looking back, it was pretty dangerous. A little crazy, really, given
the fact that cars couldn't stop on a dime in snow and ice. Of course,
there was less traffic then, too. Or maybe the parents were trying to
tell us something....
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BTW-Scheele's Hill will get the majority of Guntown Votes, but if you
were from the west end, there's no other hill besides Predokies.
My brother also reminded me how we used to snowball the hell outta the
cinder truck when it ruined the fun. We sure did.
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My favorite sleigh riding hill was on Walnut Street in Ashland! We
started at the top of the town on 19th Street and went down to third
street hoping that no cars would hit us. We were lucky because none
ever did! My favorite sled was Flexible Flyer (a really big one). I
enjoyed reading the messages on the various area of the web and liked
the music too. Well I'll say goodbye for now.
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My favorite sleigh ridingspot...the gold courses in Locust Valley!!
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One of my favorite sleigh riding places in Pottsville was the really,
really steep Jackson St. hill, right off of E. Norwegian. You're lucky
if you get through the ride alive! Once I hit the bottom and went
flying clear off of my sled, airborne!
Better than any amusement ride, lemme tell ya!
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#1 from Primrose in Cass Township...Sleigh dowm the "high road" or sleigh
down the "low road" non-stop all the way to Quandel's. its a good long
ride.....that was in the 70's. probably not safe now, they used to watch
out for kids on sleighs then cause there were a lot of us.
#2 for sheer speed.....down the Minersville High School hill in a "train".
you know.....belly flop on your sled with your feet in the front of the
guy's sleigh behind you and so-on. we used to have like fifteen sleighs in
the "train". talk about fast.......we'd go right cross the low road into
the lady's driveway and yard to stop. she never hollered at us. i think
she still lives there. we were the last of the baby boomers...not much
kids around now. we used to travel in packs, on our sleighs, bikes, and
dirt bikes.
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Public Hill in New Phila on green garbage bags on our way to Holy Family
Catholic School with my best friend in the whole world Bonnie. Then on our
days off we would chain together all our sleds and hope no one got run over on
the way down.
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One of the best hills is West Chester St. in Chendo. My sleigh was
called Red Charger and I still have it. We would fly down the hill and
zoom through the intersection on Chesnut street and end up down on
Gilbert street. When your 9 or 10 you have no fears so we never thought
about getting hit by a car!
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My favorite sleigh riding hill was Market Street in Mt. Carmel.
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Many a coalregioner challenged the steep Market Street Hill in Mt. Carmel.
The challenge being that you build up tremendous speed going down the hill.
At the bottom you have 3 choices: find a way to stop, turn down a side street,
or run headlong into the stonewall along the shit creek.
Many of my family members have experienced the panic of realizing we were about
to taste the stone wall. One of the best instruments of speed we used on the
hill was my mom's cookie sheets.
As we became more confident on "the Market St. hill" we built tremendous ramps
that would make Evil Knievel proud.
This eventually led to more pleasure and pain.
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Fisher's Hill (Center Street) Jim Thorpe
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My favorite was riding down the hill behind the Mahanoy Area Intermediate
School (formerly the Mahanoy Township High School). We would ride down
behind the school across South Street and then across Mahanoy Avenue and to
the Kozy Korner at the Interesection of Sixth and Pine Streets. It was one
hell of a ride!!!!
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Coming down the snow-covered grass in front of Mahanoy Township High
School on a piece of cardboard was harrowing.
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Would like to add the "Black Desert" just north of
Mahanoy City. Very steep silt bank with sulphur creek running
at bottom
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The best place to sleigh ride in Minersville was Cremos' hill next to
the swimming pool.
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St. Nick's Cemetery in Llewellyn. No doubt about it.
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Both North and South 20th Streets in Pottsville - some nights the cops
would close one of them off for us to sled!!
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The Fountain Springs country club golf course.
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Wally's Dip Ringtown Valley.
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A hill off McKinley St. in Hazleton w/ my dad's RadioFlyer
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Moorenoll Street in Sch. Haven.
We used to sleigh ride down the hill and stop right at Stoyer's Dam.
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The hill on the 1st level (softball field) outside da Mahanoy H.S. Tough as
nutz to climb, but build a ramp and have lotta fun !!!
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Favorite Sleigh riding hill was Tunilla's Hill. in Mahanoy City.....
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Favorite Sleigh riding hill was the Pottsy Hill, in Mahanoy City...
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Favorite Sleigh riding hill was West St in Shenandoah....
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The ridge at Huss's horse farm or cemetery hill (known as Shenandoah
Rd.) in Ringtown
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Kotchie Hill in Frackville, or if you did not have the nerve, Red Man's Hill one block over. It was good because after the first
snow fall, no Cars could go up or down (safely). I was personally responsible for taking out three Pickets from the fence at
the bottom of Redman Hill.
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McDade Park was da best fer sleigh ridin.
Hey, yousguys fergot da donut shop! Hanna or no?
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The steep mountainside on the right side of the highway just before you
get to Lackawanna State Park.
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The Bakery Hill, located up the hill in about the 600 block of East Railroad
St. in Mahanoy City. A path that came down the mountain and what made it so
much fun is that it wound around several strippin' holes. Missed a turn and
you were in one. Also often we didn't use a sleigh but an old car hood. Pile
a bunch of kids on that and come down the hill.
Another was the hill down the old dirt road into Locust Lake. It ran a couple
of miles and was a blast on a toboggan.
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Pine Street, Ashland. From 13th St. to 10th St.
Before they started using chemicals to clean up the roads.
Good steep hill ended up in an old baseball field, now a house.
Some nights the town blocked th eside streets off for us and we could start at
the highers-up at 15th Street and go all the way to 9th Street.
Lots of walking, but worth it.
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The best hill i've ever been sleigh riding on is the hill coming from
MAHANOY CITY into the
valley [Barnesville] (aka the Vulcan). that's the best...there's some good
hill's in Mahanoy city too (and Snake hill/Dutch hill in Tamaqua aren't too
bad either, but the hill goin into da valley (Barnesville) is da best!
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My favorite hill to sleigh on was Scheely's hill, came down the main street to
Ogden Street and if you veered off the road you went into the creek, my second
favorite hill was the one past the old High School by the baseball field, I
forget the name as it has been a few decades.
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The Black Desert outside of Mahanoy City was dangerous but fun.
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My friends and family used to love sleigh riding up at the St. Clair Gun
Club. There was a field next to the clubhouse with a good-size slope
that was perfect for the winter time. The best was when we made ramps
at the bottom to get some air-time.
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The best hill had to be St. John' hill in Mt.Carmel. That is the hill on
Willow st. between Avenue and Second St.Best done on a sled you could go
all the way to Third St. if someone was watching for traffic.
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The best memories I have at 52 years young is sledding at night in the alley
way behind my house in Arnots Addition, St. Clair and flying down the alley
way ontop of my dads back on the biggest sled I ever saw. I must have been
around 5 years old then and the alley way was full of snow, drifts, and full
of kids. The hill was too big and scarey for a young kid to take on but I
remember Dad taking each one of his kids down and riding back up the hill on
the sled...Dad pulled it of course. He took us down until we were brave enough
to make a go of it ourselves. What made it special was the thoughts that my
Dad was such a superman when it came to his kids. He did everything with us.
He taught us how to do just about everything. He made the best ice igloo's and
snow forts in the state of Pa. Winter was wonderful and Joe Stepen was even
better! That's cause he was my Dad!
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South Seventh St. hill in Shamokin!!!
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The best hill was big ben right behind at the service electric building in Mahanoy City.
We would go up at night with buckets of water to slick it up for the next day.
Then we would go into the war gardens and use car hoods as a community sled.
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Sledding down Wood Street, Scranton PA. Fun,fun. Lots of good memories.
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We would like to vote for the juggy and the main.
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1. Girard Park in Shendo. On a good run (dodging trees and other kids), you could
come all the way down the mountain and almost run into the propane tanks behind the
Park Restaurant.
2. Far north end of Jardin Street in Shendo.
Dead-ended at the bottom into Pig Shit Alley.
Too bumpy for a regular sleigh, but a great spinning ride on an aluminum disk.
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