Christine and I have been playing some of the puzzles by the New York Times puzzle master Will Shortz (despite that we keep proving we’re not really all that good at them), and one of the questions prompted us to quiz each other on Tamaqua trivia. It eventually evolved into the twenty-eight-question quiz below.
It’s amazing how we look at at the same old things every day in town but never really see at them. You’ll see what I mean with questions like #2, #6, #25, and #28. Others require more consideration. Questions #19 through #24 will drive you crazy.
Once we decided on the questions, we each took the quiz. It was surprising how few we got right (and how strongly disagreed with each other … until I was proved wrong). Answers with explanations are listed below the questions, and polite challenges will be entertained on Facebook – some answers took quite a bit of research to prove, so it’s entirely possible that we did indeed get something incorrect.
If you take the quiz, be sure to post your score on Facebook.
My family and I hope that that this helps breaks the monotony and that everyone remains well.
Best Wishes,
EZ
How Well Do You Know Tamaqua?
1. How many vehicular railroad crossings are currently in use in the borough?
2. How many large storage tanks are at the former Sunoco station in Taggartsville?
3. What was the name of the former township to the east of Tamaqua that was incorporated into the borough in the 1970’s?
4. Which Tamaqua football coach appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for his practice of having the team tackle trees?
5. How many cemeteries are in the borough?
6. How many levels does the fountain at Depot Square Park have?
7. There are many streets in town that are broken into pieces and are not continuous. You can’t, for instance, travel on Patterson Street in East End to Patterson Street in Dutch Hill without using other streets to connect you. Surprisingly, there are exactly six streets in the borough that are broken into three non-continuous parts. What are they? [Hint: each ward of the borough has at least one of the street parts].
8. How many art murals are there in town?
9. How many elementary schools did the borough have in the 1960’s?
10. How many fire hydrants are in the borough?
(a) Between 1 and 50 (b) Between 51 and 100 (c) Between 101 and 150 (d) Between 151 and 200 (e) Between 201 and 250
11. Where is Welsh Hill?
12. How many intersections in the borough have traffic lights?
13. Excluding the Wabash Creek and the Panther Creek, how many bridges in the borough cross the Schuylkill River?
14. What year was the borough incorporated?
15. How many sets of iron steps are there in Tamaqua? [Note: For the sake of this question, we’ll consider two sets of steps to be distinct if there is no metal that connects one set to another].
16. Which set of iron steps has the most steps?
17. Which national magazine featured a story about the unique engineering of the Tamaqua round house that once existed where the St. Luke’s Medical Center/Tommy’s parking lot is?
18. How many churches in the borough still have bells that ring on Sunday morning?
In each of the following six questions, two street names are given. Name the street that alphabetically falls between the two given streets. If, for instance, Broad Street and Catawissa Street are given, the answer is Brown Street. Direction qualifiers should be removed from the street name, i.e. West Broad will not be considered a street for this question – it will just be called Broad Street:
19. Chestnut Street and Clark Street?
20. Sewer Plant Road and South Street?
21. Mauch Chunk Street and Mountain Avenue?
22. Washington Street and West Street?
23. Greenwood Street and Hazle Street?
24. South Street and Spring Street?
25. How many bells are in the carillon at Trinity United Church of Christ?
26. How many names are memorialized on the patriotic mural on Memorial Avenue?
27. The sign in front of Borough Hall includes the borough’s logo. In the middle of that logo is a mine cart with a number on it. What is the number?
28. How many concrete pillars are in the façade of the borough’s post office?
Answers
1. How many vehicular railroad crossings are currently in use in the borough?
Nine: Five on the main line of the railroad (starting in the north of town): Rose Street, Vine Street, Elm Street, West Broad Street,
and Spruce Street.
Four on the line to Greenwood breaker (starting to the east of town): Hart Metals, East Broad Street, Hazle Street, and
Center Street.
We counted the Spruce Street crossing as one crossing even though both the main line and the breaker line cross there. It seems to
make sense to do it that way since all three tracks at that location are controlled by one set of signals. An argument can certainly be
made that it’s two crossings.
2. How many large storage tanks are at the former Sunoco station in Taggartsville?
Eight.
3. What was the name of the former township to the east of Tamaqua that was incorporated into the borough in the early 1970’s?
Rahn Township.
4. Which Tamaqua football coach appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for his practice of having the team tackle trees?
Coach Dick Jones.
5. How many cemeteries are in the borough?
Owl Creek is within borough limits, so the answer is four:
(1) Ss. Peter and Paul Cemetery in Owl Creek.
(2) Zion Lutheran Cemetery on Dutch Hill.
(3) St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery on Dutch Hill.
(4) Old St. Jerome’s Cemetery at High Street and Van Gelder Street. Odd Fellows Cemetery and St. Jerome’s in North Ward are not
within borough limits. You should give yourself extra credit if you thought about the other non-functioning cemeteries: the Welsh
Cemetery that may still have burials behind on Lafayette Street behind the blacksmith shop, and Pauper’s Field in one of the empty
lots on Washington Street.
6. How many levels does the fountain at Depot Square Park have?
Five.
7. There are many streets in town that are broken into pieces and are not continuous. You can’t, for instance, travel on Patterson Street in East End to Patterson Street in Dutch Hill without using other streets to connect you. Surprisingly, there are exactly six streets in the borough that are broken into three non-continuous parts. What are they? [Hint: each ward of the borough has at least one of the eighteen non-continuous street parts].
(1) Biddle Street: From Clark to Columbia; from Spring to Greenwood; and from Pine to N. Railroad.
(2) Cottage Avenue: From S. Elizabeth to Patterson; from behind the High Rise to Center; and from S. Railroad to Route 209.
(3) Elm Street: From Clark to Washington, from Nescopec to Pitt; and from Lehigh to Lombard.
(4) Nescopec Street: From Elm to Franklin; from Berwick to W. Broad; and from Mahanoy to Van Gelder.
(5) Rowe Street: From Greenwood to Schuylkill Avenue; from the Schuylkill River to Pine (behind the Majestic House), and from
Berwick to Catawissa.
(6) Union Street: From Clark to Market; from Water to North Railroad; and from Washington to Nescopec.
8. How many art murals are there in town?
Three:
(1) The retaining wall on Lafayette Street behind the blacksmith shop.
(2) The new mural on the side of the former Bell Telephone building facing the railroad tracks.
(3) The war memorial mural on Memorial Avenue.
9. How many elementary schools did the borough have in the early 1960’s?
Six:
(1) Arlington Street.
(2) Market Street.
(3) Pine Street.
(4) North Ward.
(5) Ditchburn.
(6) South Ward (in the now vacant lot on Memorial Avenue next to the American Legion).
10. How many fire hydrants are in the borough?
One hundred and fifty-four, so the answer is (d).
11. Where is Welsh Hill?
Lafayette Street behind the blacksmith shop. It was named for the Welsh church and cemetery that formerly existed on that site
between Lafayette Street and Franklin Street.
12. How many intersections in the borough have traffic lights?
Fourteen:
(1) E. Broad and Columbia.
(2) E. Broad and Greenwood.
(3) E. Broad and Pine.
(4) E. Broad and Center.
(5) E. Broad and S. Railroad.
(6) E. Broad and Hunter.
(7) E. Broad and Nescopec.
(8) E. Broad and Swatara.
(9) Center and Spruce.
(10) Center and Cedar.
(11) Mauch Chunk and Pine.
(12) Pine and Elm.
(13) Elm and N. Railroad.
(14) Spruce and Hunter.
13.Excluding the Wabash Creek and the Panther Creek, how many borough bridges cross the Schuylkill River?
Seven:
(1) North Railroad Street bridge at the north end of town.
(2) Elm Street bridge.
(3) Mauch Chunk Street bridge.
(4) East Broad Street bridge.
(5) Cedar Street Bridge.
(6) Center Street bridge on the south side of town.
(7) The train bridge from River Street to Hazle Street (behind Charlotte Solt Real Estate).
14. What year was the borough incorporated?
1832.
15. How many sets of iron steps are there in Tamaqua? [Note: For the sake of this question, we’ll consider two sets of steps to be distinct if there is no metal that connects one set to another].
Eight:
(1) From the parking lot behind the train station to Trinity Church at Berwick.
(2) From Berwick Street at the blacksmith shop to Lafayette Street at Nescopec.
(3) From Lafayette Street to Franklin Street at Nescopec.
(4) The steps alongside of St. Jerome’s Church from Swatara Street to Cottage Avenue.
(5) From Cottage Avenue to Mahanoy Street at Swatara.
(6) From Cottage Avenue to Mahanoy Street (next to the school administration building) at Memorial Avenue.
(7 and 8) Two small sets of steps near Pitt and Lafayette Streets from the former railroad bed to Lafayette Street.
[The steps from Van Gelder Street to Spruce Street don’t count – according to borough employees, they’re galvanized steel, not
iron.]
16. Which set of iron steps have the most steps?
From least to the most:
(1) From the railroad bed to Lafayette (east): 7
(2) From the railroad bed to Lafayette (west): 14
(3) From W. Broad to Mahanoy at Swatara (St. Jerome’s): 44
(4) From Berwick to Lafayette at Nescopec (Blacksmith shop): 55
(5) From the train station to Trinity Church at Berwick: 63
(6) From Cottage Avenue to Mahanoy Street at Swatara: 98
(7) From Cottage Avenue to Mahanoy Street at Memorial Avenue: 103
17. Which national magazine once featured a story about the unique engineering marvel that was the Tamaqua round house that existed where the St. Luke’s Medical Center parking lot is?
Scientific American.
18. How many churches in the borough still have bells that ring on Sunday morning?
We counted four:
(1) Zion Lutheran Church.
(2) St. John Lutheran Church.
(3) Trinity U.C.C.
(4) Calvary Episcopal Church
Two street names will be given in the following six questions. Name the street that alphabetically falls between the two given streets. If, for instance, Broad Street and Catawissa Street are given, the answer is Brown Street. Direction qualifiers should be removed from the street name, i.e. West Broad will not be considered a street for this question – it will just be called Broad Street:
19.Chestnut Street and Clark Street?
Church Street (on Dutch Hill to the north side of Zion Lutheran Cemetery).
20. Sewer Plant Road and South Street?
Simon’s Alley (in North Ward paralleling Clay Street from West Street to Washington Street).
21. Mauch Chunk Street and Mountain Avenue?
Memorial Avenue (the section of Nescopec Street that was renamed in 2018).
22. Washington Street and West Street?
Water Street (runs behind St. John XXIII Church south of Elm Street).
23. Greenwood Street and Hazle Street?
Hamilton Street (runs between Lehigh Street and Gay Street).
24. South Street and Spruce Street?
Spring Street (a short, little-known alley on Dutch Hill between Biddle Street and Mauch Chunk Street).
25. How many bells are in the carillon at Trinity United Church of Christ?
Twelve.
26. How many names are memorialized on the patriotic mural on Memorial Avenue?
Ninety-two (it was originally ninety-one, but the name of a Civil War veteran was added in 2019).
27. The sign in front of Borough Hall has the borough’s logo. In the middle of that logo is a mine cart with a number on it. What is that number?
Eight.
28. How many concrete pillars are in the façade of the borough’s post office?
Six.
Remember to post your score on Facebook!
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