BY SUSAN RUMBLE

Special to The Press

Everyone is familiar with the site of the abandoned gas station in Schnecksville at the intersection of Route 309 and Spruce Street.

Many years ago, a blacksmith shop operated at that location.

The late Roy J. Kern kept a record of town happenings and noted the change which occurred when automotive service became more important than blacksmithing.

Kern reported that Elmer Reitz bought the old blacksmith shop, demolished it and built a gas station on the property.

Later, Reitz sold the station to Raymond Baer who operated it for many years.

Reitz shifted his attention to the barbecue and ice cream stand he built on the site which is now the closed Schnecksville Diner.

Kern bought the garage equipment from the old blacksmith shop in 1922 and used it to start a hauling and excavating business which grew and prospered on land near the Routes 309 and 873 intersection.

Kern’s buildings remain standing and are now used by another business.

Reitz ventured out into other endeavors such as a car wash at the southern section of town and a snowmobile dealership.

Baer built two mobile home courts in town and has Ray Street named as a remembrance of him.

Going back to the matter of blacksmith shops, in “The Early History of North Whitehall Township,” writer Gladys Lutz states Josiah Semmel carried on blacksmithing in Schnecksville from 1858-1878, Charles Stopp from 1878-1908, his son, also named Charles, from 1908-1911, and then Allen Musselman.

Other blacksmiths in North Whitehall were Jeremiah Schneck, of Scheidys; Moses Snyder, Rockdale; Steward Semmel, Rising Sun; Phenus Graul, Sand Spring; Robert Wotring, Longtown; Elmer Schneck, Ironton; Clinton Best, Neffs; and Eli Metzger, Allen Musselman, and Walter Heller of Siegersville.

That’s a lot of blacksmiths for a sparsely populated township, which indicates the importance of their work and the necessity of being available in close proximity to customers.