TAYLOR ROOFING: We couldn’t believe the response our question about Taylor Roofing prompted.
A number of people got in touch to let us know that when the business first moved to its current location, it did move into an existing building.
In fact, Shawn D. Taylor, who recently took over ownership of the roofing company with his brother, Nick Taylor, wrote to say, “Hal Harmon is right. This building was existing and was called The Motor Inn.”
Several people told us The Motor Inn was run by a man named Jeff Davison, and he would recap tires.
Paul Anderson told us that during the late 1950s he had worked at the Firestone Store at 9 Congress St., and Firestone’s one big competitor was The Motor Inn.
Paul also recalled the flood that we mentioned in Wednesday’s column. He was 12 years old and went with his father to bail water out of the basement at the Church of Ascension. On the way there, “The current was so swift I lost my balance.” He had to grab a signpost so he didn’t fall.
Clayton Vecellio of Lewis Run believes there was a motel in the spot before the Motor Inn moved in.
Retired Bradford Area Public Library employee Fran Goodrich shared this 1990 photo from the groundbreaking of the library.
You can see Taylor Roofing in the background. Our readers will recall that Taylor Roofing moved to that location to make room for the library.
For anyone who is on Facebook, Derrick City resident B.J. Campbell told us a discussion about Taylor Roofing has popped up on the “I grew up in Bradford, PA” page.
Curly Walters recalls that the first Taylor Roofing building — the building that is now library property — was a long, narrow wooden building.
Curly had another comment about Wednesday’s column: he said it wasn’t Joe Cleary, but rather D. Harvey Phillips who started ’Round the Square.
As Curly explained, D. Harvey Phillips and his family were in the oil business.
We wondered about it, too, and asked publisher John Satterwhite.
It sounds like we were both wrong: John asked around and found out Robert Bromeley started the column, which was first called Sand Pumpings. The name was eventually changed to ’Round the Square. Joe Clearly did take over and wrote it for a long time.
John said it’s absolutely possible that D. Harvey Phillips wrote some columns, too.
