Broad and Erie

There was a posting today on a Germantown FB page about remembering Broad and Erie that had lots of comments including mine.

This refers to the North Philadelphia intersection of Broad Street, Erie Avenue and Germantown Avenue cutting in from an angle. It was a major transportation hub when I was young. Still is actually. There was also a station there for the Broad Street subway. 

Broad and Erie was where I got the #56 trolley that ran along Erie Avenue and took me to high school at Northeast Catholic located at the weird intersection where Erie, Torresdale and Frankford Avenues came together along with Hunting Park Avenue cutting in nearby. The Frankford Elevated Train ran here along with the Frankford Creek. My high school closed down a few years ago and now the building houses the Marianna Bracetti Academy Charter School where my niece Marissa teaches. 

From my house on Greene Street there were two trolley lines and a bus route within two blocks that could take me to Broad and Erie. The 23 trolley line on Germantown Ave, the 53 trolley line on Wayne Ave and the H bus on Manheim St. All three could get me down to Broad and Erie in less than 15 minutes. Then it was a 30 minute ride on the 56 trolley down Erie Avenue to my school.

I was passing through Broad and Erie twice a day every day for the three years I went to North Catholic. I was there a lot in the summer too for band practices. Then after four years in the Navy I was back living in Germantown and taking that 23 trolley down to Broad and Erie to get the subway down to Temple University for four years.

Also, my grandparents lived above their small grocery store they owned on Tioga St. a few blocks from Broad and Erie through the 1920's, 1930’s and 1940’s. The family sold their business and building after the war and moved to the corner of Greene and Logan streets across from the church. That house later became a funeral home. But that's another story.