Old Historical Garage in Carlisle

mdh157

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I thought you guys would appreciate this. Just north of Carlisle Boro at the intersection of RT 11 and Wolfs Bridge Road is an old garage with a distinctive design.

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This garage is part of an old home/dealership complex that sat in this location for many years. The garage was built around 1940. In this next pic you can see where the house used to be (they tore it down about a month ago). There is a pile of cinder blocks on the left foreground of the photo, that is the foundation fill. You can see Wolf's Bridge Road in the background.

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I had the chance to go to the estate auction back in 2020. Plenty of old neat stuff for sale. I purchased a bunch of the old dealer plates. I also had the chance to talk to the granddaughter of the man who started and ran the business from the 40's-60's, when her father took it over. He ran it until the mid 80's. What you had was that garage, the house and a few outbuildings out back including a huge pole barn where her grandfather took old business signs and used them to cover the walls and ceiling, much like sheetrock nowadays. (see the Gulf sign in the pic above) She said when she was a kid (she's about 70 now) there were cars not only on the west side of the garage but between the house and garage and alongside the back of the house going up Wolf's Bridge Road. Her grandfather was one of the first vendors to have a contract with the Pa Turnpike Commission so he had to build a bigger garage to accommodate some of the trucks he needed to work on. When the turnpike was initially opened it only ran from the Philadelphia area and ended at Carlisle right by where the Expo Center is now (for those familiar with the Carlisle Fairgrounds layout). The place started to significantly slow down in the 80's with her grandfather having passed away and her father aging and he closed it sometime in the mid-late 80's. This is part of an offset intersection that the township plans to straighten out so it will be redone and the location of the house will be about where Wolf's Bridge Road intersects RT 11. The property has been sold and the new owner plans to keep the garage and restore it. He is a local used car dealer and owns the dealership adjacent to the garage.

Below are a few of the dealer plates I got. Unfortunately they had nothing older than the early 70's still there.

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I have noticed that building for over 25 years going to Carlisle. Is it for Sale ? Hope it not turned into cookie cutter housing or strip mall shopping.
 
I have noticed that building for over 25 years going to Carlisle. Is it for Sale ? Hope it not turned into cookie cutter housing or strip mall shopping.

It has been sold, to the guy who owns the adjacent car lot (platinum pre-owned). The lady who sold it to him told me as a condition of the sale that he was to restore the garage. That whole intersection is going to be redone so the garage will be almost right on the corner and there will be used cars in front of it and on the side where his parking lot is. And don't get me started on cookie-cutter housing, they are ripping farms up by the dozen around here. Anything to make money and generate more tax revenue for the townships.
 
A lot of abandoned property down here that were once dealerships and gas stations still showing their beautiful 30's style architecture.
 
I just saw this thread, whaaa they sold the building and tore it down??!! I remember going by this garage everytime I been going to Carlisle for the past 6-7 years, what a shame that coulda been turned into somethin cool. Who cares it's only history that will never come again, damn it I'm not happy now this just put a damper on my day. :eek::(:BangHead:
 
What happen to the house and the garage that were beside and behind the garage in the map that 67newport posted, I assume those are torn down and gone too?

Yes, they tore everything down but the main garage. The building behind it was pretty neat too....a large pole barn with one side having a bunch of cubbies where various parts were kept. There were also 2 side room that has part of the old boiler and another piece of equipment that I didn't recognize in there. That building also had the entire ceiling and part of the walls showing all kinds of old business signs the guy had used over the years. He used them as building material. I was in there abt a week before they tore it down and didn't think to take any pictures. Yes, I am an idiot. They are ruining everything historical around here.........the YMCA just tore down a beautiful old school in town and replaced it with one of those neo-modern looking buildings.
 
Another cool old garage in the Carlisle area..According to the owners,it once was a Chevy dealer back in the late 20's and early 30's.
Taken in 2018..had to stop for a photo op..

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My Fury, along with my buddy's 66 Sunbeam Tiger (yes, its a Chrysler product), and my neighbor's 1972 Jeep Commander in front of an old Nash dealership in Strasburg that houses an AMC collection. This photo was taken in 2017. The building was later damaged in a fire. Don't know if any of the cars inside survived. Part of the roof collapsed, but I think the main structure was still intact.

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