Historical Society holds first presentation since ’19
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Andy Ulicny speaks during his presentation at the Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society Tuesday night.
SHENANDOAH – The Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society held its first presentation since 2019 Tuesday night.
Around 30 people came to the society’s headquarters at Main and Cherry Streets downtown.
Andy Ulicny, historian, spoke about one of the earliest forms of entertainment in the Anthracite region: the circus.
One specific question he set out to answer was whether or not Harry Houdini lived in Shenandoah at one point.
Ulicny mentioned how many of the biggest names in entertainment in the early 20th century passed through Shenandoah, including P.T. Barnum’s “Greatest Show On Earth,” as well as Jackie Gleason for a beer promotion.
“We often forget about how big a town Shenandoah was,” Ulicny said.
Houdini did as well, Ulicny said, and he believes he lived in Shenandoah for, at most, a year, early in his career.
Ulicny said Shenandoahans had a hand in the early days of Houdini’s career.
He cites Houdini’s early involvement with borough native George Lowery, a circus entertainer at the time. Lowery had been with the Welsh Brothers circus in 1896, and Houdini joined him two years later.
At that time, circuses were “fair-weather” shows, performed in the warmer months of the year.
Houdini, he says, “wintered in Shenandoah, perfected the act,” before becoming a headliner with the Welsh Bros. circuit and rising to stardom, touring the world.
Lowery went on to form his own travelling circus, which travelled eastern Pennsylvania.
Both circuses performed in Shenandoah at various venues, including the former Columbia Park at the southeast end of town. The park, located southeast of Bicentennial Park, was buried by coal spoils around 1940.
Other venues included Veterans Memorial Stadium, Bicentennial Park, and empty lots on the east end.
The Lowery circus lasted about 20 years, Ulicny said.
In other news, the historical society is making progress on improving and restructuring its museum.
The new religion room is nearing completion. Renovations on that room, formerly a storage room, have been ongoing for the past year.
The society is also preparing for its basket auction in a few weeks, on June 25, 26, and 27.
Each day is a shop-and-drop, Ulicny said, and tickets will be pulled at the end of the weekend.
The auction will be held at their headquarters from 3-7 on June 25, 12-5 June 26, and 12-3 June 27.
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