THEN-AND-NOW: North Main Street, Shenandoah
SHENANDOAH – Few would argue, Shenandoah was a much different community in 1892.
A 32-year-old community, Shenandoah was rapidly growing and had already surpassed Pottsville to become Schuylkill County’s most-populous community, a title it would hold until the 1930 census.
Though, while much has changed, plenty remains the same, or at least similar.
Many buildings remain, maybe with different windows, a different coat of paint, or some new siding.
Gary Klem shared a postcard on Facebook recently, showing “Center Street” in Shenandoah in 1892.
The postcard was mislabeled. It’s actually North Main Street at Lloyd Street, looking north.
The A-to-Z Food Mart and former Bargain Anney buildings both remain, though with some slight renovations, particularly regarding the windows.
It also shows a much different Main Street itself than the one Sentinel readers are familiar with.
While it’s not clear if the street is paved or not in 1892, the traffic was a whole lot different. Horse and carriages carried folks and goods through the Heart of the Anthracite, as did a trolley, presumably from the Schuylkill Traction Company.
In the distance, a long-gone hub of a long-dwindled anthracite region industry: the Home Brewery.
Shenandoah was once home to two towering breweries in the downtown business district. While many Sentinel readers are accustomed to seeing the Shenandoah High Rise in the distance as an informal “Welcome to Shenandoah” on the Gold Star Highway, some surely remember the Columbia Brewery, literally adorned with those words, in its place.
See what other differences you notice between the 1892 scene and the same block on Nov. 10, 2025.
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