The "Decay of 929 North Queen Street" Story

LDub, brother Steve and Aunt Lois
play with toy boats in the flooded Queen Street.

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished down- loading photos I took of the house that I called "home" for over 18 years.  Moved with my mom and dad from Orange Street in Lancaster City to 929 North Queen Street in Manheim Township when I was an infant.  I loved the neighborhood and the great friendships that I developed as I was growing up in a fairly safe and friendly environment.  I was amazed as I studied the photos appearing on my computer screen that I had just taken an hour before of the same location.  I don't know why I should have been amazed, since I pass 929 quite a few times a week as I travel from the city of Lancaster to my house in Foxshire.  The photographs show a house that is in ill repair with trash and debris covering just about every inch of the property.  A few years ago my brother, who was born while we lived at 929 and was in high school when my family moved from the location, took a tour of the place when it was for sale.  He told me he couldn't believe we actually lived there for as long as we did.  The room that he had as a bedroom was so small that he certainly wouldn't have fit into the bed if it were today because of his height.  The room that I had was somewhat bigger with a nice balcony overlooking the back yard, since I was the older sibling.  But what I was looking at on my computer screen ....... well, it just about brought me to tears.  I know I was looking at my old home an hour ago, but I took the outside photos quickly so as not to disturb the current occupants of the house.  I can still remember the great summers I spent on the front porch that had the tan awnings across the front and on the side.  The glider always squeaked and oil didn't seem to help with the problem.  The rubber mat that stretched from the front of the porch to the front door had little ridges in it that were great for racing my marbles as well as my small cars and trucks.  Thunderstorms brought an entire new look to the house, since the street would flood from the far right street corner to just about our house and we were able to play with our toy boats in the runoff.  The back yard was all grass with a stone wall at the rear of the yard.  929 was the only home of the eight semi-detached homes on the block that didn't have a garage.  My dad had the rear alley covered with stone so he could park his car off the street.  When I was in junior high he constructed a backboard with net in the alley so my friends could play basketball with my brother and me.  Today as I drove back the alley it looked as though the area was suffering from urban blight.  The once reveled balcony had been enclosed and a garage had been erected.  There didn't seem to be any open area at all in the rear yard that wasn't covered with debris.  The side of the house that at one time faced a printing company, but now is the rear of a strip-mall, is packed with ..... junk if I want to be nice about it.  At the top front of the house was my dad's favorite: an emblem that he took great pride in painting every summer, but now holds many layers of rotted paint.  The beloved front porch has been enclosed with green siding and a ornamental lion keeps watch over the occupants of the house.  The poor neighbor who shares the attached house must be extremely perturbed.  Me, I just stared and stared and felt so bad that my "home" has deteriorated to this degree.  I know it is none of my business how others live, but my memory of times gone by has been shattered.  I guess my ideas of home repair and pride in your house are quite different than those who now occupy 929.  Times change, don't they?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

I loved my front porch at 929.

I am standing in the rear yard of 929.

929 taken from the alley behind the home.  The balcony has been enclosed and a garage has been added.

929 North Queen Street as it appears today.  The front porch has been enclosed, the yard has been fenced in and holds all sorts of debris, and a ceramic lion stands guard at the front door.