The "Gone Forever" Story

Original sign for Penn Welding Co.

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at an old fuzzy photo which shows the side of a building in the 900 block of North Prince St. in Lancaster, PA.  On the wall is painted in black five foot high letters PENN WELDING CO.  The location is exactly one block from my childhood home on nearby North Queen St.  The sign had been there for as long as I had lived there.  Matter of fact it was painted on a silver background on the red brick wall in 1939 and was visible to drivers entering the city of Lancaster from the north by way of Fruitville Pike and Prince St.  My childhood friend Jerry lived about 150 yards from the sign on Manheim Ave.  He recently called and asked if I could take a photo of the wall and make it into a photo four inches wide and three inches high.  Needed it for a building he was constructing for his HO train layout.  He now lives in State College, PA, but is recreating his childhood neighborhood with houses and the nearby Lancaster Train Station where his dad worked at the Railway Express Station.  

Where the original sign once was is now a red wall.

I drove to the location shortly after the call and after driving around the block a few times couldn't find the sign.  I knew exactly where it was, but I'll be darn …. it wasn't there anymore.  Relayed the bad news to Jerry and decided I would re-create the sign for him on my computer so he could finish his train project.  Emailed him the result and he was good to go.  Wasn't more than a few days later that I saw a photo of the building with the sign on it published in the Lancaster Newspaper.  Seems that the new owner of the building painted over the sign with brick-red paint.  Thanks a lot!  The old welding business known as High Welding was started by Ben and Sanford High in 1931 on Lemon Street in the city.  In 1937 Ben purchased the Prince Street site and founded Penn Welding while Sanford continued operating High Welding which eventually became known as High Steel.  From 1938 until 1990 Ben High welded just about everything and anything in his shop.  I can remember watching the sparks fly many a day when I lived nearby.  Ben died 20 years ago and now the only memory of him and his company is also gone.  Sad day, but time goes on!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.