Question: The photo in this week’s history mystery shows an area that many of us pass every day. Much has changed since it was taken in the 1940s. Do you know where it is and the purpose of the water?
Last week’s answer: A prominent sign in last week’s mystery photo clearly identifies the building as Stan’s Service Station. The building was located at 100 Syracuse St. and stands yet today as Ken’s Collision Service. The high mounds of snow seen in front are a clue as to the reason the photo was taken that day.
Photographer Mark Chapman took a number of pictures on Feb. 2, 1945, as he documented the great snow piles that had accumulated during a long series of severe winter storms. The traditional January thaw had not materialized and more snow was in the forecast.
The railroads were clogged as snow fell faster and thicker than it could be removed from the tracks. Coal deliveries were cut dramatically and the fuel shortage pinch was felt across the state from Buffalo to New York City. Steel factories cut production. A milk and egg shortage was predicted to be in the offing as many farmers were down to two to three days of grain. In Baldwinsville, stores and the Palace Theatre were either closed or had reduced hours. Meetings were postponed and extracurricular school activities were cancelled. The hope for a cessation of falling snow was accompanied by fear of flooding when the thaw finally arrived. Strategies were developed to facilitate removal of the huge mounds of snow lining village streets.
At the time of the photo, Stan’s Service Station was owned by Stanley B. Dygert. Dygert came to Baldwinsville in 1937 and took over the former Syracuse Street Garage, where he sold Sunoco gasoline. An independent mechanic, Chuck Williams, conducted an automotive repair and service business in the building’s lower level.
In 1949 Dygert built a new modern service station across the road immediately south of the village line. Dygert’s nephew, Stanley E. Dygert, a WW II veteran, joined his uncle and handled the auto service business. Stanley E. specialized in front end alignments, wheel balancing, lubrication and brake repairs. Stan’s former site, across the road at 100 Syracuse St., was taken over by Van Wie Chevrolet and became its used car sales area. Today Dygert’s “new service station” houses a gas station and a convenience store.
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
