This aerial view of Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, appeared in a 3 March 1926 article on Lykens in the Harrisburg Evening News. The photo was taken by Fairchild Aerial Survey Inc. as is noted in the lower left corner. Presumably, it was taken around 1926. Since the copy available for this blog post is a poor digital version of the Evening News from Newspapers.com, a clearer version must be available somewhere – and perhaps can be reproduced to replace this picture.
It appears that the picture was taken from the west looking east. The town of Wiconisco appears in the upper left corner of the photo and the Summit Branch Railroad appears in the upper right quadrant, running at about a 30 degree angle to the vertical streets.
The article accompanying the photograph told some of the history of the borough, noted some of the industrial activities, and described the government and some of the fraternal organizations. It concluded with the following information about the transportation facilities:
Lykens is on the Summit Branch Railroad of the Pennsylvania Railroad which connects with the Northern Central Division at Millersburg and has its eastern terminus at Williamstown. An improved highway forming the direct route from Harrisburg to Pottsville and Wilkes-Barre passes through the town and modern motor buses, operated on fixed schedules. have taken the place of the abandoned electric line formerly connecting the valley towns.
Modern hotels and numerous well-stocked stores for the town’s extensive and thriving business district.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.
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The Harrisburg Evening News contracted exclusively with Fairchild to produce aerial photographs of towns in their news coverage area. The Lykens photo was No. 2 in a series. The only communities photographed in the the Lykens Valley area were: Elizabethville, Millersburg, Lykens, Williamstown, Wiconisco, and Halifax.