A 1950 photograph (colorized) of Sweigard’s General Store, Matamoras, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. Christmas decorations are displayed on the porch roof (Santa and reindeer). Note the advertising signs for Gulf, Coca Cola, Breyer’s Ice Cream, and General Electric.
The Sweigard General Store was located on Peter’s Mountain Road (Route 225) in Matamoras, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, opposite what is now Matamoras Bible Church. The building is still there and is presently used as apartments.
During World War II, the store was operated by Gladys Marie [Parmer] Sweigard (1921-2022) and her husband Russell S. “Butch” Sweigard (1918-2001). According to their daughter, Lynette [Sweigard] Schlegel, the store had one of the only phones in the area and the soldiers would call the store to talk with their family members. Gladys, who was about the same age as those who were serving in the war, collected photos of the soldiers and taped them to a wall in the store near the phone. Altogether 61 photos were saved from the store. Recently, those photos were obtained by David Hause who has done extensive research on Lykens Valley area veterans and posted that research on Findagrave. All of the Sweigard-collected photos are now on Findagrave. In the future, on this blog, those photos will be presented individually as from the Sweigard General Store Collection.
The above photo was taken by David Hause in 2023 of the building that once housed Sweigard’s General Store.
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An undated photograph (colorized) of “Sweigard General Merchandise” showing the Gulf gasoline pumps, and advertising signs for Coca Cola and Bryer’s Ice Cream.
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An undated photograph (colorized) of “Sweigard’s Store” showing Gulf gasoline pumps and appliances (probably General Electric) on the store porch.
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An undated color photograph of Sweigard’s General Store” showing advertising signs for Gulf, Hershey’s Ice Cream, and a partially blocked sign for Coca Cola. At the right is the General Electric sign. None of the individuals in the photo are identified.
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An undated photograph of a painting of the Sweigard General Store by an unknown artist. Advertising signs can be seen for Gulf, Coca Cola, General Electric, and Bryer’s Ice Cream. The painting could have been done by Gladys Sweigard herself (she was a member of the Millersburg Art Alliance).
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Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.