INTERVIEW WITH CARL DENNIS, 5/26/2004, AT THE TOY & NASCAR MUSEUM, Sciota, PA: 
interviewed by Linda Goss-Kozic

 

 

The town of Sciota, is very old.  General Sullivan came through with his men in the
1790's stopping at the OLD MILL which is located next to the dam and still in
existence.  Today it is a tourist attraction.  Sullivan stopped with his troops, on
his way to Mount Pocono, in order to add flour to their supply of food at the MILL.
As their equipment was heavy, General Sullivan decided to bury some of the cannon
balls and a cannon in the low areas behind Linden Court and on the other side of the
creek.  The land was more like swamp area at that time and easily dug out.  His
intent was to pick them up on the way back, but his plans were changed and he never
did reclaim the equipment.

 

Years later, the land now owned by Roy Mackes, some of the dirt was being hauled and
Roy did find cannon balls, however, not a cannon.  Carl wonders if the cannon wasn't
buried in the meadow behind Linden Court or the old Post Office and the land was
just never excavated.

 

The OLD MILL was still being used as a grist mill up until 1952, run by William Snyder.

 

Mr. Kistler built the farm at the intersection of   Fenner Avenue and Hamilton East.
 He also built the hotel, general store and Linden Court  which was his private
residence.  All these buildings still exist today in 2004.  However, Linden Court is
not being used and seems to not be in the best of condition.  There was a Tannery
also located next to the store as Carl remembers as a child.  That was torn down,
but remnants of the building still remain by the bridge.  Mr. Kistler supplied his
land with spring water which was located on Lesh Road, there was a concrete spring
house which supplied all his buildings through a cast iron pipe he ran down through
his property.  It eventually closed up due to mineral build up.  The farm was
supplied first due to the cattle, then the other buildings, however, Mr. Kistler
being wise, a second line was connected to the residential home just in case of
emergency!

 

LINDEN COURT was eventually purchased sometime around the 1920's by Sarah Kresge and
her husband.  In her hands it became one of the most famous restaurants of its day.
People came from all over to enjoy the age old Kresge family recipes!  Carl lived
across the street from Linden Court, having been born upstairs from the store!  He
used to go over to enjoy all the festivities as a young boy and Sarah Kresge would
put him on her knee and tell the girls to give him some homemade ice cream.  Sarah
had two cows on the property.  Carl said they used the milk to slop the pigs, but
the pure cream was used to make their own cole slaw and delicious infamous ice
cream-sometimes over buttermilk waffles that Carl loved so much!   Limosines drove
up from Philadelphia, New York, all over just for "society" people to enjoy the food
and the location.  The Limos would drive up on the lawn and drop their guests off at
the front door.  Inside, Carl said, one of the rooms was used as a service bar for
the chauffeurs to congregate.  The ALLENTOWN BAND, which was quite well known would
play and guests not only enjoyed food, but badmitton, croquet, cards, and other
activities!  Carl remembers groups of Lawyers and Undertakers!!  Eventually Sarah's
daughter, Delores or "Dodo" as everyone called her, took over the operation of
Linden Court.  [Sarah's two other daughters were killed in an auto accident]  The
Kresge's not only ran the restaurant, but there were also living quarters in the
building.  Delores would marry Ed Beneski who also helped in the operation.  Linden
Court was in operation until Delores' death before New Year's eve in 1997.  Two of
the women who helped cook the delicious food were sisters, Marge Kozic Mondrick and
Rose Kozic Buskirk.  They have wonderful stories to tell of their years at Linden
Court! [ They also happen to be the Aunts of my husband, Jerry Kozic! ]

 

Mr. Kistler also owned the first POST OFFICE in Sciota.  The building still exists
and is now home to antique shops.  Carl Dennis was the 38th   POSTMASTER in Sciota,
his father being the 37th  for forty years!  The first post office was in service in
1846, and eventually had about 60 boxes for mail.  Carl tells us the post office was
housed in the same building as the store  which Mr. Kistler built.  It remained that
way until 1950-1951 when Carl's father, Lawrence Dennis, passed away.  The store was
closed and eventually the entire area was used for the post office which Carl would
run from 1952-1984!  Carl helped to develop the route  which originally extended 63
miles!  It has now been broken down to a smaller area, but Carl remembers the long
hours!  The original post office was one of the oldest in the country in it's
original state!

 

Lawrence Dennis, Carl's father, bought the Kistler General Store/Post Office in the
1920's. As far back as Carl can remember, the area farmers from as far as
Saylorsburg and Bossardsville would walk miles to the store his dad owned in order
to sit around the pot-bellied stove and share stories, from 6am til 12 am!  They
would be in and out all day inbetween their chores and then at sunset!   He said the
stories were incredible!  There were also hand-cranked gas pumps in front of the
store at that time and he remembers gas as low as 25 cents a gallon!  These
gatherings continued from the 1920's until somewhere around the 1940's when cars
became more prominent.

 

Carl's family lived in the area behind the store/post office where living quarters
had been built.  A lodge was on the second floor over the store, where it became the
equivalent of a grange hall providing meeting areas and he remembers the SCIOTA BAND
 practicing in the lodge.  He said it was a terrific band! 

 

Carl's time as the Postmaster saw the area grow and the need for another location
for the Post Office.  He said it became too congested in the building and that the
parking lot was not large enough.  So although he was no longer Postmaster, in
1994-1995 he helped to find another location for a new Post Office and that became
the lot behind Linden Court, where the Sciota Post Office is found today.

 

An interesting note is that during Carl's time as Post Master and the impending
relocation of the Post Office, he found all the historic papers and postal supplies
that had been accumulated over the years since it first opened it's doors.  In the
area under the staircase he found things like papers that were signed by the earlier
Postmasters because there were no stamps at that time!  Wanting to make sure
historic value was preserved, Carl got in touch with the SMITHSONIAN in Washington,
DC and got permission to bring everything for the curator to evaluate for a
permanent home at the SMITHSONIAN!!  He remembers taking the train, arriving and
being told to take the elevator up about 5 floors and talk to the man on that floor.
 When he got off the elevator, Carl thought he was on the wrong floor at a
warehouse, it was huge and full of boxes!  But he saw a light in a room at the end
of the hall and went down to find a little old man with white hair sitting at a desk
surrounded by a wall of boxes and papers!  He said he was there for a while and the
man said gruffly, "sit down!," so Carl sat and waited, then the man gruffly asked, "
what do you want?"  Carl told him why he was there and the man told him to show him
what he had and he'd decide whether they wanted it or not!!  Carl remembers finding
papers written with quill pens by the earlier Postmasters and parchment papers,
things which he felt had great historical value!  The little old man said, " I'll
take these, but keep the rest!"  And that was the end of the conversation!!!  Quite
an experience!!  He plans on making sure he finds a good respectful home archived
somewhere for the papers that the SMITHSONIAN did not want!

 

As a child, Carl recalls an old log cabin that was still in existence at the corner
of  Fenner Avenue and Strawberry Lane.   He and his friends would sneak in to see
what was inside the cabin.  Eventually the lot was sold and it was torn down.  There
was also a creamery on the road between where the TOY AND NASCAR MUSEUM is located
now and the old log cabin.  He believes the name of the family that owned the
creamery and the home on the property was Flack. 

 

As for the present location of the TOY AND NASCAR MUSEUM, the building was
originally a butcher shop prior to the 1920's.  He doesn't know who owned the shop,
but remembers that the shop was no longer open by 1926.  As to who owned the
building prior to that, or if there was an owner prior to the butcher, Carl doesn't
have an answer.  However, after the butcher shop closed, the building was vacant for
a while.  Then the ODD FELLOWS bought the building and he feels more than likely
made changes to the building. 

 

The ODD FELLOWS is an old fraternal order that still exists today.  At the time they
occupied this building, they provided a community center for the people of the area.
 They provided entertainment through bands and square dances on the upper floor and
you can still see the original wooden floor today which has been refurbished.  And
the downstairs was the kitchen and dining area for suppers that were also provided
to raise money for the charities that the ODD FELLOWS supported, such as homes for
the elderly.   The female members of the ODD FELLOWS  were called the REBEKAS.
Carl's father, Lawrence Dennis, was an active member of the ODDFELLOWS, as well as
Norman Fenner, the great grandfather of our township supervisor, Dave Fenner.  The
ODD FELLOWS was a strong organization until after World War II. 

 

Eventually the building became a BLOUSE FACTORY and was owned by the Rodney and
Susan Yetter, until it was sold to Edwin and Marlene Stanat in 1999.  Ed or "Eddie,"
as he's known to his friends, bought the building to house and display his extensive
toy and nascar collection, which is over 10,000 pieces.  The building was 5000
square feet of open space, once all the equipment had been removed from the building
upon sale of the Blouse factory.  Ed put up walls, dropped areas of the ceiling,
raised areas of the ceiling, but kept the restrooms in the same area.  We doubt
anyone would recognize the inside of the building!  We've had women come into the
Museum who had worked in the factory and couldn't believe their eyes, but they were
able to tell us where everything had been when the factory was open!  You can still
see areas where the machines once stood.  It took 5 years of hard work, but anyone
who visits the Museum can see it was well worth it, and Ed's vision continues to pay
respect to an area so full of history.   

 

We thank Carl for generously sharing his memories and time filling us in on the
history of this building and the beautiful little village it is surrounded by!