Article from Dec 16, 1954 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
The earliest mention I can find of the ABC Motel and Restaurant is from the Thursday, December 16, 1954 issue of The Potter Enterprise. The proprietors were Blanche and Carl Anderson. I’m uncertain if they were the original owners, but a trail of small blurbs and stories in The Enterprise offers a few clues about the history of the ABC under their ownership. Plenty of advertisements appear, including some targeting hunters specifically. There are numerous notices of events hosted for Roulette Little League, County Postmasters’ meetings, and other local gatherings. There are also a few “newsier” entries such as floods, a fire, and a burglary.
Article from Jan 29, 1959 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
Article from Mar 26, 1959 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
Article from Jun 22, 1960 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
ABC Motel Postmasters Dinner 1962
Article from Oct 3, 1962 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
Article from Dec 12, 1962 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
Article from Nov 27, 1963 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
Article from Oct 11, 1967 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
Article from Sep 9, 1970 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
Whether they were weary of these setbacks or just ready to move on after almost twenty years, the Andersons put the ABC up for sale in 1971. The new ownership announced in 1973 was short lived, and then, in 1974, yet another “Under New Management” ad appeared in the paper. This time, the owners were listed as Pete and Evelyn Chastain—my grandparents.
(The Potter Enterprise archives currently stop at 1977 as the most recently available year, so I don’t have many clippings from the years they were running it.)
Article from Jun 30, 1971 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
Article from Jun 27, 1973 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
Article from Oct 2, 1974 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc
The two-story house right next to the ABC is the setting for my first memories of Nanny and Pop Pop. It sat just a few minutes down Route 6 from our home—an easy drive we made countless times. I’d visit with Nanny; accepting great gifts of candy and cookies; basking in her warmth and the sound of her easy laughter.
Eventually, after polishing off whatever goodies I’d been given, I’d venture out to be with Dad and Pop Pop in the storeroom or office. I remember climbing up onto a stool that was too tall for me, proud that I could do it myself. I’d then inspect the industrial-sized cans of kidney beans, plastic jugs of ketchup and mustard, huge jars of pickles and other food for the restaurant on the cool storeroom shelves. I remember a distinct smell, though I struggle to describe it (storeroomy?).
Pop Pop would ask me questions about what I was up to and offer me a soda—ginger ale? Root beer? I’d sip my drink while Pop Pop and Dad partook of their own libations. I have no memory of what they talked about, but I do remember the comfort of their voices. In these rituals of conversation and shared beverages between us, I felt a fierce sense of belonging; my place in this world was on that stool next to my father and grandfather.
Those memories are distant, slippery, and hazy now. There are flashes but not whole scenes. My memories of Nanny and Pop Pop grow firmer after they sold the ABC and moved back to Roulette in 1994 to enjoy retirement.
I recall making the now slightly longer ten minute drive to Nanny and Pop Pop’s house in Roulette on Christmas Eve. Snow blanketed the ground as the stars gleamed and glittered in the frosty northern Pennsylvanian air. A bright, full moon followed us while we all sang along to the Christmas songs blaring from the radio. (At least that’s how I remember it, but maybe it was actually just me singing so loudly, I never noticed I was the only one.) Also, and please don’t check me on this, but I’m pretty sure the moon was full every Christmas Eve during that time.
Perhaps another year, this time with the radio off, I remember singing “Over the River and Through the Woods” as we drove on the Pomeroy Avenue Bridge over the Allegheny River — “to grandmother’s house we go”. We parked in the driveway, the Christmas joy barely contained as we spilled out of the car and skipped into the house. Our feet barely touched the ground since gravity was no match for the magic of the season.
The kitchen, living room, and den were all packed with multitudes of aunts, uncles, cousins, and various other relatives. My clan! My tribe! Christmas cookies, cake, and all sorts of other treasures covered the kitchen table and counter tops just waiting to be plundered. The sound of music and conversation filled the background of all of these Christmas Eves as we opened presents.
These are my favorite memories of being at their house in Roulette, but I have many other fond ones as well. I also loved visiting in the summer. Laninger Creek runs steadily past the house on its way to the Allegheny. Underneath Cow Hollow Road, the creek runs through a culvert. With my feet on the sides of this huge metal tunnel, straddling the creek in the middle, I could walk through without getting my shoes wet (note: shouting was obligatory during this activity because echoes are awesome).
Among other games, we would often play catch with a football, chasing wild throws before the ball rolled down into Laninger and floated away. I had no idea then that those same waters, just a quarter mile upstream, were where 87-year-old Peter Chastain II fell in while collecting ice for the ice house in the winter of 1939. He caught pneumonia and died shortly after.
I also didn’t know that when I was running around playing with my cousins, we were on part of the very land Peter Chastain I had bought when the Chastains first moved to Roulette in 1867. And I certainly didn’t realize, at least until I was a little older, that both Peter I and Peter II were buried just down the road, within sight of where we played.
I remember later conversations about our family history. Pop Pop told me the Chastains had come over from Germany just before the U.S. Civil War started and settled in New Jersey for a few years before eventually moving on to Roulette. I remember him showing me pictures of Peter Chastain I, Peter Chastain II, and Peter Chastain III. These artifacts seemed to hold an almost religious significance since those faces felt as ancient to me as the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament.
Looking at those pictures filled me with that feeling again—this was my tribe! These were my people. This was my history—a story that seemed to fade into an impenetrable past across the foggy Atlantic, into Germany and…who knows where else? Back then, I was content with what we knew. I never imagined there was more that could be known.
Article from Mar 30, 1977 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc motel
Article from Dec 21, 1977 The Potter Enterprise (Coudersport, Pennsylvania) Abc