Living in Waynesboro, local landmarks play sentimental roles in a performance that celebrates the community’s uniqueness and cultural values. Glancing at them from a distance, or entering their domain, reminds us we live in a place unlike any other. We are home.
But like all towns, these places and structures age like us. Some have sadly disappeared. For those that were lost, the only relics remaining are memories and artwork of sites that are gone but not forgotten.
Around Waynesboro, these lost landmarks once served as reminders of local industry, transportation, education, recreation and artistic heritage. Their passings teach us our society is dynamic, as new buildings and favorite spots develop to suit modern tastes. Future generations will one day look back fondly at these replacement landmarks which add immeasurable value to our lives and culture.
Waynesboro High School/East Junior High School
For in-town residents, one common thread was Waynesboro’s school system. When the community grew (and eventually drew students from neighboring townships), new school buildings were constructed. None was grander than the old Senior High School on East Main Street. The Classical Revival structure was completed in 1937, and students finished their public education there until 1962. Later, serving as East Junior High, seventh through ninth-grade students roamed a spacious building until 1989, known for tall ceilings and classrooms brightened by light from large windows.
The building was torn down in 1999, despite public sentiment to save it. This site sits vacant, still owned by Waynesboro Hospital’s parent company. However, a group of wise citizens saved the school’s cupola before demolition and later restored it, placing it in a park a short walk to the south. For thousands of students who passed through its doors, the school is gone, but an enduring architectural symbol remains.
The Big Dipper
The romantic heyday of the American drive-in was celebrated at the Big Dipper Restaurant in Rouzerville. During the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, this hangout was the area’s most popular eatery. Owners Dick and Mary Jane Boyer treated customers like family, as teenagers went on dates and fell in love to the tunes of a vintage Wurlitzer jukebox. Films such as “American Graffiti” and TV shows like “Happy Days” celebrated that nostalgic era known for hot rods and bobby socks.
Above the Big Dipper’s front door these words greeted guests: There’s no place, Quite like this place, Anywhere near this place, So this must be the place.
Their business closed in 1979 but the Boyers attended many class school reunions years later. The couple kept as many memories as the kids they served. A local collector preserved the bright yellow Big Dipper Sign- the name was a playful reference to serving hand-dipped ice cream. Still, the intangible evidence remaining from The Big Dipper is thousands of happy hours spent at this teenage stomping ground.
Frick Company Water Tower
Frick Company is one of three iconic enterprises that put Waynesboro on the world industrial map (along with Landis Tool and Landis Machine), and the firm had a sprawling campus on West Main Street. Frick was an innovator in refrigeration products, and rising above its brick factory buildings was a gigantic blue water tower, built in 1922 and decorated with the company’s logo. Looking west toward Greencastle, that 100,000-gallon tower was a reliable reference point while walking around town. The metal structure also symbolized Waynesboro’s industrial might.
For many years, the tower provided water pressure for Frick’s operations (now owned by Johnson Controls), but that use abruptly ended in the late 1990s when an overzealous New Year’s Eve reveler shot a hole in the tank, causing extensive damage. The tower was drained and repaired but never refilled. This sentimental landmark was torn down in May 2008.
Arcade Theatre
Senior Waynesboro residents fondly recall the Arcade Theatre, a popular and impressive piece of architecture that graced 75 W. Main St. for 50 years. The theater opened in September 1916 and claimed the largest stage east of the Mississippi River. When early silent films were featured, a pipe organ provided accompaniment. Vaudeville shows and Western movies were staples in the theater’s early years. The Warner Brothers-owned theater survived the Depression and was sold to a local group in 1954.
Unfortunately, the building was torn down by a third owner in 1966. A new Jerry Lewis Cinema franchise was built at the same location. After that space closed in 2014, the Waynesboro Community Theatre Project was formed to renovate it. The modern cinema that emerged is a vibrant component of the downtown area and a sparkling jewel in its continuing revitalization.
The Arcade Theatre was lovingly commemorated by artist Landis Whitsel. He painted the attraction (circa 1938) as one of several downtown landmarks in Waynesboro’s bygone era. Whitsel also depicted the Big Dipper and the old High School in other works. With his talented artwork and various Waynesboro community memories from past shows and performances, the Arcade Theatre still occupies a prominent place in many local minds.
The Prices Church Road railroad trestle
The Cumberland Valley Railroad was chartered in 1831, and Harrisburg was connected to Chambersburg six years later. The railroad line was a strategic resource for moving troops during the Civil War. The Mont Alto Railroad had a CVR spur to Waynesboro, with service to local industry and ferrying passengers until the 1930s. Spanning a bucolic creek north of Waynesboro, a trestle was built for this spur in 1880.
The spindly wooden structure was not only a transportation necessity but served as a rustic centerpiece to a pastoral Pennsylvania landscape. After the railroad line was abandoned, the structure stood for several decades, serving as a favorite gathering spot for kids and fishermen on Prices Church Road. Eventually, as with other landmarks that lost their purpose and adequate funding to keep them standing, the trestle was demolished in 1985. Some of the wooden beams were used to build a hay barn, while other reclaimed components found suitable uses.
Celebrated Waynesboro photographer Sylvester Snyder once captured a snowy winter scene along this trestle’s elevated rails. That photograph brings memories alive to those who once rode the train or for pedestrians who ventured that high trestle crossing on foot.
Red Run Lodge at ‘Sunshine Trail’
During the late 1800s and into the mid-1900s, the Appalachian Mountains rising east of Waynesboro became a celebrated tourist destination. With attractions like Pen Mar Park luring crowds by train, and later with growing automobile travel, people flocked to the area for alpine relaxation. Hotels and tourist sites popped up to accommodate travelers along a new section of Route 16, dubbed the “Sunshine Trail.”
At the base of the mountains, along this scenic highway, a lodge and 15 tourist cabins were constructed near modern-day Red Run Park. Also included in the complex was a roadside fruit stand. The stand stayed open longer, as Red Run Lodge and its cabins eventually fell into disrepair after closing in the late 1960s. Despite being designated a National Register property, all these buildings were later razed; their rustic recreational pleasures are now passed down through family stories. Many of the grand hotels on the mountainside have also vanished.
Gilbert Topiary Gardens on South Potomac/Greenhill Cemetery
A unique and talented man named Ferdinand “Ferd” Gilbert was selected as superintendent for Waynesboro’s Greenhill Cemetery in 1888. For 46 years, he cared for the burial ground, but he also explored his interest in horticulture and gardening. Gilbert developed a passion for topiaries, and soon, the Cumberland Valley took notice.
After creating barnyard animals like geese and hens, Gilbert expanded his topiary talents. What developed was a procession of characters along Waynesboro’s south Potomac Street that included a horse with rider, an elephant and a giraffe. Gilbert even created an entire living room suite with a table, chairs, lamp and a piano. People traveled for miles to gawk at the creative creatures and imaginative scenes, and postcards and newspaper articles pictured them for posterity. Gilbert’s creations were not only landmarks but also alive.
Gilbert’s craft died with him in 1934, and his creations slowly disappeared. He is buried in Greenhill, and the cemetery’s name is aptly spelled out at its entrance with artfully trimmed shrubbery, remembering a whimsical gardener.
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Appreciation of local landmarks is an easy pastime. Sometimes, only a quick memory brings back lost ones, or a passing glance reminds us that others still survive. Waynesboro has many notable modern-day sites, including Borough Hall’s iconic clock tower and Welty’s Bridge’s rustic stone arches.
However, preserving these structures takes more than passive appreciation. Various charitable groups work diligently to protect them. Waynesboro’s Historical Society owns three local landmarks (Welty’s Bridge, Oller House and Harbaugh Church), which require constant funding and continuing preservation efforts.
Through Waynesboro’s enthusiastic stewardship and monetary contributions, these monuments are kept viable for future generations to enjoy.
