Port Richmond Part 8: Richmond Avenue (west side), between Grove Avenue and Harrison Avenue

Moving south along Richmond Avenue's west side, starting at Grove Avenue, you hit a real wide variety of stores. By my childhood in the early seventies, some thirty odd years after these pictures, many of these stores were gone, replaced by new, often, cheaper ones.

The last two buildings are the most iconic commercial buildings on Richmond Avenue: Lobel's and Paul's Mens Shop. The former's tall sign and the latter's corner turret are still there, worn and faded reminders of the avenue's heyday.

The picture below, from the late eighties, shows Van Roon (a clothing store) was still in existence then. It's interesting that the present occupants have decided to maintain the same basic color scheme as thirty years ago.

1917 map - the SS Kresge building (hasn't been built yet)

Look to the left end of the line and you can see the Paul's Men's turret with its green shingling.