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Dutch Pantry in Pennsylvania:
Avoca Clearfield Gettysburg Speers
Breezewood Danville Harrisburg Selinsgrove
Camp Hill DuBois Mansfield State College
Carlisle Elizabethtown Meadville Sunbury
Clarion Erie Pittsburgh
 
Please note that locations listed above are from various sources and represent an incomplete accounting.
 

breezewood
 
Photos March 2007: Kummerlowe Archive
 
Breezewood -- 132 Post House Rd (Pa. Turnpike @ I-70)
 
Counted among the Hospitality Motor Inns locations, Breezewood's Dutch Pantry offered a unique layout with its lower level convenience/gas station set up. Once one of the busier units, Breezewood had ceased to be by the late 1980s.
 
Above & Lower: Note the recycled sign base and marquee, and that the restaurant's exterior remained remarkably recognizable and intact.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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carlisle
 
Postcard ca. 1970s: Kummerlowe Archive
 
Carlisle -- 1151 Carlisle Pike
 

Located in a non-standard building, the Carlisle Dutch Pantry was most likely a conversion of another restaurant. Moreover it was not a part of SOHIO's empire of roadside red and white roofed units.

In addition to the non-standard building, note the roof's understated cupola as well as the street sign with its lower portion obviously recycled by the Dutch Pantry to read "Family Restaurant."

 
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clarion
 
© Microsoft Corp.
 
Clarion -- I-80 @ SR 68
 
Clarion was a HMI unit, but no other information is available.
 
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clearfield
 
© Microsoft Corp.
 
Clearfield -- I-80 @ SR 879 (128 High St.?)
 

Both the Clearfield and DuBois units were originally owned and operated by Hospitality Motor Inns. The Clearfield restaurant was opened Monday November 26, 1973, seated 100, employed 35-40, and cost $300,000 to build. It was the 25th of SOHIO's Dutch Pantrys and was first managed by Jeffery L. Knapp.

Incredibly both of the units survived not only the sale of Hospitality Motor Inns to Harley Hotels, but also the demise of Dutch Pantry itself. The long-lived Pennsylvania Dutch themed restaurants had become by 2007 the last two original Dutch Pantrys in the Keystone State. Moreover they could well be the last two functioning Dutch Pantry locations period.

 
Clearfield County Brochure: 2007, 52: Courtesy of Dan Donahue
dubois
DuBois -- I-80 @ US 219 (2044 Rich Hwy.?)
 
© Microsoft Corp.
 
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gettysburg
 
Card circa 1980s: Courtesy of Dan Donahue
Gettysburg
 

No doubt capitalizing on the area's tourist attractions, the Gettysburg Dutch Pantry was a classic location offering traditional fare and a large selection of Pennsylvania Dutch themed gift items. The long-lived outlet was not operated by SOHIO or its HMI subsidiary.

 
Left: Note the street sign's 'new' 1980 logo which while it still included the wind mill reference had de-emphasized it. Nonetheless the advertising card prominently reproduced the early windmill version in its heading.
 
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harrisburg
 
Postcards ca. 1970s: Kummerlowe Archive
 
Harrisburg -- 5680 Allentown Blvd
 
With its exceptionally exaggerated "Pennsylvania Dutch barn" building, Harrisburg opened in July 1967. Like State College which also opened in 1967, both included the only Dutch Pantry Motor Inns. Harrisonburg's motel became a Quality Inn and out-lived its adjacent over-the-top restaurant which was razed by the middle 2000s. Neither location was affiliated with SOHIO's Hospitality Motor Inns subsidiary.
 
 
 
 
Below: Note that the blue arrow indicates where the Dutch Pantry Restaurant had been located.
 
© Microsoft Corp.
 
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selinsgrove
 
Postcard ca. 1950s: Kummerlowe Archive
 
Selinsgrove -- U.S. 11 & 15
 
Having established a reputation for fresh produce and tasty baked goods in the early 20th century, Lottie Kemberling and her son Jess opened a highway outlet in 1945 anticipating the post war automobile centered tourist boom. From that Selinsgrove location, the first Dutch Pantry Restaurant was born.
 
Below: As the chain grew and evolved, at least a couple of different building types were tested before the familiar standard was finalized. The original Selinsgrove unit was destroyed by fire in 1963 and replaced with the "barn-moderne" prototype seen below.
barnmoderne
Postcard ca. 1960s: Kummerlowe Archive
 
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speers
 
Speers
1001 Guttman Ave 

 

The Speers restaurant was built, owned, and operated by Hospitality Motor Inns. Newspaper accounts indicate that the unit opened with fanfare on Monday May 29, 1978, cost $400,000, employed 35 to 40, and was first managed by Walter H. Brauckmann.

Located immediately at an Interstate interchange and at the Speers Industrial Park, the restaurant was open 24 hours a day and proved to be a popular spot for travelers and locals alike. In the early 1980s after Hospitality Motor Inns became Harley Hotels, Rains International Ltd. took over operation of the site and Speers was renovated increasing sales by 33%.

Alas, Rains failed to pay the rent, and the Dutch Pantry's doors were abruptly and unexpectedly closed in March of 1987. Lasting only nine years as a Dutch Pantry, the building remained vacant for a period of time, but it was operating as Lorraine’s Family Restaurant by the middle 2000s.

The Valley Independent: 6-8-78
 
Above: The full page newspaper ad announcing Speers' grand opening enticed potential patrons with the lure of free bottles of Sweet 'n Sour dressing!
 
 
Photo March 2008: Courtesy of Joe Gaskill (& Ryan Branham)
 
 
© Microsoft Corp.
 
 
The Valley Independent: 10-10-80
 
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