(Photo by Virginia Lawrence-Hope)

The Colonial Pizza and Spaghetti House (136-38 Spring Garden Street)

An old house, apparently originally all stone, possibly dating from colonial times. Henry Spering, the Sheriff of Northampton County from 1797-1800,1 is listed as the owner of the patent on this land.2 However, other properties showing Henry Spering as the property owner had in fact been occupied earlier by Henry’s father (John Spering), a Tory; were confiscated during the Revolutionary War; and were later returned to the Spering children.3 Accordingly, this property could well have been occupied earlier than Henry Spering’s time. One modern source identifies the building as being in the “Colonial” architectural style with a construction date c.1804.4 Another suggests that it was the first building on the block in 1845.5 A recent building owner related that in

approximately 1853, building owner at that time, Henry Werkheiser,6 replaced the front of the stone building with the present brick wall.7 If so, the original stone house was probably constructed before the 1850s. Some believe a window in the second story facing the River has the possible appearance of a gun port, for Indian defense. A large stone kiln is also located in the rear yard of the property.8

In an 1874 Atlas map of Easton, this property (together with the lots next door) were regarded as being occupied by R. Ferguson.9 With the inauguration of the modern street numbering scheme, Robert Ferguson was assigned the address at 136 Spring Garden Street, while a Mr. Ramsay received No.138.10 In 1880 and 1900, Mr. Ferguson, a carpenter, continued to live at No.136, and other families lived at No.138.11

The building was used in 1919 as a confectionery,12 and in the 1930s and early ‘40s as a grocery.13 It has been The Colonial Pizza and Spaghetti House, an Easton landmark, since the mid-1940s, opened and operated by Joe and Mary Segreto.14 The

1 A.D. Chidsey, Jr., A Frontier Village 259 (Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society, 1940).

2 A.D. Chidsey, The Penn Patents in the Forks of the Delaware Map 2 (Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society 1937).

3 See Chidsey, A Frontier Village, supra at 258-29 (regarding the Detwiller House property on Centre Square).

4 City of Easton, Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form, Attachment: Building Description Survey Area 1 Zone F (City Council Resolution approved 12 May 1982).

5 Easton Main Street Initiative, 31 st Annual Easton House Tour 21 (14 May 2011)(Site #3). 6 Compare J.C. Sidney, Plan of the Town of Easton (R. Clark 1850)(map on wall of Marx

Room, Easton Area Public Library) (showing “Werkheiser” in 1850) with C[harles] Kitchen, A General Directory of the Borough of Easton PA (Cole & Eichman’s Office 1855)(alphabetical listing for Henry Werkheiser at 30 Spring Garden Street).

7 Interview with (then) property owner Bjorn Streubel, 12 July 2005; accord, Sandborn Map Company, Easton, Map No.6 (1919)(showing a brick front wall on an otherwise stone building, with frame add-ons at the rear). See also Historical Plaque at front door.

8 Interview with property owner Bjorn Streubel, 12 July 2005; see also EASTON IRREGULAR, The Easton Christmas Book 49 (Winter 2009)(“Reportedly, there are tiny openings in the back of the building, looking down the Delaware River that may be actually rifle ports for defense in case of an Indian raid!). See generally Leonard S. Buscemi, Sr., The Easton-Phillipsburg 2003 Calendar unnumbered page 11 (Buscemi Enterprises & Pinter’s Printers, Inc. 2002).

9 See D.G. Beers, Atlas of Northampton County Pennsylvania Plan of Easton (A. Pomeroy & Co. 1874)(R. Ferguson).

10 Article, “The New Numbers”, EASTON DAILY FREE PRESS, Friday, 5 Dec. 1873, p.3. 11 1880 Census, Series T9, Roll 1161, p.379B (Robert Furguson at No. 136, Elizabeth

Montague at No.138); 1900 Census, Series T623, Roll 1447, p.53B (Jenny Jacke, a dress maker, at No.138).

However, in 1890, No.136 was listed to Bornelia A. Shug and family. No.138 was listed as the residence of dressmaker Elizabeth Thatcher. Census Directory of Northampton County, Eleventh U.S. Census, 1890 (Joseph H. Werner, assisted by Geo. W. West 1891), Q-Z transcribed online at www.bethlehempaonline.com/beth1890/eastonqtos.html.

2

Segretos also ultimately purchased another strip of land for a garage a block down Spring Garden Street, and turned 114 Spring Garden Street into rental apartments.15 Mr. Segreto, formerly from Brooklyn, retired from the restaurant in 1969 and moved to Florida, where he died in 1970.16

The current owners undertook an extensive renovation project in 2006-08, which created an “English-style pub” in the lower story, and exposed brick walls in the upstairs dining room.17

12 Sandborn Map Company, Easton, Map No.6 (1919). 13 The building was vacant in 1944, according to Polk’s 1944-45 Easton Directory. The

1942 Directory, and the 1937-38 Directory, both show Monroe C. Werkheiser, grocer at 136 Spring Garden St., with his residence at No. 138.

The 1930 Directory shows Charles and Sarah Onley at this address – they also operated it as a grocery (according to their great niece at the Marx Room, Easton Area Public Library).

14 See Obituary, “Joseph Segreto, 71, Pizza House Owner”, EASTON EXPRESS, Sat., 15 Aug. 1970, p.22, col.3 (opened the Colonial Pizza and Spaghetti House and operated it for 25 years). Advertisements for The Colonial Pizza and Spaghetti House, originally owned by Mary and Joe Segreto, began with Polk’s Easton and Phillipsburg City Directory 1947 (R.L.Polk & Co., Inc. 1947). See generally Advertisement from 1956 football program, reprinted in Leonard S. Buscemi, Sr., The Easton-Phillipsburg 2003 Calendar unnumbered page 12 (Buscemi Enterprises and Pinter’s Printers, Inc. 2002) and Picture (c.1940) in id. at unnumbered page 11. But see Easton Main Street Initiative, 31 st Annual Easton House Tour 21 (14 May 2011)(Site #3)(Colonial Pizza operated at this location since 1940).

15 See separate www.WalkingEaston.com entry for the Reichardt House at 114 Spring Garden Street.

16 See Obituary, “Joseph Segreto, 71, Pizza House Owner”, EASTON EXPRESS, Sat., 15 Aug. 1970, p.22, col.3.

17 Easton Main Street Initiative, 31 st Annual Easton House Tour 21 (14 May 2011)(Site #3). See generally Northampton County Tax Records, www.ncpub.org (deed to Colonial House of Easton LLC recorded at 2006-1-292866, sale price $300,000).

3

(Photo by Richard F. Hope)

4