Local history has a new home at Export Train Station replica
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When it was time to buy snacks at McHugh’s Variety Store in Export, Bill McHugh was a popular kid back in the day.
“My grandfather Andrew ‘Happ’ McHugh owned the store with his sister, Martha, so I always got a little more candy for my dime,” McHugh said. “And so all the other kids wanted me to buy their candy.”
Andrew McHugh — who also was a former bookkeeper for the Westmoreland Coal Co. that formed the backbone of Export’s local industry — bought and operated the store starting in the 1930s. Today, that property is home to the expanded area of Jigger’s Pub on Washington Avenue.
Borough Councilwoman Melanie Litz, who is a little younger than McHugh, can remember picking out candy from the same penny-candy case, only for her it was when it was located at the former Gray’s Hardware store — it had been moved by that time.
Now, the case sits alongside a treasure trove of other local memorabilia inside another piece of borough history, a replica of the former Export Train Station.
Litz, who also is a member of the Export Historical Society, was joined by several society members Sunday as they began the process of determining what should go on display, and when.
“We’ve worked really closely with the Heinz History Center,” Litz said. “They told us that we’re in really great shape because not only do we have a building, we also have the stuff to fill it.”
Items run the gamut, from an old Westmoreland County Merchant’s League softball jersey advertising Betty’s Luncheonette, which opened in 1972 and was in operation until the early ’80s, to the display case housing the jersey.
“It was owned by Carlo Mance, whose uncle used to own Mance’s Dance Hall here in town,” Litz said. “It had a grocery store below and a pool hall in the basement. This case is where they kept all of the pool cues.”
As for the candy case, society members have big plans.
One corner of the train station is stacked with old-school candy such as marshmallow ice cream cones and wax lips: Litz said the society is going to bring the case outside for the Export Ethnic Food & Music Festival on Aug. 20 and give children coupons to redeem for penny candy. The festival will include a ribbon-cutting and official grand opening for the train station.
And with so much historical memorabilia on hand, Litz said, the society will have a rotating display inside.
“Just with mining alone, we have enough to break it down into three or four different featured displays,” she said.
The Export Ethnic Food & Music Festival will be from noon to 9 p.m. Aug. 20 along Washington Avenue.
For details, see ExportPennsylvania.com.
MORE EXPORT NEWS
• Projects big and small help to revitalize Export
• Export Historical Society partners with Heinz History Center
• Export OKs short Westmoreland Heritage Trail extension