93 Percent In Smiling
Niagara Falls, New York

Coming soon on Ohio66:
“Starring George Maharis” - by Rick Dailey

Ohio66 presents an in-depth look at the circumstances surrounding the departure of George Maharis from route 66 in the middle of the third season.

preview Starring George Maharis

      

Thanks to Dale Flagler for the photos and commentary. (Dale's 1961 Corvette and farm pictured above).


The first picture was taken just about a mile from the Falls. A single tower can be seen in the background. That was the Seagram’s Tower in Canada. You can see the Canadian landscape has changed dramatically. Those Canadian hotels are NOT empty or abandoned today.


The 2nd photo shows the entrance sign for the Sunny Acres Mobile Home Park. They sold out and also sold the lucrative street frontage to the trailer park.

A Motel 6 is there now but a good chunk of the trailer park is still present in the back - with a different name and entrance road.

That landscape has changed too and it was virtually impossible to tell where the filming was done in the trailer park. Not many of the trailers from 1964 are there anymore.


The famous house where the kids set up “home” is located in the north end of the City of Niagara Falls on James Avenue. It hasn't changed much but the 2nd floor porch is gone.


An angled view.


Howard is doing yard work for Mrs. Snyder (Jean Stapleton) and “interviews” her to see if she and her husband are suitable candidates for adopting the his baby brother.


The Snyders' home is located a few blocks south of the empty James Ave. house where the baby is left.

The inside of MacLeod Drug Store in 1963. It’s a novelty shop today and we are hoping to have current inside photos soon.


The next photo shows the strip plaza at 2649 Main St. where the kids shoplifted from McLeod’s Drug Store. The drug store is long gone (replaced with a novelty shop) now but I will tell you that the pharmacist show chasing the kids was actually the real pharmacist. I used to hang out in the Wayside Coffee Shop which was located on the unseen side of the drug store so I remember seeing him often.


Next the kids are chased past a grocery store at the end of the plaza which is no longer there.


...and around the corner into the side parking lot.


...running behind the plaza.

Howard and Pansy continue running north behind the buildings on Main St. toward the intersection of Monteagle St. and Garden Ave. Note the railroad tracks to the left and the siding tracks to the right.


They continue running along the siding tracks. A 1963 aerial photo shows the most logical location of these tracks as just south of the intersection of Monteagle and Garden.


Running north on Monteagle St. from Garden Ave. In the lower right corner you can see how Monteagle starts to make a curve. Today, this is where Garden Ave. intersects but in 1963 Garden did not yet exist.


This is our best guess as to exactly where the Sunny Acres scenes were filmed. Aerial photos from 1963 and within the past few years show the same basic layout of the trailer park and based on the trailers parked at an angle in the background there are really only two potential spots in the park that are candidates.

We believe that the best candidate is here at the intersection of “C” St. (some maps show it as Barberry Place) and Roger Drive.


The final scene. Looking westward along “C” St.

If you are a Route 66 fan, please consider joining the discussion group at:

groups.io Route 66 TV

Ohio66 Home Ohio66 Home...