Ghost Sign: Kaufmann’s Department Store – Donora, Pennsylvania
This weekend, I caught the first episode of a new show on HBO Max called The Last Wright. “A mother and daughter team take on the task of building Riverrock, a home based on the last plans created by Frank Lloyd Wright before his death.”
During episode one there is a vignette about the Wright iconic masterpiece Fallingwater. The Wikipedia entry for the storied home notes, “The three-story residence was developed as a weekend retreat for Liliane and Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., the owner of Kaufmann’s Department Store in Pittsburgh.”
During a 2004 roadtrip, I visited the house as it had been a fascination of mine.
Though I had some peripheral awareness that the Kaufmann family had commissioned Fallingwater, in the 20 years since taking the tour of the house, I didn’t really give the family name much thought. Not even when I was snapping photos of this Kaufmann’s department store ghost sign in Donora, Pennsylvania in the summer of 2024.
It wasn’t until this weekend that the lightbulb switched on for me. I thought, is this Kaufmann the same as the ghost sign Kaufmann? Indeed it is one and the same.
Tarentum, Pennsylvania is home to a beautiful Kaufmann’s ghost sign. I have yet to visit this one personally, but streetview has a nice glimpse. It also helps to visually piece together what the faded one from Donora may have looked like when it was more fresh.
Sometimes it takes a minute to piece these things together, but it’s fun when it happens.
Safe travels!
