Did you know
The following is another Did You Know? quiz about Fayette County history.
1. Which of the following movies had no connections to Fayette County?
?A) Diabolique
B) Maria’s Lovers
C) Scotland, Pa
D) The Express
E) None of the Above
2. In February of 1938, a bizarre set of events in Fayette County, led to national news. What had happened?
A) Several teenagers commandeered a B&O train in Connellsville, and they took it to Johnstown.
B) The Connellsville police chief and several officers were arrested for engaging in a burglary ring.
C) A six year-old was rescued from the storage room of a farmhouse, after being locked inside it for five of her six years.
D) The famed champion of the temperance movement, Carrie Nation, was arrested for public drunkenness at a tavern in Uniontown.
E) A former heavyweight boxing champion of the world got involved in a street fight, and he lost.
3. In February of 1953, Fayette County was the location of a “world record.” What was nature of that record?
A) Continuous duck pin bowling.
B) A land speed record (of sorts).
C) Continuous tether ball playing.
D) The percentage of local high school graduates who enrolled in institutions of higher learning.
E) Continuous roller skating.
4. Not to be confused with question number three, but in July of 1940, Fayette County was the scene of another “world record.” What was the nature of that record?
A) Continuous duck pin bowling.
B) A land speed record (of sorts).
C) Continuous tether ball playing.
D) The percentage of local high school graduates who enrolled in institutions of higher learning.
E) Continuous roller skating.
THE ANSWERS
1. E, None of the Above.
The 1996 movie “Diabolique,” starring Sharon Stone and Kathy Bates was filmed, in part, in Uniontown.
It was a remake of the 1955 French movie of the same name starring Simone Signoret.
The 1984 movie “Maria’s Lovers,” starting Robert Mitchum, Nastassja Kinski, John Goodman and Keith Carradine, was shot in Brownsville and Grindstone.
Uniontown is mentioned in the song used over the closing credits (“Pa Turnpike”) of the 2001 movie “Scotland, Pa.”
Although none of the 2008 film, “The Express,” was actually shot in Uniontown, the opening scenes of the movie depicted it.
Plus, several scenes throughout the movie were set in Uniontown.
There are two more notable Fayette County – Hollywood connections.
Uniontown’s State Theater was used for scenes in the 1992 movie “Bob Roberts.”
The latest connection was the 2010 movie “The Next Three Days,” starring Russell Crowe.
The film got a locally-related “goof” in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com).
That’s because it was implied that Route 43 and the Pittsburgh Zoo were in close proximity.
“You can clearly see Chestnut Ridge Mountain in the background putting them on toll Route 43 outside of Uniontown, PA. This is over an hour-and-a-half from the Pittsburgh Zoo,” says the IMDb production notes.
2. C, A six year-old was rescued from the storage room of a farmhouse after being locked inside it for five of her six years.
The Feb. 7, 1938 edition of the Oakland (Ca) Tribune reported that a hearing was being arranged for the grandfather and mother of the child.
It was believed the child had been fathered by an elderly neighbor.
The Humane Society claimed the child’s imprisonment left her in tragically ill health.
One year later, though, it was reported the child was in good health, and living in a “good home” in Uniontown.
3. A, Continuous duck pin bowling.
The San Mateo (Calif.) Times reported that Tommy Simon of Uniontown and Bill Haywood of Shoaf had bowled non-stop for 322 games at Miers Bowling Center.
The Uniontown Evening Standard reported that the 60 hour, eight minutes of continuous duck pin bowling was a world endurance record.
4. B, A land speed record (of sorts).
Jimmy Wilburn of Los Angeles set what was thought to be the world single lap, half mile, dirt track record at the Independence Day featured race at Uniontown Speedway.
Wilburn’s lap of 21.46 seconds was said to have shattered his old record of 21.72 seconds.
His winning time for the entire race (which alternately, and curiously was listed in the nation’s newspapers as 30 laps and 30 miles), was 11:49:98.
I used the word “curiously,” above, because Uniontown Speedway’s track was a half mile long.
If that featured race was 30 laps long, it could have only been 15 miles – not 30.
Add to that the fact that Wilburn’s time (a few seconds shy of 12 minutes) would have meant he’d traveled 30 miles at an average rate of 150 miles per hour.
That would have, indeed, been a world record on a dirt track in 194.
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Edward A. Owens can be reached by e-mail at freedoms@bellatlantic.net