Tube City Almanac

October 25, 2007

Dinner and a Show

Category: History, Mon Valley Miscellany || By



My old colleague and cow-orker, Scott Beveridge of the Observer-Reporter, has a look back at a beloved Mon Valley landmark, the Twin Coaches on Route 51 in Rostraver Township.

The nightclub, built around two old Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad passenger cars, was once among the largest in Western Pennsylvania and hosted stars like Bobby Vinton, Shirley Jones, Liberace, the Four Tops, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Johnny Mathis and Rosemary Clooney.

While campaigning for the presidency in 1960, John F. Kennedy dined at the Coaches on scrambled eggs and Stoney's Beer (it was a Friday and he couldn't eat meat), and Johnny Carson used to mention the nightclub on The Tonight Show.

As Scott points out, the era of the great night clubs like Monroeville's Holiday House and North Versailles Township's Vogue Terrace went into eclipse in the 1960s and 1970s, as musical tastes shifted from pop to rock 'n roll. The last entertainer booked at the Twin Coaches was Sammy Davis Jr.

But the Candy Man never got to perform. A spectacular fire destroyed the club 30 years ago this month --- ironically, as Scott notes, on the first day of Fire Prevention Week.

Anyway, go read it. I'll see you tomorrow.






Your Comments are Welcome!

You mentioned North Versailles Township’s Vogue Terrace. I never heard of it. Where was it located? Do you have any other info about it?
Tom Noll - October 26, 2007



OT

Do you get this on :
This is a standard HTML document
http://www.state.pa.us/PA_Constitution.html

These folks are crazy.
doug - October 27, 2007



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