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And lastly, there was [[underlined]] Johnny Knoll's [[underlined]] at Harborcreek. I have perhaps saved the all-round best for last and wish I could remember more of the details of it. I shall try to gather more and if successful, shall add them to this later. Johnny Knoll's place was located on Route 20, then the main east-west highway through Erie, just east of where Rt. 20 ducks under the New York Central mainline at Harborcreek, and probably less then 100-feet north of the NYC depot. It is on the history of the building that I'm haziest. It was a plain-looking two-story frame structure painted gray and with a porch running around most of it. It was quite ancient, maybe going back close to the Civil War, and had been a tavern and stopover on the road between Buffalo and Cleveland. It now had a cinder-covered parking lot adjacent. If there had been stables, they were no longer there as I recall it. Inside it was low-ceiling'd and quite cut up, some of the latter being well adapted to serving small private parties. There was nothing modern-appearing in the whole layout. The rooms were wallpapered and the paper looked as though it probably dated back at least to the turn of the century. Likewise, the pictures hanging on the walls were, at the latest, of Victorian vintage--Currier & Ives prints, engravings, old oils of baskets of fruit and similar subjects. I believe the floors were generally covered with ancient and wellworn carpets. But everything was dark--the woodwork, the furniture, the paper, the drapes. And the furniture was almost entirely antique. The proprietor was Johnny Knoll, a short, stocky, florid-faced, aging man who had been an accomplished musician and for many years a member of Sousa's Band. I don't recall how long he'd run the tavern but my first recollections of the place went back to the last years of Prohibition when I was taken out there a few times when a young design engineer, accompanying some of the older men who were entertaining customers. I didn't go often and it was a thrill to get to enjoy this place, which was quite famous for its superb food--and, during Prohibition, the availability of equally safe and superb drinks if you had the right credentials. By no means was it a speakeasy and drinks weren't to be had by anyone. But evidently some of the GE upper crust were on the approved list. Also, my recollection is that in those Prohibition days, there were seldom many guests in evidence--maybe they were all stashed away privately where they couldn't be seen. But a meal at Johnny Knoll's either before or after Prohibition ended was something to be remembered. As far as the food was concerned, it rated very much as the Aviation Country Club does today--it was the best in the area and famous. The place was ideally located for those who enjoyed drinking and dining in a railroad atmosphere because, with the four-track mainline running only a hundred feet or so behind the tavern and trains rocketing past frequently, a natural accompaniment went along with activities and conversation without disrupting things. In fact, I've been told that on a few