Pottsville Crimson Tide

Growing up in Pottsville in the fifties was a great time; children wore Davy Crockett hats and played cowboy and Indians. The next decade was very turbulent. For those of you mathematically challenged I am referring to the sixties, a decade that brought upheaval - with war, the struggle for civil rights and the assassination of the beloved President.
You may be thinking I am referring to the 1950s, but I am not. I am talking about the 1850’s, for that is the decade that Pottsville High School opened for business.
There are so many unanswered questions about those early days. The most perplexing question, of course, is “why does Pottsville High School an oceanic nickname? Why “The Tide?” Take a walk around the city and you are hard-pressed to find any sand, shells, or hermit crabs even in Pottsville’s “fish-bach” section. Secondly, look around; Pottsville is like Rome – a hilly place; it’s not Miami or even nearby Clamtown.
Don’t you often lay awake at night like I do, tossing and turning, wondering “Why ‘the Tide’ and not ‘the Mountaineers’?” When it was confirmed that the school wasn’t promoting Proctor and Gamble’s household product, I assumed the name must have some connection with the Schuylkill River, but I needed to know for sure. I needed to sleep soundly once again. I would travel to the school and find out.

Not surprisingly, none of the original faculty members were still teaching, so I relied on the old school newspapers, school board minutes, and bathroom graffiti to find out more about the selection of the quaint aquatic name. Remember, in 1853 the school was not located high on 16th Street, it was the downtown somewhere; but even down there the water level did not warrant flood insurance. Why the name “Tide?”
Could the Schuylkill River have a tide? I definitely had a scientific background as I own the “Back to the Future” DVD trilogy. I also had won a ribbon at the school science fair with my entry, "Sweet and Sour: How Can Pork be simultaneously both?” But I did not trust myself and I sought out expert advice. I went to Mount Carbon’s Adelphia Seafood to further my research. It is Schuylkill County’s version of an edible aquarium. I took a number and waited for service. When it was my turn, I said, “I’ll have pickled herring and can you tell me if rivers have tides?” I was dumbfounded by the candid response. “Yes indeed! Rivers do have tides. That includes our own Schuylkill River. Not only do rivers have tides, even the earth and the air around us have tides. Fishermen depend on the tides for their livelihood. Moonlight also affects the size of their catch. But I’m sorry we are sold out of pickled herring.”
I was closer to the answer to my question. It had nothing to do with oceans. Rather; the school name came from the full moon, which affects oceans, the Schuylkill River, Ivy Side pool, the even the Centre Street fountain. Indeed, that is why Nativity H.S. calls its team, “The Green Wave.” Amazingly, Pottsville’s two schools, high atop opposite mountains, are nautically named.
I did further research at the Eagles Club and discovered that 80% of the human body is composed of either water or beer depending on what time of day it is, and whether the beer is lager or light. I stared at the bottle in front of me and began to ponder the gravitational force of the moon and its influence on the water within the human body.
I said to the bartender “So we all have tides within ourselves and are all affected by the moon.” I now felt as if I had solved the Pottsville Republican Sodoku puzzle. I had discovered why Pottsville is “the tide.”
“Each one of us has our own high tides and low tides! Just like the football team. Yes, the Tide was a name given by the original Pottsville school board members, who were probably all druids, in respect for the gravitational pull found within everyone of us.”
At that moment the Eagles barkeep politely asked me to leave. I now had to search for pickled herring.

San Francisco and Pottsville: Connected at birth?

This is another that appeared in the Pottsville Republican years ago. It actually is part one of the movement to change the name of Pottsville to something else.

To increase local tourism, our experts have been wasting their time comparing Pottsville with Jim Thorpe. A better comparison would be to compare Pottsville with San Francisco because of the striking similarities.

• San Francisco's rise to prominance was attributed to "gold" while Pottsville's rise was attributed to "black gold" or anthracite;



• Both cities have beautiful quaint homes built upon steep hills;



• San Francisco has its cable car, Pottsville has cable television;



• San Francisco has the Pacific Ocean, Pottsville has the Crimson tide and the Green wave;



• San Francisco's downtown was leveled by an earthquake, Pottsville's downtown was partially leveled to make room for parking lots;



• San Francisco has the "Cow Palace," Pottsville has "Bull's Head."



• San Francisco is located near Palo Alto, so is Pottsville;



• San Francisco has eccentrics filling its streets, Pottsville has ten times as many;



• San Francisco is noted for "acid rock" and Chinatown, Pottsville has "acid rain" and two Chinese restaurants;



• San Francisco is proud of the "Giants," Pottsville is proud of its "Giant" Supermarket.

The Carbon County seat however did have the courage years ago to acquire the remains of a deceased public figure and rename itself in his honor. Mauch Chunk became Jim Thorpe once the corpse arrived; the rest is history. Perhaps with the close connection between San Francisco and Pottsville the remains of a deceased San Franciscan musician could be purchased with the use of PADCO funds. Maybe if we are lucky Pottsville could become a more hip, "Jerry Garcia, Pennsylvania."