An undated photograph of the William McNoldy photography shop in Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The shop was located on Lot #66.
The following description was included in a Gratz history published in 1997:
During the time that Jacob McNoldy and Mary McNoldy owned this lot, their young son William J. McNoldy had a photography studio on these premises. It was a two-story building, later destroyed, located behind the present house on this lot…. In later years, it housed the Arthur H. Daniel Bottling Works….
It was in that shop that William developed and enlarged pictures. He photographed some of the Gratz school classes and some of those pictures have survived. He also took numerous other photos…. Besides photography, McNoldy ended, caned, and painted furniture in this same building.
William McNoldy was a very short hunchback, and apparently was not able to engage in hard labor. According to his obituary he was “in poor health since the age of two, but he was able to be about.” Despite his handicap, William was self-sufficient. He traded work for things he needed. One time a lady made him a coat and would not accept any money. In payment for her kindness William made a very beautifully framed seed picture for her. The family treasured it for many years.
During the years that he was not engaged in photography, William traveled with a party operating a carousel. [It is not known] with whom he traveled, but perhaps it may have been Harry Smith the showman from Gratz. After the McNoldy family left Gratz, they lived on the corner of Grand Avenue and Ninth Street in Tower City. William lived with his father Jacob at that address until his death. The funeral was held in Tower City. Later the cortege proceeded to Gratz for a service in the Reformed Church before burial in the adjoining cemetery.
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