When singer Doris Day was photographed in Tamaqua, she was on her way to major stardom and likely knew it.

Five years after her passing at age 97, details about her life are putting her local appearance into context.

An Ohio native, Day had made a name for herself as a vocalist with big bands. She was a singing celebrity in 1946 but not yet a major Hollywood star, or even a minor one.

According biographers, Day’s first hit recording, “Sentimental Journey,” was released in early 1945.

It went to be No. 1 on the Billboard charts and became an anthem for World War II servicemen.

At the time, Day was a 24-year-old vocalist for Les Brown and His Band of Renown.

And those gigs are what brought her to Tamaqua on the eve of becoming a major movie star.

Day appeared at Lakeside Ballroom, Barnesville, with Les Brown on Thursday, Oct. 10, 1946. It turned out to be her final appearance on the road with Brown because she left the orchestra to pursue her dreams.

Apparently, Day knew her destiny was to be Hollywood and may have had the ticket inside her handbag.

The following day, Friday, Oct. 11, she was photographed as she sat on her suitcase on the Tamaqua train station concourse.

She positioned herself next to the Ladies Waiting Room door, now a secondary entrance to an auxiliary dining room. There, Day calmly held a book and was likely deep in thought when a fan snapped a photo.

The late Curt Williams, Tamaqua, a big band enthusiast, said the photographer was a woman from Mahanoy City who gave him the photo.

Williams said he tried to contact Day in the 1990s but never received a response.

So he, in turn, gave the photo to Tamaqua Save Our Station and provided more information.

“Doris sat on her suitcase outside the depot, waiting to catch a train that would take her out to Hollywood where she would star in her first motion picture, “Romance on the High Seas,’ ” Williams said.

Tamaqua SOS contacted Day.

“I believe they heard back from her,” Williams said, with Day confirming the sequence of events.

The image of Day carries more meaning than most realize.

That’s because it marks the pivotal moment in her career. She was not only waiting for a train, but her destiny.

Today, an engraved brick marks the exact location where Day sat. The photo hangs inside the Tamaqua Train Station Restaurant.

It also appears in the book “Images of America: Lakewood Park” by the Guinan Family, who opened the entertainment and recreational venue in 1916.

“Most big bands and their vocalists traveled by bus, but Doris Day came by train,” states the book, which includes details of her appearance.

Up until the time she appeared at Lakewood, Day was living and performing in New York City and already had been married twice.

Shortly after her Tamaqua area appearance, Day launched her big-time career by singing at a Hollywood party. That gig led to, ultimately, a 20-year career in motion pictures.

Owing to a strategic location near Lakeside and Lakewood ballrooms and the town’s status as a railroad center, Tamaqua hosted many other big names in the entertainment field.

Among the celebrities who visited or stayed overnight in the Tamaqua area, particularly at Scrafford’s Inn, known as “Home of the Stars”: Lana Turner, Duke Ellington, Phyllis Diller, Lawrence Welk, The Andrews Sisters, Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, Sammy Kaye, Louis Armstrong, Bill Haley and His Comets, Teresa Brewer, John Raitt, Ron Palillo, The Platters, The Everly Brothers and many others.

Travel itineraries often put celebrities in Tamaqua on train layover from New York City.

Also, the town’s early Allen Opera House and other theater venues were part of the Boston to Washington, D.C., minstrel circuit.

In fact, there is documentation to suggest that thespian John Wilkes Booth visited Tamaqua in the days before President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.