Monthly Archives: April 2009

    I know we are going to get in trouble for this, but we are not positive about the history of the Saint Agatha School of Religion. We know the building was built in 1961 and we are hoping you can help fill us in on rest of the history. We know that CCD classes were held here for the children of Saint Agatha but for how many years we are not sure. We do know that it has also been home to a pre-school for many years, home to Boy Scouts troops, and of course the site of the Saint Agatha Bazaar. I remember every year thinking that this is the year the motorized swings at the Bazaar finally collapsed down the hillside, but thankfully it never happened. For not a big area, there sure are a lot of memories about the Saint Agatha Bazaar that come rushing back very quickly. The Ferris wheel, the tables lined up along the side for the food, the smoke filled rooms inside for the adults, and of course seeing your friends you haven’t seen since school let out. It is hard to pick just one thing but next to the unbelievable food, the nickel toss was my personal favorite. What do you remember about the Saint Agatha Bazaar or the School itself? Please share your memories with us by leaving a comment below or CLICK HERE to email us.

   The National Plumbing fire on top of the hill was a very memorable fire. The building itself was on the main road in and out of Ellwood City as the four lane highway wasn’t even a thought yet. These pictures were taken the next day and as you can see there are still pockets of smoke smoldering from a very hot fire. You can see how hot the fire was by what the heat did to the steel beams that held the building up. If you remember this fire or National Plumbing itself, please share your memories by leaving a comment below or CLICK HERE to email us.

    We need your help. We are looking for someone that may know the history of the Knights of Pythias, Knights of the Golden Eagle, Knights and Ladies of Honor, German Beneficial Union, Uniformed Rank, Knights of the Maccabees, Ladies of the Maccabees, or the Protective Home Circle in Ellwood City. We are looking for locations, dates they were built, so on and so on. However that is not all we started this site for. We need MEMORIES too. Funny stories, touching stories, you know, the good stuff. If you have a story you would like to share about any of these organizations, please EMAIL us or leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

59 Pittsburgh Circle

The house at 59 Pittsburgh Circle was built in 1919 by L.J. Anderson. The house became the home of Benjamin & Sarah Balter in 1923 until the house was sold in the 1950’s. Mr. and Mrs. Ben Balter owned and operated B&B Market at three different locations on Lawrence Avenue over a thirty year span.
    We are trying to find out more about the history of the house since the Balter’s sold it in the 50′s. If you know who has lived here since, or want to share a story about those families, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

    This is one of the greatest pictures we have been given. The picture was taken from on top of the current Nick Frisk Law Offices building looking West down Lawrence Avenue in 1963. Most of the businesses are no longer located in Ellwood City but most of the buildings are still there. On the left of the picture you can see the Stiefel Building with Fifth Street marker attached to the building. Across the street on the Northern side of Lawrence Ave we get a clear picture of Ellwood City in the early part of the 1960’s. The first thing that stands out to most people is the Majestic Theater.
     The Majestic Theater was located at 506 Lawrence Avenue was purchased and operated by Andy Frank & John Biordi in 1917 and was well known for it’s vaudeville and silent movies at that time. Irene and Tony Guerrere purchased the theater from them in 1976 and continued to own the Majestic until it was destroyed by a massive fire in 1984.
    To the East was a drug store and then Isaly’s (I Shall Always Love You), both were very popular hang outs to local teenagers. To the West is Shapiros, Damas Grill, W.T. Grant Co. with a sign for a bowling alley in front. Does anybody remember if the bowling alley was on the main floor, basement, or second floor? Next to the Grant Company was the G.C. Murphy’s Co. The Murphy Company arrived in Ellwood City as early as 1917 and advertised “Goods under $0.25”. The “five & ten” store as it became known as remained a fixture on Lawrence Ave until the early 1980’s.
    Continuing west, we can see signs for Edmin’s, Lucc’s, Hardware Store, and the old Hotel Conway. Beside Kimpel’s Jewelers was National Lunch and City Drug Store on the corner of Sixth Street. After crossing Sixth Street it gets a little harder to make out the names on the signs but we can see Pushs, and Merves Furniture.
     Some of the other things we noticed from this picture were the street lights and television antennas. You can see the old fixtures on all the light poles where the fancy ornate street lights used to be but no longer. Also on top of all the buildings are television antennas which were customary for this time but if you look on top of Merves Furniture the antenna is huge, because they sold televisions.
     Does this picture remind you of any old stories? Please share your memories with us by leaving a comment below or EMAIL us.

     The Ellwood Ambulance Service’s station was on the corner of Fourth Street and Crescent Avenue  which was formally the base of operations for Undertaker W.D. Porter and would later become Gene’s Flower Shop. Owner Pete Orlando started the Ambulance business that served Ellwood City and surrounding area for many years, saving many, many lives. Some of the employees pictured include El Jenkins, Larry Chappell, Tim Stevenson, and John Court. Eventually Joe Tomon purchased the Ambulance Service from Mr. Orlando and after awhile took on another partner from Evans City. The new partnership would become Medevac and still serves the area today.
   If you know any of the other employees pictured or have any memories of the old Ellwood Ambulance and the Ghostbuster ambulances, please leave a comment below or CLICK HERE to email us.

    We have mentioned Nick’s in Ewing Park many times but many people have also shared their memories with us of the Dairy Queen in Ewing Park. We have heard about the great summer that the banana splits were on sale all summer long and Dave Weingartner shared with us his memories of hanging out in the parking lot of the Dairy Queen with all the other young kids of Ellwood City on their bicycles. Most of the boys were on little league teams and they could be identified by their little league hats.
    The Dairy Queen is no longer there, having been gone for quite awhile now. In the mid 90′s a small Italian Ice shack set up business on the old foundation but was replaced by the current apartment building. Do you have any memories of the old Dairy Queen? We would love to hear from you, please leave a comment below or CLICK HERE to email us.

    Every time it snows, we hear stories of the BIG snow of 1950. It started the day after Thanksgiving a little over 48 years ago, do you personally remember it? From Thursday to Saturday thirty three inches of snow fell upon Ellwood City setting a record that still has never been matched. It may be hard to understand fully today but nearly all commercial activity was shut down, everything. Streets were blocked, barns were inaccessible, and some folks could not even get their front door open.  Remarkably the town never lost electric service but telephone service was limited to emergency use only.
     Some people still argue how, but R.J. “Denny” Schill jumped into action and contacted someone, somewhere, somehow and got the roads cleared. In November 1950, the Turnpike was in the process of being extended to Ohio. Mr. Schill pulled some strings and got a couple of giant earth movers to come to Ellwood City from the construction site in Koppel to clear the streets. To fully understand how big these machines are, compare the height of the people standing close by and the tires alone. The tires are taller than the doorways of the local shops. These monsters quickly got Ellwood City moving again, long before New Castle even had a plan.
     Another great thing these pictures give us is a snapshot of some of the business in 1950 and a picture of the Dambaugh building (or McKlinsky Building) on the corner of Lawrence Ave and 6th Street that burnt down. The first picture shows the machine on Sixth Street between Lawrence Ave and Crescent Ave. If you look hard you are able to see Young’s Pontiac Dealership, City Drug Store, Zeigler Furniture, and the A&P Market in the background before it built the building last occupied by Shop N Save and Foodland.
    The second picture is taken on Lawrence Avenue in front of Ellwood Electric and offers an even better view of the Dambaugh building. Notice the beautiful street lights and the billboards painted on the building beside the Municipal Building even back then. I believe you can still see the Oswald sign today.
    If you would like to share your memories of the big snow or of one of the business in the pictures please email us or leave a comment below.

We have heard a legend that was brought to our attention in the back of one of the Ellwood City Yearbooks from the 1920′s about Col. Isaac Ellwood whom our town is named after. Legend has it that Mr. Ellwood accidentally shot and killed a Native American somewhere behind the old Ellwood City Hospital. The story goes on to say that people came from as far away as Pittsburgh to visit this “Indian’s” grave and to honor him. The mystery that has been presented to us today is, “where is the grave site”?
    We have gone to the Ellwood City Historical Society and quickly glanced at the yearbooks of the 1920′s but were unable to find the article. Mr. Bosley thought he had read the article in the back of the 1923 yearbook and he also believed that it said “behind where the hospital now stands”. So this is obviously the gray hospital on the hill and not the hospital on the corner of Crescent & 7th. There are some empty patches of ground around the old hospital but nothing is “officially” marked. Could one of these spots be empty because of the grave?
    Col Isaac Ellwood died in 1910 in Illinois but traveled very little after his wife died in 1902. So we have to assume that he either shot the Indian in the town’s first 10 years of existence or sometime from 1849-1851 when he worked as a teamster on the Erie Canal. If it was 1850′s what was he doing all the way up on top of the hill so far away from Rock Point? Also, if it was the 1850′s how did people travel here to pay respects at the grave? However, the crime rate was high in the early years of Ellwood City as most of the citizens were travelers that went where the money was good and Mr. Evans did say that the area had its share of Indians that were often violent.
    When Ellwood City was founded, there were three cemeteries in Ellwood City. Old Methany on Wampum Road (became first catholic cemetery), The Nye cemetery just off of Fountain Avenue across from Locisano’s where the Tube mill used to be until they built L&N, and the third was the McGregor cemetery on 9th St between Crescent and Park Ave (awfully close to the murder scene).  When they tore up the ground at the McGregor & Nye cemetery to build upon, the bodies were moved to Locust Grove cemetery. Also the Methany cemetery beside Aiken Refuse had most of the bodies moved as the hillside slowly corroded away and talk of a “strip mall” was going to go in at the site. There are still some graves at the Methany Cemetery but most are unmarked or the headstones are too weathered to read. I am assuming that the Indian was buried at a cemetery if people came as far away as Pittsburgh to visit the grave and honor him. Usually the Native Americans would not be accommodating to their personal burial grounds as they were considered sacred ground.
    There it is Ladies and Gentlemen, get out the magnifying glasses and trench coats, time to solve a mystery. If you have any information about our mystery, please email us or leave a comment below.

    We need your help. We can list the history of the Masons in Ellwood City, locations, date they were built, so on and so on. However that is not really what we started this site for. We need MEMORIES. Funny stories, touching stories, you know, the good stuff. If you have a story you would like to share about Masons, please EMAIL us or leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

    We need your help. The Ellwood City Kiwanis Club was established in 1922 and we can list the full history, the locations, date they were built, so on and so on. However that is not really what we started this site for. We need MEMORIES. Funny stories, touching stories, you know, the good stuff. If you have a story you would like to share about Kiwanis Club, please EMAIL us or leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

    We need your help. The Ellwood City Citizens Band organized in 1894 and we can list the full history, the locations, date they were built, so on and so on. However that is not really what we started this site for. We need MEMORIES. Funny stories, touching stories, you know, the good stuff. If you have a story you would like to share about Citizens Band, please EMAIL us or leave a comment at the bottom of this post.