Monthly Archives: July 2009

    The house at 611 Wayne Avenue was the home to the extremely active member of the Eagles, Paul Grannis. Not only was he an active member of club number 1246 of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, he is still considered perhaps Ellwood’s most active member in the Eagles history, being named Worthy State President in 1963.
   Mr. Grannis joined the local F.O.E. club in 1941. In only two years, he was elected conductor in 1943, Worthy President in 1943-44 and again in 1946-47. He helped organize District 2 and served as District Governor from 1947 to 1952. He served as Zone Deputy Grand President in 1952 and as Honorary State Vice President in 1953-54 before being elected State Outside Guard in 1954. While serving, Mr. Grannis organized Ellwood City lodge’s Past Worthy Presidents Club in 1954. 
    Paul served as chairman of the clubs Fiftieth and fifty-fourth Anniversary Celebrations, wrote the history of the local club and was awarded the Eagle Civic Service Award. 
    The Fraternal Order of Eagles was not the only capacity Mr. Grannis served Ellwood City as he also served as chairman of the Ellwood City Community Picnic for four years, Chancellor of Alma Lodge, Knights of the Pythias, was a Past Noble Tom of the Howling Tom Cats, Vice-President of the Ellwood Athletic Association, and was a long time member of the Ellwood City polio chapter.  In his spare time he also served on the Merchants Division of the Ellwood City Chamber of Commerce, served on the official board of the First Methodist Church, and was an assistant scoutmaster and Chairman of the District Leadership Committee with the Boy Scouts of America.
    When we looked into the history of this house, we got a lot of information about Mr. Grannis but very little information about the house itself. If you know who else has lived in this house or even have any memories about the house itself, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

    When Luigi Parillo laid out Pittsburgh Circle as a residential area, he added some special ornamental touches to the two main roads intersecting the one mile circumference circle. Fountain Avenue was designed wider than the typical streets as Luigi originally planned to have a large fountain erected at the center of the circle, the intersection of Fountain Avenue and Second Street. As part of the elaborate design, Second Street was equipped with a divider down the center of it that ran from Pittsburgh Circle to the location of the proposed fountain site on Fountain Avenue.  
    The picture of Second Street is taken from Spring Avenue sometime in the 1930′s when Clyde Buzzard was having a sale on his Graham-Paige cars. Mr. Buzzard lived at 216 Second Street and sold the Graham-Paige cars out of his garage behind the house.
    The house at 216 Second Street dates back to 1893 when it was built by Jacob and Edward Dambach, who only owned the house for seven years.
    The brick house beside Buzzard’s at 220 Second Street was the home of John H. Blackford. Blackford’s home was the first house to be built inside Pittsburgh Circle.
    If you have any memories of anything we mentioned above or of something we forgot to mention, please leave a comment below or you can email us by CLICKING HERE.

We would like to thank Mr. Charles Hall for providing us with this picture.

    We need your help. Everything we know about the Eagles Club we got of the National Web Site including the Mission Statement: the Fraternal Order of Eagles an international non-profit organization, unites fraternally in the spirit of liberty, truth, justice, and equality, to make human life more desirable by lessening its ills, and by promoting peace, prosperity, gladness and hope.

    What we did not find is anything about Aerie 1246 in Ellwood City. The only thing we do know of the local branch is what is known of Paul Grannis. We can list the history of the Fraternal Order of Eagles 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 the Eagles Club, please EMAIL us or leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

    One of our favorite pictures of Ellwood City is the picture taken from 196 feet above the town sometime between 1909 and 1915. It is amazing how much has changed from then to today. There is so much in the picture it is easy to miss some of the more interesting things. We have added yellow numbers to some of the points we would like to draw your attention to in this picture, of course there is more than the twelve things we mention here and would love to hear about something we missed.
    The first point of interest we see when we look at this picture is the grand Hotel Lawrence surrounded by the majestic Oliver Park. Though it is difficult to get your bearings with this picture, we are actually looking at the side of the Hotel. The front of the Hotel formally called Hotel Oliver is the side with the large white peaks and faces down Fifth Street.
    Secondly, in almost the center of the page we see the Central School building built in 1902 on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Sixth Street. Today the Ellwood City Municipal Building is located on that lot of land with a number of memorials displayed in the front lawn. The large World War II memorial in front of the Municipal building was purchased with the extra money that was raised for Ellwood City’s anniversary.
    Number three in the picture is the Park Hotel, built 1895 and located on the North side of the Ellwood City Short Line. Today, most people don’t remember the Park Hotel and we have had a difficult time uncovering the fate of the old Hotel. Did it catch on fire from the sparks of a passing train, or was it simply torn down due to dilapidation? The fact remains that the building is no longer there but if you look the next time you drive past, one of the walls from its foundation is still standing today.
    Four and Five go together, almost. Point number four is the old train station that is no longer there today and number five points to something that is actually missing from the picture, the Fifth Street Subway. The railroad you see in the picture beside the train station was the Pennsylvania Railroad, who owned Rock Point Park. The railroad through Ellwood City was known more as the Ellwood Short Line and replaced the B&O railroad that was built along the Northern bank of the Connoquenessing Creek in 1876. After the Ellwood Tunnel was completed in 1892 the railroad connecting North Sewickley & Rock Point ran through the natural plain which Ellwood City was built upon and the hilly B&O railroad was abandoned.
    Ellwood City owes its birth more to the Ellwood City railroad tunnel and Beaver Falls then the more common misconception of New Castle. Ellwood’s founder H.W. Hartman was dissatisfied with the conditions in Beaver Falls where he was the head of the Beaver Falls Water Company and Hartman Steel Company.  He heard the railroad was planning to build the tunnel to bypass the slower line through Hazel Dell and put his plan for an industrial resort town into action.
    The passenger station in the picture, known as the Union Station, served Ellwood City until the mid 1950’s. One text says the station was torn down as late as 1957, while another says it was torn down as early as 1955. Today, a parking lot is all that remains beside what is now the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Rail line.
    Just west of the Union Station is number Six, the freight yards of Ellwood City. The large structure on the Northern side of the tracks is the B.O. Freight Station. The station was located just West of Sixth Street which was a main road at the time of the picture as the bridge connecting Ellwood City to Hazel Dell was the Sixth Street Bridge, not the Fifth as it is today. The “Hazel Dell Bridge” as it was known then connected Sixth Street and College Street. The original Fifth Street Bridge was not erected until 1915.
    The B.O. Freight Station was demolished in 1982 and the property was sold to the Ellwood City Forge Group.
    Our number seven point of interest is one of the few things in the picture still standing today. Point seven is the Stiefel Building on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Fifth Street. We have yet to discover if the building was named after one of Ellwood City’s most prominent citizens, Mr. R.C. Stiefel, if he actually had the building built, or maybe he even had his offices there.
    Number eight is the old tube mill more commonly known to the folks of Ellwood as “Mill B”. Originally the mill was the home of the Ellwood Shafting & Tubing Company, the first manufacturing institution to establish itself in Ellwood City as early as 1891. “Mill B” was dismantled in 1923 and the property was sold to Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad for a freight station and yard. It is hard to see it today but from Sixth Street to Blanks Concrete and Supply was nothing but P&LE spurs. Five or six lines of empty railroad lines loading and unloading freight coming into and out of Ellwood City all day long. August 25th 1981 marked the last day P&LE took a loaded boxcar, cargo from Airway Industries out of Ellwood City.
    Nine is less of a specific point as it is a general area. As you can see from the picture, the West End of town was the direction of the growth in the early days of the town. The mills and businesses were more congregated at that end and most Ellwoodians thought that the town would continue to grow in that direction. In fact the first school built in Ellwood City after its founding was the West End School and the first hospitals were all located in that direction of town. It wasn’t until Ralph C. Stiefel and J.H. Nicholson left the Shelby Seamless Tube Company in 1899 and erected the Standard Seamless Tube Company (later called “Mill A”) that the town began spreading east also.
    Ten is the beautiful picnic grounds of Oliver Park and the site of Ellwood City’s first murder. According to “A History of Ellwood City, Pennsylvania” James Bell was found in the park next to a tree murdered. The victim, who had carried the mail from Ellwood City to the Belton Post Office, was also robbed as his pockets were all turned inside out. The park was a popular picnic destination (if you got permission from the Hotel) and how Park Avenue got its name. 
    Eleven simply points out the large farms and spread out residences that still existed in Hazel Dell. Hazel Dell originally was on both sides of the Connoquenessing until Merrit Green and Henry Hartman purchased all the farms on the South side of the creek to build Ellwood City. The roads through Hazel Dell were the old Indian trading paths from when the Shawnee & Delaware Indian tribes occupied the area. It was these tribes that actually named the Connoquenessing, which means “can’t canoe”. Hazel Dell was cut in half by the Connoquenessing and connected by the covered bridge known as the Jones Mill Bridge or White Bridge (built 1858 and razed 1898) located at the present site of the Fifth Street Bridge.
    Hazel Dell did not become a borough until 1901, almost ten years after Ellwood City. The borough of Hazel Dell officially consolidated with the borough of Ellwood City in 1914.
    Finally, point number twelve reminds you of the time period that the picture was taken. The buildings with no windows behind the houses are not garages, but barns. Henry Ford introduced the Model T in 1908 but didn’t begin the moving assembly lines in his factory until 1913, so there were not very many cars in the town when this picture was taken.

    If you noticed something we missed or if you feel that we got something wrong, please leave a comment below or email us by CLICKING HERE.

    The house on 200 Glen Avenue was built in 1920 after being ordered from a Sears catalog. The house was the home of one of Ellwood City’s most politically active families, the Turners.
    The political system was so important to Mr. Turner that elections for the third ward were held for a long time in the garage behind the house. Tony Turner was elected to the borough council in 1941 and held the office for sixteen years. Tony also ran for County Commissioner in 1943.
    Tony’s father Samuel, who moved the family to Ellwood City from Sandy Lake, was elected to the borough council in 1896 and ran for Burgess in 1900 but lost a close contest. Tony’s older brother Judd was elected to the council in 1923 and again in 1925. He was later elected Burgess in 1929 and again in 1933.
    Tony ran the Central Hotel beginning in 1912 until Prohibition put him out of business and was a charter member of the Ellwood City Elks Lodge. His other brother Terry was more commonly known as ‘Cotton Head’ during his Major League Baseball playing days.
   ‘Cotton Head’ played nineteen seasons with the Cleveland Indians after starting his professional career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. When he retired, his 1,619 games played was a team record and he also held six offensive team records including 264 sacrifices ranking him twenty sixth all-time. Sportswriter Gordon Cobbledick once wrote that Turner was “a little rabbit of a man with the guts of a commando.” ‘Cotton Head’ was also the pioneer of the head first slide because of ankle injuries earlier in his career.
    We do not know much about who has lived in the house since the Turners but hope that you will be able to help us. To leave a memory about the house or the families that have lived here, please leave a comment below or email us by CLICKING HERE.

    The large red brick house hidden at the end of the Fifth Street Bridge at 435 Glen Avenue was built in 1917 but has not been strictly a residence since then. Doctor Jesse Brown practiced medicine in Ellwood City for fifty-two years; thirty-nine of them were at his house at 435 Glen Avenue. Thirteen of those fifty-two years, Dr. Brown practiced a couple doors down at 445 Glen Avenue. The house at 445 was sold to Dr. Harry Davis in 1929, who continued his practice there for many years. The house at 435 Glen Avenue was sold to Alfred & Rose Pecoraro in 1968.
    We have not been able to uncover yet how long the Pecoraro’s owned the home or who has owned the house since then. If you know who has lived here or have any memories of the house you would like to share, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

    The house at 106 Second Street was built by Peter Schenck along with both houses beside it. Howard Wells Smith, who was very active in the community, purchased the house in 1919. Besides serving on the school board for thirty years, Mr. Smith also served on the library board, hospital board, and helped organize the Rotary Club of Ellwood City and served as its president. Beginning in 1903, he also held the post of chief engineer at Standard Engineering for thirty seven years and its successor Aetna-Standard.
    The house was sold in 1954 to John & Lois Sartwell who are remembered as very active members of First Baptist Church. Mr. Sartwell was the vice president and general manager of the Ellwood City Stone Company. The house on Second Street stayed in the Sartwell family until 1982 when it was sold to Doctor Jack & Judith Brooks. Dr. Brooks’ widow continues to live in the magnificent house today.
    We know that this house was one of the jewels in the Ellwood City Christmas House tour in 2008 and we still hear people talking about the lovely decor. If you would like to share a memory of the beautiful house or any stories you may have of the Sartwells or Dr. Brooks, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

    The house at 506 Crescent Avenue was originally owned by the Biordi family. John Biordi was born in Aquila, Italy in 1871 and came to Ellwood City sometime during 1902. He and his brother bought the Majestic Theater in 1918 but six years later sold it to Joseph and Nick Shuler in 1924. Apparently he missed the buttery popcorn because in 1936 he re-purchased the theater with his children, Frank & Andy, and continued to operate the Majestic Theater for thirty more years.
    Andy Biordi helped run the theater but was more known for all his work with the S.O.I., Lions, and the Wolves Club where he was one of the founders. Andy was also a halfback on the legendary 1925 Ellwood City football team.
    The Biordi family owned the large brick house on Crescent Avenue for over half a century. If you know who has lived in the house since then or have any memories of the Biordi’s you would like to share, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

    The house at 26 Pittsburgh Circle was built in 1902 and David Cartwright purchased the home in 1906. The Cartwrights lived in the humungous house for a little over 50 years until 1960 when they sold the house to Jack & Judith Brooks.
    David & Hester Cartwright originally opened a grocery store & home furnishing store on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Eighth Street when they came to Ellwood City in 1895. Business was a success and three years later they expanded when in 1898 they erected the Cartwright Building  at 619 Lawrence Avenue.
     Doctor & Mrs. Brooks lived in the big house that also served as Dr. Brooks offices. I remember walking into the waiting room that still had the original wood flooring from 1902 and the room had twelve foot ceilings. Maybe they weren’t twelve feet, and I was only a little kid afraid of getting a shot at the doctors office. I was only a kid but I still remember the rooms having that “old” time look without looking rundown.
    If you have a memory you would like to share of the doctors office or any other memory about the house, the Cartwrights, or the Brooks you would like to share, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

    The  house at 301 Glen Avenue is still known today as the John Offutt residence. Since the time it was built in 1916, the house became the social center of Ellwood City visited by dignitaries of all levels of our government including former presidents and high U.S. Steel executives. Some of the people we have talked to that remember the grand dinner parties recall the chimes in the dining room that were sounded when dinner was ready to be served. Even after Mr. Offutt’s death in 1952, his widow’s Christmas parties were still the social event of the season for many years.
    John Offutt joined National Tube when it became part of U. S. Steel in 1901. Raising through the ranks quickly he was transferred to Ellwood Works “Mill B” in 1902, became assistant general superintendent of “Mill A” in 1910, was made general superintendent in 1930, until 1934 when he was named assistant to the Vice President and field engineer of National Tube. As an engineer, Mr. Offutt perfected a number of inventions having to do with the making of seamless tubes.

        Around the time the house on Glen Avenue was built, there was a tragic fire in New Castle where four children were killed in the fire. Mr. Offut had four children himself so he had his house built as “fire-proof” as he possibly could. The third floor of the home is the only story that is not cement. Another interesting story we have gotten about the construction of this house was that it was built the same year as the Country Club. We were told that the club was built by workers of the stainless steel tube mill where Offut was serving as assistant general superintendent. Workers were going back and forth between the mill and the club, every so often the workers made a stop at the Offut house with construction supplies.
    Mr. Offut was one of the founders of the Ellwood City Industrial Corporation and served as the corporations president until his death. He also was one of the founders of Ellwood City’s Public Library, served on the original hospital board and remained active until his death. Somehow he also found the time to serve as a chairman of Ellwood City’s chapter of the Red Cross, headed the Community Chest in 1927, helped set up the Playground Program in the borough, served on the school board, had a seat on the board of Directors of Federal Savings and Loan, and was one of the major forces behind the formation of the Ellwood City Country Club where he was crowned golf champion on several occasions.  After his widow passed, the house was sold to Joseph & Jean Geniviva in 1968. Since the house was built in 1916, this majestic house has only had two owners, the Offut’s and the Geniviva’s. Joseph’s son, Frank Geniviva, currently has an excellent site about Ellwood City on Facebook.
    The large house has always been a favorite of ours and we would love to hear about any memories you may have about the house at 301 Glen Avenue or of the Offutt’s or Geniviva’s, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

    The last house on Beatty Avenue before you enter Ewing Park itself came out of the Montgomery Ward catalog. R. Arnold and Mary A. Young bought the empty lots from the Shelby Land Company in 1928 and reportedly ordered the house through the calalog.  Though it is not the only house to come from a catalog in Ellwood City, it is reported to be the first in the area to arrive from a factory in pieces to be assembled. Before moving to Florida in 1960, Mr. Young owned the Pontiac dealership (Youngs Pontiac) on the corner of Sixth Street and Crescent Avenue as early as 1917. We have talked to a couple folks that still live in Ellwood City that remember the gas pumps out front of the dealership which was common during that time. 
    We have all walked by the beautiful house or even purchased raffle tickets in its yard during the Arts and Crafts Festival, but if you have any other memories of the house or the families that have lived here, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

The structure at 601 Crescent Avenue has almost always been a combination doctors office & residence. Built in 1907, Doctor Edwin E. Lamb used it as both offices and as a residence for twenty-nine years until 1938 when it was sold to Dr. Angelo Gigliotti . Doctor Gigliotti owned the house for thirty-nine years for both work and as a home. We are not sure of the exact date, but after Dr. Gigliotti, the house was later the office of Dr. Allen Struble.
    Doctor Lamb was the first Ellwood City resident to buy an automobile and the first to have an X-ray machine. Doctor Gigliotti has his own claim to fame in Ellwood City as it is reported he delivered a little over 1,500 babies in Ellwood City.
    If you would like to share a memory about any of the Doctors or their families, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.