Monthly Archives: November 2009

Sons of Italy #608

    There is but a handful of people that live in Ellwood City that have never been inside the S.O.I. (if that many). Whether as a member of the organization, or as a guest of a member in the club, or maybe even to a wedding reception, we all have memories of the Sons of Italy. Originally the S.O.I. building was the Hotel Dugan.  Built the same year Ellwood City became a borough in 1892, the hotel was one of the first large brick buildings in Ellwood City. In 1934, the Sons of Italy purchased the Dugan building but it was not remodeled until 1939 to house an assembly hall, dance hall, secretary’s office, and a kitchen that was capable of accommodating up to four hundred people.
    A couple of people have mentioned to us about the big name entertainers that performed at the S.O.I. which was a major factor in the clubs decision to add a large addition to the dance hall in 1948. During the ‘Big Band Era’, the club hosted names such as Guy Lombardo, Ray Anthony Orchestra, Tommy & Jimmy Dorsay. Skith Henderson performed his hits “the Bunny Hop”, “Hokey Pokey”, and his big hit “At Last” at the club also. The first performer in the expanded Memorial Hall (named in honor of the World War II veterans) was Louie Prima, who attracted about seven hundred people. Just think, you thought you were crowded at the last wedding you attended there with three hundred people. The hall was so packed that a hundred people sat in the balcony and both bars were five people deep the entire night. The current layout of the hall is a little different from that time as the kitchen was a bar then and the bar was meeting room then.
    We know the Sons of Italy in Ellwood City was founded in 1916 and we can list the full history, the locations, date it was built, so on and so on. However that is not really what we started this site for. We need more MEMORIES. Funny stories, touching stories, you know, the good stuff. If you have a story you would like to share about S.O.I., please email us by CLICKING HERE or leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

    The Northwood Glass Company was founded by English-born Harry Northwood, the son of a talented glass manufacturer. Harry left England at the age of twenty to work in America in 1880 and founded his own factory in 1887 in Martins Ferry, Ohio. Only five years later, Harry closed his plant in Martins Ferry and moved to Ellwood City where he opened a new plant. The move to Ellwood City was not a coincidence, but rather the result of the influence of Mr. Northwood’s uncle Thomas Dugan, who was heavily invested in the new town of Ellwood City.
    Many people who have left their mark on Ellwood City came to town with the Northwood Glass Company. Those that purchased lots and built houses in the new town along with Mr. Northwood include Henry E. Helling, Adam Eiselen, George Beaumont (Northwood’s father-in-law), George Pownall, John G. Anderson, Thomas A.E. Dugan, and Samuel Dugan – both were nephews of Mr. Dugan and Mr. Northwood’s cousins. When Northwood closed his Ellwood City plant in 1896 and left for Indiana, PA, the Englishmen left with him and the Germans (Eiselens and Hellings) stayed.
    The Northwood Glass plant in Ellwood City was located at the end of Eleventh Street along Factory Avenue. After Northwood closed its Ellwood City facility, the plant sat empty for a couple of years until 1898 when the American Lamp & Brass Company moved in. American became Clark Brothers Glass Company, and again in 1905 it changed hands becoming Ellwood City Glass Company.
    After leaving Ellwood City, Harry Northwood at one time leased the Dugan Glass Company (then under a different name) in Indiana PA, and Thomas Dugan became one of the managers. When Harry left, the name was changed to Dugan Glass, and in 1910 the company began to produce Carnival Glass, often using old Northwood moulds. Dugan Glass Company marked the bottom of its pieces with a diamond shape with a ‘D’ inside. In 1913, when the company again changed its name, it became the Diamond Glass Company and kept the insignia. The Diamond Glass Company produced great pieces until 1931, when the Indiana, PA factory was destroyed by a disastrous fire.
    After leaving Indiana, the Northwood Glass Company eventually moved to Wheeling, West Virginia and produced glassware that is still highly sought after today. The Northwood Company marked their products with a letter ‘N’ inside a circle on the bottom of their pieces. The company was the top company in production of Carnival Glass until Harry contracted a fatal disease and passed away in 1918. The company continued but without Harry, the company and its products steadily declined until finally closing in 1925.

    It was during October of 1918 that the first reported cases of the Spanish Influenza were reported in Ellwood City. At first there were only a few mild cases reported, and it looked as though the threat would pass the town. To be cautious though, October 9th, on orders from the state, the local board of health instituted a ban on all public gatherings including school and church in an effort to contain the illness and keep it from becoming an epidemic. The ban seemed to work at first as only four new cases were reported in Ellwood City by October 12th.  At this time the town was in the process of making plans to establish an emergency hospital in town.
    Then, to the town’s dismay, Ellwood City’s version of “Black Sunday” struck October 13th, 1918. In that single day, eighty four full fledged cases were reported, of which four people died that day (and this total does not include the town’s foreign population). The temporary Hospital facility was set up at the Polish Club on Crescent Avenue and Tenth Street to handle only influenza cases. By the middle of November over one hundred patients were checked into the emergency hospital but only a small percentage of citizens afflicted with the deadly strain of the flu were able to enter the facility. Of those checked into the facility, thirty-eight had died and best estimates have at least twice that number of people stricken with the virus not checked into the hospital died from the flu. The hospital on top of the hill along Border Avenue was off limits to any and all influenza cases on advice from local and state boards of health.
    Superintendent of Schools, C.F. Becker is credited with securing the vacant Polish Club and obtaining cots and beddings from the National Tube Company for the temporary hospital. Mr. Becker did not stop there as he acted as hospital orderly, janitor, scrubber, and was pretty much “man of all jobs”. The High School Principal, Professor Fred Bright took over for Mr. Becker when he got sick himself. Others took up the call to help C.F. Becker including Miss Anna Evans (Nurse) and Miss Guyla Weber and Miss Mabel Wilson helped care for the patients.
    By November 15th when the ban on public gatherings was lifted, fifty people had died and more than a thousand were seriously ill. A special ward was established in December at the new Hospital on Border Avenue and the emergency hospital was closed. The worst had passed but the deaths continued throughout the winter. Final count for Ellwood City put the number of deaths from the “Spanish Flu” at 165.
    If you would like to leave a comment, please do so below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

    The picture here, we are told, is a picture of an I.O.O.F. funeral parade. The men of the club are in full uniform and heading South up the hill of Fourth Street towards the Locust Grove Cemetery on the hill. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows had two lodges in Ellwood City, the Glenn Park Lodge and the Alferetta Rebekah Lodge.

    A number of the houses along Fourth Street in this picture are still standing today, however the miniature farm on the left is no longer there. There are a multitude of other things that are different from this picture to today. We can clearly see that Fourth Street is still a dirt road in this picture yet the sidewalks are paved. We have to question if this was not a funeral parade and rather a holiday parade by the attire of the folks on the sidewalks watching the parade. The little girls are dressed in there fancy white dresses, the men are dressed in suits and almost everyone has on a hat.

    The First Christian Church on the corner of Fourth Street and Wayne Avenue was a wooden structure at the time of the picture and you can see its steeple peeking above the houses. Even a little more North on Fourth Street you can see a row of trees lining the left side of the road. This is Oliver Park which was part of the Hotel Oliver (later Hotel Lawrence) and the site of the first murder in Ellwood City.

    Finally on the left side of the picture, you can see the Hotel Lawrence. The “crown jewel” of founder Henry W. Hartman’s plan for Ellwood City. This view is of the back of the building and as you can see, it is still quite an impressive sight. Between the Hotel, Oliver Park, and the unseen Glenn Park, and nearby amusement park Rock Point Park, it is easy to understand why Ellwood City was considered a resort town in its earliest days.

    I am sure there are many more things you notice about this picture that others might not have noticed. If you would like to leave a comment about this picture, please do so below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

   In 1906, Joseph Rubino bought the building on the corner of 200 Franklin Avenue and ran a General Store there selling dry goods as well as groceries until 1922. Joe’s daughter Fanny Lanzi and her husband Nick took over the General Store and moved it into a new building next door at 202 Franklin Avenue. Joseph Rubino’s mother in-law decided to open a confectionary store in the old empty building at 200 Franklin Avenue. 
    The Lanzis closed the General Store at 202 Franklin Avenue in 1932 and opened the New Deal Bar in their new building but Mrs. Miele continued to operate her candy store at 200 Franklin Avenue until 1936 when she passed away at the age of 80. After her death, Steve Rubino took over the store, remodeled it and he and his wife Rose operated Rubinos Korner Market until 1973. When Steve and Rose closed the Korner Market, their son Joe opened an electrical equipment store in its place that continues to operate today.
    Joe’s father, Steve Rubino, was born in Biano, Italy in 1877 and became one of Ellwood City’s most powerful political figures.  Mr. Rubino served five consecutive terms as councilman and was eventually nominated for Mayor of Ellwood City.
    If you have any memories about the Korner Market or the Rubino family, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.
   Information for this post was gathered from the book Ellwood City Houses and the People Who Lived in Them by Charles R. Moser available at the Ellwood City Historical Society.