Monthly Archives: June 2010

    We posted a number of pictures that Bud Dimeo took of the National Plumbing fire on Second Street in little Italy. In 1959, the year of the fire, South Second Street was the main road in and out of Ellwood City as the four-lane highway was not even considered yet. We focused on the destroyed building itself in the original post, but Tim Gerard pointed out in one of the pictures you can see Summit Avenue before the four-lane cut the road in two. We tried to zoom in the best we could and as you can see, there were a number of houses that were torn down when the four-lane was put in. If you have any memories of the houses that are long gone or the families that were displaced as a result of the highway construction please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    During World War II and on through the Cold War, Ellwood City was ready in case of an attack on our soil with fall out shelters. There are a couple of old rusty yellow and blue signs that still exist in town but the shelters are no longer used as fallout shelters. This brought us to one of our recent “History’s Mystery”, where are the old shelters and what are they used for now.
    Bob Stevenson informed us that there was one of these shelters in the Municipal Building on Lawrence Avenue. The fallout shelter had a complete two hundred bed mobile hospital that was controlled by the Civil Defense Department. The mobile hospital and other similar stored supplies are no longer there as everything was removed in the 1980′s.
    Cheryl Franus recalled that when she started teaching in Ellwood city in 1968 there was a room in the basement of the old Hartman School that was full of food supplies, gas masks, bedding, etc, all marked appropriately with the triangular design of the Civil defense and the fallout shelters. She also pointed out that similar to the Municipal Building, all the supplies were finally removed in the 1980′s. Rumor had it, that the designated shelter was also in the basement at Hartman.
    If you happen to know anything more about the fate of the fallout shelters in Ellwood City? We know one was in the old Hartman Elementary School and another in the Municipal Building but we also heard that there may have been one on Fifth Street, and several others are near or in the High School but weren’t there others in town? Has anyone got any pictures of them or an old map of where they used to be? If you would like to share your memories, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

     One of the most mentioned business in Ellwood City we have heard about since we started this web site has to be Nick’s Snack Bar. It is amazing to us how many people have so many fond memories of Nick’s Snack Bar in Ewing Park this many years after Nick closed down and moved to Florida. Most people remember Nick’s as “THE” teenager hangout in Ellwood City. But those are not the only memories of Nick Calabria’s snackbar.
     Mac McAnallen remembers playing little league in Ewing Park and getting a free hot dog or slice of pizza at Nick’s if you hit a homerun. Mac is not the only one who shared with us about he free hot dogs, but the first thing both Nickie Weller & Bonnie Barnhart recalled when we mentioned Nick’s Snack Bar was the sausage sandwiches. Bonnie has great memories of her church group coming to Ellwood City just for the sausage sandwiches and said she hasn’t had one as good since Nick moved south.
    Others have shared with us about the multitude of kids that would hang out at Nick’s all wearing their baseball team’s hat as a badge of honor. Nick didn’t mind the kids loitering at his place all day but actually encouraged it and put a ping-pong table in the back (however he charged $0.25 for a ping-pong ball).
    If you have any memories of Nick’s you would like to share, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com.

    The annual Soap Box Derby was a big event in Ellwood City. The day usually started at Lincoln High School where officials judged the race cars in the Lincoln High School gym. After the judging, the racers had to get their cars to the top of the hill at the intersection of Line Avenue and Pershing Street with race on the giant hill on Line Avenue. 
    1936 marked the beginning of the annual Soap Box Derby being run in Ellwood City. Bucky Kline won the first local derby and Ellwood City also sent cars that year to be on display in Akron Ohio where the National Championships were run each year. Young Mr. Sitler won best designed car in Akron. One of organizers of the Ellwood City Derby, Denny Schill, took a bus load of boys to see the National Championship Derby in Akron each year.
    The Derby was held each year on the big hill on Line Avenue every year until 1967. Spectators used to line both sides of the street behind barriers that were little more than a rope. More than one person watching the races got injured, including broken legs, over the years as cars would crash into the cheering fans.

    The last race on Line Avenue was in 1967 at which time the races were moved to Lawrence Avenue. The slower track had to have a large ramp installed at the starting line to help the boys get going. The last couple of races were moved to a longer and much faster course on Fourth Street. The new track proved to be more dangerous as only ten of the fifty five racers competed before and cars were reaching speeds of 30-35 miles per hour. It is estimated that three to four thousand people lined Fourth Street to see the races.
    After Chevrolet stopped sponsoring the Derby, The Ellwood City Derby was sponsored by the Jaycees. Up to seventy five boys raced in heats of two with the winner moving on until the final winner was named champion.  The champions over the years were…
1936 – Bucky Kline
1937 – Bob Sitler
1938 – Tom Sitler
1939 – Sherby Rodgers
1940 – Omar Newton
1941 – Jack Forsyth
1942 – 1945 – Races were suspended during World War II
1946 – Ken Bauder
1947 – Joe DeNome
1948 – Ray Colavincenzo
1949 – Amos Mazzant
1950 – Alfred Mazzant (also finished 5th in the country at Akron)
1951 – Boyd Gardner
1952 – Tony Trombello
1953 – Dick Lackey
1954 -Eric Bell
1955 – Robert Hartman
1956 – Ronald Cimino
1957 – Duane Weingartner
1958 – Randy Chesko
1959 -Ed Berendt
1960 – Larry Blews
1961 – Bundy Palatka
1962 -Tom Badger
1963 – Tark Kolch
1964 – Dave Chapman
1965 – Joe Gagliardo
1966 – Danny Boy
1967 – Gary Rychlicki
1968 – Johnny Fray
1969 – Bill Barkay (we’ve been informed Bill still has his car today)
1970 – Randy Houk
1971 – Ray Marinaccio
1972 – Unknown
1973 – Unknown

    Unfortunately we do not have any pictures yet of the races or the cars themselves to put with this post. If you have a picture or a story you would like to share about the races in Ellwood City, please leave a comment below or email us by CLICKING HERE.

    Pat Downer shared with us this picture of the Wurtemburg Coronet Band from the early 1900′s.  Those in the picture include…
Seated:  Jim BADGER, Joe FRY, Warren BOOTS and Harry KETTERER  Back row : Jim RAPP, Bill DUNHAM, Herman STRICKHAUSEN, John BADGER, Reed LIEBENDORFER, Elmer NEWTON,  Andy MILLER,  Fred BINGLE, Ray VAN GORDER, Zeke COWEN and George RAPP.
 
The Rapp brothers were the brothers of Pat’s Grandmother, Rachel Rapp Rodgers.

    If you would like to leave any comments, please feel free below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    Glen Park was one of the big selling points when convincing people to relocate to the new town of Ellwood City. The park ran along the south side of the Connoquenessing Creek from the current site of the Fifth Street Bridge and stretched approximately five miles west. Glen Park was heavily populated with a multitude of trees including hemlock, beech, birch, and other forest trees and many large rocks covered with ferns and moss. Roads were graded through for easy access and the place was named by H.W. Hartman.
    Since there are not many people around today that can recall the scenic gorge along the Connoquenessing, we can only imagine the beauty and grandeur. The creek held storied beauty where it rolls over the rocks amidst the wildest scenery, having no counterpart for romance and picturesqueness anywhere east of the Rocky Mountains.
    Glen Park consisted of over one hundred acres with walks and drives to access the beautiful scenery including the Palisades, the Sentinel Rocks, etc. The park also had six crystal clear never ending springs bubbling forth from the rock formations and seven other fine springs flowed from the tabled and mineral ridge above.
    The park was abandoned when the factories along the B&O railroad began dumping garbage and refuse along the top of the hill. The area along the creek is still undeveloped and has regained a lot of the natural beauty that was lost. The old Glenn Park would make an ideal scenic spot for a bicycle trail similar to those found in Pennsylvania’s State Park’s.

   The United Presbyterian Church of Wurtemburg was organized in 1859 by Rev. Thomas Guthrie, D. P., who served the church until 1867. The members of the new church originally belonged to the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Perry Township until splitting. The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Perry Township traces its roots back to the old Camp Run Reformed Church formed sometime before 1825. The old Camp Run Reformed Church originally was located on Samuel McElwains farm, over the hill from Pleasant Hill Grange Hall with Thomas C. Guthrie serving as pastor. In 1833, a group split from the church and the new movement became the Pleasant Hill Church. In 1840, the church built a new building on Harvey McElwains farm. The original Camp Run Reformed Church ceased to exist by 1851.
    The Wurtemburg large frame building was built in 1860 upon land donated by James Mehard, a member of the congregation, to house the original eighty members and a Sunday-School that has been kept up most of the time since. 1861 marked the year Pleasant Hill & Wurtemburg congregations united to form the United Presbyterian Church of Wurtemburg. The first regular pastor of the new organization was Rev. J. H. Peacock, who came about 1867 and preached here for five years. Rev. John P. Glenn took over the duties November 1, 1874, at the same time supplying the Center Church in Shenango Township.
    A portion of the congregation, some forty-five members, left the church in 1873, and formed a new congregation in Perry Township called Camp Run. They built a church in 1874 and held meetings in connection with the Mountville United Presbyterian Church.
    Sunday June 2, 1985 the Wurtemburg Presbyterian Church marked it’s 125th Anniversary by opening the church’s time capsule from September 1948. The contents of the capsule contained a church bulletin from 1948, a complete listing of the membership and a history of the church 1922-1948. The time capsule was put back into the cornerstone along with mementos from the 125th celebration.
    If you got a little confused reading the history of the churches above don’t worry, I got a little confused writing it. This is a very old church that has continued to grow, split, and evolve over the years and we would love to hear your memories of the church. If you would like to share you memories of the church or its members, please leave a comment below or email us by CLICKING HERE.

    The house at 319 Fourth Street was built in 1925 for Charles and Emma French. Mr. French purchased the lot from Ellwood City’s founder Henry W. Hartman’s sons Holliday Hartman of Zelienople and “Waters” Hartman of Denver, Colorado. Mr. French would later become Pennsylvania’s first Fish Commissioner and later was appointed the Executive Director of Fish Commissioner. During the time Charles worked for The Pennsylvania General Service Administration as a land agent, he was responsible for purchasing most of the land for Moraine State Park.
    On August 27, 1963, Carl “Rizzo” Mantz purchased the home on Fourth Street for his sister Helen (Helen’s Dress Shop) and himself. Rizzo was a star athlete for Ellwood City and would later serve as golf coach and head football coach for Lincoln High School. Mr. Mantz became one of Ellwood City’s finest golfers and was named to Ellwood City Ledger’s Golf Hall of Fame.
    If you have any memories about this house or the families that have lived here, please leave a comment below or email us your memories at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    This beautiful house was built in the middle of a farm with a beautiful view of the Connoquenessing Creek in 1872 (before Ellwood City was founded) for John C. Johnston’s family. The Johnston’s were descendants of Andrew Nye, who settled on the tract of land known as “Great Falls”. He was deeded 343 of the 439 acres that comprised “Great Falls” and settled on the tract in approximately 1788-1789. Mr. Nye is widely believed to be the first white settler within boundaries of Lawrence County. Many families in the area today can trace their descent from this man including all of the Nyes, and the greater majority of the Mains, Deemers, Matheny’s and Johnstons.
     In 1939, Superintendent of Ellwood City Schools, James Ellis Bell and his wife Mary Braham Bell purchased the home. Mr. Bell served as the  Superintendent from 1938 to 1962, longer than anyone has ever held that position in Ellwood City. Mr. and Mrs. Bell’s son Eric is still remembered in the area as having one of, if not the most, memorable championship car in the annual soap box derby.
    We are trying to uncover more of the history behind not only this house but also the families that have lived here. If you have any memories about this house or the families that lived here, please leave a comment below or email us your memories at info@ellwoodcitymemories.

    The building that today houses Kimmels Bakery on Franklin Avenue was originally a grocery store and the home of Frank Bellissimo. Frank raised his family on the second story above his Clover Farm Grocery Store. When Bellisimo, who often traveled abroad, would go on an extended trip he would leave the Clover Farm grocery store and meat market to be managed by his brother-in-law Frank DeMauro.
    We have had some difficulty uncovering when Clover Farm closed and Kimmels Bakery opened. If you may be the person to answer this, we would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below, or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com
    A personal memory I recall was during the summer Lincoln High School offered students the chance to take their History class during the summer and be done in six weeks instead of taking it all year long. To a tenth grader this sounded like a great deal and I jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunely it wasn’t until school started in the fall that I realized that history was one of the classes that helped me get through the typical school day. Back to my point, the entire summer we would get 15-20 minutes for lunch and none of us had a driver’s license so we had the choice of packing a lunch, Johnny’s if it was open, Four Star, or Kimmels Bakery. For one dollar and fifty cents we could get a couple long donuts filled with crème and covered in powder sugar and milk. I ate more donuts that summer than I have my entire life. Hmm, come to think of it, that might explain my weight problem.

    The house at 414 Division Avenue doesn’t look to peculiar from the street except that it has two front doors from being transformed into a duplex. However, once you see a glimpse from the side, you notice that the building stretches back forty yards to the alley. Some might recall seeing two large delivery trucks with big bold letters stating “Mrs. Smith’s Noodles” parking inside the garage doors at the rear of the building.
    Considered one of the strongest businesses in Ellwood City, the Mrs. C.H. Smith Noodle Factory at 414 Division Avenue was considered among  National Tube Co. and Mathews Conveyor as the business leaders of Ellwood City. Employing all women (except the truck drivers) Mrs. Smith mass produced one of the tastiest noodles of its time. Unfortunately, her secret ingredient – wheat from Russia, is what also forced the Noodle factory to close during World War II.
    The Noodle Factory was the first company to put their noodles in “kerosene bags” (clear plastic polyethylene bags) and sold their product to the many corner grocery stores in town and beyond to neighboring states. Mrs. C.H. Smith started the business in 1921 after developing the recipe herself. The business thrived for many years and was one of the few businesses that actually grew during the Great Depression. Mrs. Smith Noodles continued to grow and plans were made to enlarge the business and go national with their special noodle, until June of 1941. That summer, Hitler invaded Russia and Mrs. Smith was unable to get her special wheat. The business came to a standstill until finally closing sometime after 1942.
    If you recall these noodles or have any memories of Mrs. Smith or the house at 414 Division Avenue, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com. We would like to thank Louise Carroll for all of this information that we got from the terrific article she wrote for the Ellwood City Ledger.

    Frank Paglia (also known as Frank Straw) had the commercial building at 817 Second Street built in 1918 for his store. Frank’s first wife died in 1921 and he remarried Linda Giovanno of Naples, Italy. The two of them along with Frank’s children, operated a store in the two story brick building. After Frank’s death, the property was sold to Nick and Emma Rocco who owned the Rocco Store across Second Street at the time. Mrs. Paglia took her share and invested it in a small store with a house at 32 Line Avenue (corner of Line Avenue and Smiley Street). Many people have shared their memories about Paglia’s store across from Barry’s.
    We have heard that Mrs. Paglia was the only store in Hazel Dell that would give you the refund on empty soda bottles and PEM Morris shared how his mom often sent him to Paglia’s for milk and DeRosa’s bread. He also recalled getting his first baseball cards of the season at Linda’s as she always seemed to get them before anyone else.
    He also shared with us his memories of years later taking his own children to Paglia’s store when they were small to pick out penny candy. Linda, as always, waited patiently for them to make their choices. For the young children, it was one of the highlights of the family trips to Ellwood City and they still remember it today.
    If you would like to share your memories of Paglia’s store, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com