Monthly Archives: July 2010

    This picture was taken by Harry W. Horton who was the Assistant Borough engineer under Alex Main from 1920-1925. The picture shows Ellwood City in an important stage of its development, when it was getting more of the community out of the infamous muddy roads following World War I.
     The picture is taken from the front yard of town founder Henry W. Hartman on Fourth Street looking west up Crescent Avenue. The picture was originally taken to shows Crescent Avenue being paved with bricks made in Ellwood City. As you can clearly see, Fourth Street was already bricked and looked beautiful.
    The picture was taken before Hartman Elementary School was built and while the old Lawrence Hotel was still standing. At the time or this picture, the hotel was no longer in business as it was sold to the Ellwood City School Board in 1915 and converted to a school building and apartments. The building in this picture in front of the hotel (approximately where the Statue of Liberty is located today) is probably a temporary building for school purposes.
    There are a number of homes that have not yet been built along the north side of Crescent Avenue as you can see but there are a lot of things in the picture that are no longer there. The Methodist Church on the corner of Crescent and Fifth Street is still the original wooden structure (barely visible) and we are not sure what the steeple is beyond the hotel, approximately where the Saxon Club would build their first building (today the Denny Schill apartments stands on this ground). Also in the picture is just the very edge of the trees that lined Oliver Park that surrounded the hotel and gave Park Avenue its name.
    This is another one of those great pictures where we are sure that we missed something so please leave any comments you might have below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com
 

     Ellwood City has always had good bowlers, in fact very good bowlers. The town has housed numerous bowling alleys and duck pin lanes all the way back to it’s earliest days. One team in particular was so good that they were invited to the A.B.C. Tournament in 1946 held in Buffalo, New York. The team consisted of Joe Beatrice, Ang Sanders, Chuck Cole, Frank Moskal, (front row, dark shirts) and Nick Bauer (standing, same shirt).
    We know there are many, many more bowling stories to be told of those from Ellwood City. Please leave any comments you might have below or email us any pictures or stories at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      From the time it opened in the early summer of 1891 until W.G. Clark from Altoona took over, Hotel Lawrence was named Hotel Oliver. Hotel Lawrence was a summer resort for people from the cities and was surrounded by a beautiful park and picnic grounds. The hotel itself had electric lights, steam heat, pool halls, and a bowling alley.

      Mr. Clark had already been in the hotel business for many years when he took over the lease, changed the name of the hotel, and became the manager of the Hotel Lawrence. W.G. Clark ran the hotel but the popularity of the beautiful hotel and park continued to decline. Finally in 1915, the building and land were sold to the Ellwood City school board and converted to a school building and apartments until it was torn down in 1925 to make room for the newly planned civic center that included Lincoln High School, Hartman Elementary School, a public library and more. 

     The civic center obviously never happened due in a large part to the Great Depression and the lack of money needed for a project so large. If you would like to leave a comment, please do so below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

     One of the oldest schools in the Ellwood city area is the Matheny School. The building is still standing today along Wampum Road across the road from the old Matheny cemetery located beside Aiken refuse; however the building has been converted into a personal residence. The school building was built at its current location to replace and consolidate the original Matheny one room schoolhouse and the close by Jockey Mohr one room schoolhouse. We have been told that the Jockey Mohr School is still standing but many trips through the area have been unsuccessful in even discovering the old stone foundation. The current location of Wampum Road covers the spot the original Matheny one room schoolhouse as it was located just to the southeast of the brick building pictured. 
     We would like to thank Leonard Chapman for suppling the following pictures along with the names of those pictured. Matheny School about 1941 Grades first through fourth – left to right Row 1 Tom Copper, Dave McKim, Harry Darrow, Bill Chapman, Vivian Darrow, unknown, Leonard Chapman, Don Shirilla, Ruth Gabler, Jack Vova Row 2 Ella Jane Chapman, unknown, Lucille Butch, Clint Summers, Leona Pogozelec, Nancy Mckim, unknown, unknown, unknown, Teresa Pogozelec Row 3 Chuck Summers, Mrs.Leblick, unknown, Nancy Gabler, unknown, unknown, unknown, Joe Bartolomeo, Tom Clark, Lee Butch
     Matheny School About 1942 Bottom Left to Right Row 1 Clint Summers, Dave Mckim, Tom Clark, Joe Bartolomeo, Don Shirilla, Leonard Chapman, Bill Chapman, Row 2 unknown, Ilene Chapman, Vivian Darrow, Ella Jane Chapman, Angelina Butch, Teresa Pogozelec, unknown, Anna Bartolomeo, Ruth Gabler, Nancy McKim, Lucille Butch Row 3 Nancy Gabler, Idea Gabler, unknown, Lee Butch, Chuck Summers, unknown, Leno Pogozelec Row 4 Mrs. Leblick, Shirley Clark, Elisabeth Darrow, unknown, unkown.
     Matheny School About 1943 First Grade thru Eight Grade Bottom row left to right Row 1 Ruben O’Connor, Betty Gabler, Chuck Mount, Wally Starkavitch, Jack Yova, Bruce Mckim, Verna Lee Chapman, Row 2 Ronnie Bartolomeo, Ruth Gabler, Ella Jane Chapman, Leonard Chapman, Rachel O’Connor, Shirley O’Connor, Ilene Chapman Row 3 Teresa Pogozelec, Lucille Butch, unknown, Bill Chapman, Dave Mckim, Vivian Darrow, Don Shirilla Row 4 Lee Butch Joe Bartolomeo Tom Clark Nancy Mckim unknown, Leona Pogozelec, unknown, Anna Bartolomeo Row 5 Mrs. Colder, unknown, Nancy Gambler, unknown, Mrs. Gamble
     Matheny School about 1945 Grade 1 Thru 4 Bottom Row Left to Right Row 1 unknown, lastname Barker, unknown, Danny Bartolomeo, Carmen Butch, Peggy Moyer Row 2 Billy Starkavitch, Leroy O’Connor, Ronnie Bartolomeo, unknown, Ruben O’Connor, Jerry Mount, Betty Gabler, Row 3 unknown, Verna Lee Chapman, Wally Starkavitch, Chuck Mount, Ted Staple, last name Hulick Row 4 Leonard Chapman, Ruth Gabler, Jack Yova, unknown, Dolly Hulick, Mrs. Muller

    Do you recall those special signs in Ellwood City that fall was coming? The grass would start turning brown, Ames would start replacing their outdoor section with notebooks, pencils and other back to school supplies, and of course young boys would begin crossing the big blue Ewing Park Bridge carrying yellow football helmets on their way to practice. Of course I am talking about the Ellwood City Packers.
    The Packers were Ellwood City’s team in the Beaver County Youth Football League for many years until being re-named the Little Wolverines. The league was set up into four categories, each with its own age and weight restrictions. Players less than seven years old and weighing less than 85 pounds played in the Twerps (category). Once a player turned eight, he was moved up to the Termites, but he could not weigh more than one hundred pounds. Players ten and eleven played at least in the Mitey Mites until they weighed 125 pounds and players 12 and older played on the Midgets squad up until they weighed 145 pounds.
    It was not until recently that players were prohibited from moving up in class due to weight or ability level. I personally remember playing on the Midget squad when I was in Sixth grade and being seven and playing on the Termites. Please let me clarify, I was not moved up because of my ability level either. I was not alone, I recall other players wearing garbage bags under their pads trying to sweat out an extra pound or two so they could play on Saturday.
     In the second picture taken in the 1980′s, the roster included; Left to right – 1st Row – Jamie Yanssens, Josh Lobozzo, unknown, Andy Ingold, Zack Bieselt, B.J. Patterson, Derek Thompson – 2nd Row – Jason Maine, Tim Reed, unknown, Ryan Navolio, Charlie Vesceri, unknown, Erik Montozzi, Russ Rangel – 3rd Row – Brandon Hooker?, Alvin Jenkins, Nino Riccio, Gary Rozanski, Dave Sedgwick, Mark Hall, Dave Tyburski – 4th Row – Coach Bieselt, Coach Brendt, Coach Montozzi

    Thousands of Ellwood City youth played on the Packers over the years, so we can not wait until we hear all your memories and see the pictures you share. Please leave your comments below or you can email us by CLICKING HERE.

    Opening in the early part of the 1960′s, Winky’s restaurant chain offered “fast food cheap”. Located on Beaver Ave, the popular hamburger stand was a very popular “hang out” to local teens. The entire Winky’s chain went out of business in the mid 1980′s.
     Today, Vinny’s is located in the same building and uses the old Winky’s sign that was in the shape of a “W”. If you look real close, you can still see “Winky’s”.

     Winky’s Restaurant “Makes you happy to be hungry”.

     Only FOUR coaches in Ellwood City football history have posted career winning records. The best percentage is held by Denny Schill 8-1-1 in the single season he coached during 1935. Howard Gills is next in winning percentage after coaching two seasons during the war (1944 and 1945). Not many people would argue that the two most successful coaches in Ellwood City football history were Peck Lee and Dutch Croft. Lee coached ten seasons from 1919 to 1930 (missing the 1922 and 1923 seasons) and had a winning percentage of .667. Coach Croft coached from 1938 to 1953 missing 1944 and 1945 years for World War II while posting a .640 winning percentage with the most wins (88) and most losses (48).

    Coach Ganzy Benedict still holds the school record of most tie games with eight in just three years of coaching. Other notable head coaches that coached here at Ellwood City include NFL Head Coach Chuck Knox, Kansas University Head Coach Mark Mangino, and Butler Head Coach Jim Rankin.

    For the first half of the decade, the Ellwood City coach was not measured by wins or losses, but whether or not they beat New Castle. However bad we beat Evans City, usually worked out to how bad New Castle beat us; until 1925 when Ellwood City beat New Castle for the first time. New Castle cried foul that the Head Coach had water-downed the field to make a muddy mess to slow down the smaller, faster New Castle team. I do not know if there is any truth to this but as you can see in the pictures, it was a “little” muddy.

    This would not be the last time that New Castle would use this excuse to try to justify a loss to the “Big Blue”. Sue Campbell recalls hearing back in the 1930′s folks from New Castle complaining that Ellwood City went to New Castle and watered the field until it was nothing but mud and Ellwood said that New Castle did it themselves. The day after this “sprinkling” the Wolverines pulled off the upset and won the game and the controversy began again. She recalled still hearing the charge of “watering” in 1961 when she graduated from Lincoln High School.

    Due to the size of the schools, Ellwood City and New Castle did not play each other in regular season games for a number of years until New Castle dropped down to Triple A in the late 1990′s. The two schools would occasionally meet in pre-season scrimmage games and the rivalry was surprisingly still there. I recall in a pre-season game 1993 or 1994 the banter back and forth between the two teams along with the pushing and shoving and etc., caused the referees to walk off the field. The teams decided to continue the game with coaches officiating and coincidently New Castle and Ellwood did not play each other in pre-season games again for a number of years.

     We may never know if the “watering” was true or not or even if it affected the outcome much as both teams still had to play in the mud but someone always knows someone who knows. One rumor we heard was that the owner of the Ellwood City Ice Company who hired football players during the summers to keep them in shape and ready for the upcoming season, took one of his delivery trucks full of suspects to New Castle the night before the game in the 30′s and the dastardly deed WAS done. Of course we also hear rumors that someone’s grandfather told them that they were in New Castle the evening before the game and SAW with his own eyes a fire truck at the field and knows that it was New Castle that watered the field.

    If you would like to leave a memory you might have about the coaches or the rivalry with New Castle, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    For a number of years the churches in Ellwood City had a softball league. A number of churches were involved over the years but so far the only picture we have received is the Wurtemburg United Methodist Church’s softball team. We are not sure of the year but we do know a couple of the players. Some of the folks in this team photo include:  Danny Boots, Tom Boots, Diana (Boots) Franus, Mike Esposito, Tom Butler… We are pretty sure someone can name them all!
    We would love to hear any memories you might have of the church league and would appreciate any pictures anyone has. Please leave any comments you might have below or you can email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    We were recently asked if we knew anything about the local teenage boys that would travel to Maine to pick tobacco each summer in the 40′s & 50′s. We had never heard about this tradition so we posted a little blurb under history’s mysteries and received a lot of feedback. Apparently this was an annual tradition, but no one else had ever heard about teenage boys going on the trip as everyone who emailed us had only heard about teenage girls going on this trip.
    First of all, we were told the workforce was shipped to Maine but actually the young women traveled to the tobacco fields of Westfield, Massachusetts close to Connecticut. The girls from Ellwood City area would meet at the Municipal building to meet the Trailways bus that also picked up girls from Beaver Falls and New Castle. Janice Sodergren recalled a different mode of travel. She recalled that the girls were taken by train, by way of New York Central Station, to the depot in either Connecticut or Massachusetts where a bus picked them up and took them to a camp near the tobacco farm. The train began picking up in the New Castle area and picked up girls at every station along the way with Rochester being the last stop before heading to New York.
    The workers were paid either an hourly wage or by piece work (depending on the job). The cost of room and board was deducted from the wage at the end of the week. One contributor recalled clearing about $20 to $25 dollars a week. The length of the job was debated as one person recalled working the entire summer, one recalled the job lasting about 7 weeks, and yet another thought it was six weeks.
    The summer wasn’t all work as weekends were free. A bus to church was provided to those that desired, tours were offered, and swimming was permitted in a nearby lake at the end of the day and on week-ends.
    The camp the Ellwood City girls stayed at was a girls-only camp, although young Spanish speaking boys from Puerto Rico were on the job site. The girls did not stay on the work site but were bussed daily from the camp to the tobacco fields. A sack lunch was provided each morning.
    The movie Parish with Troy Donahue was filmed at the tobacco field the girls worked.
    If you recall these summer work trips or I left something out, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    This picture is of the G.Y. Fike Barber Shop from approximately 1900. As is customary with Barber shops, the owner G.Y. Fike has the first chair closest to the door. The customer in Fike’s chair is unknown. The barber at the second chair from the left is Frank Jamison and he is giving Alex Twentier a quick trim. The last two barbers standing by their chairs were E.S. Fike and Elmer Friskcom. It is hard to make out in the digital picture but some of the signs around the shop include “Shine Em Up”, “Try Ed’s Shampoo” and an advertisement for the upcoming “Democratic Mass Meeting Monday November 1st”. However the best sign on the wall in my opinion is the “Try a shave, mistake free or it is free”.
    The light fixtures are very neat and the wood work is quite amazing, but you have to love the elaborate sink in the middle of the floor. I am sure though that in 1900, this was an elaborate sink.

    Construction for the School in what is now Ewing Park began in 1925 when the area was still part of Wayne Township. The eight room school was officially dedicated January 1st 1926 as an independent school and not part of the Ellwood City School District. The park area continued to be a part of Wayne Township until 1931 when it became the fifth ward of Ellwood City at which time the school became part of the Ellwood City Area School District and became the Ewing Park Elementary School.
    The area was originally called Wayne Park before becoming more commonly known as the Shelby Land Company’s Plan. The mill decided to honor the Generals and Admirals of World War I with its street names in the park. The name of the plan was later changed to Ewing Park after Thomas Ewing. Mr. Ewing was the assistant to the Vice President of the National Tube Company and was also the tube mill attorney who did the legal work associated with the building of the community in the park.
    The last time the school was used for education purposes was during the construction of the new Hartman Elementary School on Fourth Street. This was however not the first time displaced students attended the school. After the Wurtemburg School burned down in 1933 grades first through third were bused to the Ewing Park School while fourth through sixth grade were bused to Hazel Dell to attend Northside Elementary. The temporary classrooms were setup in the basement of the school. School children from Wurtemburg and Perry would walk a mile to meet at the old school building and get on a modified bus that the students called the Chicken Coop.
    After the students were back at the current Perry Elementary School, the basement was reverted back to its previous state. I have never personally been inside the school building, but luckily Bob Burrows filled us in on the layout of the basement classrooms. The small room under the entry stairs that faced Wood Street was reserved as a shelter in-case of an emergency and some government supplies were stored in that room as well. The room was also used on occasions to house the visiting dental hygienist and other similar temporary uses. The room to the left (North towards Adams Avenue) was the music room and arts and crafts room. The room to the right (South towards Beatty Street) was used as the indoor dodge ball/gym class when the weather prohibited outdoor physical education.
    After the school closed, the yard was used for a number of years for football and cheerleader practice for the Ellwood City Packers and later the Ellwood City Little Wolverines. I remember running the triangle shaped field before and after each practice. We would love to hear your memories of the school, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    We received this picture with very little information, in fact no information. The owner asked us if we could put this picture on the website and see if anybody recognizes the faces in the picture. I wish I could at least give an approximate year, but even that is questionable. If you recognize anybody here, please leave a comment below or emial us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com