Rocco Building
Gone and almost forgotten. Here is a picture of a structure I have had a difficult time tracking down where it was once located. I was originally told that the building was known as the “Rocco Building” located on Second Street near Division Avenue. However, the background doesn’t really match that description. The building on the left in the background is too far away to be the Workingman’s Social Club as this building sat on the corner of a tree-lined street as you can see on the left. Also it looks like the left of the building is a field of some sort. The picture was taken a couple of days before being torn down.
There have been a number of Rocco’s in Ellwood City and two or three Rocco’s corner grocery stores; this could be one I don’t doubt but I do not know where.
The Rocco Building was razed in the summer of 1974. If you remember this store, please share your memories below or email me at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com
My memories of this building (812 Second St.) was in the late 50′s. My mother & my sisters rented the upstairs apartment from Emma Rocco. The lst floor was used for storage of old equipment, etc. As U R looking at the pic, left side was a house on Hillside & Second but also was razed & the property now is empty with signs on the corner. This building was on Second St. the Workingman’s Social Club was on Division Ave next door 2 the old Rocco’s corner grocery store.
Ray
All I know is my grandma is born in elwood city PA and shes a rocco. so i have seen a building in pictures
My father was born and raised along with his 11 brother’s and sister’s across the street from this building. They lived on the south east corner of Hillside and 2nd. So I called my Aunt Norma who remembered this building and also some history of it. History that she said, “as best as she could remember”. She first told me that it was owned by “Red” Rocco who had a beer distributor in it. It was on the south west corner of Division and 2nd. as has been written. It also at one point was the polling place for the Second Ward of Ellwood, she said.
She also remembered the open lot on the left side of this build. On the south west corner of Hillside and 2nd. at the end of the lot she remembers a one story building that she wasn’t sure, but thought people bought gas there.
Back to the Rocco building. She remembered there was 2 apartments, also in the Rocco building. One in the back with an entrance off the vacate lot and one apartment upstairs that the door on the left, as shown in the picture, led to. She said at one point a Rocco family member B.B. Rocco who married Bill Hand lived in the back apartment. The apartment upstairs, as she recalls, was rented by Joe Santillo and his new bride at one point. Joe was the Father of the future Ellwood City Police Chief.
We also spoke about a small building that was on the property of where they grew up. On the lot, closest to Hillside and 2nd., stood the building which I had heard, along the road of my life, was a candy store. Something I didn’t until this very day was that, that candy store was owned by my Aunt Mary another of my father’s sister’s. Later after she married Mike Gigilo. My dad’s older brother Uncle Hugo had a poolroom in there. I think it was a hangout, in the vein of the building my buddies and I have on Wampum Ave..
Since writing about my Uncle Mike it brought back a wonderful memory. He was really nice to my friends and I when we were running around downtown. He would always dig into his pocket and handed me chain so we all could go to Isley’s for one of those skyscraper ice cream cones, someone else said they loved, when they were writing on here.
Anyways, that is what I found out about that small part of what was know as “Little Italy” and the Rocco Building with some my families history thrown in.