I have gotten a number of pictures from Betty Fontana and others that feature the Newton family including a number of pictures of the famous Washer Gang. I was curious as to why this one family in particular was so photographed in a period where “snapshots” were not common. Then I received this picture of the Newton Brothers picking up their shipment by train. In the bottom of the picture it is stamped by the photographer H.C. Newton.
      Thanks to H.C. we get to enjoy these pictures of the Newton Brothers Liquor Store a century later.
      The two pictures of the wagon loads of Standard Beer from Kittanning PA and New Castle Beer (among other beverages), are timeless photographs; and they make me feel a little sorry for the horses. The picture of the single wagon is clearly marked License No. 26 and the horse is also tagged with the same license number. I am curious if that is a liquor license or if that license is required to pickup cargo from the P&LE railroad cars?
     The Newton Bro. Liquor Store was owned by Ellwood City Memories contributor Ralph Newton’s grandfather, Thomas J. Newton. I have not been successful in finding whom the brothers were that may have been business partners with Thomas, if there ever were any.
We would enjoy hearing your memories. Please share below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      Ellwood City had a few Duck Pin lanes in town, but as for actual bowling alleys go, there were only two or three of those. The one most folks remember was the bowling alley on Woodside Avenue (Ellwood-New Castle Road or Route 65). In the last twenty years the name changed two or three times, but I believe it was Woodside Lanes the longest. Please correct if I am wrong.
      Another popular bowling alley in town was the bowling alley pictured here. The building was torn down awhile back to expand McElwain Brothers used auto lot, but many people still remember the bowling alley. The only name I could find for the bowling alley was the Ellwood Bowling Alley (1964 Phone Book) but I do not ever remember it being called that.
Do you remember the bowling alley on Lawrence Avenue? We would like to hear your memories. Please share below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      The single story stone and brick building on the corner of Ninth Street and Lawrence Avenue has one of the most storied histories in Ellwood City. Originally built as a two story stone building, it housed the Pittsburg Company Offices and was officially named the Bank Building of the Pittsburg Company. The second story housed the offices of the company Hartman used to build his town. The first floor was home to the First National Bank of Ellwood City which was organized in 1892. Many of the young town’s most influential men were at one time or another involved in the bank including J.H. Gelbach, president; H. S. Blatt, vice-president, and former board of directors’ members Frank Moore and Captain A.C. Grove.
      The Ellwood City Ledger would later operate out of the stone building, but expansion was necessary. A brick addition was added to the east side and rear (south) of the building. Additional office space was added out the East side and in 1963 the second story of the original building was removed.
      The giant safe of First National Bank is still located inside the Ledger building today but was sealed shut for many years as no one had the combination to open it. When the safe was finally cracked open, to everyone’s disappointment nothing of significant value was found inside.

There has been a lot more feedback from those born at the old Mary Evans Maternity Hospital than I could have imagined. A lot of the website’s regulars have commented on the old hospital post however Mr. Newton went one step further. Mr. Ralph Newton of Colorado was born at the Ellwood City Hospital on November 13, 1927 and he still has the bill to prove it.

    His parents (Ralph W. & Helen Newton) were billed $45.50 for Helen’s 11 day stay at the hospital and $5.50 for little baby Ralph’s 11 day stay. The blood work in the laboratory was an additional $5, a $7.50 fee for the Special Nurses Board, and the $5 fee for the delivery itself rounded out $68.50 bill.
Not only does Mr. Newton have the bill from his birth, but he also has the cancelled check. I am not sure which document is more fascinating. The check has a five digit account number and the check number is hand written. I have a hard enough time keeping track of my account now; if I lived in 1927 my wife would have strangled me.
    Please remember this was 1927, $68.50 was probably a month’s wages back then. There is quite a difference from then to today where my Emergency Room co-pay is $200.
Thank you Mr. Newton, and happy belated 84th birthday.

      If the Country Squire Inn does not look familiar to you, perhaps you might recognize the land along route 65. The motel was located on the ground Christy’s Plaza including Trader Horn is located today.
      The Country Squire would later become the Ellwood Motel. Back before the Interstate, a lot of travelers came through Ellwood City and the Ellwood Motel was a popular rest stop. When this picture was taken in March of 1970, Calgon Corporation was not yet located where the picture was taken from.
Normally this is the place I ask you to share your memories of the topic, but I have a few reservations about asking you for your memories of the motel. If you do wish to share, please share your memories below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com. Please keep in mind this is a family oriented web site.

Originally Published January 2, 2009

Mr. Spoa had been in the grocery business in Ellwood City as long ago as 1922, which was the same time he arrived in Ellwood City. “Uncle Gus” as he was affectionately known, came to this country from a war torn Yugoslavia in 1922 through Ellis Island at the age of seventeen to join his brother. Originally born in the village of Gobesh, Macedonia (later part of Yugoslavia) May 12, 1905, he was one of eleven children.
    His brother Ernest, who came to Ellwood City in 1917, was in the grocery business with Gus Henton at the corner of First Street and Spring Avenue. Costa Spoa later became a partner in the business when his brother died of appendicitis at the age of 26 on February 22, 1923. At that time, the area the store was located in was still part of Burnstown. Mr. Spoa returned to Yugoslavia in 1930 to marry his business partner Mr. Henton’s sister Donce Torbu on November 28th 1930.
As his family grew larger and Henton’s family also grew, the store was no longer able to sustain both families. Mr. Spoa branched out on his own and developed Spoa’s Market on First Street (later First Street Bakery & currently an apartment) in1940. Eventually he moved the market to Spring Avenue at the present site of Pizza Joes. In 1960, he built the Wampum Avenue Value King Store and leased it to Loblaw. 1963 Costa bought the “8 till Late” store in Frisco (later Riverside Chrsyler Dodge) and in 1965 he developed Christy’s Plaza which has housed a grocery store, a bank, pharmacy, restaurant, and other stores over the years. The grocery store at the plaza originally was not Costa Spoa’s store as it was leased out. The Spoas bought the former Herberts Market in Ellport in 1974 and sold the Spring Avenue location to Mario Morini in 1965. In 1985, Uncle Gus opened Christy’s Market in Christy’s Plaza in Franklin Township.
Mr. Spoa saw the grocery business change around him from a time when grocers went to the customers to get their order and groceries were delivered later in the day to a time when nothing was purchased with money but instead everything was bought on credit, to the current state of the industry today. He was one of the last area business men that could recall the days when supplies were unloaded from the Harmony Line street cars onto a horse drawn wagon and the cash registers were all hand cranked.
Costa Spoa was an avid supporter of the community receiving awards for his support of the Boy Scouts, the local YMCA and almost every other organization that asked. Since he spent up to 18 to 20 hours a day at the store, he had little time to join the various organizations himself. To say that Mr. Spoa was just a strong supporter of the Monastery of Transfiguration in Wurtemburg would be a gross understatement.
A little unknown fact is that Mr. Spoa owned the area’s first television; a large consol television with a seven inch black and white screen. He owned the television so early in the television era that he actually had to wait for the Dumont Station (later KDKA) to start broadcasting so he could use it. Even though there was no broadcast, people would come into the store just to see the test pattern on this new fangled machine.
Uncle Gus’s life in Ellwood City had a rocky beginning in Ellwood City as the passenger train he rode from Pittsburgh to Ellwood City in was involved in a collision with a freight train in the tunnel in Frisco. Even with the rough start, Mr. Spoa was a true patriot. He was very proud of America and that he became a citizen of this country. He loved the opportunities this country offered and the life he was able to have here.
If you would like to share your memories of “Uncle Gus” please leave a comment below or you can email us by clicking HERE.

Originally Published October 16, 2009

      Paul W. Blocher opened Blocher Jewelers and Silversmiths in the 600 block of Lawrence Avenue in the summer of 1907. The shop moved to 314 Sixth Street for a number of years before settling in at the location most of us are familiar with at 507 Lawrence Avenue in 1947.
For a little over sixty years, Blochers was a staple of downtown Ellwood City before moving to a larger location in the Franklin Township Plaza. We have heard from a number of people that remember the unique black marble front and how it just seemed to “class up” the area. So many Ellwoodians have a tie to Blochers either through engagement rings, wedding gifts, anniversary gifts, Christmas gifts and so on. When someone mentions Blochers, it seems that everyone is inclined to give an inventory of the important items they purchased there through the years.
      Paul’s daughter Ruth took over the business her father started in 1938. The Ellwood City’s Centennial Queen’s daughter Rikki continued the business until 1999 when her daughter Mary took over and became the fourth generation to carry on the family business.

    The Ellwood Opera House Hotel was built in 1893 on the 600 block of Lawrence Avenue. If you look closely at the picture, you can see that the first floor housed a bowling alley, barbershop, restaurant, and a pool hall. The Second floor was used as an auditorium where most of town’s public meetings were held. The auditorium was used as a theatre hosting Vaudeville, usually featuring Ray & Rini Grant.  In the late 1800′s and early 1900′s Vaudeville became one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America. Each evening’s bill of performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts. Types of acts included (among others) musicians (both classical and popular), dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female and male impersonators, acrobats, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and or short movies.

    The Ellwood Opera House later became home to the Loyal Order of the Moose until they sold the property to ESB bank and moved into their current building at 1400 Factory Ave. The Moose hosted many events for the community including Lincoln High School’s after-prom, and performances by various singers including Lawrence Welk, Guy Lombardo, & Vaughn Monroe.

   We know there were many other performances and other events held at the Moose but we need you help, could you please share your memories with us? Please either leave a reply below or email us by CLICKING HERE.

 Originally Published June 16, 2009

    In 1900, Alexander Twentier of Evans City started a restaurant in a building on Lawrence Avenue between 7th & 8th Streets. Three years later, along with Lewis Marburger, he built a new building on the site and started into the hotel business. The hotel had thirty rooms and was known as the Grand Central Hotel until 1915 when it became McDowells Hotel.

The hotel garnered national prominence when Bob Boone’s book Hack was released. The first chapter of the book describes Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Hack Wilson’s life in Ellwood City. It is mentioned many times that Hack’s father was in Twentier’s. Today, the first floor of the former hotel is Big Dawgs Bar & Grille.

Originally Published January 21, 2009

      The Hotel Conway was the very first building erected on Lawrence Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. The Hotel was built 1900 on the North side of the street at 526-528 Lawrence Avenue. Eventually the West side of the building was remodeled for Banking purposes as it was the original home of Peoples National Bank.
    After the Hotel closed and the bank was no longer located there the building was remodeled for store and office purposes. Today Kimpells Jewelers is located on the first floor of the old Hotel and the second and third floors are occupied apartments. The fourth floor is currently used for storage only.

If you remember when this building was anything other than Kimpells Jewelers, we would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or simply email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      It was reported back in 1917, if you were wealthy enough, you could order a Maxwell Roadster for $795, or the Town Car for $1,095 FOB Detroit, delivered to Badger Brothers in Ellwood City, PA. The Maxwell Roadster was considered a mechanically sound car as it was reported to average 27.15 to 29.04 miles per gallon.

The Ellwood City Ledger photograph to the right is a picture of James Shallenberger showing off his brand new 1919 Chalmer that he purchased from John Badger. The picture is taken in front of the front gate of the US Steel mill. Today the gate was later remodeled into a pizza shop and today houses Nico Luciano’s.

      I might be a little weird but I enjoy pictures like this; more of a scene than a picture of something specific. I look at a picture like this and find all kind of things and notice things that are not there anymore.
        For example I did not know that there was a Mobil Service Station on the corner of Fifth Street and Spring Avenue where the old trolley station once stood. I know a lot of you remember that station, but if it wasn’t for this one picture, I may have never known that. It took a magnifying glass, but when this picture was taken, a sign for Smith Drug Store is on the corner diagonal from St. Agatha.
      When you look at the zoomed in picture of the former Veterans Memorial Bridge, it looks like you can make out the “dummy” at the far end of the bridge but I believe that was long gone by the time this picture was taken. Speaking of that particular zoomed in portion, it is still strange to not see McDonald’s and now Rite-Aid. Its funny how quickly we become accustomed to something.
      I have faith that many of you will be able to date this picture. There are one or two of you that might be able to look at the business that were open at this time and say, something like: “Abbaticchio and the hardware store two doors down were both open between 1962-71″ and “the price of gas at Sinclair, makes this picture 1967″. But more likely, there are a few of you that can very easily give us a date of the picture by looking at the vehicles on the road.
      Speaking of vehicles on the road, I need a little help with the blurry delivery truck on the left hand side. Are my eyes deceiving me or does that say Winky’s on the side or is that the old Park Pharmacy delivery van? The letters inside the circle on the front of the van are just blurry enough that I can not make it out. I know someone knows if this was a delivery van or if it was owned by the radio station that broadcasted from Ellwood City. If you know the answer to these questions, or notice something else I missed, please share below or email me at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com