I would like to thank Mr. Everett Bleakney for providing the complete history behind this beautiful home. The house was built in 1874 by Ben Ward by bricks that were kilned nearby. The house was built to replace a previous home that had burned down. Ward Wehman married John Wehman and they owned and lived in the house until Dr. James Gardner purchased the farm about 1956.  Residents of the home after that were Vetenarian Dr. Swartz, Ralph Burnette and then it was sold to Don and Janet Hinkle.  Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle then sold the home to Robert and Pat Cairns.

Mr. Bleakney has been associated with this home since 1940 and we appreciate him sharing his many fond memories about it, and the families living there. If you would like to share your memories of this house or families that have lived there, please leave a comment below or you can email me at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

Jim Hardie recently shared with us his family Indian Story…

  “My Grandfather who was born in 1881 told a story passed down from his mother’s family; the Wehman’s. His grandmother or great-grandmother lived in a cabin near Burnstown. This was during the time when groups of Indians would come through the area. Normally they did not have contact with the settlers but every once in a while they did! His ancestor was extremely afraid of them.

     One day there was a knock on the door. When she opened it there stood a group of Indians. They were polite and made known that they would like to borrow a cooking pot to cook their meal. She had a big iron pot which she loved to use and grudgingly let them borrow it. They thanked her and turned to walk to the creek bank to prepare their meal.

      It was then she noticed the dog they had on a rope and which was to be the main course. The deed was done; the meal was made and eaten. The group took her treasured pot down to the water and scoured it with gravel and sand returning it to her with their thanks.

       For years that old pot could be seen in the corner of the garden plot where it was placed as soon as the group of Indians were out of sight, never to be used again.”

    Dr. Silas Stevenson built his home in 1891 on the Southeast corner of Park Avenue and Seventh Street. The former Roundhead was one of the fortunate men that was able to return home after serving his country in the Civil War but by the grace of God and a little luck he was able to. Silas was wounded near Petersburg, Virginia in 1864 and severely injured when a shell exploded by his head in 1865. After returning home, Dr. Stevenson continued to serve his country when he was elected to two terms in the State Legislature. Along with Captain A.C. Grove, Silas served on both the first Borough Council and the first School Board being named president of both.
    Silas’ widow, Mrs. Sarah Robinson Stevenson continued to live in the house on Park Avenue until she was 94 years old in 1940. The house was later sold to Frank & Elizabeth Bellissimo.
If you know anything else about this house or have any memories you would like to share about this post, 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.

      We have received a number of comments from those that remember the big snow of 1950 and we have even received additional pictures. We would like to thank Jo Ann (Miller) Oxsen again for sharing the attached photograph. Her comment on the original post…
My parents Midge & Harry Miller, owned Miller’s Gift Shop at 622 Lawrence Avenue at the time of the November 1950 big snow. They were decorating their store window for Christmas when the snow hit and had a heck of a time getting home. I was only four years old at the time and what I remember of the snow was standing on the sidewalk in front of our house with Dad shoveling snow that went way above my head on both sides. Have a picture of it in an old photo album.
If you have any pictures or stories you would like to share on any topic in Ellwood City History, please email them to info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    The enormous house at 301 Fountain Avenue was not quite as large as the Stiefel home less than a block away, but was still referred to as the “southern mansion” of Ellwood City. The nickname may have had more to do with the ornamental ironwork on the flat roof of the house and the railing on the front porch roof similar to the large estates in the southern states.
The house was the home of John Gelbach, who was considered the most powerful man in Ellwood City not involved in the tube mills. He was part of the group that controlled First National Bank of Ellwood City and part of the group that purchased the assets of the Pittsburg Company in 1905 after its head man and Ellwood’s founder, Henry Hartman moved to Denver. The assets of the Pittsburg Company at the time included the power company, water company, the short line railroad and the hotel company, all of which Mr. Gelbach guided until 1933. He was very active in the First Presbyterian Church and one of the organizers of the Ellwood City Country Club.
If you would like to share something either about the house, the current owners and renovations they are making, any of the other folks that have owned the house since the Gelbach’s, or about Mr. Gelbach himself, we would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE. Don’t forget to mention the “prize” lamp in the large picture window at Christmas time.
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.

      This picture is from a collection of pictures that were recently shared with us. The picture is of the former tube mill taken from the grounds of the old baseball field known as “Tunnel Field”. In the immediate background of the picture is the small village of Burnstown.

      Burnstown is located along the south side of route 488 between Ellwood City and Ellport in the third ward. The area was built up upon the Burns farm that stretched from the Northeastern edge of Ellwood City, east, and included parts of Ellport, Rock Dell, and Wurtemburg Heights. When Merrit Greene was purchasing land for the Pittsburg Company, Burns refused to sell any of his property to the group.

      Burnstown was home to many large homes as you can see in the pictures, and was largely made up of families that worked in the tube mill. Burnstown also housed a number of business including corner grocery stores and barber shops and even had its own school.

      For awhile now we have been looking for people to share their memories of growing up on Chicken Coop Hill so if you lived there we would love to hear your memories. We would enjoy hearing if you remember your neighbors, the families, any neighborhood parties, in other words – memories.
      Despite conflicting stories, we have uncovered the story behind the name. Chicken Coop Hill is simply called that because of the large number of households that had their own chickens in the back yard – for the fresh eggs we assume. The entire hillside seemed to have a chicken coop or two from “Coop Hill” all the way to “Little Italy”. It was popular for awhile to keep pigeons, so we are not sure if the chicken coops were used for pigeons or for actual chickens. You know what, that is not important – what we would like to hear are the memories you might have of growing up on the hill. Please share your stories below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      We have gotten a lot of comments and emails about the business district of Hazel Dell. One of the buildings in that area was this building along North Street. Different generations remember different business being in that building, but all remember them fondly.
      Most recently Christopher Pavkovich, who lived on First Avenue from the 1970′s until the 90′s, shared… “That has always been an apartment complex as far back as I can remember.  However, the right most part of the complex (when facing it) on the ground floor used to be a hair salon and had several owners.  I do not think it was ever a barber shop.”
      Delores Kammermeier recalled that there were several businesses in the large building during the war including Seaburn’s Dry Goods. Ange DiLeonardo’s grocery and bake shop occupied a portion of the first floor for a number of years and the apartments were upstairs.  She also shared her memory of.. “The Herr family lived up on the second floor and all the girls on the block had a crush on Harold Herr as he was so cute.” She was not positive, but believes that Tony Straw had an insurance office in the upper white building also or real estate but was not sure what.”
      Kathy Blank recalled that “in the middle darkened door, was the Seaburn Sundry (?) Shop with lots of What-nots; lace material, needles, thread, embroidery hoops, and paper decals. She also carried material to make dresses and aprons, etc, shoe laces, stockings (2 pieces); rick-rack, and etc. In the back of the store was where Mrs. Seaburn pierced ears with a hot needle and cork and silk thread. She would leave thread in the ear lobe and we had to turn it so that the hole would not close up. Mrs. Seaburn was the sweetest, kind and loving lady. She reminded me of my Grandma. It was such a fun store!!! I saved for months to earn those ten cents to get my ears pierced!!!
      While I was growing up (I moved to Wampum Avenue in 1943 or 44), Ruth Albino had a Beauty shop to the right of Seaburns, when you were facing the building. I believe she owned the building along with her husband Paul and it was known as the Albino Building.”
      Of course this is only a couple people’s memories; we would love to hear your memories of the Albino Building and the stores that were within. Please share your memories below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com.

We would like to thank Kathy, Delores and Chris for their help.

      Leonard and Viola Chapman Sr. lived on the Ellwood-Wampum Road near the Rainbow Grove picnic grounds. Next to the house was a garage with an apartment above it where Virgil and Dorothy Newton lived with their children. Chapman’s back yard was virtualy the neighborhood playground complete with a merry-go-round, slide, and swings that Chapman installed for his grandchildren.
      Those that remember the event recall especially “heavy” water from the Ellwood-Wampum Road draining into the nearby ravine that had been filled with mostly sand and dirt. Water had been draining almost continually that January in 1952 until the drain pipe became clogged.
    The problem was discovered when the Chapman’s discovered a hole ten to twelve feet in diameter in the road to the rainbow Picnic Grounds. After further inspection, Leonard Chapman Jr. saw water gushing up through a hole in the families’ driveway. Mrs. Chapman thought it safer for the children to get higher ground in the apartment above the garage. 
    The Chapman’s (Sr. and Jr.) tried but could not unclog the pipe with the help of neighbors Angelo Bartolomeo Sr. and his sons, Angelo Jr. and Victor. Soon water, sand, and dirt began flowing downhill and everyone heard the earth rumbling.
    Panic started to set in and Mrs. Chapman told her son to get the children out of the apartment, but they were not able to go to the basement of the house as it was already underwater. Leonard Chapman Jr. got to the children and literally “throwing” the youngest down the stairs, everyone was able to get to safety in time to “watch everything go”.
    The merry-go-round, slide, swings, chicken coops, even another smaller building. “Everything washed down creek.”
    No one was hurt in the landslide but according to the Ellwood City Ledger there was damage to basement of the house and the foundation of the garage/apartment was exposed. Do you remember the day the earth moved? We would enjoy hearing your memories. Please leave your comments below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      There was a time in our history when Jockey Moore Road was lined with large family owned farms. The farmers helped each other out when possible, especially during harvest time. Walt McQuiston owned the local thrashing machine and would go to all the local farms along Wampum Avenue, Jockey Moore, and couple of farms on Line Avenue Extension. An annual tradition, the wife of the farm the men were working on that day would cook lots of great food. Walt McQuiston is pictured here posing with his J1K Separator thrashing machine with a Frick engine in 1911. Also in the picture are John McQuiston sitting on the wheel and John Wilson on the roof of the engine.
     A couple of the farms included the Phelner farm, located on the east side of Line Avenue Extension almost where Jockey Moore meets today and the Koser Farm (Elijah), opposite Jockey Moore & Line Avenue. The one room school house (still standing today) is located on what was the Clark farm on Jockey Moore Road. 
      In addition to farms, Jockey Moore area was also a productive coal mine. There is a section of the current road that has worn enough that one of the old railcar rails has become exposed again. We would love to hear your memories of this area. Please leave you memories below in the comments section or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    The home at 12 Fifth Street is remembered most commonly as the home of Dr. C.R. Carnahan and family. The doctor purchased the home in 1935  and had his dental office there until he retired in 1993. The office was on the first floor and the Carnahan family lived in the rest of the house. He retired at 89 yrs of age.  His daughter Patricia Carnahan Newton shared the picture with us.
      Anyone who would like to share their memories of the doctor or his family, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

     Mark Barnes recently shared with us a number of pictures taken to chronicle the construction of the Ellwood City Post Office beginning in 1932 through completion in 1933. We will get all of the pictures onto the website soon but we wanted to just give a little glimpse of what is to come. McGlincy Studio took this great picture from atop of either the 7-L building that burned down or from the building that formally housed Four Star Pizza next to the alley.
    This picture quickly became one of our favorites, not only for the picture of the Post Office but more for what you can see in the background. Most of the houses pictured here in 1933 are still standing along Crescent Avenue and look very similar today. As the tube mill was only a couple blocks away, it is safe to assume that these were mill workers homes and a couple of the “giant” houses (sixth and eleventh house on the south side of Crescent Avenue) were probably boarding houses.
    The houses are not the only fascinating buildings in the picture. If you look just beyond the church in the right of the picture, you get an un-obscured view of the old Hospital on the hill. To us at least, this is an incredible view as today it is hard to picture the old hospital without it being mostly hidden from view behind trees.
    With the brick paved roads, the old car, the two foot diameter telephone pools and the fancy street lights hanging from them, and so on and so on. Like we said, it is quickly becoming one of our favorite pictures. If this picture brings back any memories you would like to share, please leave a reply below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com