During the years the Shelby Social Club was available to the people of Ellwood City, the Shelby Social Club Band performed not only at the clubhouse on the corner of Pittsburgh Circle and First Street but at other various functions. The only member to be identified is the gentleman sixth from the left in the second row (wearing glasses); Henry “Celia” Drushel of Fombell. Celia is the grandfather of Doris Jennings.

      The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) is a fraternal organization that split from the English Odd Fellows organizations which originated during the early part of the 1700′s when charitable and selfless acts were not common. The American branch became the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the number of lodges in the United States increased until every State in the United States had a lodge. The Civil War saw a great number of Lodges close as membership plummeted but rebounded a little after the war. The Great Depression also struck a blow to membership as many were unable to afford membership.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows had two lodges in Ellwood City, the Glenn Park Lodge 1016 instituted Sept 10, 1891  and the Alferetta Rebekah Lodge 142 instituted Oct 14, 1902. The Glenn Park Lodge met every Thursday in the Schweiger Building (601 Lawrence Avenue). The Odd Fellows’ ladies’ auxiliary in Ellwood City was known as the “Daughters of Rebekah”.
Ellwood City Lodge 9 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows came about by consolidation of Glen Park Lodge, Refuge Lodge, and Wampum Lodge 865 instituted Jan 22, 1874. The consolidation of the three lodges was instituted Jan 20 1932, by Grand Master Rev. Simon Sipple, other Grand Lodge officers.
The name Ellwood City Lodge No. 9 was suggested to the Grand Lodge by the secretary Lawrence Rabberman and adopted by the Grand Lodge without question. During the following years the lodge supported a softball team in the I.O.O.F. league of Beaver Valley (they won the championship in a playoff with Freedom); they also had a team in the Civic Bowling League.
The lodge contributed to the support of the Wayside Inn, I.O.O.F. home in Grove City, PA and Orphans Home in Meadville, PA. The independent Order of Odd Fellows is the oldest fraternal organization in the United States. The newly formed Lodge 9 continued for many years though last record I can find is 1967.

Originally Published April 20, 2009

    You can’t tell by all of the trucks, but this trailer fire on South Second Street on July 27, 1957 was actually very small. Firefighters did not carry pagers twenty four hours a day, instead relied solely on the fire siren. The number of blasts told the firemen where the fire was, one blast for the first ward, two blasts for the second ward and so on. Without any operators relaying information back and forth between the men on the scene and the guys at the station, the firemen brought everything. For this small fire, they brought out the Fire Chiefs car (52 Chevy), a ladder truck, 1954 American LaFrance pumper, 57 mercury rescue squad vehicle, 49 pumper.
    This was before men wore all the current firefighting gear. Towards the middle of the picture are five of the firemen on the scene, all just wearing street clothes. One firefighter is wearing a white suit but is hard to make out. We were told that the men didn’t wear a lot of gear then. They would get to the fire as fast as possible, try to get inside if they could and try to attack the fire at the point of origin. When it got to bad inside, they fought it from outside the house. The firefighter walking towards the photographer is Bob Henry, one of three full time paid firemen. The other two paid firefighters in Ellwood City were Bob Dambaugh & Chuck West.

    The second photograph is another example of the firemen bringing everything they have or may need. You can see the towns first American Lafrance, the 49 LaFrance, the 54 LaFrance in the background, the chiefs car, the rescue squad car and more. All of these vehicles were rolled out for this small fire at Dr Painters house on Pittsburgh Circle by the end of Second Street back on Feb 16, 1960 (notice the fancy street light).
In the third picture we see the other two paid firefighters at a small shack fire on Aiken Avenue. Police Officer Tom Magnifico shines a flashlight for firefighter Bob Dambach as he pulls a mattress from the ruins as fellow firefighter Chuck West continues to hit the “hot” spots. The picture was taken Nov 18, 1956.

If you would like to share a story you have of any of these firefighters or even memories you have of any of these vehicles, please email us or leave a comment below.

    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

    The 1949-50 school year at Park Gate School included the following sixth, seventh and eighth grade students. In the front row were, left to right, Ray Foley, Angelo Prestopine, Donald Hogue, Judy Robinson, Bud Hill and Joe Regna. In the second row were, left to right, JoAnne Kraynak, Joan Kirkham, Norma Tritt, Carl Campbell and Eugene LaRitz. In the third row were, left to right, Rose Marie Conforti, Marlene Volpe, Clarence Olinger, Shirley Kolitz and Albert Hogue. In the fourth row were, left to right, John LaRitz, Donna Swesey, unknown, John DeCaria and Joyce McMunn, In the back were, left to right, Fred Regna, Earl Snyder and Mrs. Edna Coulter, teacher. This picture once belonged to Laird Coulter, son of Mrs. Coulter but is now in the possession of the Ellwood City Historical Society.

   The First Christian Church on the corner of Fourth Street and Wayne Avenue was originally a wooden building with the large open steeple towering over the houses of the area. The church was built and dedicated in 1901 and F.F. Schultz served as Minister. The wooden structure was replaced by the current brick church in 1927. The first Christian Church continued to worship at the location into the 1990’s until moving into their current location.
     Love Hope Baptist Church was previously located on Beaver Avenue where McElwains is located today before moving to the corner of Wayne Avenue. It has been nearly ten years since the Baptist Church moved from Beaver Avenue and into the large brick church with dozens of stain glass windows. Both First Christian and Love Hope continue to meet in Ellwood City and be a presence in the community. Please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

     The First Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church originally opened its doors October 28th, 1900 on the corner of Spring Avenue and Fifth Street and continued to grow and prosper. In February of 1925, Trinity sold their building and opened the present Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church on May 20, 1925. Trinity extensively remodeled the inside of the church in early 2005. With the many beautiful stainglass windows, orginal gothic woodwork, and half circle alter, this Lutheran Church is still one of the most beautiful churches in Ellwood City.

      The Ellwood City Ledger photograph pictured here was taken during the construction  church before its dedication in 1925. Notice that Second Street has not been paved with bricks yet in this picture.

         The Presbyterian Church of Ellwood City is older than our town itself, having originally organized in the “old brick school house” back on July 14, 1891. The church continued to gather at the brick school by the old white wooden covered bridge that crossed the creek until finally building their own building on the corner of Spring Avenue and Third Street. Yes, I said Third Street. The original Presbyterian Church was built on the corner of Spring Avenue and Third Street. The church met there from 1893 until 1925 when they sold the lot to the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church.
      The stone building specialist, Albert Dahl built the current First Presbyterian Church on the corner of Fourth Street and Spring Avenue. Mr. Dahl also built the original First National Bank (now home to the Ellwood City Ledger) and the First Baptist Church on Fountain Avenue.
      The building itself  has grown through the years and is now also home to Parent’s Preschool and continues to host the famous Boar’s Head Festival each Christmas.
If you have a story you would like to share about the Presbyterian Church of Ellwood City, please share your memories below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      Ms. Drake opened the first hospital in Ellwood City on the corner of Seventh Street and Crescent Avenue in 1913. The ten bed hospital operated in the former residence of the prominent resident H.S. Blatt and only had one doctor. In 1917, Ellwood City celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony for a new hospital facility that would be able to accommodate up to 25 patients. The large brick building would open in 1918 with a grand view overlooking the town from Border Avenue.
    In 1943, the Mary Evans Maternity Hospital was opened on another hillside overlooking the town on Evans Drive. The hospital was named after the mother of D.A. and J.A. Evans, who donated the land to the Ellwood City Hospital Board. the old hospital on Border Avenue continued to operate until 1973 when Mary Evans was expanded into a modern medical complex with an emergency room and variety of diagnostic and surgical services. The original maternity hospital was converted into the Mary Evans Long-Term Care Center.
      Along with Dr. Drake and the Evans brothers (who both served many years on the Hospital Board), Frank Moore was an important part of the Hospital in the early years. Mr. Moore was the head man at Mathews Conveyer from the time it arrived in Ellwood City in 1912 until he passed away in 1954, and he had served as the hospital board president since its incorporation meeting in 1915.
     The “old hospital” on the hill is still standing today and an assisted living center operates there today. The historic house on crescent Avenue’s fate was not as fortunate as it was eventually torn down in the 1960′s when Crescent Place was built.

I am embarrassed to admit that I had inadvertently omitted the picture of the memorial  in Legion Park Dedicated in Memory of the Ellwood City Area Men Killed in Action During the Vietnam War. A regular to the web site (Dave Larson) kindly pointed this out to me and asked me to post the picture.

CPL. Joseph A. Listorti Jr.
CPL. David L. Brown
CPL. Dennis R. Baker
CPL. Larry E. Boyer
PCF. David Francis Smith
S/4 Leslie H. Sabo Jr.
CPL. Robert M. Kuner Jr.
SPC. William J. Bowers
CPL. John L. Straley
Cpl. David J. Gamble

      We are all indebted to those who fought for their country, for their families, and for us. Not only men and women like David, Joseph, Leslie, Dennis, John, Robert, Larry, and William who did not make it home, but also those who survived the war and for some the struggle once they got home. May we always remember those who were willing to give their lives for this great country and Ellwood City.

      I recently added a post about Christmas decorations around town and how the stores along Lawrence Avenue would decorate their windows and the town hung illuminations from the street lights. Apparently October is too early in the year to start talking about Christmas for some of you; so how many of you remember the annual tradition of high school students painting the front windows of the stores along downtown for Halloween? I have been told that at one time this was a judged contest but can not confirm what the grand prize was.
      Please feel free to correct me on this post as I am not sure about this. Was there a judged contest or was it just something the high school art club did to get out of classes? If there was a contest, who judged, and was it limited to high school students? Please feel free to share below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      This picture was taken about 1920 in front of the place the stairs to the Lincoln High School auditorium now stand. The picture was given to a man in Fallston and hung in a barroom in the same town where the locals took bets on which community it was. E.J. Wright of Beaver formerly worked at the Aetna-Standard here in town and recognized the background as Ellwood City.
      Although it is fairly easy to establish the date of the picture as 1920, since that was the date the Simon Building in the background was completed, and it is still under construction in this picture, nobody seems to know for certain just what the occasion was. There are some that seem to think it was a Knights of Pythias program, but that has not been substantiated. A graduation ceremony can be eliminated as Lincoln High School was not built until 1925 and at this time students attended Central Public School on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Sixth Street. The older gentlemen on the left, just right of the band are wearing grand uniforms that tend to be more closely associated with the Knights or with the Odd Fellows. The front row of the picture appears to be younger children wearing “sailor” uniforms with round discs on their heads. The flag on the left would be the biggest indicator as to who these folks were and what they were celebrating.
      Notice the bricks on the left where a house is about to be erected (Evans Home) and the vacant spot where the First Methodist Church now stands. At the time of the picture, the Hotel Lawrence was still standing. At the time of the picture there was a half circle (or crescent, if you will) on Crescent Avenue in front of the old hotel. The hotel could not be accessed from Crescent Avenue, but rather it had a driveway that jutted through Oliver Park behind the hotel and circled up to the front. Crescent Avenue had to have the half circle to accommodate the driveway in front. If you look closely, you can still see the crescent in this picture.
We would like to hear your thought about the picture. Please share them below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com