I decided to repost one of my favorite articles on the web site. The post features a priceless snapshot in time of Ellwood City taken from 196 feet above the town sometime between 1909 and 1915. It is amazing how much has changed from then to today. There is so much in the picture it is easy to miss some of the more interesting things. I have added yellow numbers to some of the points I would like to draw your attention to in this picture, of course there is more than the twelve things I mention here and would love to hear about something I missed.
    The first point of interest I see when I look at this picture is the grand Hotel Lawrence surrounded by the majestic Oliver Park. Though it is difficult to get your bearings with this picture, we are actually looking at the side of the Hotel. The front of the Hotel formally called Hotel Oliver is the side with the large white peaks and faces down Fifth Street.
Secondly, in almost the center of the page we see the Central School building built in 1902 on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Sixth Street. Today the Ellwood City Municipal Building is located on that lot of land with a number of memorials displayed in the front lawn. The large World War II memorial in front of the Municipal building was purchased through multiple fundraisers including donations and with the extra money that was raised for Ellwood City’s anniversary.
Number three in the picture is the Park Hotel, built 1895 and located on the North side of the Ellwood City Short Line. Today, most people don’t remember the Park Hotel and I have had a difficult time uncovering the fate of the old Hotel. Did it catch on fire from the sparks of a passing train, or was it simply torn down due to dilapidation? The fact remains that the building is no longer there but if you look the next time you drive past, one of the walls from its foundation is still standing today.
Four and Five go together, almost. Point number four is the old train station that is no longer there today and number five points to something that is actually missing from the picture, the Fifth Street Subway. The railroad you see in the picture beside the train station was the Pennsylvania Railroad, who owned Rock Point Park. The railroad through Ellwood City was known more as the Ellwood Short Line and replaced the B&O railroad that was built along the Northern bank of the Connoquenessing Creek in 1876. After the Ellwood Tunnel was completed in 1892 the railroad connecting North Sewickley & Rock Point ran through the natural plain which Ellwood City was built upon and the hilly B&O railroad was abandoned.
Ellwood City owes its birth more to the Ellwood City railroad tunnel and Beaver Falls then the more common misconception of New Castle. Ellwood’s founder H.W. Hartman was dissatisfied with the conditions in Beaver Falls where he was the head of the Beaver Falls Water Company and Hartman Steel Company.  He heard the railroad was planning to build the tunnel to bypass the slower line through Hazel Dell and put his plan for an industrial resort town into action.
The passenger station in the picture, known as the Union Station, served Ellwood City until the mid 1950’s. One text says the station was torn down as late as 1957, while another says it was torn down as early as 1955. Today, a parking lot is all that remains beside what is now the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Rail line.
Just west of the Union Station is number Six, the freight yards of Ellwood City. The large structure on the Northern side of the tracks is the B.O. Freight Station. The station was located just West of Sixth Street which was a main road at the time of the picture as the bridge connecting Ellwood City to Hazel Dell was the Sixth Street Bridge, not the Fifth as it is today. The “Hazel Dell Bridge” as it was known then connected Sixth Street and College Street. The original Fifth Street Bridge was not erected until 1915.
The B.O. Freight Station was demolished in 1982 and the property was sold to the Ellwood City Forge Group.
Our number seven point of interest is one of the few things in the picture still standing today. Point seven is the Stiefel Building on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Fifth Street. I have yet to discover if the building was named after one of Ellwood City’s most prominent citizens, Mr. R.C. Stiefel, if he actually had the building built, or maybe he even had his offices there.
Number eight is the old tube mill more commonly known to the folks of Ellwood as “Mill B”. Originally the mill was the home of the Ellwood Shafting & Tubing Company, the first manufacturing institution to establish itself in Ellwood City as early as 1891. “Mill B” was dismantled in 1923 and the property was sold to Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad for a freight station and yard. It is hard to see it today but from Sixth Street to Blanks Concrete and Supply was nothing but P&LE spurs. Five or six lines of empty railroad lines loading and unloading freight coming into and out of Ellwood City all day long. August 25th 1981 marked the last day P&LE took a loaded boxcar, cargo from Airway Industries out of Ellwood City.
Nine is less of a specific point as it is a general area. As you can see from the picture, the West End of town was the direction of the growth in the early days of the town. The mills and businesses were more congregated at that end and most Ellwoodians thought that the town would continue to grow in that direction. In fact the first school built in Ellwood City after its founding was the West End School and the first hospitals were all located in that direction of town. It wasn’t until Ralph C. Stiefel and J.H. Nicholson left the Shelby Seamless Tube Company in 1899 and erected the Standard Seamless Tube Company (later called “Mill A”) that the town began spreading east also.
Ten is the beautiful picnic grounds of Oliver Park and the site of Ellwood City’s first murder. According to “A History of Ellwood City, Pennsylvania” James Bell was found in the park next to a tree, murdered. The victim, who had carried the mail from Ellwood City to the Belton Post Office, was also robbed as his pockets were all turned inside out. The park was a popular picnic destination (if you got permission from the Hotel) and how Park Avenue got its name.
Eleven simply points out the large farms and spread out residences that still existed in Hazel Dell. Hazel Dell originally was on both sides of the Connoquenessing until Merrit Green and Henry Hartman purchased all the farms on the South side of the creek to build Ellwood City. The roads through Hazel Dell were the old Indian trading paths from when the Shawnee & Delaware Indian tribes occupied the area. It was these tribes that actually named the Connoquenessing, which means “can’t canoe”. Hazel Dell was cut in half by the Connoquenessing and connected by the covered bridge known as the Jones Mill Bridge or White Bridge (built 1858 and razed 1898) located at the present site of the Fifth Street Bridge.
Hazel Dell did not become a borough until 1901, almost ten years after Ellwood City. The borough of Hazel Dell officially consolidated with the borough of Ellwood City in 1914.
Finally, point number twelve reminds you of the time period that the picture was taken. The buildings with no windows behind the houses are not garages, but barns. Henry Ford introduced the Model T in 1908 but didn’t begin the moving assembly lines in his factory until 1913, so there were not very many cars in the town when this picture was taken. Some of the buildings are barns, other smaller buildings are outhouses. My grandmother’s house inside Pittsburgh Circle was originally built as a boarding house for tube mill workers before indoor plumbing was the big craze on HGTV. Four bedrooms, BIG bedrooms, and no bathroom.

If you noticed something I missed or if you feel that I got something wrong, please leave a comment below or email me at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

Originally Posted February 5, 2010

    The Ewing Park Nature Trail starts in the parking lot between the tennis courts and Helling stadium. The wide path winds down to beautiful spots along the Connoquenessing Creek and back uphill to the loop on the paved road through the park. At one time there were “look-outs” roped off at the very end of the loop looking over the nature trail but they have since been abandoned and overgrown. A sturdy sitting area has been added recently to the lowest part of the path, closest to the creek and picnic benches have re-appeared at the picnic area of the path. Through the years there were stairways put into place from the park to spots on the path but were not maintained. Fortunately, a couple of those rock stairways have been restored recently so that those unable to walk up and or down the hills can also enjoy the Nature Trail.

The Ewing Park Nature Trail was one of a number of projects completed in the Ellwood City Area by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930′s. Part of the New Deal, the WPA employed millions of unemployed workers during the Great Depression to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings, parks, bridges and schools which especially benefited rural areas.

    This picture taken in 1936 included Charles St. John (seated front left), Walter Houk (seated front right), Cap Stone (overalls, middle in back), and Raymond Houk (next to Stone with his hat on his knees).

    On May 10, 1970, SPC Sabo and his platoon were ambushed by North Vietnamese soldiers in the Se San River valley of Cambodia. Approximately sixty soldiers from B Company, Third Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division were ambushed by an enemy force estimated to be a minimum of 150 soldiers. During heavy fire Sabo sustained multiple shrapnel wounds when he used his own body to protect a wounded soldier from a grenade blast. Despite the wounds he continued on gathering ammunition from fallen soldiers to distribute to his comrades during the fight and provided cover to medical helicopters evacuating wounded soldiers.

SPC Sabo did not survive the battle and was killed by enemy fire serving his country.

On Monday April 16, 2012, President Barack Obama officially announced that Ellwood City’s heroic son Leslie H. Sabo Jr. has been awarded the nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor. The President will present the award to SPC Sabo’s wife Rose Mary Sabo-Brown at the White House in Washington D.C. on May 16th (42 years and 6 six days after he died.)

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.

      After the 7-L building burned down on the corner of Seventh Street and Lawrence Avenue (get it, 7-L, 7th & Lawrence) the city was worried about having another empty lot downtown and instead decided to try to make the area more attractive. The City Centre Mini-Park was built in 1988 complete with playground equipment for children and a number of benches. The mini park was decorated with multiple bushes and tress.

      The massive facility known as the Shelby Social Club or the Shelby Clubhouse was built only a very short walk from Shelby Works Park located on the corner of First Street and Fountain Avenue. Mrs. Thornhill shared with us that she remembers the park had an outside swimming pool, tennis courts, playground, a place to wash automobiles and a rooming house.
      The clubhouse on the corner of Pittsburgh Circle and First Street was home to an Olympic size indoor swimming pool, a meeting room, a gymnasium, a six lane bowling alley, billiards, an auditorium, a soda grill, lounge room, cafeteria and a basketball court among other things.  The one thing it was missing was a baseball field, but the tube mill already had one; Shelby Field in the Shelby Land Company’s Plan (later to become Ewing Park.)
      Situated directly beside the P.H.B.&N.C. trolley tracks (today Joffre Street) and Foch Street, the tube mill already owned perhaps the most popular recreation of the time, a baseball field.
      An excerpt from “Hack” written by Bob Boone; “People frequently walked far out of their way just to pass Shelby Field to watch Lew (“Hack” Wilson) bat out long home runs and slide on his belly around the outfield. Careful coaching from (Connie) Wardman combined with Lew’s natural talent produced a ten-year-old who played as well as boys many years older. Most of the adults who came to watch this talented youngster also noted that he did little to conceal his pleasure at playing before an audience.”
      When you combine the Shelby Clubhouse, Shelby Park, and Shelby Field; there is not a popular recreation that is not accounted for. The large recreational plan was all within walking distance of work at the tube mill and the employee’s homes in the Shelby Land Company’s Plan.
      We would enjoy hearing from anyone else that remembers Shelby Works Park. There is very little evidence of it’s existence today except this photograph that simply says “Ellwood City” across the back and the memories of but a few. Please share below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      When heading into Rock Point Park, shortly after crossing the railroad tracks there is a large pond from a limestone quarry that operated on the property after the park closed. The water that filled the quarry had a blue tint and was commonly referred to as “Blue Pond”. The story that we got from Leonard Chapman goes that at end of the shift, the men left the stone quarry and everything was fine. In the morning, something was different, the steam shovel was gone. Supposedly some local teenagers that often visited the quarry after hours managed to fire it up and move it. As legend goes, it did not go far and rests at the bottom of Blue Pond.

     The J. Wilbur Randolph Post of the American Legion was organized in the late summer months of 1919 by honorably discharged veterans of World War I. The post was named in memory of the first resident of Ellwood City to make the ultimate sacrifice in that war. 

     The Legion turned an undesirable triangle of land into a fitting memorial park located at Fourth Street and Spring Avenue. Legion Park was dedicated to the fifteen local men that died in World War I. As part of the tribute, a Norway maple tree was planted for each of the lost soldiers with a granite marker bearing the soldiers name. A captured German Trench mortar was placed at the base of the flag pole at the park dedication on November 11, 1923.

     Additional Memorials have been added since 1923 including an impressive monument “In Honor and Memory of All that Served World War II”. This monument also lists the men and women that died defending us in World War II. Additional monuments include a Pearl Harbor monument in remembrance of December 7th, 1941 and a memorial “In Memory of Ellwood City Area Men and Women Who Served in the Korean War”. This monument lists the eight local men who did not return from Korea including John Walczak, Ralph Taylor, John Bonzo, Gerald Book, Sam Ierino, Dan Hawke, William Francis, & Thad Wiegel.

      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

      The first annual Ellwood City Arts, Crafts, and Food Festival was a two day event that stretched all over the town. On that Fourth of July weekend back in 1981; Ellwood City hosted bicycle races, hot air balloon rides, a 10K race, a car show, and a parade.

      As you can see in the picture here Lawrence Avenue was still a one way street with parking on the south side of the street. Also, there are a number of buildings that are no longer part of the Ellwood City landscape and business like the Ellwood City Hardware and G.C. Murphy that are also but a memory. The old firetrucks taking part in the Saturday afternoon parade are also quite impressive.

      The free hot air balloon rides for children were to take place at the baseball fields in Ewing Park. A large crowd gathered as the balloon was unfolded but were disappointed when officials decided that due to the weather, the balloon was not erected. The picture of the balloon sprawled out on the field is the only picture we at EC Memories have of the old Helling stadium football field.

      It was estimated that 1,500 people walked through Helling Stadium Saturday and Sunday to view the eighty vehicles entered in the Arts, Crafts, and Food Festival Auto Show. It was sponsored by the Woman’s softball league at Stiefel Park.

       As for the festival itself, it was not quite like the festival we are used to today. In this section of the park, the crowd is walking to the various displays while children are playing on the park’s outdoor equipment. Most, if not all, of the playground equipment in the picture including the three swing sets, the tables, and the slide are no longer in the park.
One thing that has not changed from the first Arts, Crafts, and Food Festival to today was that on that first Festival, Saturday’s crowd was smaller because of rain.  We would enjoy hearing your memories of the festival in the park. Please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      On the 24th of October 1968, the Beaver County times reported that Councilman Dom A. Viccari revealed plans for a municipal park in the abandoned limestone quarry bordering North Sewickley Township. The area that was commonly referred to at the time as the “brick yard” would be called Limestone Park. A number of legal battles ensued following the announcement including a claim by North Sewickley Township Supervisors who declared that the land belonged to them as it was in their township. The final ruling was however that the land had been annexed to the borough five years earlier.
       Plans were drawn up immediately for a paved road to be built to the area of the park where several large caves are located. Viccari, who served as the chairman of the parks committee at the time hoped to preserve the caves for their natural beauty and interest along with all seventy six acres.
      Construction of the “new highway” or “four lane highway” had not yet started and it was believed that this new road would make access from the east to the park easier. Today, access is only possible at Brighton Road to the west onto Hack Wilson Drive that goes through the park. Hack Wilson Drive is the sole acknowledgement in Ellwood City of the Major League Baseball Hall of Famer who was born and raised in our town.  
      In 1978, Ellwood city borough obtained Federal Funds through the State Department of Community Affairs to install four lighted tennis courts, a soccer field, and two softball fields in the now forty four acre park. It was then Mayor Sam Teolis who came up with the idea to re-name the park Stiefel Park in honor of Ralph C. Stiefel (re-inventor of Ellwood City with his patented process for making seamless tubing). Today, the park is home to four various size softball fields with lights, lighted soccer field, roller hockey rink, a small playground, and the entrances to the caves have been blocked off.
      Depending on who you are talking to, the park still goes by a number of different names. Stiefel Park still gets called Limestone Park but more commonly we get people calling it the brick yard or even Brickyard Hill. The entire area the park now resides was once an operating coal mine called Kirkman’s Coal Mine.

Dave Larson who has shared his memories on a number of topics has shared with us his memories of Ewing Park as a child…
       “In the 1950′s the Ewing Park swimming pool and picnic grounds were a mainstay of a kid’s life during the summer months. Seems to me, although it may only be how my mind wants to retain it, that we got out of the North Side Elementary School for Memorial Day and did not go back to school until after Labor Day. The parade coming over the Fifth Street Bridge on Memorial Day signaled that summer had arrived.
     A typical day caught you on your bike riding over to the Ewing Park swimming pool after lunch and staying until you had to leave to get home in time to beat your dad getting home from work. I remember it costing twenty-five cents to get into the pool and with that you got a metal tag on elastic with a key to open and put your clothes in a locker. Shower up and out to the pool for an afternoon with your friends. Shower up, get dressed and get back on the road home with a stop over at the Dairy Queen.
      The other day I was in a CVS drug store spending my Bonus Bucks and the clerk told me I had money left and to find something “that cost twenty-three cents or less.” Try that the next time you are in a variety store. At the Dairy Queen in the 1950′s a quarter would buy you a large ice cream cone that I would guess today would put you back a good three bucks. So for fifty cents you could have one fine day at the park.
      My dad worked for the Bell Telephone Company and every summer they would have a company picnic at Ewing Park. There were always family reunions and company picnics going on in the park’s picnic shelters. Little known to me until years later did I learn that the stone buildings in the park were built by the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps. It would be nice to know more history about the building of the park and the role the CCC played.”
      Thank you Dave. We would love to hear your memories about the days you spent in Ewing Park. Please leave a reply below or you can email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com