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

    This small building at the five-point intersection in Ewing Park was torn down in the spring of 1967 and the site sat empty for many years before the gazebo that stands today was built. The building that was commonly mistaken for an old one room school house was built around 1922. It served many functions over the years including a place to store tools, as a voting place, to store the fire department’s hand cart, for clerical work in connection with driver’s tests and as a storage place for borough materials.
    In this picture, you can see the local “hangout” Dairy Queen in the background on Sims Street.
 

     There has been a recent effort to make the Connoquenessing Creek a usable waterway again with the addition of boat landings from Zelienople to Ellwood City. Those that have gone down the “Conny” know that West of Ellwood City Forge to the Wild Waterways Conservancy at the site of Ellwood City’s old Amusement Park, Rock Point Park, the rapids get a “little” rough. They also know that there are places in Ellwood City that the creek gets very shallow during the summer. 
     This was not always the case. The Slippery Rock Creek that feeds into the Connoquenessing Creek in Wurtemburg used to double the size of the Conny but has dwindled down in size since Moraine State Park was built. Also, another contributing factor to the depth of the creek was the large dam built by the old power plant just west of the Ewing Park Bridge. The two pictures here were taken when the dam was still intact and according to a 1903 map the area was referred to as “the pond”. This area was the site of Foley’s famous jump and from what we hear the site of pretty good fishing including some record size catfish.
     Of course the dam failed in the early 1900′s and was not rebuilt. The creek that once almost touched the Ellwood City Nature Trail in Ewing Park is now fifty feet away from the trail and canoeing is restricted in the hot months late in the summer. We would enjoy hearing any fond memories you may have of the Connoquenessing Creek. To share your memories, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    Glen Park was one of the big selling points when convincing people to relocate to the new town of Ellwood City. The park ran along the south side of the Connoquenessing Creek from the current site of the Fifth Street Bridge and stretched approximately five miles west. Glen Park was heavily populated with a multitude of trees including hemlock, beech, birch, and other forest trees and many large rocks covered with ferns and moss. Roads were graded through for easy access and the place was named by H.W. Hartman.
    Since there are not many people around today that can recall the scenic gorge along the Connoquenessing, we can only imagine the beauty and grandeur. The creek held storied beauty where it rolls over the rocks amidst the wildest scenery, having no counterpart for romance and picturesqueness anywhere east of the Rocky Mountains.
    Glen Park consisted of over one hundred acres with walks and drives to access the beautiful scenery including the Palisades, the Sentinel Rocks, etc. The park also had six crystal clear never ending springs bubbling forth from the rock formations and seven other fine springs flowed from the tabled and mineral ridge above.
    The park was abandoned when the factories along the B&O railroad began dumping garbage and refuse along the top of the hill. The area along the creek is still undeveloped and has regained a lot of the natural beauty that was lost. The old Glenn Park would make an ideal scenic spot for a bicycle trail similar to those found in Pennsylvania’s State Park’s.