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    The house at 18 Fifth Street was built in 1891 for James J. Meneize, a hand picked associate of Ellwood City’s founder Henry W. Hartman. James worked for Mr. Hartman in Beaver Falls but when Hartman began building his town, he brought James here to Ellwood City to work for the Pittsburgh Company and help develop the area. The house was built in a nice upper class area at the time. In 1891 when the house was built, the subway under the tracks did not exist and the bridge connecting Hazel Dell was on Sixth Street.
    Meneize’s daughter Mary Ellwood Meneize was the first baby born in the new town of Ellwood City. The Meneize family also holds other distinctions like they were the first family in Ellwood to have three generations serve on the borough council. James J.’s son James P. and his son Raymond all served the community through the council. James son Robert was one of the young men that made the ultimate sacrifice for us in World War II. Since he was stationed in the Philippians when the War broke out, he possibly was Ellwood City’s first casualty in Corregidor (since the date is unknown, this is unconfirmed).
    We are trying to uncover more of the history behind not only this house but also the families that have lived here. If you have any memories about this house, whether it be who lived here or who turned it into a bait shop, please leave a comment below or email us your memories at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com. 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.

    On August 15, 1982 Frank and Elisabeth D’Ambrosios of Ellwood City, got to do something very few Americans will ever have the opportunity to do. The inseparable couple celebrated their seventy fifth wedding anniversary.
    The two were married August 15, 1907 at the St Theresa Catholic Church in Waterbury, Connecticut. Frank was nineteen year of age and Elisabeth was fifteen, and they had only known each other for eight months when they were wed. The bride and groom were both originally from Italy; however they lived in Ellwood City since 1918.
    The anniversary celebration hosted many special guests including United States Rep. Eugene Atkinson, Lawrence County Judges, Lawrence County Commissioners and other state and local officials. The D’Ambrosios were also presented with federal, state and local commendations. Also, the couple received a congratulatory phone call from President Ronald Reagan.
    At the time of their anniversary, the D’Ambrosios had fourteen children, sixty eight grandchildren, and fifty three great grandchildren already. The couple was still able to enjoy playing cards, fishing, and was still very much in love.
    If you have a memory you would like to share about the D’Ambrosios’, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    I recently met with Mr. Frank Geniviva to discuss things on and things missing from our web site like Gen Sales on Pittsburgh Circle.  While we were drinking coffee in Thanks A Latte discussing our memories of Ellwood City, Frank mentioned that the road to the old power plant along the Connoquenessing Creek was the best sled riding hill in Ellwood City. I had never even thought of sled riding there, but he said it was so common that the workers used to leave the fence open for them so they wouldn’t crash into it.
    That hill would be fun to go down, but I can’t imagine climbing back up the hill. My brothers and I used to always go sled riding behind the old US Steel time clock station (Nico Luciano’s today). This part of Pittsburgh Circle rarely got used in the snow and when you started getting tired, there was a wooden staircase you could use. By no means do I think this was the best sled riding hill in Ellwood, but it was close to home. If we could get a ride, our hill of choice in Ellwood City was behind the women’s softball field at Stiefel Park in the old brickyard on the hill.
    Here is my question to you, where is the best hill for sled riding in Ellwood City? Please leave your comments below, or you can email us by CLICKING HERE.

    As Ellwood City grew and the town was laid out, Lawrence Avenue became the “market district” and the main road through town. The intersection of Sixth Street and Lawrence Avenue was the busiest in town in those early days. A lot of this was due to the bridge that connected Ellwood City to College Street in Hazel Dell was at the end of Sixth Street until 1915.
    On the Southwest corner of this intersection was the Dambach Building. The Dambach Store locatedon the first floor was an early version of a department store and serviced the town for many years long before a super-mega-mart was even thought of.
    A number of other business were located in this building over the years before it was completely destroyed by fire. If you have any memories of this building, please leave a comment below or email us by CLICKING HERE. 

    Legend has it that Tom Foley jumped off the Ewing Park Bridge for a case of beer.
    On a bet, Tom was supposed to jump off of the old Ewing Park Bridge into the Connoquenessing during the Shelby company picnic in Ewing Park. Company authorities heard of the wager and prevented Tom from making the jump. But the following day Tom showed up wearing a bright red bathing suit and jumped off of the Ewing Park Bridge.
    Tom’s world famous jump was from the middle of the blue steel bridge into the water and yes, he survived to collect his winnings. I have not yet discovered if the wager was for a case of beer as legend has it or if it was for a monetary value. PLEASE NOTE: Before you try this yourself, there are some things you need to know. Foley was in the Navy and was specifically trained to dive into the ocean from the masts of ships while at sea. Also when Foley made his legendary dive, there was a damn just West of the bridge that made the creek deep enough for the dive. On maps of the area in the early part of Ellwood City, this area was actually listed as Connoquenessing Pond. The dam is no longer there making this feat impossible to duplicate so please do not try this. Ever.

    The house at 425 Wayne Avenue was built in 1908 by Albert Dahl and it stayed in the Dahl family for three generations. Albert also built the First Presbyterian Church, the original First National Bank (now home to the Ellwood City Ledger), and the First Baptist Church on Fountain Ave. You may have been able to guess, but his specialty was stone buildings.
    If you look closely at the second story, the street sign for Fifth Street and Wayne Avenue are built into the structure. The house at 425 Wayne Avenue also has the distinction of having electricity connected the longest in the borough.
    If you have a story or memory you would like to share about the massive brick house or of the families that have lived here, please leave a comment below, on the forum page, or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.

    Friday May 31st 1985 was the day the tornado came through the area and changed not only the landscape but the citizens of the area. Though the storm brought high winds, heavy rains, and golf ball sized hail to Ellwood City, the town was largely spared. The tornado affected numerous businesses and residences surrounding Ellwood City in Big Beaver Borough, North Sewickley Township, Marion Township, and on into southern Butler County. Destruction from the tornado, which caused multiple deaths in the area including Marrion Belle from Ellport, resulted in a 9PM curfew, disruption of power and telephone service for up to 65,000 people, the cancellation of the remainder of the school year for Riverside, and numerous men and women to not only lose their place of employment but even their home and all of their belongings.
    The horrific storm brought area citizens worst nightmare to life but also brought out the best in the community as reports of heroic rescue efforts were reported from almost everywhere the tornado struck. People were reported trapped in various buildings but were rescued by others close to the scene. One story included the four people that were trapped at Body Connection in the Big Beaver Plaza and at least one other at Gerello’s distributor also in the plaza. After the tornado raged through the intersection of 65 & 588 in North Sewickley destroying everything, quick responding volunteers, firemen and police officers began digging through the debris to help three people trapped at Ken’s Butcher Block and one other person at the ticket booth at Spotlight 88 Drive-In.
    Back at the Big Beaver Plaza, the once bustling strip mall home to about a dozen various businesses, was completely disintegrated when the massive funnel ripped through the area. Business in the plaza included the Body Connection Gym & Spa, Gerello’s, Comet Warehouse, Revco Pharmacy, a Veterinarian office, and Jamesway. Jamis Motors auto dealership was next to the plaza as was the Big Beaver Restaurant and Grand Arbor Room which were all annihilated along with the plaza. Debris from the Big Beaver Plaza was found across the river at Fox Run Golf Course (formerly Palisades) on River Road. Even today, almost twenty five years later there are still old television shells and other reminders down along the river banks behind the plaza.
    Many of our readers still remember that night very clearly and have their own memory of the devastation and close calls. Riverside High School seniors who graduated earlier in the evening had plans to meet at the Spotlight 88 drive in Movie Theater, which was devastated by the tornado. The Riverside graduation ceremony which was earlier in the day was typically held in the football field but had to be moved inside to the auditorium because of rain showers but nobody knew the storm was going to be as big as it was. The National Weather Service said five tornadoes “stayed on the ground for a good period of time” as far north as Albion in Erie County, where 202 of 272 homes were damaged or destroyed. It would be awhile before the final official reports were available, May 31st 1985 -a total of 26 tornados touched down, killing 65 people injuring 707 more, 1,009 homes were destroyed, all included the tornados caused $376, 367,000 in damage.
    The tornado affected many people in many different ways. If you would like to share your own personal memories of the big storm, please leave a comment below or email us by CLICKING HERE. 

We would like to thank Kathy Weingartner for providing us with a large collection of mementos from the horrific storm.

    One of our favorite pictures of Ellwood City is the picture 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. We have added yellow numbers to some of the points we would like to draw your attention to in this picture, of course there is more than the twelve things we mention here and would love to hear about something we missed.
    The first point of interest we see when we 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 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 we 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. We 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.

    If you noticed something we missed or if you feel that we got something wrong, please leave a comment below or email us by CLICKING HERE.

    Ellwood Shafting & Tubing Company was the first manufacturing institution to establish itself in Ellwood City in 1891 and the first to manufacture seamless tubing in the United States. Just three years later in October of 1894, the Ellwood Shafting & Tube Company was sold to H.A. Lozier the “Bicycle King of America” and the name of the company was changed to Ellwood Weldless Tube Company. The founder of Ellwood City, Henry W. Hartman was appointed vice president of the new company. The Ellwood plant was only the second seamless tube plant in America. Also in 1894, Ralph C. Stiefel came to the Ellwood City from England for the company. Along with becoming a stockholder in the company, Stiefel accepted the position of general manager and introduced his own patented process for making seamless tubing. Ellwood Weldless became the first company in the United States to make tubing by the Stiefel method making it one of the leaders in the tubing industry.
     In the early part of 1897, The Weldless Tubing Co. built a new plant located between Sixth and Eighth Street stretching from Beaver to Factory Streets. By the fall of the same year, the new plant was absorbed by the Shelby Steel Tube Company and would become known as Mill “B”. Ellwood Weldless Tube Co.’s name was also changed to the Shelby Steel Tube Company. The newly formed Shelby Steel Tube Co. was actually a merger of plants in Shelby Ohio, Greenville PA, and the Ellwood Weldless Tube Company. Mr. Emsworth of Ellwood City was named the first Superintendent and R.C. Stiefel was appointed manager.
    From the time Ralph C. Stiefel accepted the position of Superintendent at Ellwood Seamless Tube Co. straight from England, he was connected with the Shelby Seamless Tube Company until 1899. At that time along with J.H. Nicholson, he left the Shelby Company and erected the Standard Seamless Tube Company with some friends in Ellwood City and was in direct competition with Shelby Seamless. The National Steel Tube Co. bought the Standard Company in 1901.
   Soon after National purchased Standard, the United States Steel Corporation absorbed National Tube and at the end of June 1901, it also absorbed the Shelby Steel Tube Company and Mr. Stiefel was made General Superintendent of all the plants in the country. Now all the seamless tube works were now conducted under the name of the Shelby Steel Tube Company.
    In 1905, the U.S. Steel Ellwood plant consolidated Shelby Steel Tube Company (Mill A) and National Steel Tube Company (Mill B) and became National Tube Company (a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation). After a fire destroyed the Shelby Ohio Works plant in 1908, all the seamless tube works was produced in Ellwood City. Due to the growth, the Ellwood City Works of the National Tube Company expanded to 127 total acres with 23 acres under a roof.  The plants were served by direct connection with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and by the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad.  The Ellwood Works had an annual capacity of 350,000 gross tons of tubular goods in 1942. Employment during World War II reached 4,000 employees.
    August 1,1946 an announcement was made that operations at the Ellwood Works would be phased out over a three year period. The closing was avoided and 1959 saw major expansion adding two new structures for stainless steel adding 40,000 more square feet. In 1974, U.S. Steel closed its doors in Ellwood City and the last seamless tube was produced at the National Tube Company. When the plant closed employment had dipped down to a little over one thousand people.
    Please share your memories of these mills or of Mr. Stiefel by leaving a comment below or email us by CLICKING HERE.

    The large bleached brick home across from the Circle playground at 304 Fountain Avenue was home to one of Ellwood City’s greatest golfers, Robert Thompson. Mr. Thompson was considered the areas leading golfer for over twenty five years being crowned the Connoquenessing Country Club golf champion eighteen times. He entered many golf tournaments across the United States and played with Arnold Palmer at the Connoquenessing Country Club when “the King” was a young and very promising golfer.
       We are trying to uncover more of the history behind not only this house but also the families that have lived here. If you have any memories about this house, whether it be who lived here, who built it, when the house was duplexed, or even the way they decorated the house for Christmas, 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.

    The Corner House at 323 Franklin Avenue once belonged to James Runyan, who bought the large brick house that was built in 1899 from Albert & Louise Keller in 1912. James Runyan originally owned the land on which the Connoquenessing Country Club is built and was a charter member of the Glen Park Lodge I.O.O.F. that was instituted September 10, 1891.
    During the 1920′s, Mrs. Runyan and her three sons started the Runyan Service Station at the house on Fourth Street and Franklin Avenue across from the old Chevrolet Garage. The Runyan Service Station business continued to grow until at one point the sons operated three service stations in Ellwood City. The other service stations included the one on the corner of Line Avenue and Wampum Ave (currently Barry’s Ice Cream), and the other one was at the Runyan Buick Agency at the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Ninth Street.
    We do not know who has owned the house since the Runyan’s or when the gas pumps were removed. If you know more about the house than we have here, please share your memories by leaving 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 Themby Charles R. Moser available at the Ellwood City Historical Society.

   We can not talk about the history and memories of Ellwood City without mentioning baseball. The two seem to go hand in hand. The first “official” baseball game in Ellwood City took place in 1892, the same year the town was founded. At the time, the town’s baseball field was located on Spring Avenue separating Fourth and Fifth Street. Shortly after the town’s founding, it got another field for the growing population and its love of the game. The new baseball field was named Fullner Field but was known more as Tunnel Field because it was located on the Ellwood City side of the B&O Railroad tunnel. Other fields in the surrounding area at that time included a field in Hazel Dell (the North Side) and the baseball field at the amusement park, Rock Point Park, complete with an elaborate grandstands.
    When the Shelby Tube Company started its own baseball team to represent Ellwood City along with the previously established Steel Car Forge Team, Ellwood got its newest baseball field. The Shelby Steel Tube Company purchased a large lot of land in what is now known as Ewing Park to build houses for its employees. The “Shelby Land Company’s Plan” had a little patch of land between Joffre Street and Petain Street that was turned into a baseball field and called Shelby Field. The Shelby Tube team competed with other teams located on the Pittsburgh, Harmony, Butler & New Castle Trolley line (also known as the Harmony Line). In only its second season the Shelby team won The Trolley League Championship beating teams like Mars, Evans City, and Butler.
   An article in the Ellwood City Ledger stated that both Terry “Cotton Head” Turner and Bill Marshall were local players that once starred on this team and made it to the Major Leagues. We have been unable to find any other reference to either player ever playing or living in Ellwood City, so if you know for sure please let us know. 
    ‘Cotton Head’ played 19 seasons with the Cleveland Indians after starting his professional career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. When he retired, his 1,619 games played was a team record and he also held six offensive team records including 264 sacrifices ranking him 26th all-time. Sportswriter Gordon Cobbledick once wrote that Turner was “a little rabbit of a man with the guts of a commando.” ‘Cotton Head’ was also the pioneer of the head first slide because of ankle injuries earlier in his career. Bill Marshall played only two seasons, one with the Boston Red Sox and the other with the Cincinnati Reds.
    Two other players that played on the Shelby Tube team but did not live in Ellwood City also made it to the Major Leagues. First baseman Jack Lewis played pro ball in Brooklyn and Howard Shanks of Monaca played on a couple of Ellwood teams before making it big with the Washington Senators.
    By the time Ellwood City celebrated Community Day in 1921, the town had a new field in Ewing Park complete with a fence and grandstands. The town celebrated the remodeling of the new field by hosting the Homestead Grays with the largest crowd in the history of Ellwood. Largest crowd that is until Ellwood City hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1930.
    Baseball attracted crowds in Ellwood City, but one kid in particular seemed to always attract a crowd long before Ellwood City had a Youth league. “… 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.” excerpt from “Hack” written by Bob Boone and available at the Ellwood City Library.
    When Ellwood City started the Little League and Knee Hi programs, the games were played at the field by Lincoln High School until moving to a field on the football practice field in Ewing Park. While the games were played there, the teams practiced on the old Shelby Field that was now used primarily for Men’s softball leagues. Dave Weingartner shared with us his memories of the ball field at the current Veterans Municipal Swimming Pool parking lot. He recalled in 1954 his team, the Eagles, using this field as practice and was able to explain to us how the field was laid out. Home plate was just across the street from the entrance to the pool and right field was in the direction of the tennis courts. We have talked to many people from the area that used to play baseball…

     “Most of the boys wore the ball caps from their little league team all the time and became identified by the team we played for. When I received my first little league uniform at our coach’s home in Ewing Park, I can still remember how happy and proud of that uniform I was. The coach’s name was Carl Meise, the uniform was yellow and grey and the number was 4.” -  “The parking lot of Nick’s Snack Bar and later Dairy Queen next door would be full of kids on their bicycles and each one had his teams hat on to let everyone else know who they were.” – “All the clubs in Ellwood had a team like the Eagles, Elks, Moose… and you wore their jersey and hat like a badge of honor.”  – “Kids today can’t even imagine the number of bicycles that used to line the field. Parents didn’t drive you there, you rode your bike and after the game you rode over to Nick’s to get your free hot dog if you hit a homerun.”

    In 1965, the Little League Field was built at the opposite end of the high school field along Woodside Avenue in Ewing Park. All the games in the complex were all played during the day as the both fields did not have lights. Then in 1970, the Pittsburgh Pirates played their last game at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and Ellwood City league commissioner Denny Schill stepped in. Through Mr. Schill’s negotiations, the Ellwood City Borough managed to buy the old lights from Forbes Field so the kids in Ellwood City could have night games.
    Thanks to the many, many volunteers that have coached and shaped the youth of the area through the years, many great players have played in Ellwood City. Some went on to fame, some are remembered for that one great play they made, and others are simply remembered by those they played with. Not many reached the level of success as Major League Hall of Famer Hack Wilson, but he is by far not the only Ellwood native to achieve success at the next levels. Butch Babcock pitched for the Texas Rangers for three seasons and Don Schaly of Ellwood City was the head coach at Marietta College for forty years. When he retired in 2003, Schaly was the winningest coach in NCAA Division III history with a 1442 career wins and only 329 loses. His winning percentage of .814 is still the highest percentage in any NCAA Division ever.

    If you have a memory you would like to share about baseball in Ellwood City, please leave a comment below or email us by CLICKING HERE. We know we just touched on the history of baseball in Ellwood City and there is much, much more. If you would like more information, a great site you may want to visit is Ellwood City Amateur Baseball Federation.

Ellwood City Memories would like to thank Dave Weingartner & Charles Hall for providing information for this post.