Posts Tagged ewing park

    The first picture of the tube mill was believed to have been taken late summer/ early fall of 1916 from the area that was formerly Tunnel Field. For the younger generations, it is easy to forget how big the National Tube Company (a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation) was.

    The second picture with a close-up of “the smoke stacks” was only a portion of the tube mill that ran from the railroad tracks by the Second Street overpass to the Ewing Park Bridge. The Ellwood City Works of the National Tube Company later expanded to 127 total acres with 23 acres under a roof. Employment reached its highest point during World War II when 4,000 people were employed.

      I am always very appreciative to all those who have shared pictures with Ellwood City Memories. Sometimes I am unable to get the pictures onto the site right away as I have to make sure they are not copyrighted, but pictures like these that were donated by Scott Mackey make my task very easy.
I would like to thank Scott for these pictures he took of the construction of the current Veterans Memorial Bridge on Fifth Street. It is very easy to forget how much further west the old Fifth Street Bridge was located. I know it is mentioned a lot how the construction of the current bridge drastically changed the landscape to the Hazel Dell business district and also led to the destruction of the oldest building in Ellwood City. However, I for one do not miss driving around that island at the intersection where the end of the bridge ran into Wampum Avenue (west), Todd Avenue, North Street, and Wampum Avenue (east).
      In the one picture you can still see that under portion of the bridge closet to the bank where outside pillars are cement, there used to be a large arch like a road ran under the bridge. Does anyone know if there was a road or walkway that ran under the bridge?
Speaking of under the bridge, that pathway they built to get the cranes and cement trucks to the creek would have been a fantastic addition to Ellwood City. A pathway to the creek and a path wide enough to ride a bicycle to Ewing Park would have been a nice little side effect project. There is still a pathway up from the creek at the Ewing Park Bridge. A smaller foot bridge at the site of the old Harmony Line Bridge connecting the path to Ewing Park would have been nice and maybe someday might happen. You can see that the construction workers built a temporary bridge across the creek in one of these pictures so I guess I can hope.
      Back to the bridge, who remembers the 4′ x 4′ sheets of steel they used to cover up the holes on the sidewalk of the old bridge? I remember walking to school across that bridge and the cement would be crumbling away exposing the steel grid under the cement until one day you are walking to school (freezing) and then all of a sudden there was a hole. After a couple of days, they would just cover the hole with a steel plate and you would start watching the next spot wear away.
Speaking of the sidewalks, do you remember the large cement barriers separating the sidewalks from the roads? Those were not there when the bridge was originally built. The only thing separating the road and sidewalk originally was a normal six inch curb. I remember the way the bridge moved when the Forge trucks or Blanks trucks went across, who ever decided to add the barriers, thank you.

          I was talking to a young man that is in the fifth grade about what he thought about going to Hartman “Intermediate School” this year instead of North Side Elementary as he did last year. His biggest complaint was the different playgrounds. I agreed, there was a big difference, but I told him “Back in my day…”, you know, etc. etc.
I have never been on Perry’s Elementary school’s playground but have heard from former students that claim it was the largest recess area of all the schools. I will have to take their word for it as I said I have never seen it, but I have heard of the big field behind the former Wayne Elementary School that also had two playgrounds. Another school with an exceptionally large recess area was the former Walnut Ridge Elementary school as its yard was bigger than the school itself. As a kid, I remember having little league baseball practice there and we would not even come close to disturbing anyone who was playing on the playground at the time.

I was also fortunate enough to attend the old North Side Elementary school when the yard was located where the current school stands. The field behind the school was big enough to have a game of kickball going on at one end and a game of football at the other end. The flat field was big enough that when you were down at the other end, it felt like you were no longer even at school. All of a sudden you were just out playing with friends in a field.

The yard at Ewing Park Elementary School at one time had a slide and swing set, but little else except grass. Kickball and tag were the more common games played at recess. From what I have heard, another popular game at Ewing Park School was “chase the ball across the road”.

Then we get to Hartman Elementary School. Not the fancy state of the art one that stands today, but I am talking about the original one that had coat rooms, old wooden creaky floors and eight foot wooden heavy doors. That school had a unique playground to say the least. It had a very big metal swing set, metal slides, eight foot high metal monkey bars, a big metal jungle gym; all on blacktop. Ahh, just what every kid wants, to have recess in a parking lot. At least the modern school today has a grassy area, it’s only 8 foot by 8 foot, but there is grass. Today, Holy Redeemer is the only school where the children scrape knees and elbows and occasionally rip a pair of pants playing on blacktop. At least the playground equipment at Holy Redeemer is not bent and crooked from cars backing into them as was usually the case at Hartman.

We have heard from a couple of you about the playground at the former North Side School, but we would like to hear your memories. Please share your memories of recess in Ellwood below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      Here is a picture of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church that very few people today remember. The wooden structure church was located in Ewing Park but no longer stands. Today a house is located where the church once met. If you are one of the few that remember the church, we would enjoy hearing from you. Please email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com or leave a comment below.

      Jim Hardie may have said it best when explaining the dance craze that hit Ellwood City in the late 50’s, 60’s & 70’s. “That timeline would include the very first of the Baby Boomers and the last teenagers of the 1950′s. Those that had one foot in one generation and the other in a new one got to experience  the birth of Rock and Roll, Doo-wop, Folk and the music of the 60’s.”
      I have gotten more than a handful of people that keep mentioning the dances in Ellwood City. Having not come from that time, the only dances I know about are the ones held Friday nights after the football games in the Lincoln High School small gym where three quarters of the students leave at half time of the football game to walk over to the dance. From what I have been told, the ones held today would not even be considered a dance, but rather a “gathering”.
      We have heard stories of dances held in Ewing Park shelters with Christmas lights strewn about and the record player belting out the tunes (for those that do not know what a record player is, you’ll have to Google it.)
      We have heard about different clubs in town that put on the best dances as fundraisers for their clubs including the Road Rebels Car Club and the Kingsmen Car Club. The Son’s of Italy hosted weekend dances, the Jaycees also sponsored dances for young people, as did the Shuffle Shop after the game.
         The Shuffle Shop was a teen dance hall operated by local citizens inside the former Circle School Building. The Shuffle Shop (also known as the “Can”) is remembered today as always having dance floor crowded to the limits with enthusiastic jitterbugs and dance contests.
      Tree of Life Jewish Synagogue hosted open dances for Jews, Protestants & Catholics in their new recreation hall at the end of the Ewing Park Bridge. Even the high school had a Dance Club. E.C.M. contributor Danny John served as president of the club whose job it was to put on a dance every Friday evening throughout the school year.  The club took care of security, setup, arranging for a DJ, running the concession stand and cleanup afterwards. 
      Jim Hardie mentioned that the Dance Club would not have functioned without the guidance of the faculty sponsors: George Reese and Lou Oliastro. “They were exceptional men who allowed us the latitude to have a great time while gently, usually, keeping us from getting into trouble.  Lou passed too soon but George is still around with his quick wit and humor.”
    Jo Ann (Miller) Oxsen shared a personal memory of the Dance Club’s Friday night dances in the early 60′s. She recalled the time she and Vinnie Jeoffre (sp.?) won the Twist Contest (grand prize: Peppermint Twist record album). To this day she believes that Vinnie chose her as his partner because she was the shortest girl there that night.
      I am sure all of us would enjoy hearing your memories of the dances held in Ellwood City. Please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com. Please be sure to mention where the dance you recall was located.

      A light rain marked the beginning of the bicycle races in Ewing Park as part of the second annual Ellwood City Arts, Crafts, & Food Festival in 1982. The Minute Man division was made up of children eight to ten years of age.
      By the time the older divisions such as the pictured Colonial Division, ages 11 to 14, race began the light rain had turned to a full fledged downpour. The course became very slippery during the bicycle races but that did not deter any of the racers. 
      The top finishers of the bicycle races held Saturday morning gathered for a picture after the races. Still soaking wet and showing off their trophies are, front row, from the left; Jim Hrabosky, second place Colonial division; Sean Hauserman, second place Minute Man; Timothy Blaskowitz, first place Minute Man; Missy Pifer, first place Minute Man, girls; Bruce Koelliker, Third place Minute Man; and Dave Nagel, third place Colonial. Second row from the left, Tim Powell, bike race coordinator; Dave Ritzert, second place Patriot; Mike Swisher, first place Patriot; Mike Covert, third place Patriot; Mike Rossi, first place Colonial; and Carl Stoops, first place Continental. Missing from the picture is Jim Sutkowski, first place Militia division.
      If you recall the bicycle races in the park or around Pittsburgh Circle, we would enjoy hearing your memories. Please share below or you can email us your stories at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      The Ewing Park Bridge originally opened as a toll bridge connecting the tube mill to the houses the mill built for it’s employees in what would become Ewing Park. “Old Big Blue” stood until 1998 when it was torn down and the current Ewing Park Bridge was built in the same location.

      Growing up in Ellwood City, we always heard the story of Mr. Foley jumping off the bridge as a bet for a case of beer. For some reason though, the person telling the story always would leave out the part about the dam still being in use at the time and it was not quite the drop it is today.

      We have heard a lot of different memories that involve the old Ewing Park Bridge. Wheter it be riding your bike across to baseball practice, how nervous you felt driving across it with the narrow lanes, or even dropping things on the old steel roof of the abandoned building below the bridge. We would like to hear your memories of the old blue bridge with the tunnel under the northeast end. Please email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com or leave your comment below.

     These photos were originally believed to be pictures of Mel Guy’s service stations in Chewton, however if you look closely there is a sewer drain in front of the station and Chewton did not have this type of curbs and drainage system. After talking to a couple of gentlemen about the photos, these are now believed to be pictures of Mel Guys service station located at the end of the Ewing Park Bridge where Loccisano’s Golden Dawn is currently located.

        The more commonly remembered Mel Guy’s Service Station was located along Wampum Ave at the end of the Veterans Bridge. Located next to Dom’s grocery store, today the service station would be in the parking lot of 7-11.

      The Ellwood City Ledger printed this picture that belonged to the late Henry Bazzichi of Park Gate. The picture was originally taken in 1897 in Ewing Park and read across the back “the uniformed rank of the K of P.”, but it was unknown as to what the K. of P. stood for. We have uncovered that it stood for the Knights of Pythias, who had a lodge here in Ellwood City. The question we have is where in Ewing Park was there such a formidable wall built?
      The Order of Knights of Pythias is an international fraternity which was founded in Washington, DC, after the Civil War February 19, 1864, by Justus H. Rathbone, which records today more than two thousand subordinate lodges in the United States and Canada. The primary object of fraternal organizations is to promote friendship among men and to relieve suffering. Each organization adopts some outstanding principle as its objective. The individuality of an order is determined by its ideal sentiment. The distinguishing principles of the Order of Knights of Pythias are “FRIENDSHIP, CHARITY and BENEVOLENCE”.
      Henry’s picture here originally was owned by Mrs. G.Y. Fike, but we are not sure if her husband or any relatives are pictured. If you recall the Ellwood City lodge of the K of P, we would enjoy hearing from you. Please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

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

     Paul Weingartner owns this original picture from 1951 taken from the location of Paul’s Auto Body showing the intersection of East Line Avenue and Joffre Street. It is faint, but if you look close you can see the Ewing Park baseball field in the background.

     The former Ellwood City YMCA was located at the site of the former Hazel Dell School on the corner of the College Street and Line Avenue. Area residents enjoyed a number of organized activities that the “Y” offered including basketball leagues, volleyball leagues, soccer, hockey, and many others. The Ellwood City Ledger pictures here were advertisements for new leagues that were starting at the YMCA. The first was for a new floor hockey league for children in fourth grade through sixth grade (pictured from left to right are Erich Weyant, Jeff Boller, instructor Vic Rangel, and Adam Musse). The second picture was for pre-school soccer using a nerf ball. Pictured from left to right are Damien DeCaria, Michelle Rocco, Michael Rocco, Vic Rangel (instructor) and Paul Weingartner. 
     It was reported in the Beaver County Times in May of 1984 that the Ellwood City Council conducted a hearing to air public views on a YMCA request for the borough to create a municipal authority to handle financing of a proposed $1 million structure.
        “The new facility would have replaced the Ellwood YMCA at College Street and Line Avenue permitting it to expand programs with plans that included the installation of a health center with steam room, Nautilus, sauna, whirlpool, exercise room, and weight room that were not available at the old location. The new facility would also permit an Olympic size swimming pool to replace a 3 by 12 foot diameter children’s pool. Regulation size basketball and racquetball courts would have also been installed.
      The new authority would have been in charge of handling funds from private donations that were to be used to pay for the new facility.”
    It was later reported in August 1984, the Ellwood City Council announced approval of leasing land in Ewing Park to the Ellwood YMCA as a locale for the new YMCA. Building upon the site would cost about $500,000 less than previously planned sites including in the US Steel Industrial Park. Council granted the YMCA a ninety nine year lease on the property at a cost of one dollar a year. The double tennis courts would have to be removed to build the building, but would be replaced.