Posts Tagged G.C. Murphy

      Horace O. Abbaticchio opened the first 5 & 10 store in Ellwood called Abbey’s Racket Store in 1907. The name of the store later became Abbey’s 5 & 10. He owned and operated the store until selling it George Clinton Murphy’s chain called G.C. Murphy’s in 1917.
      G.C. Murphy’s was founded in 1906 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania and became popular for offering inexpensive yet reliable merchandise. The G.C. Murphy’s in Ellwood was originally located at 631 Lawrence Avenue before moving to the much larger location in the center of the north side of the 500 block of Lawrence Avenue. Murphy’s 5 and dime originally occupied only the east side of the building and W.T. Grant Company operated out of the western side. When Grant moved out of the building, Murphy’s expanded their business into both parts of the building as most people today remember it. In 1981, G.C. Murphy’s opened “Murphy Mart” in the new Franklin Plaza along Ellwood-Zelienople Road and would close the location downtown on Lawrence Avenue.
      In 1985, G.C. Murphy Co., “The Friendly Store” was celebrating seventy nine years of service when the company was acquired by the Ames Department Stores. Do you remember Murphy’s, if so we would like to hear your memories? Please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      We at Ellwood City Memories have a number of stories from people that remember the Majestic and a few that remember the Manos, But did you know Ellwood City had a third movie theater? The Barnes Theatre is the less remembered theater in town. Just a few doors west of the Majestic Theatre, the Barnes Theatre occupied half of what would later be known as the G.C. Murphy Building on Lawrence Avenue.

      Thomas V. Barnes was once the owner of the Majestic Theatre. He purchased the theater from the Shulers, who purchased the theater from the Biordi family in August 1917 for $30,000. The Biordis then repurchased the theater from Mr. Barnes in 1936. After selling the Majestic, Thomas then built the Barnes Theatre which occupied half of the former G.C. Murphy Building.

      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

     The “five and ten” store originally featured merchandise priced at only five cents or ten cents. There were a number of these stores like Ben Franklin Stores, and G.C. Murphy’s, and the original “5 & 10″ – Woolworth’s. These stores were also known as nickel and dime, five and dime or dimestores, although later in the twentieth century the price range of merchandise expanded. Inflation eventually dictated that the stores were no longer able to sell any items for five or ten cents, and were then referred to as “variety stores” or more commonly in this area are now known as dollar stores. 
     The first “5 & 10″ store in Ellwood City was not actually G.C. Murphy’s but rather belonged to Horace O. Abbaticchio. Mr. Abbaticchio (1872 – 1970) was involved in a number of popular businesses after coming to Ellwood City in 1900. He was a partner with Mr. Biordi at the Majestic and also was part owner of the Manos Theater for a time. Before he got into the theatre business though, he opened the first 5 & 10 store in Ellwood called Abbey’s Racket Store in 1907. The name of the store later became Abbey’s 5 & 10. 
     Mr. Abbaticchio owned and operated the store until selling it Murphy’s in 1917. G.C. Murphy’s was founded in 1906 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania by George Clinton Murphy. The G.C. Murphy’s in Ellwood was originally located at 631 Lawrence Avenue before moving to the much larger location in the center of the north side of the 500 block of Lawrence Avenue.

    When you talk about Ellwood City, one topic that almost always comes up is the Majestic Movie Theater. The theatre is most commonly remembered as being owned by the Biordi family but actually had a handful of different owners. John Biordi was born in Aquila, Italy and came to Ellwood City sometime during 1902. He and his brother bought the Majestic Theater in 1918 but six years later sold it to Joseph and Nick Shuler in 1924 for $30,000. Thomas Barnes purchased the theater from the Shulers and eventually in 1936 he re-sold the theater to John Biordi and his sons, Frank and Andy. The Biordi’s continued to operate the Majestic Theater for the next thirty years. After selling the Majestic, Thomas Barnes built the Barnes Theatre which occupied half of the former G.C. Murphy Building on Lawrence Avenue.
   Unfortunately we do not have many pictures of the Majestic Theater and absolutely no pictures of the inside. Due to the lack of pictures we can only recall from our own memories what the lobby looked like with the candy counter and the gorgeous velvet and brass staircase. We may never know how it looked upstairs (which we don’t think anyone ever saw), and can only rely on our own memories of the huge theater itself with 396 seats and the big stage up front. Additional memories we have heard from others involved the basement as the restrooms were located down there. To be more precise, the bathrooms in the basement were actually more under Lawrence Avenue then they were under the theater. 
    Then on a cold January morning in 1984 disaster struck. Fire was discovered in the rear of the Majestic Theater and quickly spread completely destroying the building. The third and final installment of the Star Wars trilogy “Return of the Jedi” would be the final movie ever shown in the theater that brought so much joy to those that grew up in Ellwood City.
    The burned down theater was purchased and razed by Dr. Walter Dickson who already owned the G.S. Young property next to the theater. The Young block had also received extensive damage from the fire and restoration to that property was already underway by June of that same year.
    The Majestic was a popular stage before motion pictures were common. We would love to hear what celebrities you remember seeing perform there or any other memories you may have of the theater. Please leave a comment below or you can email us you memories or even pictures at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    This is one of the greatest pictures we have been given. The picture was taken from on top of the current Nick Frisk Law Offices building looking West down Lawrence Avenue in 1963. Most of the businesses are no longer located in Ellwood City but most of the buildings are still there. On the left of the picture you can see the Stiefel Building with Fifth Street marker attached to the building. Across the street on the Northern side of Lawrence Ave we get a clear picture of Ellwood City in the early part of the 1960’s. The first thing that stands out to most people is the Majestic Theater.
     The Majestic Theater was located at 506 Lawrence Avenue was purchased and operated by Andy Frank & John Biordi in 1917 and was well known for it’s vaudeville and silent movies at that time. Irene and Tony Guerrere purchased the theater from them in 1976 and continued to own the Majestic until it was destroyed by a massive fire in 1984.
    To the East was a drug store and then Isaly’s (I Shall Always Love You), both were very popular hang outs to local teenagers. To the West is Shapiros, Damas Grill, W.T. Grant Co. with a sign for a bowling alley in front. Does anybody remember if the bowling alley was on the main floor, basement, or second floor? Next to the Grant Company was the G.C. Murphy’s Co. The Murphy Company arrived in Ellwood City as early as 1917 and advertised “Goods under $0.25”. The “five & ten” store as it became known as remained a fixture on Lawrence Ave until the early 1980’s.
    Continuing west, we can see signs for Edmin’s, Lucc’s, Hardware Store, and the old Hotel Conway. Beside Kimpel’s Jewelers was National Lunch and City Drug Store on the corner of Sixth Street. After crossing Sixth Street it gets a little harder to make out the names on the signs but we can see Pushs, and Merves Furniture.
     Some of the other things we noticed from this picture were the street lights and television antennas. You can see the old fixtures on all the light poles where the fancy ornate street lights used to be but no longer. Also on top of all the buildings are television antennas which were customary for this time but if you look on top of Merves Furniture the antenna is huge, because they sold televisions.
     Does this picture remind you of any old stories? Please share your memories with us by leaving a comment below or EMAIL us.