Posts Tagged tube

    In 1908 fifteen year old Carmine Troino left San Georgio, Italy with his older brother to try to make themselves a better life in America. The same customs broker that would not allow his brother into the country also changed Carmine’s name to Charles Turner. Mr. Turner, who could not speak English, followed other Italian immigrants to Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It was there that he came across a newspaper ad for a barber wanted at the National Tube Company in Ellwood City. Not only did he cut hair at the tube mill all day but he also would cut hair at his house on Hillside Avenue and eventually opened his own barbershop on Lawrence Avenue.

Everyday management personnel from National Tube stopped for their “shave and hair cut” (25¢ cash). These daily stops helped him get through the Great Depression and in turn he was able to help his neighbors in Little Italy. The Turners lived on the corner of Bell Avenue and Fourth Street and built several $3,000 houses on Hillside Avenue. Charles was able to send his second son Kenneth to college to pursue his desire to be a funeral director after his oldest son Gene joined Navy where he served as a radio man and as a barber. After the Navy, Gene the red headed Italian became second chair in his fathers shop.

At a time when it was common for men to get a haircut once a week, turners Barber Shop boasted six chairs and no waiting. Turners was reportedly the first barber shop in Ellwood to have a television for its customers. In 1960, Gene installed the television so his customers could watch the Pirates who were going to the World Series that year.

After developing Hodgkin’s disease in the mid-40’s, Charlie (along with some of the family) moved to California for his health. Gene stayed in Ellwood to manage the shop and his brother Kenneth also remained in the Ellwood to operate his funeral home. Not one to sit still, Turner looked around his new home in the Los Angeles area and decided the area needed a motel.

From time to time Charlie would visit Ellwood City and go into the shop, move now first chair Gene’s tools to the second chair and begin cutting hair – it was his shop. Gene would eventually own the barbershop at 405 Lawrence Avenue that he managed for his dad and where his family lived on the second floor. In 1963, Gene sold the barber shop and the former second chair moved to California to become a barber to the stars.

Gene became a barber/stylist at Cosmo Sardo’s Art Gallery, Hairstyling, and Barber Salon around the corner from the famous Schwab’s Drug Store in Hollywood. The salon/art studio was everything you can imagine complete with martinis and hors d’oeuvres for customers. Gene not only cut the movie stars hair, but he himself was in a number of Gillette commercials.

Gene’s daughter Linda Turner Tidemanson of Winnetka, California once shared that she had no choice but to be “good” during her time in Ellwood. In our small town, everyone knew her dad and everyone knew she was Gene Turners daughter so she had to behave. In 1963 Gene sold his shop to Joe DeLisio who had started working the sixth chair at the shop in 1953 while in the 10th grade at Lincoln High School.

In an earlier post on building the Shelby Clubhouse, I mentioned that I would post a zoomed in picture of the background of the picture taken August 30th, 1916. Well the wait is finally over.

    In this first picture, almost centralized, you can see the majesty that is the Hotel Lawrence. Even as the town grew around the hotel, it still dominated the skyline. On the left of the picture you can see that horse and buggy was the main mode of transportation still (besides walking). Right above those teams of horses on the dirt road that is Pittsburgh Circle is an interesting scene involving lumber. Lots of lumber. I am only guessing, but perhaps that is the construction of the Second Street overpass?

       Some of these houses are very large houses and I am curious as to how many of them are “company” homes and were used as boarding houses for tube mill employees. A good number of these homes are no longer standing, but some of them are still here today. The one that has thrown me for a loop is the dark colored house above the previously mentioned lumber. Does anybody know what that is on the side of the house?

The second picture also offers some interesting from Ellwood City in 1916. You can see the bell tower of the old Central Public School located on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Sixth Street. Between the hotel and the school you can clearly see the rounded dome of the United Presbyterian Church on Crescent Avenue. I do not know what the barns or industrial buildings are behind the building closest to photographer, do you? I think that would be the general location of the current Trinity Lutheran Church.

    I recently got an email from Robert Haben asking if I had any pictures of the tube mill steam switch engine that was used to dump slag behind Loccisano’s market. He believed that the engine ran through the 1940′s and the large cement dump is still standing today.

I went through my pictures and I did find some pictures of the tube mill that I have not published yet. The picture above is part of the slideshow below that has pictures taken between 1914 and 1917 around the tube mill involving railroad tracks. Robert mentioned the 1940′s, so I am not sure if this is the same engine, but it is the only one I have. If you have a picture, we would love to see it.

A number of these pictures I do not know what exactly we are looking at so any feedback you might have would be appreciated. You can leave your comments below or email me at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    You might remember these pictures like they were yesterday if you grew up in Ellwood City a little under one hundred years ago. For the rest of us, these pictures are hard to imagine being from our town. As you can see through the progression these pictures were taken during the construction of the Shelby Social Club in 1916. I am going to try to have another post with the background zoomed in.

“In 1917, the National Tube Company (a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation) opened a massive facility on the corner of Pittsburgh Circle and First Street that would bring recreational activities never even thought of in Ellwood City a reality. Designed as a clubhouse for the employees of National Tube, it became a recreational center for virtually all of the citizens of Ellwood City. The Shelby Social Club was home to an Olympic size 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.”

I know some of the automobile guys are disappointed but it looks like this was still in the days Ellwood City was train and horse n’ buggy days. The original picture (with simply the footer laid) has a wagon and team on the dirt path that is Pittsburgh Circle. As a matter of fact almost every picture has horse n’ buggies. People had to check on things back then too I guess.

The interior pictures are also very interesting to me. I have only been inside the old clubhouse since it has been remodeled a number of times to accommodate the multiple business it houses today. I am curious if the stage is still there and can only imagine the basketball that was played here. I would enjoy hearing more of your memories of the old clubhouse. Please share below or email to info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

In 1953, the US Steel national newsletter, US Steel News, honored the men in Ellwood City that worked long days at US Steel and still volunteered their time in the evenings and on weekends for Ellwood City youth baseball leagues. This photograph of the team managers and umpires of National Tube made the cover of the January 1953 newsletter.

    Pictured from left to right in the first row include R.P. Friedoff, N.J. Pack (president of the Little League), J.P. Smith, Charles R. Hall, Nick Perry, and Frank Volpe. Second Row: Paul Reinheimer, Walter Feerst, Robert Mohrbacher, Erwin Campbell, and Charles Maggi Third Row: Thomas Hughes, Wayne Baird (President of the Knee-Hi League), William Frazier, Carl Meise, Merle Means, Chester Shaffer, and E.J. Corrigan.
Other men associated with the various leagues but unable to attend the photograph session included John Matrongol, Wilbert Covert, George Thornhill, Louis Oliastro, George Patterson, Albert Ruhe, and Elwain Richards.
A special thank you goes to Pudue LaCava for taking the time to send us this photogaph – Thank you.

      I recently attended an engagement where the speaker spoke on Ellwood City Area Athletics. Most of the presentation centered on baseball and football but the topic of basketball stirred up some conversation. It was suggested that Joedy Gardner was the most valuable basketball player in Ellwood City history. The speaker conceited that he may not have been the greatest in Ellwood’s history, though he was great, but the most valuable. He credited Gardner with changing the way the other schools around the area viewed Ellwood City Basketball.
A number of people have shared with us how good Joedy was, so if he wasn’t the greatest in Ellwood City history, who was? I guess that comes down to how old the person you are asking is.
Ellwoodians that are around the century mark remember players like Dip McDaniel, Merit Book, and Sing MacDonald as phenomenal players. Dip has been credited with getting people in Ellwood interested in basketball during his games at the Shelby clubhouse as these men played before Ellwood City even had a high school team. As a matter of fact, for the first fifty years of Ellwood’s existence, Dip was widely regarded as the greatest athlete to come out of our tube making town.
      Then that was about the time Joedy Gardner hit the scene. As mentioned above Joedy turned the tide for Ellwood from consecutive losing seasons to an actual contender. He starred at Lincoln from 1951 to 54 before playing on nationally ranked teams at West Virginia University.
      Dan Aloi is probably the other great basketball player to be mentioned in this conversation. Having ended his career in Ellwood with a number of records including single game scoring record, single season scoring record, and the career scoring record. He was also named to the National High School Boys Basketball All-American team in 1987.
However, if the conversation is about the greatest basketball player in Ellwood City history, you have to include Anne Malkowiak who graduated as the all time leading scorer in Beaver County, all time leading scorer in Lawrence county, the first boy or girl to score 2,000 points for Ellwood, and the all time leading scorer for Lincoln High School.
It is a tricky conversation to have as there are a number of reasons why it is difficult to compare these great players to each other. Not to mention whenever the conversations start to get heated, someone throws in the legendary Don Hennon whose 2,376* career points at Wampum from 1951-55 stood as the WPIAL record for 38 years (I added the asterisks because Don earned his points without the benefit of a three point line). As many of you know, the Wampum school district closed and is now part of Ellwood City and Mohawk so he might deserve to be added to this conversation. How good was Don, consider this, the 1958 he was selected for the Associated Press All-American team, along with future NBA stars Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, and Guy Roger.
      By default, if you are going to include Dr. Hennon in this conversation, I guess I feel inclined to also add Sean Miller to the mix. True he played his high school ball for his dad’s teams at Blackhawk High School, but he was born and raised in Ellwood City before moving to Blackhawk for his varsity years.
Okay, there you have it, who did I forget? I am sure you will point out great players I forgot like Joe Dougherty but I assure you it was not intentional. I am just going off of previous conversations/arguments I have had or overheard. Please feel free to correct me below or email me at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      While Americans were overseas fighting in World War II the Tube Mill’s here in Ellwood City had guards stationed twenty four hours a day around the buildings as they were making casings for rockets.
      During that time, disaster struck the United Tube that destroyed the building. As you can see in the picture, fire erupted from one of the United Tube Mills on April 13, 1944. The thick black smoke laid a thick haze on the entire area. Despite the haze, you can still make out the firemen, fire trucks, hose lines and of course the spectators.
      When the fireman finally got the fire under control all that remained was rubble and debris.

    The enormous house at 301 Fountain Avenue was not quite as large as the Stiefel home less than a block away, but was still referred to as the “southern mansion” of Ellwood City. The nickname may have had more to do with the ornamental ironwork on the flat roof of the house and the railing on the front porch roof similar to the large estates in the southern states.
The house was the home of John Gelbach, who was considered the most powerful man in Ellwood City not involved in the tube mills. He was part of the group that controlled First National Bank of Ellwood City and part of the group that purchased the assets of the Pittsburg Company in 1905 after its head man and Ellwood’s founder, Henry Hartman moved to Denver. The assets of the Pittsburg Company at the time included the power company, water company, the short line railroad and the hotel company, all of which Mr. Gelbach guided until 1933. He was very active in the First Presbyterian Church and one of the organizers of the Ellwood City Country Club.
If you would like to share something either about the house, the current owners and renovations they are making, any of the other folks that have owned the house since the Gelbach’s, or about Mr. Gelbach himself, we would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE. Don’t forget to mention the “prize” lamp in the large picture window at Christmas time.
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.

      This picture was sent to us as a question. The owner was not sure of the names of any of the players, dates or team name. All that was assumed was that it was a Hazel Dell team as it was with other pictures of Hazel Dell’s past.
      This might be an all star team from 1913 or 1914. Four or five gentlemen are wearing uniforms with a black box with a white “X” through it which was the logo of the Hazel Dell ball club, which we have a picture of the 1908 team all sporting the same uniform. The Hazel Dell black box’s are not the only team logo’s as a couple guys are wearing National Tube Mill uniforms, two or three are wearing the Shelby Tube Mill uniform, and two uniforms we have yet to identify.
      We did however identify the team members. Those in the front row left to right, Harry Ott, Joe James, Earl Woods, Mansel Hogue, Walter Houk, and Scott Cornelius; second row, Cash Vorhees, Dick Shirling, Carl Kingston (not in uniform) Earl Marshall, Herb “Javens” Jennings, Holiday Newton, Fred Markle (or Markel; far back), Loyal Marshall, Chance Forbush, and John Snare.

      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

      All along the Ellwood Short-line large crowds gathered to see the funeral train of President William McKinley as it passed through Ellwood City on its way from Washington DC to Ohio.
      The event was well documented with several pictures taken from the viaduct where Second Street crosses the railroad tracks. However this picture was taken of the crowd gathered at the overpass from the grounds of the United Steel Tube Mill. This unique picture shows the wooden bridge as it looked in 1901. There are a number of other things beside the bridge that stands out from this picture including the large locomotive engine on the right and all the tube mill workers sitting upon the eight foot wooden fence on the left. Something else we noticed were the houses in the far right.
      The viaduct over the tracks as it is today was completed towards the end of 1931. At that time, there was an effort to name it “Columbus Bridge” but the motion failed to generate much interest.