Ellwood City Motor Coach Co.
In 1922, the Pittsburgh, Harmony, Butler & New Castle Railway Company created the Harmony Short Line Motor Transportation Company primarily for freight purposes but the busses were soon after used to supplement the Beaver Falls branch of the trolley line. Additional bus lines were added by 1924 to supplement Ellwood City and New Castle rail service along with a new route in 1925 between Butler and New Castle where rail service was not present. These bus lines were originally used primarily for getting freight and additional passengers to and from the already established trolley operation.
In 1929 a new route was added to the regularly scheduled routes between Pittsburgh and Zelienople which was extended in 1930 to Ellwood City. The extended route connected Pittsburgh to the existing Ellwood City – New Castle route.
Unfortunately due to increasing popularity of privately owned automobiles and ultimately the Great Depression; in April of 1931, the entire Harmony system including bus and trolleys went into receivership. The Harmony rail service was eliminated and the Ellwood City – Beaver Falls – New Castle portion was converted to bus operation.
It was reported on August 12, 1954 that two men purchased the Ellwood City Motor Coach Company from Beaver Valley Motor Coach who had purchased the company in 1952. Donald Wooster of Koppel, who was employed at Ellwood City Motor for fifteen years and Gerald Wallace of Ellwood City purchased the bus line and renamed it Wooster-Wallace Motor Coach line.
We have heard that there were a number of bus stops in Ellwood City including the main stop at the Jayhawk Restaurant on Lawrence Avenue. Lincoln High School students from Ellport had the option of either walking through Burnstown and around the tube mill to school or pay to ride the city bus each day. Other bus terminals we have heard about included a stop in Wurtemburg, Ellport, Wampum, Chewton, and stops in Hazell Dell.
We would love to hear your memories of the busses in and around Ellwood City. Please leave a comment below or email us your memories at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com
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