Greatest Ellwood City Sledding Hill
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.
I lived on Glen Avenue in the late 50′s and 60′s and remember Power House Hill well.Half way down the hill there was a huge water pipe that ran under the road. We used to hide cigarettes in that pipe and at the time thought it was pretty cool. All of the kids from Glen Ave. and Pittsburgh Circle sleded there. Sometimes they would close the gate to the power plant and if you were not careful you would slam into the gate. But no one got too badly hurt. And riding down the hill was fun but walking back up to the top was a pain. Alot of my family lives on the North Side and every so often the city would block off the upper end of North Street so the kids there could sled. It was kind of dangerous as well for if you got going too fast you would run out onto Orchard Avenue. Alot of great winter memories and thinking back the cold and blowing snow didn’t bother us then.
There are clearly many great places to sled ride in the Ellwood Area, but my favorite was a place up behind loop Street that we called the Cow Pasture. It was a rather long hill with a natural jump near the bottom that would send you tumbling if you weren’t careful. The ride was fast and furious and the walk back up the hill, as I recall, wasn’t too difficult. I remember when I was a senior in high school and it snowed one winter day. Just about the entire senior class skipped school and went sled riding up at the Cow Pasture. Great times and great memories.
Phillip (PEM) Morris, Jr.
Virginia Beach, VA
I remember sled riding down a hill that was behind some houses that were adjacent to Walnut Ridge Elem. School. Headed up to Rolling Hills. Me and my brother used to go there sometimes there would be groups of kids there until dark! What fun! We also used to sled ride on the hill behind Walunt Ridge School too. This is a GREAT website! Thank you so much for all your efforts!
LaBates hill on the northside, behind the middle of the 1st block of Orchard Ave. Spent many hrs on that hill
I can remember sledding on North St. It was very steep and you could really fly down the hill. At the time I lived on Hazel Ave. Itwa sback in the early 50′s. Does any one remember the buses that we had back then ?? I can remember my dad going to work at U.S. Steel on them.
The best sledding I recall was one of the middle holes at the Ellwood City Country Club. I even think people skied down that particular hill in the winter since the course was normally closed. I grew up on Wiley Hill past Locust Grove Elementary but I think if you could keep from getting run over, Browns hill down Browns Road would have been terrific!
I miss Ellwood at times, the people and my family. Thank you. RHS grad 1970
The best sledding in Ellwood was on Fifth Street from above Summit Ave all the way down to Wayne Ave. The city blocked off the cross streets and we safely rode our sleds for hours.
The Street between Hazel Ave. and Orchard Ave. used to be closed to traffic all winter and was used only for sledding when I was a kid. It was great and they even had a School Crossing Guard asigned to be there in the evening hours to maintain the peace or just to look after all of us. It was great.
I remember 3 great places.
1. College St. from Line Ave down to Todd Ave and the Auxilary Police would stop traffic.
2. The alley above Wayne Ave. We would start in the woods just below Dr. Magee’s home and ride all the way down to Johnny’s Pizza shop and get a “Sause sandwich.
3. Taboganing at DelMar! stay out of the lake and get warm at the fire.
Just like Phil & Dana, I remember sledding in the cow pasture & behind Walnut Ridge School. I grew up with Dana & her brother. There was also a steep hill behind one of the apartment units at the top of the hill in the Walnut Ridge Housing Projects. On a good sledding day there were over a dozen kids on this hill. I remember sledding all day only stopping to go home to warm up & switch my mittens for the warm ones waiting on the radiator (thanks Mom !). We would also build igloos & giant snowmen. A bunch of us kids built a giant snowmen in the ball field between the school & playground & the Ledger came & took a picture for the paper.
How well I remember the snowy winters in Ellwood City. I lived on Park Avenue & 7th Street. All my friends and I would walk up one block to Wayne Avenue to sled. Would you believe the city literally blocked off Wayne Avenue from Hospital Hill all the way down to 5th or 6th Street. What a ride that was. And what a climb it was to go back to the top!! How we loved it and now I can’t believe they actually closed the street for the kids!! What a town!! (1944-1949)
On the Northside to the left of the radio tower was a hill we called “curly grass”. It was a long time getting to the top but a long ride down. I think this was McCandless Farm. We used to fly kites there too.
There also was an alley near the foot of curly grass that might be the start of Hazen Ave. You would sled down to College Ave. It was very challenging. If you went to far left you would hit a recessed sewer grate, too far right you would cross college and attempt to miss the friendly neighbor’s garbage cans and stop after you went through 4 backyards. No one ever yelled at us even when we would bang into those cans.
The kids called it Suidcide. It was It might not have been the longest but it was steepest I can recall. It was below Jamison Avenue and either 1st or 2nd street in Ellport. And you had to be quick on the stop because if you didn’t veer off to the side, you’d end up in the Connequenessing.
There is a hill on the North Side above Hazel (or Hazen). I could never remember the name. Anyway, the property was partly owned by Rick Rozzo’s family. The hill started way up in the woods (way up for kids those days, lol). You would come tearing out of the woods and if you did not steer properly you would go flying over the hill toward Rozzo’s home. Steer correctly and you could make it to the alley, if you did not go left and crash into the trash cans and garage (lol), down the alley and across the street (Hazen or Hazel) right next to College street. The best was using a saucer disk because you could never steer them properly. Shawn Conway, Robert DiBuono, my brother Damien, Ryan Kelly, Rick Rozzo and a host of others used to spend hours on that hill. We used to try and knock kids down coming up the hill. The best was going up in the afternoon when it was snowing and walking home at night. It would be quiet, no tracks and felt like you were the only one on earth. I miss those times. Ahhh the memories!!!
Comments on the Comments:
1. Dale Brown…hiding cigarettes. Those are bad for you. See comment #6…Brown’s Hill named after your grandfather or great grandfather.
5. Ed Seiter…I remember the buses well. I lived on Hazel Ave. Bus stop was at the corner of Hazel Ave. and North St. at Charlie Ricardo’s store.
6. Lynn Coblenetz…sled riding on Brown’s Hill? To me that’s PA Route 65 coming into Ellwood City before reaching Ewing Park. Thinking of sledding on that hill would be “the last sled ride!”
14. Chris Pavkovich…I have vague memories. The name of the farm or of the hill escapes me. As with other North Siders, alumni of North Side Elementary, I do remember going all the way up North Street, then on to a hill on a farm. I vividly remember using an old car hood ( like a 1953 Chevy for example ) as a sled. Kenny Brown had to be with me. Nothing dangerous was done without Kenny. Greatest ride on earth, that car hood was, but you had to bail out before you reached the barbed wire fence at the bottom. Sounds like I am making this up, but I swear I did it.
New comment: does anyone remember Richard Palumbo (Polumbo?) who lived on North Street, above Orchard Avenue? He’d know all about sledding on that street and any farm field around it. I saw Richard last in December 1968 when he got out of the Army and I was on leave from Boot Camp at Ft. Dix. Would like to be in touch with him. Dave Larson mainelarson@yahoo.com
I located the hill I was talking about. I looked at Google maps. If you look at View Street on Google Maps, it is the property located near the end of View where it turns 90 degrees to intersect Hazel. And it was Cedar not College Street. If you followed the path of the hill, you would hit the end of Orchard Avenue.
I rode my sled down the hill to the old power plant off Pittsburgh Circle back in the 1950′s and remember crashing into the metal fence more than once. It’s amazing I escaped sliding off the side of the hill on the way down, which could have resulted in a real catastrophe.
I remember sledding down 5th st from above Summit Ave down to Wayne Ave and there was a lady who lived on the corner who would bring out hot choclate for us but what I remember most was a hill off of 6th St betrween Division and Franklin, it was suppose to be an alley but was never paved, we would start way up in the woods and ride down to 6th St and would have to turn our sleds over before we got all the way down. What really makes me remember that hill (and if anyone remembers me they may recall this) I BROKE my leg on that hill must have been about 15 and Dennis
Barto wa with me, called the ambulance and Derrick Stevenson came with it (we were neighbors back then). Don Anderson
There was a hill on Todd Avenue which they called Butchelle’s hill for years. The borough would put baracades up for the kids to sled ride. Also at the bottom of the hill on the left Russ Butchelle had an Ice Skating pond behide his house where many of generations would skate there. He open his basement for everyone to keep warm and in the earlier days during the 50′s and 60′s there was plenty of dancing in the basement. There are alot of memories there. I skated there until about 1965 before he closed it just before he retired.
Greg,
Was it the hil leading down to Merrit Book playground?
The place that I went sledding as a kid was at the top of North Street…if you were to face East, with the tower behind you… THAT was where we went… we called it Hogue’s Hill.
I also heard stories of my (older) siblings sledding down North Street, from the very top, all the way to the blinker light on Line Ave. They would close the road.
One of the side affects of being old is thinking you’re right, somebody who has to set the world straight, who isn’t smart enough to leave things well enough alone. So apologies in advance to Tracie Haswell’s (older) siblings. From the top of North Street to Line Avenue has a “valley” in the middle of that run called Hazel Avenue. The sled, or sledder, who can make that run owns one of those E.T. bicycles too. I don’t remember them closing the road, but do remember looking for cars once you reached North Side Elementary School and the intersection with Orchard Avenue, I believe it was. Those were death defying days, I swear.
Yeah, reaching Line Avenue would be nearly impossible given the grade from Hazel to Line Avenue.
Bluff Ave is without a doubt the best sledriding in ellwood. You can start above the radio towere and make it all the way down to the north side school.