Five young men, 5th and Merchant Sts., 1947

 

3rd from left, Pete Lusty
2nd from left, John Smetanka
other young men unknown
1947
courtesy Dave Lusty

Dave Lusty, AHS '72, sent me this photo of his father, Pete Lusty, and four of his buddies, posing on the west side of Merchant St. near 5th St. in 1947. Pete Lusty would have been 20 years old at the time.

John Smetanka is the only of the four other young men that Dave could identify. If you know who any of the other three are, please leave a comment or contact me.

Note the streetcar tracks on Merchant St. Street cars through Ambridge were replaced by buses in 1934, but the tracks on Merchant St. weren't covered until 1958.

On the east side of Merchant, you can see the Penn Theatre's marquee. To the theater's right: The Penn Grill restaurant and Denmark's shoe store,

The building with the clock is the Economy Bank of Ambridge which was across 5th St. at 500 Merchant.

The Penn Theatre closed in the early 1950s, and the Melody Ballroom opened in the theater's former location in September 1953. The ballroom, Penn Grill, and Denmark's were all badly damaged in a big July 1954 fire. Another massive fire damaged the businesses that occupied the former theater in February 1963: the Bride and Deb Shop on the corner, Penn Grill, and Hankins Shoe Store. 

The former Penn Theatre building was razed after the 1963 fire, replaced by a parking lot. More recently, that corner was the location of the now-closed PNC Bank in 1984

The Economy Bank building was razed in 1984. WesBanco's drive though is now located where the bank once stood. 

After the 1933 Spang-Chalfant strike violence, the immediate aftermath

This blog post is a continuation of the story of the October 5, 1933, Spang-Chalfant anti-strike violence in Ambridge PA. If you haven't yet read about it, I recommend you read my blog post telling the story, illustrated by a number of photos and a newsreel: "Ambridge 1933 anti-union strike violence at Spang-Chalfant." If you have already read it, consider re-reading it. It's a shocking and sad story appropriate for Labor Day.

Strikebreakers on patrol after ending the strike at Spang-Chalfant
AP photo
October 6, 1933

Here's the Associated Press description on the back of the above photo:

Guard Steel Property: Deputies Sheriff are shown patrolling the railroad lines beside an Ambridge, PA., steel plant, around which there has been sporadic warfare between pickets and officers for several days. Tear gas and rifle fire have been resorted to by officers to halt the activity of pickets. 

Since I first started researching the story of that strike, I have been struck by how the workers who were trying to unionize were not only beaten, shot, and teargassed by deputized strikebreakers, but also I've frequently been taken aback by the number of local officials who led, condoned, or were complicit in the violence against the strikers, including the Beaver County Sheriff Charles J. O'Loughlin, County Detective Robert Branyan, Ambridge Burgess P. J. Caul, and county District Attorney, A. B. de Castrique, as well as local police.

But the mistreatment of the workers, or those suspected of being union sympathizers, didn't stop when the strike did.

A 1995 article in the Buffalo Law Review * describes some of post-strike incidents:

The next day, three carloads of police patrolled the streets breaking up groups of three or more at gun point, even on the steps of their homes. Many were routinely searched. Police raided the offices of the strikers to arrest several leaders of the strike, carrying off records and cash, without warrants. Leaders spent days in jail until released on habeas corpus. More than twenty men were fired at Spang-Chalfant. 

"Injured men were also interrogated about their work before treatment."

"Police violently interfered with people going to the funeral of the man killed [Adam Petrasuski], and two women, Edith Brisker and May Ecker, were arrested when they tried to speak to the crowd."

The Law Review article also tells the story of how a community member not involved in the strike was not only shot by the deputies, but also mistreated by the very people who should have cared for him:

Abuse was not limited to pickets, a bread delivery man showed the extent of municipal control.

 I was near Twenty-fourth Street. There were no pickets or strikers there. A bunch of deputies, not among those who came in from the outside but from those who were inside shot at me. They were stationed on the railroad tracks. I did not know what for. I had no stick or anything. I was just watching from a distance what was happening when the fellows from the railroad tracks shot at me hitting me in the back. . . . 

 When I first came to the hospital I had to hang around in the waiting room. I was very sick, so I found a bench and lay down. Pretty soon someone came to me, I don't know whether he was a doctor or who, I was too sick to look up. He asked me "where you work?" I was too sick to reply. 

 The same evening Dr. F.C. Forcey who is on the staff of the Sewickley Valley hospital and who is also the company physician of the Spang-Chalfant Company said to me "You are a red." I said "sure, can't you see all the blood from my wounds." Then he said "You ought to be shot." 

 Then Dr. Boruku, the second day when he went to take the bandage off the wounds, asked me whether I cry. I said no. Then he tore the bandage off my arms, tearing the hair with it. "You must be tough," he said. Then when he started taking the bandage off my head he said "We're going to have fun now." He tried to tear it off. It hurt terribly, tears were rolling down my eyes, but I said nothing. He could not tear the head bandage off, so he took the scissors and cut my hair.

After I collect more information, I hope to write more about what happened in Ambridge in the aftermath of the 1933 strike. Until then, on this Labor Day, think about how people literally fought and died for the employment rights and benefits many U. S. workers have today.
_____

* Casebeer, Kenneth (Winter, 1995) "Aliquippa: The Company Town and Contested Power in the Construction of Law," 43 Buffalo L. Rev. 617

S.P. Kristufek and his stores

Stephen P.  and M. A. Kristufek's store
intersection of Merchant and Beaver Sts.
circa 1903
courtesy of Karl Urda

In 1903, Stephen (Stefan) Kristufek, a Slovak immigrant, moved to the new community of Ambridge and opened a store at the no-longer-existing intersection of Merchant and Beaver Sts. I'd previously written briefly about S. P. Kristufek's stores in an article about the series of "Triangle Buildings" at that intersection.

The photo at the top of this article is of that first store.* I don't have identifying information about the people in the photo, but I'd guess that they may include Kristufek and his wife, Mary, and that the children are some of their eight children who survived infancy.

Josh Selley, S.P. Kristufek's great-grandson, gave me some information about this store:

On November 27, 1903 he bought the corner lot there at 120 Merchant street and built a four room and then increased to a twelve room store. It first started out as a clothing business and then he increased to groceries, meat, hardware and furniture

You can also see Charles Kristufek's General Store, 300 First St., in the photo's background, right. Charles, a prominent Ambridge businessman and builder, was Stephen's older brother. It was Charles Kristufek's grandson, the late Karl Urda, who shared with me the rare photos at the top of this article and immediately below. (In the rest of this article, "Kristufek" refers to S.P. Kristufek, the owner of the Triangle stores.)

S.P. Kristufek's first store, interior
circa 1903
courtesy Karl Urda

The early ad below shows Ambridge's "Big Store" included a restaurant and offered boarding and rooming.

S. P. Kristufek's Store
ad
Ambridge-Economy Citizen
December 16, 1904

This first store was destroyed in a fire on September 6, 1908, in what was called the worst fire in Ambridge's young history. Ambridge mythos has long linked the fire to S. P. Kristufek's receipt of a "Black Hand" extortion letter the previous winter, demanding $200 protection money, which Kristufek refused to pay. However, the Aliquippa Standard of September 11, 1908, reported that Kristufek said he didn't believe the fire was connected to the Black Hand letter, although he didn't offer a theory about how the fire may have started.

The Standard also reported that the bakery of Christopher Damakos (note different spelling of last name by the Gazette Times in quote below) was in the same building and damaged in the fire.

The September 7, 1908, (Pittsburgh) Gazette Times article about the fire said the fire began in the bakery. The article begins:

The first landmarks of the new town of Ambridge with four horses were burned early yesterday morning, despite the efforts of the Fair Oaks, Economy, Ambridge and American Bridge Company's fire departments. The loss is $7,500, cover by insurance. "Triangle Square," the pride of the new steel town, went up in smoke because of an overheated oven in Christopher Damak's bakery, which occupied one building. Several persons narrowly escaped with their lives. 

Undeterred by the fire, Kristufek built a second store. The history of the construction of that second store is a bit murky as of now, and I'm still looking for more information. Selley told me:

That same year he rebuilt the store and it was all wood, no brick. On November 26, 1908 he contracted to have the store made to be brick $4.50 for 1000 bricks. It took 100,000 bricks.

Maria Notarianni found a photo of the second store being constructed--or maybe having a brick facade added to a wooden building--in The Lather, a 1909 publication of the Wood, Wire and Metal Lathers' International Union.

New S. P. Kristufek's Department Store
120 Merchant Street
The Lather
Vol. 9, No. 7
May 1909

Original text: 

The above illustrates S. P. Kristufek's new triangular store, which is being erected on the site of one burned last fall. Mr. Kristufek will be seen in the foreground. This work is in Ambridge, Pa. and is being done by local 263's men. Brother Linhorn as foreman, Warren, Buckles and Skinner.

The photo below shows the second S.P. Kristufek store, sometimes misidentified as the Kristufek store that burned down.

The man in the apron is S. P. Kristufek.* the woman on the left side of the store wearing an apron is his wife, Mary; daughter Rose, Selley's grandmother, is standing near Mary. Kristufek's mother is standing in front of the building.

S. P. Kristufek Department Store
intersection of Merchant St and Beaver Rd. (now Beaver St.)
1912
William Bowan collection

The 1912 photo was featured in a September 12, 1983, Beaver County Times article, "Nostalgia--Marketing returns the good old days" by Joe Tronzo, Beaver County Times staff.

Tronzo wrote: "Kristufek's sold meat, groceries, paints, varnishes, clothes, furniture, carpets, and everything from flypaper to wedding gowns." 

Tronzo noted the stable behind the store on the Beaver Rd. side and the horse and wagon used for deliveries. And that dark sculpture-like thing at the intersection's point?  That's a three-level water trough: one bowl for humans, a big one for horses, and the lowest one for dogs.

The Nov. 24, 1913, Pittsburgh Press reported on a Kristufek's store employee, Mary Susineck, chasing, then tussling with a burglar at the store:

Kristufek's store burglary article
Pittsburgh Press
November 24, 1913

In 1914 Kristufek enlarged the store building to 20 rooms and then 30 rooms, according to Selley.

The well-located department store was an enormous success. In November 26, 1916, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article said that the S. P. Kristufek Department Store, "known throughout the district as the 'Big Triangle,' is one of the busy centers of the community."

Look at the wide variety of items once sold in the Kristufek's store.

Envelope with advertising for Stephen P. and M. A. Kristufek's store
circa 1903 - 1918
courtesy Josh Selley

According to Selley, Kristufek sold the Triangle building in 1919, and bought another at 133 Merchant St. before moving back to Pittsburgh where he restarted his business. He died on February 22, 1934.

In 1930, a store at The Triangle, then reportedly operated by Abraham Redlich, and owned by his mother, Mary, was destroyed by a fire. (The Daily Times, March 17, 1930). I think this may explain what eventually happened to the second store built by S.P. Kristufek, but I haven't yet verified that the Redlich's store was then operating in the building built by Kristufek.

The Stephen P. and Mary A. Kristufek family:

S.P. and Mary A. Kristufek and children
circa 1911
courtesy Josh Selley

Top row left to right: Phillip, Mary, Stephen E. (eldest), and Jeanette;

Middle row left to right: Lydia, Mary A., Stephen P., and Rose;

Bottom row left to right: John and Charles.

Another child, Katherine, died in infancy.

Stephen P. and Mary A. Kristufek
in front of their Pittsburgh home
circa late 1920s - early 1930s
courtesy Josh Selley

_____

* The angle of the photos of Kristufek's two stores make them look extremely narrow. However, because the lot where the stores were built was triangular, the width of the buildings increased as the width of the lot increased.

Here's a snip from a 1905 Sanborn Insurance map that shows the shape of the first Kristufek store. It's the building labeled "Hotel Kristufek."

Kristufek General Store
"Hotel Kristufek"
Sanborn Insurance map
1905

And speaking of shapes: Does anyone know what the triangular frames on the roof of the first Kristufek store are?

S. Jurkowski Beer Distributor

S. Jurkowski Beer Distributor ad
Daily Citizen Trade Area Directory
1956

Paul Jurkowski (AHS Class of '67), the little boy second from the right in the photo, was able to provide the names of the Jurkowski family members standing in front of the beer trucks, but not the other people. If you know who they are, please let me know.

Left to Right:

Rusty Jurkowski (died 1999),
Raymond Jurkowski (St. Veronica HS, 1967),
Stanley Jurkowski, Sr (died 1962),
unknown,
unknown,
unknown,
Paul Jurkowski (AHS 1967),
Stanley Jurkowski, Jr (died 1973)

Paul sent me a brief history of the distributorship's locations:

The business was originally at 545 Eighth St. (now a vacant lot on the west side of the Kasper funeral home) prior to moving to [606] Duss Ave., and then 1154 Merchant St.  The primary customers were the ethnic social clubs in Ambridge, the 1956 trade directory lists the great majority of them.

An aside, I once delivered a barrel of beer to the wrong Ukrainian club!....only in Ambridge!

Here's a more recent photo of 606 Duss Ave. Ross Auto Body shop was in the building for a long time. Does anyone know what, if anything, is in the building now?

606 Duss Ave.
March 30, 2014
Credit: Nancy Knisley

_____

For a list of Ambridge's ethnic social clubs, see the Ambridge List of Lists on this blog. The list may not be complete, but it is extensive.

Charles Kristufek's two stores, 1903 and 1908

In 1889, Karoly Kristufek, then 13 years old, was sent, alone, by his Slovak family to live with an acquaintance in America. The boy, a trained harness maker, learned English while aboard ship, according to his grandson, the late Karl Urda, who provided the information for this blog post. Upon arriving at Ellis Island, the boy's first name was Americanized to Charles.

Charles Kristufek first lived in McKees Rocks, where he worked in a dairy, as a handyman, and eventually started building homes. In 1902, the American Bridge Co. needed builders to construct homes for the workers then building the new American Bridge plant on land along the Ohio River formerly owned by the Harmony Society. So Kristufek started building homes in the area that would become Ambridge.

Kristufek not only ended up building many of the homes and business buildings between Ambridge's First and Fourth Sts., but he also built Divine Redeemer's church and convent, and his own general store. Although the store is now gone, many of the homes and other buildings are still standing and in use.

During his life, Kristufek opened, and later sold, his own bank; built the first water works in Ambridge; became a borough councilman; opened a real estate and insurance company; and started the Economy Lumber and Building Company.

I'm going to focus only on Kristufek's stores in this post.

The first store, a wooden frame building, shown below, was built in 1903 at the intersection of First and Merchant Sts.

Chas. Kristufek General Store
300 First St.
circa 1903
courtesy Karl Urda

The man at the far left in the photo is Charles Kristufek. To his right are his wife, the former Mary Skapik; their daughters, Carrie and Bertha; Mary Skapik; Steve Skapik; George Roman; and an unidentified store clerk.

The first floor, facing First St., was a general store, selling among other items groceries, meat, hardware, and stoves. Kristufek had a small office in the store where he provided Slovak translation services, would send money back to Europe for people, plus he helped arrange for railroad and steamship tickets. The second floor was used for Slovak Catholic Church services before Divine Redeemer bought property for a church.

The large addition to the rear of the building was a three-story rooming house, with its first level on Bank St., to the south of First St. The rooming house had 20 - 25 rooms, and offered bed and meals for the new American Bridge workers. Well, it provided a bed for 12 hours. The rooming house was a "hot bed" place, with one bed being shared by two men in alternating 12-hour shifts. The sheets were changed "at least every 10 days."

That building was destroyed by a fire, replaced by a three-story brick building in 1908.

Charles Kristufek's second store
300 First St.
circa 1908
courtesy Karl Urda

The above photo shows Charles Kristufek on the right, and on the left his daughters Carrie, Mathilda, and Bertha.

As you can see from the window advertising, the new store carried dry goods, notions, hats, caps, and shoes. And by that time, more of Kristufek's business was focused on foreign exchange services and selling steamship tickets. Kristufek no longer provided hot bed rooming.

The second store was razed in the late 1950s.

Sometime circa 1910, Kristufek opened a bank in the 100 block of Merchant St., pictured below. If I can find more information, I'll write about the bank in a later post.

Charles Kristufek's bank
100 block Merchant St.
circa 1910
courtesy Karl Urda

Charles Kristufek died of a stroke in 1943. His daughter, Bertha, and son-in-law, John Urda, took over Charles Kristufek's insurance and real estate business at 405 Merchant St. as "The Kristufek Agency." Their son, Karl, was still offering commercial property appraisals from that location when I was fortunate enough to meet and spend some time with him in August 2016.  Karl Urda died on March 9, 2017.
_____

Charles Kristufek's brother, Stephen, also operated a store in Ambridge, a large department store at the triangular intersection of Beaver and Merchant Sts. I wrote what I then knew about Stephen's store in the August 14, 2015, blog post, "Ambridge's triangle buildings--there was more than one." I now have more photos and more information about Stephen's store, and I'm planning on writing more about it, I hope soon.

No bars allowed: when Ambridge was dry--or at least supposed to be

"What was the most surprising thing you've learned about Ambridge from your research?" Lois Himes, a librarian at Laughlin Memorial Library, who died on October 17, asked me earlier this year.

I had to think about Lois' question for a while, but then the answer came to me with absolute certainty, and no other fact about Ambridge I've discovered so far even comes close: the most surprising thing I've learned about Ambridge was that it was once dry. Dry as in alcoholic beverages could not be sold legally. And I'm not talking about just during the Prohibition years; I'm talking about the first 50 years of Ambridge's existence.

At least it was supposed to be dry for 50 years.

Yes, Ambridge, where long-time residents still boast about the number of bars the borough had back in the day when the mills employed thousands of hardworking, thirsty workers. I've heard the claim there were once 200 or so bars where millworkers could stop for a shot and a beer on their way home, no matter what shift they worked. Or maybe on their way to work, although the mills frowned on that.

"Steelworkers in corner beer parlor. Ambridge, Pennsylvania"
John Vachon
January 1941
Library of Congress

Yes, Ambridge, which people proudly claim once held the Guinness World Record for being the town with the largest combined total of bars and churches per capita. (But although I wouldn't be surprised to find that Ambridge indeed once may have had bragging rights to such a record, I've searched the Guinness database and could find no entry for Ambridge or "bars and churches." Nor have I been able to find evidence of any similar kind of official record elsewhere.)

In addition to all the bars, there were dozens of ethnic social clubs that supported themselves with their liquor and beer sales, made all the more lucrative because they were open on Sundays when the bars couldn't open.

"Bar at Catholic Sokol Club. Ambridge, Pennsylvania"
John Vachon
January 1941
Library of Congress

To be clear, not all of the area within the current boundaries of Ambridge Borough was dry, only the original Ambridge, located on land once owned by the American Bridge Co. and later sold through the company's real estate arm, the Ambridge Land Co. That property, which became the borough's First and Second Wards, extended from Big Sewickley Creek on the south to the current 8th St. (then called Bryden Rd.) on the north, and from Park Rd. on the west to Merchant St. and Duss Ave. on the east. I'll refer to it as the "dry area."

I think I first came across the startling information about the dry area in 2014, when I found a news clipping of a car in front of Ambridge's old Davis Hotel, in one of Bill Bowan's albums in Ambridge's Laughlin Memorial Library's archives. The clipping was one of the "Looking Back" photos the Beaver County Times once did from time to time.*

Group showing off car, George S. Capp at far right
at Davis Hotel, 1913
300 Merchant St.
Beaver County Times
July 9, 1984
courtesy Laughlin Memorial Library archives

I'm sure the focus of the original photo was the car--not common in 1913 Ambridge--and the group of men posing with it. But information about the photo, probably provided by Bowan since he was the one who had submitted the photo for publication, included this:

The hotel was almost on the boundary line of Harmony Township on Beaver Road. On the east side of Beaver Road was the township, where liquor sales were permitted.

The location of the hotel was controversial because Ambridge prohibited liquor sales before World War I...But its proximity to the Harmony Township boundary allowed liquor sale in the Beaver Road and Third Street area.

Well, that was a startling bit of Ambridge history. I've been looking for more information about Ambridge's dry area ever since. What I've found since 2014 has gaps, leaving important questions unanswered--including the big one, "Given the legal restriction against the sale of liquor, how did the southern end of Ambridge end up with so many bars long before 50 years had passed?!"

I am continuing my search, but here's what I know so far:

I've mentioned my research about "dry Ambridge" to a few people who have an interest in Ambridge history, and none knew about the restriction on liquor sales. And they'd immediately jump to the conclusion that the Harmony Society, once the owner of the land, was responsible for the alcohol prohibition. But while the Harmony Society's members may have practiced celibacy, they were not adverse to the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The Harmonists were famous for their winemaking skills. In addition, they owned a brewery and a distillery.

Although I haven't seen the legal document that created the dry area, it's pretty clear from newspaper articles that the liquor restriction was at the behest of the American Bridge Co. American Bridge's interest in keeping bars out of Ambridge was obvious: they didn't want their workers coming to work under the influence or lose workers to alcoholism. Newspaper articles show that over many years dating back at least to 1904, American Bridge made a practice of challenging liquor licence applications in the Ambridge area, even applications coming from areas where liquor sales were legal, such as Ambridge properties to the north of 8th St. or in Harmony Township.

As far as I can determine, the dry area's liquor restrictions were put in place in 1903, so before Ambridge was incorporated in 1905.

The Pittsburgh Press, writing about a court case involving the liquor licenses of Ambridge bars in 1938, said that "The American [Ambridge?] Land Co., in turning over that section to the borough in 1903, specified in the grant that no liquor be sold there for 50 years." (Pittsburgh Press, April 30, 1938)

But that legal restriction didn't keep astute entrepreneurs from seeing and seizing the opportunity presented by Ambridge's dry area. Hence, the location of the Davis Hotel, which wasn't in dry Ambridge, but conveniently across Merchant St. from it. And that hotel wasn't the only such business.

In 1904, American Bridge Co. made "strenuous opposition" to granting liquor licenses to five Harmony Township businesses: two for retail licenses, two for wholesale licenses, and one for a brewery. "The deeds of all lots sold in Ambridge contain a clause prohibiting the sale of liquor on the property for 50 years, but several persons have applied for licenses just on the border of the town, where there are no restrictions regarding liquor." (Pittsburgh Press, March 29, 1904)

Yes, in real estate, it's location, location, location!

Ambridge Hotel
Eighth and Merchant Sts., northwest corner
circa 1905
courtesy Ambridge Borough

Location also may explain the seemingly odd site chosen for the Ambridge Hotel when it was built in 1905. It wasn't built in rapidly developing, but dry, Ambridge, which would have placed it nearer the train station, and would have been conveniently located for the growing number of potential guests. And the new hotel didn't join the other businesses clustered in the area that once was the Harmony Society's village of Economy, from 12th Street and north. But rather the Ambridge Hotel was built on the northwest corner of Merchant St. and Bryden Rd (now 8th St.), just a stroll across the street from dry Ambridge, making the hotel the first--and for years the only--Merchant St. business from that northern corner of Bryden Rd. to 12th St.

While liquor sales were always legal in the parts of Ambridge other than the dry area--except, of course, during the Prohibition era (1920 -33)--when were liquor licenses first issued in the dry area? I don't know the answer to that.

I do know that by 1938, there were 30 - 38 businesses in the dry area asking for renewal of their liquor licenses, which means their liquor licenses must have been issued before 1938.

The issue of liquor licenses in the dry area was hotly debated in early 1938. At the time, the "liquor trade" in the dry area reportedly employed 300 people with a payroll of $4,000. The claim was made that the only way to permanently settle the question of legality of liquor licenses in the dry area was by securing a release from every property owner there. (Daily Citizen, February 13, 1938)

And what role did the Borough of Ambridge play when liquor licenses were issued in the dry area before 1938? Again, I don't know. But I do know that in 1938, the Borough was adamantly on the side of the dry area businesses asking for their licenses to be renewed.

From the April 15, 1938, Daily Citizen:

Ambridge borough council will back liquor dealers of the first and second wards to have their licenses renewed despite restrictive property deeds, it indicated last night by voting a resolution against license refusal in the area.

The council said refusing to renew the licenses would "cripple businesses, lower property values and decrease borough revenue from licenses and taxes."

The Liquor Control Board wasn't swayed by the argument about the economic impact of closing bars in the dry area. The LCB refused to renew the liquor licenses of 36 bars in the dry area "after it was discovered" that the 1903 land grant "had specified no liquor be sold there for 50 years." I would have thought the LCB would have "discovered" the deed restriction before 1938, because American Bridge would have told the LCB about it before the licenses were issued, but I need to find information to confirm that.

However, the LCB's decision was quickly reversed in court based on a similar case in Philadelphia that had been decided in favor of the liquor licensees. Plus, the judge reasoned, "the denial of licenses to reputable merchants in the restricted area would allow bootleggers to invade the territory." (Pittsburgh Press, May 1, 1938)

But even after that court decision, American Bridge continued to object to liquor licenses. As late as November 1948, the "restriction against taprooms...under a 1903 property deed" was cited as one of the reasons local clergy and the ever-determined American Bridge Co. opposed the transfer of a liquor license from 348 Maplewood Ave. (also in the formerly dry area) to 398 Park Rd., across Park Rd. from the company's large office. (Daily Citizen, November 19, 1948)

I'll continue to look for information to fill in the current gaps in the history of liquor licenses in the dry area, and I will update this article if I find anything important. If anyone can supply any of missing information about the dry area, please let me know.
_____

* In 1920, the Davis Hotel was sold to Divine Redeemer Church, which used it for its grade school until 1961. I wonder if the hotel was sold because Prohibition made running it a lot less profitable than it had been when could sell liquor. The building is now used by Karnavas Vending Co.

Lions Boy Scout Troop circa 1938 - 1941

When I began visiting Laughlin Memorial Library's archives to look through the late Bill Bowan's photo albums, I never expected to find a photo with a relative in it. But in two old newspaper clippings of photos of a boy scout troop, I did. Maybe.

I don't know when the photos were taken or when and where these clippings were published. Bowan's hand-written notes about them say "1938" for both photos, but the one without "1938" in the publisher's caption has "1941" handwritten on the front of it. If you know anything about the origin of these photos, please let me know.

Bowan's notes identified some of the scouts in the photos. I was surprised when I saw "Leon Gaus" listed among the names. Leon Gaus was the name of my maternal grandfather's younger half-brother. Although my grandfather spelled his last name "Gause," his siblings spelled it "Gaus."

I am assuming the "Leon Gaus" in these photos is my Great-uncle Leon, but I don't have anything to confirm that. However, if there might have been another Leon Gaus in the area, my Great-uncle Leon was born in 1924, which puts him at the right age to be a boy scout in the late 1930s or early 1940s.

Lion's Club Boy Scout Troop
1938
newspaper clipping
courtesy Laughlin Memorial Library archives

Original caption:  THE LION'S CLUB Boy Scout Troop as they were in 1938. Members and leaders were attending an outdoor meeting.

Bowan's notes about this photo title it "1938 - Lake Lynn W. Virginia"

The list of identities as provided by Bowan:

1. Gaus Leon
2. Levy Rob
3. W. Chiappala
4. Frank Paulakovich
5. Eddie Hrico
6. Pete Sudar
7. James Pappas
8. Mike Lazorishak
9.
10.
11. Geo Salata

2 - Kneeling
1. Vince Sniady
2. Casmir Drugoz
3. Harry Kuntz
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Bill Poutas

3. Standing
1. Benny Barsyz
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Walter Joyce
8.
9. Doc Hall
10. Frank Kloiber?
11.

At the bottom right of the note "Mike Rusko" is printed.

Here's the second news clipping photo. Note "1941" written in the bottom right corner.

Leonard Rothermel and Boy Scout Troop
circa 1938 - 1941
newspaper clipping
courtesy Laughlin Memorial Library archives

Original caption:  LEONARD ROTHERMEL, Ambridge High School teacher, and Boy Scout Troop of long ago.

At the top of Bowan's notes about the photo above, he wrote something I can't decipher. It looks like"Economy Golden Rose" followed by what appear to be page numbers. Anyone know what that might mean?

He identified the scouts in the photo, which he titled "Rothermel Scout Troop 1938," as follows:

1st row:
1. Frank Kloeber
2.
3. Steve Lubic
4.
5. Chas. Grosdeck
6. Andy Shulick

2nd row:
1. Bill Tartar
2. Rich Powell
3. Jim Pappas
4. Ed Matzie
5. Leon Gaus
6. Paul Pawlack
7. Bernard Hrico

3rd row:
1. Mike Orend
2. Ed Hrico
3. Mike Rusko
4. Hugh Thom
5. Paul Mikesner
6. Eddie Beaman
7. Vincent Sniady
8. Herbert Hopkins
9. Leonard Rothermel

If you recognize any of the unidentified scouts in these photos, or know more about the Lion's Boy Scout troop, please let me know.
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Leon Gaus died in November 2014.

American Bridge Co. produces Americans

Beginning in 1903, when the American Bridge Company started building its massive steel fabrication plant on land that would later become part of Ambridge, immigrants poured into the area, first to build the plant, then to work in it. American Bridge became a part of the melting pot which turned the immigrants who worked for the company into Americans.

"Americanization Class of Ambridge Plant School on their way for their 1st Papers"
Courtesy Laughlin Memorial Library archives
circa early 1900s

While most of the new immigrants came from Eastern and Southern Europe, in the 1924 Economy Centennial book, Economy of Old and Ambridge of Today, St. Stanislaus Catholic Church pastor, Father Stanislaus R. Labujewski, is quoted (spelling as in original):

Ambridge is the most cosmopolitan town in America. Representatives of various nations reside here, and, probably, no other city can boast of having such a polyglot population. Each of these nationalities below cited, speak their own language, as well as that of their adopted country.  

American, Polish, Scotch, Italian, Slovak, Ukraiian, German, Irish, Greek, Russian, Croatian, English, Lithuanian, Spanish, Belgian, Roumanian, Serbian, Slavonian, Austrian, Canadian, Bulgarian, French, Armenin, Swede, Norwegian, Bohemian, Egyptian, Turk, Portugese, Porto Rican, Argentinean, Danish, Arabian, Finlander, Swiss, Welshman, Brazil, Mexican, Slovenian, Albanian, Negro, Dalmatian, Montenegrin, Jew, Bosnian, Hollander, Esthonian, Hungarian, Chinese, Japanese.

American Bridge offered a variety of classes to its workers and their families, some work-related like drafting, and others meant to turn immigrants, many who could not speak English when they arrived in Ambridge, into Americans.

"Class in English for Foreigners, Ambridge Plant School"
Courtesy Laughlin Memorial Library archives
circa early 1900s

And then these immigrants who became Americans helped to build America.

Steve Horlick and his stores

S. G. (Steve) Horlick was a prominent Ambridge businessman in Ambridge's early years, perhaps known as much--if not more--for his sponsorship of Ambridge sports teams as for his merchandise. Local historian Bill Bowan wrote on the reverse of one of the photos below, "Steve Horlick was one of Ambridge's most beloved fans of sports. He promoted athletics among the town's young people and was a great community booster."

Horlick had two stores over the years. Bowan didn't give the street address of either store, but said that Horlick's first store was between 4th and 5th St., "about 4th Bldg. from 5th." That was the store shown in the photo immediately below. Baseball scores are written on the window, and a big display of The Saturday Evening Post is featured in the center.

S. G. Horlick's store
probably 467 Merchant St.
circa 1915
courtesy John S. Dunn collection

Turns out, I know where the store above was located! A while back, I was reading about the first Pittsburgh Press Marathon race in old newspapers and was excited to find the Press news photo below.

"Ambridge Checking Station"
Horlick's store
Merchant St.
Pittsburgh Press
Jan. 30, 1909

Pittsburgh Press caption:

This picture shows S. Horlick's news agency at Ambridge where tab is being kept on the runners in the Press Marathon race as they pass through the town.

That 1909 marathon was from Rochester to Pittsburgh, so the race course came through Ambridge. A few weeks before the race, writer Gertrude Gordon wrote about her travels over the marathon course in the January 12, 1909, Press:

At Ambridge a checking station was placed at the store of A. G. Horlick, newsdealer. I spent a very enjoyable half-hour in his store, listening to a really good graphophone, and making friends with his huge white dog, Tige. Mr. Horlick told me everybody in Ambridge has been talking about The Press Marathon race. After a very good lunch, which we obtained in a little restaurant across the road from Mr. Horlick's, and as god [sic] a cup of cocoa as I ever have tasted, we boarded the splendid Pierce-Arrow and drove home in the snow storm, arriving here late in the evening.

I don't know yet if "A. G. Horlick" mentioned in the passage above was a typo or if a relative of Steve Horlick owned the newsstand in 1909.

(Note the Chinese Hand Laundry on the very right of the Press photo.)

The building was divided into two storefronts, and I don't know for sure which one was occupied by Horlick's store, but a 1911 Sanborn Insurance map shows the storefront closer to 5th St. was a "News Stand and Tobacco" business.

While the facade of the building has been altered over the years, the location of Horlick's first store still stands.

463 - 467 Merchant St.
March 30, 2014
credit: Nancy Knisley

The next photo shows the interior of Horlick's first store, dated circa 1913 by Bowan:

Interior Horlick's store
probably 467 Merchant St.
circa 1913
courtesy John S. Dunn collection

About 1915 or 1916, Steve Horlick moved his store to the southeast corner of "6th and Merchant Sts." Bowan describes this second store as a sporting goods and tobacco store with a gymnasium in the basement. He notes: "Horlick shared this bldg. with Ambridge Post Office*, later with Ambridge National Bank." Those two businesses were directly on the corner at 598 Merchant; Holick's store was one storefront south at 578 Merchant.

Here's what the intersection of 6th and Merchant looked like around 1920. Horlick's second store would have been in the right storefront of the building in the forefront on the left.:

500 block Merchant St. looking south from 6th St.
postcard
circa late 1910-early 1920s
Beaver County Historical Research & Landmarks Foundation

Sadly, I don't have a photo of the facade of that second Horlick's store, but here are two photos of that store's window:

National Baseball Week display
Horlick's store window
578 Merchant St.
circa 1916
courtesy John S. Dunn collection

"Special Display Window of Rose-O-Cuba Cigars"
Horlick's store window
578 Merchant St.
May 15, 1916
courtesy John S. Dunn collection

And here's a photo of the interior of the second store:

"Steve Horlick's Sporting Goods Tobacco and News Store"
interior
May 1924
courtesy John S. Dunn collection

Bill Bowan's note at the top says:
Dual Lighting System - Gas and Electric
Fosters Orchestra playing at Dance.
"Scaramouche" - showing at Prince Theatre

Here's the Horlick's ad from the 1924 Economy Centennial book:

S. G. Horlick ad
Economy Centennial Souvenir Program
Economy of Old, Ambridge of Today
1924

I've come across several old Ambridge postcards published by "S. G. Horlick" including the one of American Bridge featured in my August 23, 2016, post "American Bridge and Ohio River postcard, 1920s."

I'm still looking for more information on Steve Horlick and his stores. The only additional bit of news I've found so far comes from the March 11, 1929, Daily Times, reporting on a 4 A. M. fire at S. G. Horlick's "newsstand and confectionery on the street floor of a two-story brick building at 6th and Merchant sts." By that time, Horlick was sharing the building with Barrett Pharmacy, and he and his family lived in an apartment over the store. The article said that the fire was believed to have been caused by a lighted cigarette that had been tossed through a manhole grating, starting a fire in some wastepaper in Barrett's basement. The fire was confined to the basement which was damaged by the fire and water, but the rest of the building was filled with smoke.
_____

Also from the John S. Dunn collection: a photo of Steve Horlick's Ambridge Soccer team, circa 1905 - 06:

"Steve Horlick's Ambridge Soccer Football Team"
circa 1905 - 06
photo by Griffin Studios
courtesy John S. Dunn collection

Soccer team members listed:
1st row:
1. Frank Hulet
2. Joe Williams
3. Jock Sutherland
4. unidentified
5. Art Wardle

2nd row:
1. Jack Lothian
2. unidentified
3. Robert Rae

3rd row:
1. Steve Horlick
2. unidentified
3. John Bianchi
4. Wm. Brenner
5. unidentified

You can see a photo of one of Steve Horlick's baseball teams, "Our Boys," in my April 21, 2016 post "Group photo: Ambridge Our Boys baseball team 1919."

____

Thank you Maria Notarianni for scanning the John Dunn photos.

The building at 463 - 467 Merchant St. appeared to be empty the last time I walked by.  Over the years it was the Mayflower Restaurant, Saratoga Restaurant, at least two small groceries, and more recently, it was Bella Marie and G'lorenzo's restaurants.

The storefront at 578 Merchant St. was later the location of Katcher's Music and an early Katcher's Furniture store. After that, did that storefront become part of People's Service Drug Store and/or later Thrift Drug Store that were in the left side of the building, 598 Merchant?
_____

* I am confused by Bowan's note saying that Horlick shared the building at the corner of 6th and Merchant with the post office, since according to my notes, elsewhere, Bowan wrote that the post office moved from the corner of 5th and Merchant Sts., where it was located in 1917, to the corner of 7th and Merchant Sts., which is where insurance maps show the post office in 1923. I'll recheck my notes and Bowan's, plus try to find other sources to reconcile the conflict. 

Liberty School

Liberty School
5th St.
postcard
dated Sept. 3, 1931

Liberty School once stood on the north side of the 5th St. hill between Duss Ave. and Pine St., just east of Ambridge's older Harmony School. Harmony School may be remembered by some as St. Veronica High School, which leased the building from the Ambridge School District after Harmony closed as a public school.

The section of map below shows the location of the two schools along 5th St. The street at the bottom is Duss Ave. Pine St. is at the top. Harmony School is the lower of the two larger pink shapes; Liberty is above.

Location of Liberty and Harmony Schools
Sanborn Insurance map
1923

The 12-room Liberty School, designed by architect W. Ward Williams, was built as an elementary school in 1917-1918 for $60,000, the next-to-last public elementary school to be built in Ambridge. Only Anthony Wayne School was built after Liberty.

Like Ambridge's other elementary schools, Liberty had a playground, fondly remembered by those who grew up in the neighborhood.

Liberty School
5th St.
Daily Times supplement?
August 10,1929
Louis Vukovcan Collection

Liberty and Harmony apparently were operated as a single school, at least for a while.

I found two news clippings with photos taken at Liberty School.

Firefighters visit Liberty School
Beaver Valley Times
May 22, 1954

Times caption:

THRILL OF A LIFETIME -- Ambridge fireman Russell McCutcheon and Walter Jovanovich show first grade Liberty School children of Ellen Brown's class the workings of the new ladder fire truck. Several boys remarked they are going to be firemen when they grow up.

Sixth grade weather station
Liberty School
Beaver County Times
May 4, 1960

Times caption:

WEATHER STATION -- Bernard Di Paola, sixth grader at Liberty School, Ambridge, records the weather change on a chart as Sandra Aquino, left, and Carol Spec, both vice presidents of the sixth grade, watch him register the change. The weather station was constructed by the class and Bernard is in charge of recording the weather three times each day.

"Liberty Grade School, Ambridge"
5th St.
Daily Citizen
August 25, 1954

Both Liberty and Harmony Schools were razed in 1968, and the Ambridge Towers property is now located where the two schools once stood.

Ambridge Towers
500 Beaver Rd.
Google Street View

_____

Thanks to Bobby Aloe for the Liberty School postcard.

I know some of you like to see the back of postcards:

Liberty School postcard
reverse