Great St. Patrick's Day Flood, 1936: Ambridge stories

 

Unidentified boy looking at train on flooded railroad tracks,
east side of American Bridge Co., at the Ambridge Station 
St. Patrick's Day Flood, 1936
postcard
personal collection

The cause of the 1936 St. Patrick's Day flood—the biggest natural disaster in the history of the Pittsburgh region—has been blamed on weeks of abnormal weather. First a prolonged cold spell allowed an unusual amount of snow and ice to accumulate. Then, just before St. Patrick's day, a sudden rise in temperature caused a rapid melt. And if those weren't problematic enough, an hours-long downpour added to the amount of water that had already been rising out of local streams and along the banks of Pittsburgh's rivers. Previously unimaginable destruction and death followed in Pittsburgh and many other river communities. 

During the overnight hours of March 17, the Ohio River began to rise in Ambridge. Although located along the river, Ambridge was relatively lucky thanks to its natural topography and to the American Bridge Company's occupation of most of the riverfront. American Bridge, though, wasn't so lucky.

The "crackerbox" tenements that had once stood on the river bank between 9th and 10th street, and flooded in 1907, were gone by 1936. Reportedly, only some of the Ambridge houses on Bank St. along Big Sewickley Creek were flooded. (But neighboring Fair Oaks, on the opposite, lower bank of the creek, wasn't as fortunate. See the photo below.) The rest of Ambridge—homes, businesses, and, with the exception of American Bridge, industries—were high enough above the flood water that they were spared. 

Flooding in Fair Oaks along Big Sewickley Creek, 
opposite Ambridge
photo was taken from the upper part of Ambridge's Glenwood Dr.,
houses in the foreground are on Valley Rd.
March 1936
courtesy Ambridge Borough

Importantly, no Ambridge resident was reported as drowning in the deep, swift, muddy, and debris-filled floodwater. 

However, Ambridge experienced the same disruption of transportation, news, electricity, gas, phone, and telegraph service as other communities, not only along the river, but beyond.

Duquesne Light Co. substation
across Big Sewickley Creek from Ambridge,
Beaver St., Fair Oaks
March 1936 flood
courtesy Ambridge Borough

Roads were blocked by water, mud, or rockslides, making travel in or out of Ambridge pretty much impossible. Trucks that usually delivered food and other vital supplies could not make the trip into Ambridge. Rail service was suspended; a train was stranded on flooded tracks at the Ambridge station. 

Electric service was iffy and eventually limited to Ambridge's water plant, dairies, bakeries, and the phone company. Streets were unlit; buildings were lit by candles, flashlights, lanterns, and fireplaces for several days. Burgess P. J. Caul issued a special notice on March 20: 

Gas service in Ambridge from 8th St. south was shut off for several days as a safety precaution. As a result, many homes and businesses were unheated and stoves inoperable. 

Ambridge schools were closed until March 23 because they had no lights and heat.

Phone service was limited to emergency calls to the police and fire departments, doctors, drug stores, industrial plants, news offices, and other places that might need to be contacted if there was an emergency.

A big worry was that the Ambridge Water Works, with its location near the river, and already surrounded by water, might flood. Users were urged to conserve water. Ambridge's industrial plants were closed in the hopes that would ensure enough water for residential use. Fortunately, the Water Works survived the flood without contamination from the Ohio.

The only plant in Ambridge that remained open in the immediate aftermath of the flood was National Electric Co., so it could make critically needed replacement electrical equipment for damaged public utilities. But the company had to rely on its own power and water supplies. Electricity wasn't available from Duquesne Light Co. or water from the borough. 

Mail could not be delivered for two days. Outgoing mail couldn't leave Ambridge either.

The Ohio River finally crested in the Ambridge area at noon, March 18, measuring 44.3 feet at Lock No. 4 in Legionville in Harmony Township, more than 18 feet above flood stage. The flood water continued downstream, making its way towards other river towns in Beaver County, West Virginia, and Ohio. 

The flood at American Bridge Company

American Bridge Co.
Ohio River flood
March 18, 1936
postcard
personal collection

Ambridge's American Bridge, the largest structural steel fabricating plant in the world, seems to have been caught off guard by the amount of water the Ohio was rushing towards it that fateful St. Patrick's Day.

Men working at American Bridge the night of March 17 tried to save some of the plant's important property as the river began to push its way in, but the water came in so fast, and rose so high, the men had to abandon the plant at 3 AM. Plant electricians continued to work in the plant's powerhouse until 8 AM when they had to be rescued by boat. Power to the plant was finally shut off. The water continued to rise. 

On the morning of March 18, men who reported for work were sent home. American Bridge's barge yard and main shops were reportedly covered by two feet of water, a foot higher than during the disastrous 1907 flood. As a result, the plant couldn't operate and so was shut down. The local plant manager said all they could do was wait until the water receded to assess the damage. However, the damage was expected to be more than the "thousands of dollars" incurred during the '07 flood. That expectation turned out to be true, but did not do justice to the final cost of returning American Bridge to operating condition as the water continued to rise to a record eight feet.

On March 19, American Bridge officials said that the plant was still under four or five feet of water, after dropping about three feet from its high mark at 8 PM the day before. Repairs in the plant couldn't begin until the water receded. (Daily Citizen, March 20, 1936)

By March 20, water at American Bridge had receded "to the top of the lower level of the boat yard ways." Cleanup by several hundred employees began that morning. The "reclamation" and "re-conditioning" started in offices, shops, and yards where mud and debris had to be removed. Replacement of records and files destroyed by the flood began. Motors were taken to Ambridge's National Electric Co. plant to be cleaned and dried.

Once the power was turned back on, more workers would be added to complete the cleanup which would require "weeks" to finish. 

Cleanup continuing through April 6, when the all departments finally reopened. However, only the barge yard and a limited number of other departments were back to full operation. Other departments still were unable to fully open because the power plant, while working again, couldn't yet provide enough power. (Daily Times, April 8, 1936)

The Daily Citizen publishes despite obstacles

Getting news in 1936 wasn't always quick and easy in ordinary times, but for a while during and after the flood, finding out what was happening was much more difficult than usual. 

Most people relied on local newspapers and, maybe a radio if they, or a neighbor, were lucky enough to own one during the depression years. 

But without electricity, radio stations couldn't broadcast. Pittsburgh's powerhouse station KDKA could only broadcast intermittent alerts and emergency information. And without electricity, Ambridge residents couldn't hear radio news anyway. Battery operated radios weren't common then, and the batteries required electrical recharging. 

Ambridge's Daily Citizen found gathering and printing the news to be quite a challenge, but they, with the generous help of newspapers from neighboring towns, made a valiant effort.

The morning United Press news report usually delivered to Ambridge's train depot didn't come on March 18. UP's Pittsburgh office was flooded, so the Citizen had to get most of its stories via long distance calls from Cleveland, Ohio. When UP finally was able to contact the Citizen "by special wire," the reporter had to read the information by flashlight. 

With its gas service cut off, the Citizen couldn't operate the gas-heated linotype machines used for most of its printing. But the Sewickley Herald offered the use of their linotypes, enabling the Citizen to print "a limited amount of copy." The Citizen noted the published paper's unusual appearance, since it was set with the different typefaces used by both newspapers. Beaver's Daily Times also helped by sending "five galleys of their early copy."

Yet another problem arrived two days later when the Citizen's printing plant lost electric power, stopping its ability to print. But the Citizen was able to publish a four page edition, thanks to the Beaver Falls News-Tribune, which allowed the Citizen to use its equipment.

But that wasn't the end of the problems created by the flood. Four days into the flood, all of Beaver County lost electric power, and none of the papers in Beaver County could print. But the Citizen's staff still was determined to print a paper. Here's how they accomplished that with ingenuity, some unusual help from two people in Ambridge, an Ambridge industrial plant which had its own electrical supply, an extraordinary effort by the paper's staff, and finally, the help of a newspaper in neighboring Butler County:

A small motor was dismantled from a washing machine, loaned by [Ambridge business owner] C. F. Milleman, and attached to one of linotype machines.

At 2 o'clock this morning, employees practically dismantled the mangle and sewing machine of Mrs. Anna Ross, 184 Sixth Street, in order to procure the pully and gadgets found necessary for the completion of the primitive but nevertheless effective contrivance. Operators worked all night preparing for today's issue by the light provided by two kerosene lamps, a lantern and flashlights. The entire force was kept busy this morning setting much of the copy by hand. The Citizen's portable saw was moved to the plant of the National Electric Company where their power was used in order to trim all advertising cuts.

Forms and type were then transported by [automobile] to Butler, where the paper was printed on the Butler Eagle press. 

The Ambridge marauders and one man's excuse

A number of out-of-town papers wrote about a mob from Ambridge that had gone to neighboring Leetsdale, a community that had suffered a great deal of flood damage, in order to loot. Leetsdale residents objected. A riot ensued. Leetsdale's police chief had to call the National Guard to help.

Here's the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's March 21 account of the story:

I haven't yet found Ambridge's version of the whole Leetsdale looting story in the Daily Citizen, although according to the March 24 issue, one of the arrested Ambridge men offered an explanation of his actions to a judge:

Joe Gilbert, Bank street, Ambridge, was held under $2,500 bond at a hearing before Judge Ralph Smith, in Allegheny court yesterday on a charge of larceny, and he was committed to the Allegheny county jail.

Gilbert was one of the men arrested by the Leetsdale police for looting in the flooded area. According to Gilbert's story, he had no intention of stealing, but had come across a garage lodged against a tree in the garden flats 300 yards away from any house, and that looking in, he saw a raincoat and a jack, which he thought he was entitled to, since he had found them. Judge Smith, however, thought otherwise.

The March 23 Citizen did say in an article about Leetsdale's flood damage and cleanup that eight of the nine Ambridge men who had been arrested were sent home "with a warning not to be caught back in Leetsdale again" and added:

Twenty-two Leetsdale residents, mostly members of the fire department, were deputized as special police by the [Leetsdale] Burgess and were armed with sawed off shot guns with orders to shoot in the legs anyone caught below the railroad tracks after dark. 

The missing Ambridge boy

Another Ambridge story that made a lot of out-of-town papers was about a missing 16 year-old boy who hadn't come home after visiting his grandmother in South Heights, across the Ohio, a few days after the flood had arrived in Ambridge. Naturally, his parents were frantic and search parties sent out, but they failed to find the boy. However, the story ended with a weird twist. Here's what the Daily Citizen wrote in its Monday, March 23 issue:

After three days of frantic searching for Elmer Bauder, 16-year old son of John Bauder, 554 Maplewood avenue, missing since Friday [March 20], word was received this morning that he was all-right and he had started on a trip.

Friday morning, young Bauder invited Frank McGeorge to go to South Heights to his grandmother's to get a warm dinner. When told that he would be over there for two or three hours, McGeorge declined saying that he had to be home in an hour. He asked Bauder if the "gang" would see him that night and was given the assurance that they would.

He went to the home of his grandmother, Mrs. Elmer Laughner, where he did have dinner. He was given $3 to buy galoshes and went to Beck's store for this purpose. They did not have the kind he wanted and he said he would wait until he returned to Ambridge. At 1:30 o'clock he walked out of the store and that was the last that was known of his whereabouts.

Police were notified and searches of parties of three and four have combed Ambridge and the South Heights districts. Yesterday, the state police sent out a teletype of his description. He disappearance also had been broadcast over the radio.

This morning, John Bauder, received a postal card, postmarked midnight Friday from the Oakland Branch of the Pittsburgh postoffice. It read:

"Dad, don't worry. I'm alright. I'm going someplace. I'll be back home shortly. Tell Grandmother Laughner I'm away on a trip with the DeMolays" signed, "Red."

The reference to the trip with the DeMolays was made because of the illness of Mrs. Laughner and he evidently did not want his grandmother to worry about him.

It is thought that the youth got a ride to Pittsburgh on a delivery truck and, having $8 in his pocket, decided to go to Johnstown to view the results of the flood. Another conjecture is that he is heading south with the intention of visiting Lawrence Shomo, who is attending Atlanta Military Academy at Port Defiance, Virginia, and then continuing to St. Petersburgh to visit his uncle, who owns a drug store there.

There had been no trouble between the boy and his relatives so it evidently had not been premeditated as he was not dressed up when he left home Friday.

I was told that Elmer eventually returned home, but as of yet, I don't know when. Or what his parents had to say to him when he did.

The floating garage

The floating garage crashing against a pier of the Ambridge-Aliquippa bridge let go an automobile which quickly sank while another [automobile] was lodged safely in the remaining part of the building as it moved down steam. (Daily Citizen, March 20, 1936)

_____

The information in this article came from reporting in Ambridge's Daily Citizen newspaper unless another source is named.

Legionville's Ohio River Lock No. 4

Back on June 3, 2014, writer Bob Giles posted "Beautiful River" about his childhood adventures in and along the Ohio River, including playing on the remains of Lock No. 4, which once was on the east side of the river at Legionville, about a mile north of Ambridge.

Some time ago, a commenter on that post said he wondered what the lock had looked like back in the day. All I had at that time was a photo of the powerhouse, plus some photos of what was left of the lock at the time of a Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) survey in November 1992.*

I've finally found a photo of at least a portion of Lock No. 4, although, according to the information with the photo, it doesn't show the lock when it was still in business, but rather its demolition: "Demolition of the lock and dam has been commenced--this was the end of it." Still, it's the only photo of Lock No. 4 I've found so far. And I haven't found a single photo showing the lock's companion dam.

The photo shows the lock's powerhouse to the left and a lockmaster's house to the right, plus some of the lock below. In the background, on the hill above the train tracks, were buildings of the A. M. Byers wrought iron plant.

Demolition of Lock No. 4, Ohio River
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
Inland Rivers Photograph Collection
circa mid-1936

Lock and Dam No. 4, built between 1898 and 1908, were the fourth of 52 locks and dams the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers constructed on the Ohio between 1887 and 1917. The purpose of the lock and dam system was to allow year-round river transportation via larger boats. It's hard to believe, but before the dam system was built, the Ohio River was usually too shallow for anything but small boats in the summer and fall. After the dams were completed, the Ohio had a year-round navigable depth of 9 feet. That doesn't sound very deep, but it is obviously enough to allow all the ship traffic on the river.

After the still-existing Montgomery Lock and Dam was opened at Monaca in June 1936, Lock and Dam No. 4, by then obsolete, were no longer needed, so they were demolished by the Army Corp of Engineers. The dam and lock reportedly were damaged by the Great St. Patrick's Day Flood of 1936, but it's not clear to me how much of the demolition was related to the flood damage. Newspaper reports said that the demolition was expected to begin in the summer of 1936. I've been trying to find out more about the flood damage and eventual demolition, but so far, I haven't found those details.

Powerhouse, Lock No. 4
Ohio River
Legionville PA
circa early to mid- 1900s
courtesy Laughlin Memorial Library archives

After the demolition, some parts of the lock near the river's edge remained. They are documented in the HAER report.

The HAER report says that the Lock No. 4 site had two lockmaster's houses, and the report includes site plans showing one on each side of the powerhouse. The first photo above shows only the southern of the two.

The lockmaster's houses and the powerhouse were left standing after the dam and lock were demolished in 1936. But even though the buildings were recognized as being historically significant, they were abandoned and allowed to deteriorate. Over the years, parts of the empty buildings were destroyed and vandalized. In the spring of 1992, the three buildings were bulldozed by the then property owners, River Salvage Company.

Ohio River Blvd. (Rte. 65) was extended from Ambridge's 8th St. to Baden in 1960, just east of the train tracks in Legionville.* I've been trying to recall if I could see any of the three deteriorating buildings while driving though that area, but I'm drawing a blank. Does anyone remember the buildings and what they looked like before they were razed in 1992?

The HAER report provides information about the lock's construction, operation, and more details about the lock's history. The operation of the wicket lock system used at Lock No. 4 was pretty incredible and required a boat with a crew. If you are interested, you can find the report at the Library of Congress' site.

Here are six of the 11 photos from the HAER survey. You can see all 11 at the Library of Congress website. 

The quoted descriptions in the captions are from the HAER survey report.

"VIEW LOOKING EAST AT LOWER GATE RECESS AND LOWER GUIDE WALL FROM THE OHIO RIVER"
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
circa 1992

"VIEW LOOKING EAST AT STEPS AND LAND WALL (GEOGRAPHIC CENTER OF THE LOCK COMPLEX), FROM THE OHIO RIVER"
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
circa 1992

"VIEW LOOKING EAST AT UPPER GATE RECESS FROM THE OHIO RIVER."
"(NOTE: REMAINS OF TRACKS FROM ROLLING LOCK GATE, PARTIALLY SUBMERGED.)"

Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)

circa 1992

"VIEW OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE LOCKTENDERS HOUSE (NORTHERN MOST), LOOKING NORTH"

Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)

circa 1992

"VIEW OF SUBMERGED DRIFT CHUTE IN NORTHEAST CORNER OF UPPER GATE RECESS, LOOKING NORTHEAST"

Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)

circa 1992

"VIEW OF THE REMAINS OF THE ESPLANADE LOOKING SOUTH"

Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)

circa 1992

I've been told that some of the lock still remains along the river's edge, and barges dock there. It must be the area shown below to the west of some of the former Byers mill buildings.

Barges docked at Legionville, east side of Ohio River
Google satellite view
2017

I don't know how much of the remains of the lock and its three buildings described in the HAER report are still on site. And I'm not adventurous enough to explore the area. If anyone has walked through, or boated by, the former lock's location and can add more current information, please leave a comment.

More Lock No. 4 history:

Over the years, some notable accidents happened in or near Lock No. 4:

• October 13, 1907, a boiler explosion on a U.S. government pumping boat tied to the lock wall, killed five men and injured six. The initial reports said two more men were missing and presumed dead. The boat was blown to pieces.

• August 14, 1927, two men were killed when their biplane exploded in the air, then crashed into the river at the dam.

• August 13, 1940, an 11 year-old boy from Byersdale drowned while swimming at the old lock site.
_____

In the "Beautiful River" post Bob Giles speculated that in addition to Dam No. 4's lock on the Legionville side of the river, the dam also may have had a lock on the west side. That speculation is unsupported by the HAER report or any other information I've found about the dam.

He also wrote that the reason that the dam and lock were demolished was at the behest of J & L, the massive steel mill that stretched for miles along the west side of the Ohio at Aliquippa. So far, I haven't found any information confirming a connection between J & L and the demolition of the dam and lock.

_____

* The HAER  report incorrectly says that the construction of Route 65 through Legionville was in the 1940s. In 1945, Ohio River Blvd., once Rte. 88, was extended from the Allegheny Co. line at Leetsdale into Beaver Co., but only as far as 8th St. in Ambridge. The extension from 8th St. to Legionville and Baden wasn't completed until 1960. 

Ambridge's Daily Citizen newspaper

The final issue of Ambridge's Daily Citizen was published on July 31, 1959, and Ambridge news coverage was, and is, very much the poorer for it. And people like me who want to learn about what life in Ambridge was like in the past, or do genealogical research, lost a invaluable source of information.

The Daily Citizen once told readers so much about what was happening in Ambridge. Small town papers like the Daily Citizen were the social media of their era.

Like today's Beaver County Times, Ambridge's Citizen covered news like important government actions, major business news, crimes, fires, deaths, and, of course, sports.

But the Citizen, like most small town locals, once included news about the lives of residents that routinely included births, engagements, and marriages; college acceptances; lists of high school students who made honor rolls; college students who made the Dean's List; who had enlisted or been drafted into the military; who was moving to or from Ambridge; whose home was being quarantined for contagious and feared illnesses like polio or measles.

Ethnic and union picnics, Ambridge's many parades, school field trips, lists of the names of Ambridge public schools' teachers, fraternal organization officers and activities, church news, the programming schedule of Ambridge radio station WMBA, boy and girl scout activities, lists of books being added to Laughlin Memorial Library's shelves, even school lunch menus--all were routinely covered, plus so much more. The details the Citizen provided about the lives of Ambridge residents was rather amazing. In one instance, during the WWII years when there was a rubber shortage and tires were rationed, the Daily Citizen felt it newsworthy to write at least a few words about an Ambridge resident who had been lucky enough to get three retread tires.

But the paper also shared details about residents' lives that people now might consider an invasion of privacy, even if they didn't back then: who was getting divorced and why; who was in the hospital or was being discharged; who was home sick with illnesses like "grippe" (the flu) or even a nasty cold; who was on vacation, where they went, and when they were expected to return; who had out-of-town visitors.

And the Citizen published so many ads placed by Ambridge businesses big and small! Plus there were ads for products, some long-gone, some that surprisingly still exist; ads promoting entertainment options: dances, often weekly, at Ambridge bars, nightclubs, and ballrooms, or run by fraternal or ethnic organizations; ads showing what was playing in Ambridge's movie theaters; ads for church and organization fundraisers like rummage sales, festivals, and, of course, bingos and pierogi sales.

Most of the Ambridge-centric news that was the Daily Citizen's focus disappeared once that paper was sold.

Here's a scan of the final issue of The Daily Citizen:

Front page
Final Daily Citizen
July 31, 1959

Surprisingly, the final issue didn't celebrate the long history of the Citizen, as the paper's anniversary editions had. The Grand Opening of A & A Rocket Car Wash in Leetsdale had more space in the final issue than the Citizen's last words about itself had. Rather, the issue had an abridged history of the paper, a list of the people who then worked at the paper, and a front and center essay,"An Old Friend Dies" which began:

An old friend died today.

As familiar as your kitchen sink and as welcome as your favorite chair after a hard day's work, the Ambridge Daily Citizen has lived in the homes of Ambridge and vicinity for a long, long time.

Some are indifferent, others don't care, but many feel a sense of loss this day. The loss of an old friend.

The management of the Daily Citizen, for 51 years in the same family, has endeavored, through personal integrity, to make it a newspaper that could be put in the hands of any member of the family of readers.

With this thought in mind, it was nice to know that the "little fellow" could always come to his hometown paper and never be turned away. The story of his child's birth was given as much thought and importance as the world's problems of war, peace, and Geneva conferences. 

Ambridge was in its early development when W. L. McCullogh, an enterprising ad manager for the Pittsburgh Bank for Savings, decided that the rapidly growing new town might need a newspaper. He enlisted two men with newspaper experience to be his partners: John E. Joos, the editor of a Pittsburgh German language paper, Der Sonntagsbote, who became editor of the new paper, and Joseph Lehan, the owner of a chain of papers in Western PA, who became the manager.

Lehan came to Ambridge in 1904 to get the paper started, and it sounds like he hired one employee, high school student Leonard Jewell, to handle the paper's business in Ambridge. Lehan trained Jewell to do everything from soliciting and writing ads, to gathering and writing the news. I didn't find any information about where Jewell's base of operation was. Perhaps he worked from home.

Jewell, however, did not have to print the paper in addition to his other duties; the first issues were printed in Pittsburgh. He did, however, have the job of taking the train to Pittsburgh to give the news copy to the printer, and later, he'd bring the printed papers back to Ambridge for distribution.

The first edition of the weekly, eight page Ambridge-Economy Citizen was published on July 29, 1904.

In December 1904, Paul A. Revere bought the paper and opened an office in the Ambridge Savings and Trust Building, located on the northeast corner of 5th and Merchant Sts. Concerned about the possibility of competition from printer H. Lee Goerman,* who already had a printing press in Ambridge, Revere also began printing the paper in Ambridge, in a rented, tiny, one-story building in the alley east of Merchant St. between 4th and 5th Sts.

The first issue of the Ambridge-Economy Citizen to be printed in Ambridge was published on October 6, 1905, and the weekly paper continued to be printed on Fridays until it switched to Thursdays beginning January 11, 1906.

"1904--First Citizen Home"
Alley between 4th and 5th Sts.
Daily Citizen
August 25, 1954

Daily Citizen caption:

Still standing, the small building shown above was the first home of the Daily Citizen in Ambridge. It served from 1905 until 1907. Originally built as a residence, and now housing a family, the two room structure was hardly large enough for the Citizen. It stands in the alley above Merchant St. between Fourth and Fifth St. The second home was at the rear of 458 Merchant St. from 1907 to 1909.

Although the tiny alley building that served as the Citizen's first print shop may have been standing in 1954, I didn't expect to find it still there in 2017. But I think it is.

This small building, behind the northern building of the three adjoining buildings--some of the oldest buildings on Merchant St.--which most recently were part of the American Carpet store at 432 Merchant, matches up enough with the Citizen's photo of its first home, that unless further evidence convinces me otherwise, I'd say that they are the same building.

Alley building behind 434 Merchant St.
August 14, 2017
credit: Nancy Knisley

The roof line has been altered, the porch roof removed, and a garage door has replaced the front door and window, but although the side windows have been replaced by glass blocks, you can see from the difference in the bricks where earlier windows had been. The bricks show that the windows that were once there were the size of those in the old Citizen building and in the right place, plus the brick arches above them remain.

Futhermore, a 1905 Sanborn Insurance map shows that a small building was in the same alley location back then.

As you can see from the ghost sign on the front of the alley building, it was once used by the old Economy Furniture store that did business at 440 - 452 Merchant St. for many years.

You never know where you'll unexpectedly find important evidence of Ambridge's history!

In 1907, the Ambridge-Economy Citizen bought the Jacob Henrici** Book Store, 458 Merchant, and the paper's offices and plant moved into the rear of the building there. That building, then renamed the Ambridge Book Store, no longer exists, and I haven't found a photo of that second Citizen location.

In 1908, D. L. McNees took over as president of the corporation that published the Ambridge-Economy Citizen, and later become both manager and editor. Members of the McNees family continued to head the business until its end.

As the weekly paper's business grew, it moved again, to a larger building on the southeast corner of 7th and Merchant Sts. in 1909. That building was at the rear of the lot at 699 Merchant, so more accurately, the building was on the corner of 7th St. and the alley that ran between 6th and 7th Sts. to the west of Merchant. That building was razed in 1938.***

"1909--Third Citizen Home"
7th and Merchant Sts.
Daily Citizen
August 25, 1954

Daily Citizen caption:

In 1909, the citizen (sic) moved into the building pictured above. The third Citizen home was located at the corner of Seventh and Merchant Sts. A big improvement over the first two Citizen buildings, the third Citizen home remained the paper's base of operations until 1919. After the Citizen moved to its Maplewood Ave. headquarters the Merchant Street building served as headquarters for various businesses. It was demolished in 1938 to make room for a new building, which housed a bakery and a number of offices.

In 1911, an evangelical campaign by all the Protestant churches in Ambridge sparked the creation of the first Daily Citizen. The committee in charge of the campaign approached McNees about running a daily paper during the six-week event, financed by the committee's selling 500 subscriptions at 10 cents a week. The daily paper ran four pages, while the weekly paper was printed on Fridays.

At the end of the six weeks, The Citizen became a regular daily, but apparently Ambridge couldn't support a daily paper yet, and in 1912, The Daily Citizen again became The Citizen, publishing on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Over the years, the paper continued to upgrade its printing plant equipment, allowing it to print better quality issues, and faster.

In 1919, McNees bought the Cunningham building, once a bakery, at 624 - 626 Maplewood Ave. and moved the paper to the much larger space. According to the "History of the Daily Citizen" in The Daily Citizen Trade Area Directory, 1956, "The plant was moved on March 8, 1919, with the press being skidded over the alley to its new location on a flat bed sled."

"1919--Fourth Citizen Home"
636 Maplewood Ave.
Daily Citizen
August 25, 1954

Daily Citizen caption:

In 1919 the facilities of The Daily Citizen were moved to 626 Maplewood Ave. which serviced as base of operations until September 1951. In 1951 a new, modern office and printing plant, at 930 - 940 Glenwood Ave. was put into operation. The picture above was taken before the addition of an office wing, in 1930. Prior to the addition, editorial, advertising and business offices were all crowded into the front room. The front room housed the job printing department once the office wing was added.

Beginning on September 17, 1923, The Citizen began publishing three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. And, on March 4, 1929, The Daily Citizen was reborn.

The photo below shows the 1930 office wing addition to The Daily Citizen.

Daily Citizen office wing
 626 Maplewood Ave.
Daily Citizen
August 25, 1954

Former Daily Citizen building
March 22, 2014
credit: Nancy Knisley

The Daily Citizen had to cope with some notable difficulties in the 1930s, including the death of D. L. McNees, who was killed in an car accident on June 19, 1931. His son, Floyd R. McNees succeeded him.

In addition to the economic adversities of the Great Depression, one of the paper's greatest challenges arrived with the high waters of the Great St. Patrick's Day Flood in 1936. Ambridge's gas mains, needed to run the paper's linotype machines, broke. But other area papers came to the rescue. The Sewickley Herald allowed the Citizen to use two of its machines. The Beaver Daily Times "sent five galleys of their early copy." Another problem came two days later when the Citizen's printing plant lost electric power, stopping its ability to print. But the Citizen was able to publish a four page edition, thanks to the Beaver Falls News-Tribune, which allowed the Citizen to use its equipment.

That wasn't the end of the problems created by the flood. Four days into the flood, the entire county lost electric power, but the Citizen's staff still were determined to print a paper. The Daily Citizen Trade Area Directory describes their remarkable efforts:

A small gasoline engine was taken from a washing machine lent by C. F. Milleman, Ambridge merchant, and attached to one of the linotype machines; the pulleys and gadgets needed were obtained from the mangle and washing machine**** of Mrs. Anna Ross, 184 Sixth street; the operators worked all night by kerosene lamps and flashlights. The entire force was kept busy setting copy by hand. [T]he Citizen's portable saw for trimming advertising cuts was sent to the National Electric Products Corporation plant, where there was a source of power; and finally the forms and type were sent by automobile to Butler where the paper was printed on the Butler Eagle press! 

Floyd McNees died on May 28, 1937, after a long illness. His widow, Iona E. McNees became the paper's president, and Vaughn Arnold, who had previously run the accounting, credit, and commercial printing departments, was named as publisher. Amazingly, they continued in those roles until the paper was sold in 1959 to the company that published the Beaver Valley Times.

The Daily Citizen moved for the last time in 1951 after building a modern home for itself on Glenwood Ave.--its fifth and final home.

Daily Citizen plant under construction
Glenwood Ave.
Daily Citizen
October 4, 1950

The fifth and final home of The Daily Citizen
930 Glenwood Ave.
1951 - 1959
Daily Citizen Trade Area Directory, 1956

Beaver County Times building
former Daily Citizen building
930 Glenwood Ave.
1974
courtesy Borough of Ambridge

Former Daily Citizen offices
930 Glenwood Ave.
March 27, 2014
credit: Nancy Knisley

After the Daily Citizen published its final issue and left the 930 Glenwood building, a new newspaper, the Ambridge Times, appeared to take over the mission of providing news about Ambridge and the people who lived there. In the Citizen's goodbye, it said that it hoped the Ambridge Times' owner "preserves the gift of an Ambridge newspaper with news about its own people." The Ambridge Times was short-lived, publishing for less than a year.

The Beaver Valley Times changed its name to the still published Beaver County Times after buying the Daily Citizen and opened an office in the former Daily Citizen building.

My memories of the Daily Citizen:

My maternal grandparents, with whom I lived, subscribed to the Daily Citizen. Even though I was only 9 years-old when that paper ended, I remember reading it, at first primarily for the comics, but I also enjoyed looking at the photos. Later, after my reading ability improved, I would sometimes read an article if it sounded interesting.

I remember the paperboy delivering the newspaper, taking a rolled-up paper from the large canvas bag hung on his shoulder, then hurling it onto our porch from the sidewalk. That took a strong arm, since our house's porch was 16 steps above the sidewalk, one of the highest houses on Beaver Rd.

When the Daily Citizen folded, my grandfather, a devoted reader, brought the final issue to my mom and told her to save it, it might be important someday. Until I started writing my blog, I never knew that my mom had saved that issue all these years. That's the front page of it above. And it turned out to be very important. None of the three libraries with Daily Citizen archives--Laughlin Memorial, Penn State's Pattee Library at University Park, and the State Library of PA in Harrisburg--had a copy of that last issue, either bound, on microfilm, or digitized. Laughlin Memorial now has a scanned copy thanks to my mom. Does anyone else still have that issue?
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I found it interesting that Ambridge's two early newspapers didn't hide their political leanings. The Ambridge Economy-Citizen was an "independent Republican newspaper," while the Ambridge News-Herald claimed it was "The only Democratic newspaper in Beaver County."

* Shortly after the Ambridge Economy-Citizen started, Goerman began publishing its competitor, the Ambridge News-Herald, which existed from February 7, 1906, until 1943.

** The Jacob Henrici who was a Harmony Society trustee died in 1892, so I don't know if the bookstore was named after him, or if it was owned by another Jacob Henrici, perhaps a namesake.

*** The 1911 Sanborn Insurance map of Ambridge shows the Ambridge Evening Gazette in the building that became the Citizen's third home. I've been unable to find any information about an Ambridge newspaper by that name. I wonder if perhaps it was the name given, or intended to be given, to the daily paper published during the 1911 evangelical campaign.

**** While the Trade Area Directory said that parts from Mrs. Ross' washing machine was used to help create the machine which was used to print the newspaper after the St. Patrick's Day Flood of 1936, the original story that ran in the March 20, 1936 Daily Citizen said that Mrs. Ross' sewing machine was used.

Martsolf's Furniture Co. and Caplan Wholesale Grocery

The large three-story building that once stood on the southeast corner of 8th and Merchant Sts., which many of us remember as Caplan Wholesale Grocery, is one of the three Ambridge buildings I'm asked about most often; the others are the Slovenian National Home's triangle building at the intersection of Beaver and Merchant Sts., and the Ambridge Hotel on the northwest corner of 8th and Merchant Sts. All three landmark buildings have been razed, but not forgotten.

"Louis Caplan Grocery Co."
798 Merchant St.
ad
Daily Citizen
August 25, 1954

Before 798 Merchant was Louis Caplan's grocery, the building was home to Ambridge's first furniture store, a branch of Martsolf's Furniture, which opened on March 26, 1904, the year before Ambridge was incorporated.

"Martsolfs" Furniture
Ambridge store opening ad
Beaver Times
March 29, 1904

Here's a Martsolf's Furniture ad from 1929:

Martsolf's Furniture ad
Daily Citizen
August 10,1929
Louis Vukovcan Collection

I've been unable to pin down exactly when Marsolf's closed, or when Louis Caplan's store moved into 798 Merchant, but it was in the 1930s.

The 1931 photo below, which came from the late Eddie Dzubak, Sr.'s collection, shows a June 21, 1931, flood on 8th and Merchant, according to a note on the reverse. The 798 Merchant St. store in the background still has a Martsolf's Furniture Co. sign on it.

Flood at 8th and Merchant Sts.
Martsolf's Furniture store in background
June 21, 1931

Eddie Dzubak Sr. collection

courtesy of Lesabeth Trzcianka and Eddie Dzubak, Jr.

The 1954 ad that accompanied the photo of Caplan's Grocery at the top of this post, indicated the business began in 1927. But as late as 1932, Caplan's grocery was on Duss Ave.

Caplan had moved his business into the 798 Merchant building by 1939, because that year's Beaver County Mercantile Appraiser's Report shows Caplan then doing business there.

People who worked in Ambridge area businesses remember buying a range of bulk supplies, from paper bags to candy and cigarettes, at Caplan's, sometimes having to brave the building's old, rickety elevator to get them.

Here's a photo that shows Caplan's in the background, also from Dzubak's collection. The circa mid-1970s photo was taken from Dzubak's Arco station, across 8th St. from Caplan's.

Caplan Wholesale Grocery across from Eddie Dzubak's Arco Station
circa mid-1970s
Eddie Dzubak Sr. collection
courtesy of Lesabeth Trzcianka and Eddie Dzubak, Jr.

According to Louis Caplan's grandson, Glen Russell Slater, Caplan worked in his store until his death in 1988, despite his Parkinson's disease. Slater remembered:

I used to love to work in his store when we visited when I was a kid. I loved being there! My mother, Louise, and my uncle, Ralph, used to work there every day after school. My grandmother, Ruth Caplan, worked as the bookkeeper there. It's really sad that it was demolished, and was replaced by a soulless CVS parking lot. My grandfather, grandmother, mother and uncle's life revolved around that store!

After Caplan's death, at least one other business, Capp's, another grocery business, moved into the 798 Merchant building.

The 798 Merchant building was razed, I believe in 2000, to make room for the current CVS parking lot.

I remember the Caplan's building well, although I remember being in it only twice, both visits in the summer of 1970. One time was to buy supplies for my bridal shower, and the second was to buy supplies for the Ambridge Rec Center's summer playground program's penny carnival. The two events were not related.
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The name of the furniture company in various ads and articles over the years is given as: Martsolf, Martsolfs, and Martsolf's.

You can see a photo of the intersection of 8th and Merchant in 1922 in my April 24, 2014 blog article, cleverly titled, "Eighth and Merchant Sts., 1922". Slater's memories are in that post's comments.

Ambridge's "crackerbox" tenements

I don't know why so many people ask about Ambridge's "crackerbox" housing. Perhaps it's because they came across a photo with a building labeled "crackerbox" and want to know more about it. Or maybe it's because they are confused, since the photo they find doesn't match their memories of a building they remember as the "crackerbox." Maybe they're just intrigued by the "crackerbox" name.

Ambridge once had at least two groups of flimsy, crowded, and plain tenement apartments referred to as "crackerboxes." And that's one source of confusion.

Crackerbox #1:
People sometimes come across this 1907 photo of "crackerbox" tenements surrounded by flood waters, online or elsewhere.

Local historian Bill Bowan owned the copy of the photo below, and it's now in Laughlin Memorial Library's archives.

Crackerbox tenements in flood
1907
Laughlin Memorial Library archives

Bill Bowan's caption:

Amer. Bridge Co. - Cracker Box Tenement Flooded in 1907. Ambridge Pa - This is the last of several Tenements constructed for Laborers building the Plant from 1903. Located near the foot of 7th & Eighth Sts.

Although it's hard to see, there's an "x" below a woman in a white dress who is standing close to the west (river) side of the tracks. Bowan made more extensive notes on the back of the photo* which included the identity of that woman. Here's what those notes said:

Enlargement Scene from 1907 flood as seen at American Br. Co. Tenement "Cracker Box" Housing 20 families each - Row - Some with Boarders at one time 3 or 4 rows were there.  

Original photo owned by Mrs. Z. Bankowski #314B Wagner Ave Ambridge PA 

Copied April 1978 

X marks Mrs Zigmundt Bankowski's Mother - a resident "Cracker Box"

Did the builders not foresee that any structure constructed on the low land between the rail tracks and the Ohio River in that part of Ambridge would be subject to flooding? Or did they not care?

I don't know if that crackerbox building was razed as a result of the flood or sometime later.

Crackerbox(es) #2:

The other group of crackerboxes were two side-by-side tenement apartment buildings separated by a narrow alley. These were unlikely to flood, as they were constructed a number of blocks east of the river, on a hill above the 100 block of Beaver Rd., on land that, as far as I know, was still part of Harmony Township when they were built.

This snip from a 1917 Sanborn Insurance map shows the location of the crackerboxes. They're the large yellow rectangles labeled "tenements." By then, the land they were on had been annexed by Ambridge.

Location of crackerbox tenements
100 block of Beaver Rd.
snip from 1917 Sanborn Insurance map

These buildings survived longer than the one in the flood photo above, and much longer than its neighbors and Ambridge authorities would have preferred.

The photo below is from the private collection of Karl Urda, grandson of Charles Kristufek, who built the two crackerbox buildings under contract. Urda said that while Kristufek reluctantly agreed to manage the apartments after he built them, he never owned them.

Crackerbox tenements
circa 1910
courtesy of Karl Urda

Urda told me that the crackerboxes were "built as slums," and they remained that until they were razed 50 years later. The two buildings were home to the poorest of the poor and people who had no other housing options in Ambridge, including black residents. Rent originally was $1 a month.

Urda said the crackerbox apartments were built without bathrooms or kitchens, although a communal kitchen was located at the end of each hallway. Outhouses were in the back of the buildings; later, those were replaced by communal toilets and tubs.

These crackerboxes were considered a blight on the lower Ambridge neighborhood for years, perhaps from the day they were constructed.

On November 18, 1955, a fire that began on the third floor of the 120 Beaver Rd. building routed residents. Depending on which local paper you relied on, either 12 or 20 families were forced to flee. And the damage was estimated at either $5,000 (Daily Citizen and Beaver Valley Times) or between $35,000 and $50,000 (Pittsburgh Post Gazette).

Crackerbox fire
Daily Citizen
November 19, 1955
(handwritten date of 1958 is wrong)
Louis Vukovcan collection

Daily Citizen caption:

CENTER OF THE FIRE IN THE "CRACKER-BOX" Friday night was covered from all angles by members of fire departments from Ambridge and the immediate area.

The Daily Citizen article said:

Called (sic) living conditions deplorable and a slum which has no place in Ambridge, councilmen and health authorities have been caustic in their criticism in past years of the housing. Efforts to have the structures razed have been snagged from time to time.

Persons who have kept up a running fight against the "eye-sore" and included are borough officials and people generally, the next move by Owner Snyder will be watched.

The Beaver Valley Times article about the fire noted "the fire department has been trying to have the building condemned for some time."

"Owner Snyder" was Dr. A. M. Snyder of Pittsburgh.

The borough was still complaining about the conditions of the building the year after the fire. The May 24, 1956, Beaver Valley Times reported that Snyder had been given until June 8 to submit a plan to improve the buildings to meet the Ambridge housing code.

The next year, Snyder finally took some minimal action and razed some sheds near the crackerboxes. The May 15, 1957, Beaver Valley Times reported that other improvements to bring the property up to code were still needed. The Times also said that the Ambridge council had "reached the end of their patience" and "hinted" that if Snyder didn't bring his buildings up to code, he would be fined. I haven't yet found information about what action, if any, the council may have taken against Snyder and when.

I'm not sure of the date of the photo below, also from Bowan's collection, but it may be shortly before the crackerboxes finally were razed to make room for public housing.

Crackerbox Tenement
circa 1960
Laughlin Memorial Library archives

Several more years passed before the November 26, 1960, Beaver County Times could report that the crackerboxes, a "notorious Ambridge eyesore," would finally be razed "to the regret of few people in the community."

Razing of crackerbox tenements
Beaver County Times
December 3, 1960

Times caption:

RAZING CRACKER BOX APARTMENTS -- Workmen are putting finishing touches to demolition work at the site where two three story frame tenement buildings know (sic) as "the cracker box," Merchant Street and Beaver Road, stood. They will be replaced by a three-story brick and concrete apartment building to accommodate 26 families of low and moderate income. Two other housing units also will be constructed in Ambridge by the Beaver County Housing authority. 

The building at 300 Locust St. that replaced the crackerboxes provides subsidized family housing.

P. J. Shotter took this recent photo of that building from the Merchant St. side.

300 Locust St. from Merchant St.
January 22, 2017
credit: P. J. Shotter
used with permission

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* Bowan also provided some information on the buildings shown in the photo on the west bank of the Ohio: "Stable and Hotel with Out buildings across the River below todays 11th St Bridge at 'West Economy'"

** The late Charles Kristufek, a harness maker by trade, built many of Ambridge's early buildings--houses, commercial buildings, churches, and convents. Later he became one of Ambridge's most prominent businessmen. He started a bank that he later sold to Mellon Bank, and he built and owned the large Economy Lumber and Building Co. on Duss Ave. His successful real estate and insurance business, The Kristufek Agency, is now in the hands of his grandson, Karl Urda.