Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

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Several years ago as West Deer Township was approaching this significant birthday, the Park and Recreation Board was given the task of planning this coming celebration. The first step was recruiting and organizing a group of people who would dedicate them to this goal.

This committee had its beginning in 1984, and after several changes in membership and leadership, emerged as an organized group with definite goals in mind.

The Park and Recreation Board no longer exists, leaving the Anniversary Committee as a somewhat independent organization with support from the Board of Supervisors.

Doris McDonald is chairman, Gladys Hess is secretary, Roberta Spichty is treasurer, and John Graff was appointed Historian. James Catherwood was put in charge of an auction to raise funds necessary to begin various programs. John Graff was placed in charge of producing a comprehensive history of the township with the help of George and Dorothy Voeckel. Graff had previously written a Masters Thesis on parts of West Deer's history and the Voeckels were researching a history of Culmerville as a personal project. This book is the result of much labor on the part of this committee.

Other major goals are to arouse public interest for suggestions and participation, to give local residents an opportunity to demonstrate their talents and abilities, to promote better unity in all parts of the township, and to stimulate interest in local history and record and preserve that history for future generations.

WEST DEER TOWNSHIP

A CENTURY AND A HALF OF PROGRESS

1836-1986

This history has been compiled by John Graff, retired West Deer teacher, with the aid of a number of others whose names appear with their contributions.

of

West Deer Township

1986

Second Printing

Copied in spring 2004 from Book # 184 with permission of the remaining 150^th Anniversary committee

Copyright applied for 2004

It has been one hundred and fifty years since the name West Deer was first applied to this area. Some phases of its history have appeared in other publications at one time or another. It is our attempt here, during this sesquicentennial, to gather all we can find that has been written and some that has not, and to put it together well enough so that our future generations may have a better understanding of how West Deer Township came about. We know that there will be errors, omissions, and other mistakes and we do apologize for them. It is our best effort and we hope that it is something that you will want to read, keep, and pass on to your descendents. The committee is grateful to all who contributed and extends many thanks for their help.

Much of the research on the development of the mining towns was done for my Masters' Thesis in the late 1950's and served as a background for part of this history. It required another year's part-time work to complete it.

The Culmerville Area section was started several years ago by Mrs. George (Dorothy) Voeckel as a personal project and was completed for this publication. The other, smaller contributions throughout the book have the authors' names listed with their works.

Each organization in West Deer was invited to submit its history and most of them did. However, a few did not and therefore their history is not included.

The Family Histories section includes most of the families whose history appeared in the 1903 publication, "Memoirs of Allegheny County", and was expanded to include a number of others. These others were families who had been in West Deer over a hundred years and had enough information available to include them. In some cases complete histories were already written and were printed as such. Others were written by this author from notes furnished by the families.

Limited advertising was solicited only from those individuals whose businesses or residences were in West Deer Township. An effort was made to contact all but some may have been missed.

At this point in our community's history, when we have paused to look back, let us for a moment appreciate the toils and tribulations of those who proceeded us and who laid the foundations of our community as we have it today. Their life was hard but it was not unfruitful. What they have given us must not be forgotten. It is called heritage. Now, it is up to us to pass it to our children. This book will help.

John Graff

From the farmers and coal miners, the housewives and merchants, the teachers, the preachers, and the senior citizens of West Deer have come the facts, fancies, and stories, which have made this book possible. What these people have told the authors of this book is passed on to you for the future. It is now yours to pass to your descendents. Perhaps by the year 2036 one of your children will improve and update this record.

Much credit and many thanks goes to Dave Mathewson for his excellent work with the photographs. From faded pictures and fragile negatives he has produced most of the fine pictures in this publication. Clarence Monnier has let us use the valuable glass plate negatives which his father, Leonard Monnier, took perhaps eighty years ago. The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad generously permitted me to search their extensive photographic files and loaned negatives and pictures dating back to 1912 but mostly from 1921 to 1937. Mary Leggins loaned us a number of 1920 Curtisville pictures. There were many people who loaned or gave us a few pictures or wrote a historical account of their family or organization. James Norris helped make the aerial photos possible. Clarence and Mary Etta Monnier were helpful in locating many of the older homesteads and places of historical interest. The staff at the Township Office was very helpful in obtaining information, sending solicitations for organizational histories and advertising, financing the publication, and in typing manuscripts. Lisa Tomsko did much of the typing. The Culmerville Area history was prepared by Dorothy Voeckel who spent many hours on this work. Her husband George, a retired printer, helped with the publication. Judy McKrell spent many hours proof-reading the manuscript. Shelby Hill did the artwork on the cover. This design also appears on the T-shirts and other articles, which we have sold. Donna Gizienski, Zora Carroll, and George Voeckel helped with the advertising. Roberta Spichty, our treasurer, had much work to do with the advanced orders for this book and in the record keeping for all orders.

The entire Anniversary Committee worked to generate funds, helped to obtain pictures and printed material, and was responsible for the distribution and sale of this book. To all who helped. Thank you!

John Graff

First let me introduce myself. My name is Ken Lewetag son of Ernest Lee Lewetag (a miner) and Victoria Baron (worked at Palmers and delivered milk from the "Barons" in Superior). My Grandfathers (Ernest J Lewetag and Stanislaw "Stine" Baron) were both miners as was their fathers. I was born in 1954 and lived in Russellton until 1965 when I moved to Oregon. I have always called West Deer my home and have remembered it fondly. My mother received a copy of this book from a relative in West Deer. In 1999 I began to research my roots and found this book and read it cover to cover several times. In March 2004 after many attempts I finally was able to contact Mrs. Dorothy Voeckel and Mrs. Ruth Graff the only remaining authors of this book. I explained that I would like to republish this document in an electronic form and possible in a printed form, which received their blessing

The reason for this republishing, reprinting and electronic publication is that so few copies of this book are available to libraries and schools to research and learn about the coal mining regions of Pennsylvania; specifically of my hometown Russellton and those of my family in Superior and Curtisville. My hope is that by publishing this book in electronic form in addition to the printed version more acknowledgements of our little part of the word will be more wildly known.

Since much of the text of the original book was scanned and optical recognized there will be some errors. I have tried to keep these errors to a minimum but inevitably there will be some. If any errors are found please feel free to contact me so that I can correct these mistakes.

With the advent of computerized publication, and the ability to better manipulate content, I have taken the liberty of slight reorganization the pictures and some text to help the electronic and print reader. Also I have some personal knowledge of events that directly related to my families (Lewetag, Baron and Scully), I have taken the liberty to add some comments where appropriate.

In addition I have added a picture index to help researches more easily find this items within this book and make them also searchable items. We have attempted to add more information on the mines and the miners although they were not the first to live in Wes Deer they had a remarkable effect on our Township.

In conversation with Mrs. Graff she told me of an additional picture book of the 150-year celebration and additional older photos that did not appear in the original book. She sent me a copy of this book and its older photos are also included in this book.

Since the main reason for republishing this book is for the use of the educational use, research, and the general public and not for commercial gain: Free usage of this publication and it's content is allowed with credit given to the Anniversary committee. However NO part of this publication may be used for ANY commercial purpose without the express written consent of the publisher, contributor and myself.

For those not from the area, there are five towns that can be confusing Russellton #1, Russellton #2, Curtisville #1, Curtisville #2 and Curtisville #3 (aka Bairdford). Russellton and Curtisville used without a #1 or #2 normally mean Russellton #1 and Curtisville #1 respectively. Russellton #2, Curtisville #2 and Curtisville #3 normally have the #2 or #3 attached.

Most of the pictures are scanned from the original book (s) and due to the limitations of the printing process I was limited in what I could with what was given to me. I did try and correct levels and compensate for some problems within the pictures to make viewing easier. I did crop several of the pictures and straighten them to make the object level or at the correct angles.

I would like to thank Dan Angeloni for additional and original versions of pictures without the help of Dan this book would not be near as rich in pictures and history.

I would like to thank Kenneth White and the Arch-Dioceses of Pittsburgh for the picture of Transfiguration Church.

I would also like to thank the family and friends that took their time and supplied their photos and history as well.

In reading this book it seems that some history were passed over to avoid controversy. One of these items is the miners strike of 1927. To this end I recommend R.S. Sukle Bucket of Blood, the Ragman's War published by iUniverse. Although a fictional account it is based on direct information and tells the tale of what it was like during the strike in Russellton #2.

To the miners we have tired to add as many pictures of the mines and the miners we were unable to find pictures of Russellton #1, Superior, and Bairdford mines.

Ken Lewetag

Copyright applied for 2004

In the last quarter of the last century there was an increased interest in writing local history. It was probably influenced by the centennial celebrations of our nation, many of the eastern states, and a number of local counties and municipalities. West Deer was included in two Allegheny County histories and a "Memoirs" book. One of the histories is known to be the "Warner" history, published in 1889. The actual authors are unknown. The "Memoirs of Allegheny County", published in 1904 by the Northwestern Historical Association, included the resumes of a number of local men. This has been used as a background for some of the family descriptions given in this book and updated by their descendents living here. In 1937 the Rev. H. M. Hughes, Pastor of the Deer Creek United Presbyterian Church, and the Rev. A. B. Weisz, Pastor of Bull Creek Presbyterian Church, compiled a hundred year history of West Deer Township as a centennial publication. This book is often quoted here and credit given to the authors. Rev. Hughes was the father of Margaret Girdwood, who taught in the West Deer schools for many years.

In the early 1950’s Leonard Freedman, Russellton merchant, wrote a master's thesis in geography on West Deer Township and it should be in the University of Pittsburgh library. In 1957-58 this author (John Graff) wrote a master's thesis on "Settlement Patterns in West Deer Township 1900-1950". This, too, should be in the Pitt library. This thesis dealt primarily on the development of the mining towns and provided the background needed for writing much of this book.

Quoted here is the complete text on West Deer believed to be from the Warner History, 1889, followed by one comment and three paragraphs from the other county history, author and publisher unknown.

Deer Township was erected in 1796. From Gapin's and Moore's surveyors' districts, and comprised the eastern part of Rich/and. West Deer, the greater part of East Deer, part of Hampton, and the whole Fawn and Harrison Townships.

For years West Deer has been noted for its quiet, and lack of excitement of all kinds.

The first human beings to have walked upon the land in this area were believed to be the "Mound Builders". Although there is no evidence that they ever lived in West Deer, there is archaeological evidence of their existence in Western Pennsylvania. They did leave some evidence at village sites and in the mounds, which they built. These were found mainly in the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Valleys. When these people came, or when or why they left is not known, but a few facts about their lifestyle are known. They did not weave cloth but they did have beads made from mussel shells, the origin of which was the Gulf of Mexico. They also had copper beads and the nearest copper was in the upper Great Lakes region. These items would indicate that some far-ranging commerce did take place. Nevertheless, historians classify these people as barbarians rather than as savages, as the later Indians are classified. These Indians did appear to pay more attention to the burial of their dead and be of a more sedentary nature than the later tribes to occupy this area.

When the white man came to America with his ability to record history and with his missionaries and traders who penetrated the wilderness to the west, we enter what is called "Historic Times". Within this early-recorded history there were two distinct periods of Indian occupation in this area, with a relatively empty period between of almost seventy-five years.

The first of these were Erie Indians of Iroquoian stock. They were not related to the Mound Builders, whose remains indicate that they were Algonquian. Although related, these Erie Indians did not join the Five Nations which made up the Iroquois Confederacy, and were regarded with suspicion and distrust because of this. They were eventually destroyed by their relatives, the Iroquois, in an aggressive "defensive" warfare to rid the area of potential enemies. Their remnants either fled west or were adopted by their conquerors. The Iroquois then reserved this area as a hunting ground. While little evidence indicates that Indians ever lived here, the area is not far from the Allegheny Valley where there were sites of Indian Villages.

The seventy-five year period of no permanent occupation began with the defeat of the Eries in 1656 and lasted into the 1700's when Indians from the east were pressured by settlers into moving farther west. If we used modern political or military language to describe the empty area of Western Pennsylvania, we would say that it was a "buffer zone" between the unfriendly Indian tribes to the north and south of it. It was also between the areas of influence of the English, French, and Dutch whose traders and missionaries were making inroads before 1700.

The second occupation began as early as 1724 when Delaware Indians from the east were believed to have settled near Kittanning. Soon afterward a band of Shawnees came west and settled at the present site of Tarentum. This band was led by a half-French Indian named Peter Chartier whose town bore his name. In addition to these Delawares and Shawnees in the Allegheny Valley, some Senecas of Iroquois stock and Wyandot of Huron stock also settled at other places in the valley.

Although Indian population was not dense, it was very mixed with regard to tribal origins. Villages were not too permanent because Indians at this time were in a migration similar to that of the White settlers. Both were moving west. Pressure from the advancing settlers was keeping the Indians moving ahead of them. It would be only a matter of time until this area would belong to the army of settlers and frontiersmen who were slowly moving west over the Appalachian Mountains. It would change from an area of English to French influence, then back again to English, and finally to American.

As far as West Deer is concerned, it was still a hunting ground. Permanent Indian villages were at the present sites of Tarentum, Kittanning, Sattsburg, Vandergrift, Johnstown, and within the city of Pittsburgh.

The era of important Indian trading began about 1725. There was much friction between the English and French over prices and areas of influence. The area where we now live was claimed by both English and French, by both the colonies of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and by the Iroquois who regarded the migrating Delawares and Shawnees as intruders and under their jurisdiction. It is now order then, that for the next seventy-five years, this area was in a continuous period of strife, war, and danger to all who lived here, whether Indian or settler.

One of the earliest problems was that of the traders bringing rum to the Indians to trade for furs. It was so serious that the Indian chiefs requested the governor of Pennsylvania to help.

During the 1730's and 40's the French influence became more evident. In 1745, Peter Chartier, the half- breed who settled Chartier's Town, led an Indian revolt, attacked other traders and led his Shawnees away from the Allegheny Valley. The Iroquois then became the dominant influence and were usually pro-English. In 1753 at the Council of Philadelphia they signed peace treaties in light of the coming of the French to the Ohio and Western Pennsylvania areas.

In 1755 Penn's treaty was broken and Indian uprisings occurred in many places. This was the time of "Braddock's Defeat" and a period of tribulation for settlers in this area. In the several years that followed, the Indians raided and destroyed most of the settlements in Western Pennsylvania.

Our history books call this the French and Indian War. It was not until after November 1758 when the French deserted Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) that the English again became strong enough to dominate Western Pennsylvania.

Peace at the end of this was short-lived. In May 1763 all military posts west of Lake Erie were attacked in a conspiracy called Pontiac's War. Forts Pitt and Ligonier were the only safe places in Western Pennsylvania. Military people and settlers were massacred or taken prisoner. The Battle of Bushy Run was the turning point in this war. Peace came a year later but the problem of Indian relations was far from settled. The Indians claimed the land where we now live and it was not until 1768 that they gave up claims to it by treaty. This area had not been open for settlement for some time by agreement between the Indians and both the colonies of Pennsylvania and Virginia. This did not, however, keep out the many settlers who moved to the area south of Pittsburgh in ever increasing numbers.

From the beginning of Dunmore's War in 1775 to the end of the Revolution in 1782, Western Pennsylvania was in danger from Indian attacks. Additional treaties with the Indians in 1784 and 1785 made the specific area north of the Ohio and west of the Allegheny free from their claims, but it did not open it for settlement at that time. As such, it would be another decade before any significant settlement would come to our area. In 1790 there were 75,000 people in southwestern Pennsylvania with more than 10,000 of these in present day Allegheny County. There is no record that any of these lived in West Deer. One of the reasons for this was the fact that this area was reserved for a special purpose which will be explained in the following chapter.

By the end of the Revolution a number of changes had taken place that would determine the future of what would become West Deer Township. Pennsylvania and Virginia, now states resolved their differences and the present boundary of southwestern Pennsylvania was fixed and surveyed. English claims were gone but not so the Indian claims. Although treaties made in 1784 and 1785 did relinquish these claims, the frontier's problems were still serious and it would be unsafe for another ten years. The victory of General Wayne over the Indians in 1795 finally made this area safe for settlement.

Beginning in 1780 Pennsylvania soldiers were paid with bills of credit which depreciated slowly until they were almost worthless. An act of March 12, 1783 reserved 720,000 acres west of the Allegheny River and north of the Ohio to be sold to these soldiers, who could- pay for them with their worthless "Depreciation Certificates". These lands which they could buy became known as the "Depreciation Lands". They were laid out in districts and named for the surveyor assigned to survey them. This surveying for our area was done in the summers of 1785 and 1787. West Deer is in James Cunningham's district No. 4, containing 485 tracts varying in size from over 200 acres to almost 400 acres. The western boundary of the district began at the mouth of Pine Creek and ran due north, well into what is now Butler County. The eastern boundary began at the mouth of, now in Tarentum, and ran north, parallel to the western boundary.

Because of Indian problems the lands were not bought or taken-up by the war veterans and were sold instead to speculators. These land jobbers were, for the most part, unsuccessful in their endeavors and most lost all the money which they had invested.

For eleven days in March, 1786 the land in James Cunningham's district No. 4 was put on the block and 71,309 acres in 309 tracts were sold. Robert Norris, an important and patriotic American, was one of the land speculators, later serving over three years in debtors' prison. It may be assumed that he bought some, but not all, of the depreciation lands which make up the present West Deer. After his death in 1807 his land here was sold at a Marshal's Sale in Philadelphia, the purpose of which was to settle his estate.

Stephen Lowrey of Baltimore bought 107 tracts at this sale and became the owner of much of what is now West Deer. He had appointed a Pittsburgh attorney, Thomas Collins, as his agent to both buy and sell this land. Collins later married his daughter, Sarah Lowrey. Many of the original tracts in West Deer show the deed transfer from Stephen Lowrey while others are from a Dunning McNair. The title search of deeds here show the names of the North American Land Company, Pennsylvania Population Company, Holland Land Company, and the McNair brothers of Pittsburgh.

The Pennsylvania Legislature in 1788 took some of the area of Westmoreland and Washington Counties and a considerable amount of the Depreciation Lands north of the Ohio and west of the Allegheny to create Allegheny County. Additions to the county a year later did not affect the northern area of which we are a part. At this time Allegheny County was composed of seven townships, one of which, Pitt Township, made up most of the northern part of the county.

In 1796 this large area was divided into Pine and Deer Townships. The dividing line was the western edge of James Cunningham's district mentioned in the previous chapter. This line ran north from the mouth of Pine Creek, from which we may assume Pine Township got its name. Within Deer Township was Deer Creek, both the creek and the township bearing the name "Deer", which came from Chief Deer, one of Guyasuta's sub-chiefs. The latter was an Iroquois leader before the Revolution with sub-chiefs Bull and Deer under his authority. These two Indians left their names on the creeks, roads, and churches of West Deer Township.

When Indiana Township was formed in 1805, it removed at least half of the area of Deer Township. The remaining Deer Township extended in an east-west direction about sixteen miles from the present day Freeport to Bakerstown, with its north-south boundaries parallel, and about six miles apart.

Deer Township was divided upon petition of its citizens in 1836 into eastern and western halves to be called East Deer and West Deer. This is how West Deer got its name, but the final size and shape were not yet determined. In 1836 Bakerstown, or the few houses which made it up, and the Butler Plank Road, yet to be built, were within West Deer.

While new townships were being erected all around West Deer, the boundaries remained intact until 1860 when a narrow strip was removed from the western boundary to be added to other Pine lands to form Richland Township. It has been said that this took all the rich land from West Deer, thus giving Richland its name. A year later in 1861 Hampton was formed, taking a small southwestern corner of West Deer plus land from Indiana and McCandless Townships. This realignment also annexed to West Deer a narrow strip on the southern border from Indiana Township. Thus by 1862 West Deer was complete in name as well as size and shape.

The 1860 census shows 1,865 people living in West Deer while the census of 1870 shows a drop of 566 to a total of 1,299. This was due to the change in political boundaries. By 1880 the population had grown to 1,438.

There remains only one log cabin today where one may look and imagine what life at home might have been like in early West Deer. This cabin, originally built on what is now Rittman Road only a few feet inside the northern boundary of the township, has been moved and is permanently on display at Ira Woods' Tour-Ed Mine near Tarentum. All the material in this chapter is quoted directly from the Hughes-Weisz" One Hundred Years of Progress".

A brief history of each church will be included elsewhere in this book. This chapter will be general in content and will attempt to give the reader some idea of what a Sunday was like in rural West Deer in the last century.

The two churches, which were here when West Deer became a township, had existed from the beginning of the century. For about forty years they sufficed for the needs of the Scotch-Irish who had settled here. Both churches, Bull Creek and Deer Creek, were of the Presbyterian denomination, there being a number of "varieties" which became one over a century later.

Each church had an outside pulpit at its beginning with the members sitting on logs placed before it. This was followed by a log church built of un-hewn logs which, in turn, was followed by a better log church of hewn logs which could be chinked better for cooler weather. Winter services were held in the cabin of one of the members.

In the middle of the last century each church built a more permanent structure of brick made in local kilns. By that time, about 1853, they had been joined by two more Presbyterian churches in the area, which also built brick structures at about the same time. These churches all have records and do show considerable progress from that time. The East Union church served the farmers who found the other two too far away. The Pleasant Unity church, located on the Fawn-West Deer border, served a number of local families.

But now, we must go back to one of these early churches for a look at a typical Sunday. In the very early 1800's the services were held outdoors and the members usually came to church carrying their guns. Legend tells us that an occasional Indian would come along, stick his tomahawk in a log, sit down and listen for awhile, then go about his business. There are no records of any attacks after the churches were organized but the presence of armed men was probably a meaningful deterrent. These services always lasted all day with a break for lunch. Every family brought their own food and got to church any way they could. Since few roads existed and the trails were often muddy, most just went through the woods in the shortest way.

There have been a number of descriptions of Sunday services, but for our purpose here we should think of one of these red brick churches when our township was perhaps only twenty-five years old but with well-established churches.

Only necessary chores were to be done on Sunday. The tasks such as cleaning and blacking boots or baking pastries in the kitchen or over the fireplace were forbidden. The animals had to be fed and watered and that was all. After this was done, the family properly dressed in such clothes as they had, then proceeded to church in whatever way they could. The farm wagon, a buggy, horseback, and walking were the common ways of getting to church. It has been said that children walked barefoot until near the church, then put on their shoes and stockings.

Sabbath School for the young people was held first in the morning, sometimes as early as nine o'clock. Following this was a short break before the morning services. These services lasted until time for the noon meal, which each family brought with them. In the words of the day, each family did "eat their piece". After lunch the young people were usually engaged in furthering their social acquaintances. This was one of the few places a young man or a young lady might establish a social relationship, which would lead to the altar. Groups of boys and young men were said to have strolled about in the groves, looking over and at the young ladies who were often with their parents where conversation might be difficult. To quote an unknown author from the past concerning these young gentlemen "At first sound of the opening service, these groups of men and boys would make a rush for the church, and go thundering down the uncarpeted aisles in their farmer boots, making as much noise as a drove of horses."

After lunch came another church service and lengthy sermon. When this was over there were many good-byes and all headed homeward, the duties and devotions of the Sabbath being over.

Some Presbyterians held a Harvest dinner in August, which was more of a social affair and was held on a weekday. The people would gather at the church in the morning for a service but go to the homes of neighbors in the afternoon where they would celebrate the Harvest Thanksgiving with a bountiful dinner.

The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who settled here did not celebrate Christmas in the same festive way in which the German and English settlers did. As the Scotch phrase had it, these Presbyterians were inclined to "take their pleasures sadly".

The roads in West Deer were named or renamed when the centennial was observed in 1936. Each township road was supposedly named for the oldest family residing on that road. Although there may be some question about the oldest family, the names given then are used today for the most part. There are some differences in spelling but those names given fifty years ago are those on the signs on the township roads. Since the history of our roads given here is quoted directly from the 1937 history, some editorial comment, given in parentheses, is added to update and clarify some locations and names.

This might be a good place to add a little story of interest concerning the hay market and the Plank Road. This may or may not have happened but it has been told many times. When the young, single men took a load of hay to the hay market near what is now Allegheny Center, they were seldom ever able to sell it the day they took it there. This forced them to stay in the city overnight and sell it the next morning. The horses could be tied to the wagon, the boys could sleep on the hay and, of course, take in the town that night. They never seemed to have any difficulty selling the hay the next morning, after which they headed home, perhaps with a headache. When their fathers took the hay to market they were always able to sell it and get home the same day. Which all goes to prove that human nature hasn't changed much since 1851.

Dr. Benjamin Rush, colonial patriot, physician, and author gave his description of the successive types of settlers who moved across Pennsylvania. We can make some excellent comparisons when we consider the early settlers of West Deer Township.

He describes the first settler as a hunter-pioneer of a somewhat unsociable nature. He was poor economically, owned a limited number of poor quality livestock, farmed only a few acres, and never had a large cabin or shelter for his animals. He lived more by hunting than he did by farming. His lifestyle was more like that of the Indian than of the permanent settler. His only grain crop was Indian corn. When neighbors began appearing he generally moved on. We may have called him a squatter because he never actually owned the land and never improved it much. This hunter-pioneer made a beginning in the process of creating a farm. He was usually succeeded, according to Dr. Rush, by a second type who enlarged the cabin and other buildings using hewn logs. This second type cleared more land, planted fruit trees, and raised wheat and rye in addition to Indian corn. He was more sociable and built primitive schools and churches. Often, though, he did not become a permanent resident but sold out and moved on. He never accumulated much capital.

The third type, which often consisted of the grown children of the second, were the ones who became permanent residents. They built barns and houses of a more permanent nature. They used all the land they owned to a better advantage. Better and more animals and a wider range of crops were grown. These people had something their forerunners did not have; surplus goods and a market of sorts. The first two groups had neither a surplus of goods nor a market and thus were never able to accumulate capital.

Many of this third group came to the area with money enough to buy land. Some brought it from Europe while others got it from selling their holdings farther east. This group built better fences, kept their cattle on their own land, raised more vegetables, often built a spring house, and took pride in their livestock.

These three types did not occur in any uniform manner. Often they blended together in a heredity succession, the same family continuing into the next stage of cultivation.

If we now attempt to compare these types with the settlers of West Deer, we do see some interesting comparisons. Since the settlement of West Deer occurred at least forty to fifty years after the area to the south in Pennsylvania, this pattern did have some variations. Our land here was reserved as Indian hunting lands until the 1780's and then was unsafe until after 1795. Since settling was either illegal or unsafe, it remained unattractive to all but a handful of very rugged pioneers until almost 1800.

History records a brief account of Benjamin Paul, who probably represented a combination of the first two types. He was a squatter who planted an orchard.

The fact that Hazlett School and the Bull and Deer Creek churches had their beginnings about 1800 indicates that there was a goodly number of the second type who settled within a few years after 1795. A number of these claimed their depreciation lands early or bought warrants from some who did. The depreciation lands bought by Robert Norris were in limbo until after his death in 1806. Beginning in 1807, Robert Lowery bought this land at a Marshal's sale, then began to sell large plots to the ancestors of some of our families today. Lowery lands were sold up to the time West Deer became a township in 1836.

Early census records for this area, not necessarily just West Deer, show some interesting statistics concerning the farmers.

The average farmer of that day owned two horses, three to four cattle of which two may have been oxen, and an ample supply of swine and poultry. Two-thirds of the farmers owned sheep, having four or five. There were, however, a number who owned only one cow and one horse. Farmers used their horses more for transportation and the oxen for plowing and heavy farm work.

The quality of their cattle and sheep had deteriorated from the parent stock of the English type. Oxen were used less in Western Pennsylvania than in the east. Every tenth farm had a still. Germans tended to make more wine and beer. White laborers were scarce but usually were either indentured servants, apprentices, or orphans of the court. There were no slaves north of the Ohio River but there were some in Washington, Green, and Fayette counties.

After looking at these facts we may conclude that these early farmers did not have an easy life. They had a subsidence living at best. They were probably the second type described by Rush. They plowed like the ancient Romans and threshed grain like the ancient Egyptians. Agriculture had not come a long way in 2000 years.

Let us now look at agriculture in West Deer when it became a township in 1836.The 1840 census shows 1414 people living here on perhaps twenty thousand acres. West Deer was larger then, extending beyond Route 8. If each family had seven members, a conservative figure for that time, then two hundred families would be living on an average of one hundred acres each. Strangely enough, almost the same figures held true sixty years later in 1900. These people represented the beginnings of the third type of settler. They also represent the ancestors of many of our citizens today.

Available accounts of a number of families coming to West Deer around the mid-point of the last century show that the farms varied from seventy to over two hundred acres. Starting in the 1850's, these families built houses of brick and sawed timber, which are still standing. They replaced their log barns with larger, timbered structures and gave much more attention to the improvement of livestock and agricultural practices. We find among them the names Cunningham, Monnier, Hughes, Ferguson, Scott, Stirling, Aber, Hazlett, and Marshall.

By the 1850's the population had risen to over 1700. There were possibly three taverns, several blacksmiths, and a good road (Butler Plank Road) to the market area of Pittsburgh. Farmers could now sell surplus products more easily. Mail service was coming to West Deer, churches and schools were established, and the peaceful business of making a living on the farm was well established.

The landscape of West Deer just before the Civil War would have been agricultural. Rail fences, log houses and barns, dirt roads and a variety of livestock would be seen everywhere. Horses had replaced oxen on the farm. The new invention of Cyrus McCormick was replacing the cradle in the grain fields. More market goods were moving toward Pittsburgh.

It is not the intent of this chapter to give details of pioneer and later farm life. The textbooks and encyclopedias do that very well. It is the purpose here to simply describe the transition of agriculture from its very early stages to the present state in this residential suburban community. In other words, a historical account of local agriculture.

Many West Deer farmers answered their country's call in the Civil War. Some are buried in the local church cemeteries and some remain in the battlefields of Virginia and other places.

By the end of the Civil War, West Deer had lost her western farms to Richland and Hampton Townships and had gained some on the southern border from Indiana. Some say that Richland got its name from the farmer's complaint that the new township was taking West Deer's rich land.

Toward the end of the last century several changes were taking place on the farms of West Deer. The steel moldboard plow was coming into use. Better plowing meant better crops and better crops meant better living. The crude reaper was being replaced by a binder drawn by three or four horses. Barbed wire was available but was not as popular as in the west. Rail fences cost little money and didn't cut the livestock. Shipping farm products by rail was now possible from Tarentum or Creighton.

From the Civil War until the turn of the century, the population of West Deer remained stable and was estimated to be 95 percent agricultural. West Deer had reached the peak of agricultural settlement by the time the mining industry was becoming established. These new towns furnished a close market for a number of farm products.

Several early farmers had supplemented their farm income by operating small country bank coal mines. At least three of these farmers employed several miners to work their mines, while others had only a family operation. Another source of income to more than several, farmers was the gas and oil wells on their property. Leased rights never gave the farmer a high percentage of the income from the well, but he was spared the expense of drilling, which often was unproductive. A number of farmers enjoyed an extra income and a number of people had full or part-time work with the wells, but there is no record of anyone becoming a "Texas" type oil baron. A few were known to have built comfortable houses and barns during the oil boom.

This author made a study of this local agricultural pattern in the early twentieth century as part of a Master's Thesis for the University of Pittsburgh. The following comes from that study.

In 1904, before the present town of Russellton was started, there were 260 dwellings in West Deer, of which 237 could be considered as farmhouses. Twenty-three were residences not directly related to farming, although some of these people provided services to the farmers. Fifty years later in 1955, when this study was made, 200 of these 237 houses were no longer on full-time family farms. They were now on part-time farms, lived in by non-farmers, or had been removed without replacement. As the mining industry intensified, its influence on the agricultural pattern became more evident. Farmers went to work in the mines, miners bought land or parts of farms, and the farmers were getting a better cash market for milk, eggs, and other produce. Also, a number of more affluent "city" people began buying places in the country where they could live part-time. The full-time farmers tended to become mechanized and intensified their operations.

These intensified operations tended to specialize and farmers were changing from a general operation to that of producing just a few goods for the market, but in large quantities. Dairy farms, poultry farms, vegetable farms, orchards, and nurseries were more common. The subsistence farm of the last century could not survive in this day of specialization. The farmer became dependent on gasoline, electricity, and expensive machinery and farm supplies and had to have a higher, dependable, cash income in order to survive. When one views the many acres of West Deer in brush and woods it is hard to realize that this once was farmland. It is obvious that a number of farms did not survive.

The thirty-seven farms, which supported the families who lived on them in 1955, are fewer in number today. After thirty years of house building, land sales, and few new starters, the number of full-time farmers has decreased. Those who remain, with high taxes and labor costs, have an even more difficult time surviving. With the increasing demand for land and continuing high prices, those farms with no high degree of specialization face a difficult future. The small part-time farms, on the other hand, will undoubtedly continue as they have in the past, as long as their owners have other sources of income.

There have been several small industries in the township from time to time, begun to meet the needs of the growing community. These have ceased to exist as facilities for transportation of these products from other communities were developed. Brick making was one of these early industries. The years around 1853 were noticeably active in this line. The evidence is found in the number of brick buildings which date from the year 1S53. Three brick churches were built that same year: The Deer Creek United Presbyterian, the Bull Creek Presbyterian, and the Pleasant Unity Cumberland Presbyterian. A schoolhouse at Culmerville was also built of brick about that same time. Other dwellings also date from that period. This industry was largely in the hands of the Norris family. One kiln is said to have been located on the site of the present town of Curtisville No. 1. Another near Culmerville, and a third, and perhaps the largest of the three, near the present town of Blanchard on the Adam Norris farm.

Grist mills also were found to be an ever present need among the early settlers. These mills were built along the main creeks within the township. Dawson's Run, now Deer Creek, Little Deer Creek, and Bull Creek each had their share of mills. Dawson's Run had at least four of these mills within the bounds of the township: Upper Dawson, Thompson, Lower Dawson, and the Lambie Mill. All of these families have been prominent in the history, both industrial and otherwise of the township. Nothing is to be seen of these mills at the present time but a few remains of the millraces. Some of these were also worked in connection with sawmills by the owners. Much of the lumber needed by the early settlers and those of much later date was sawed in these local mills. It was a very different matter in those days to get the grist ground or to get the needed lumber. Much of the work of hauling to the mills was done by ox team. "Buck and Jerry" made slow going through the deep mud of the poorly constructed roads, leading across or around the hills to the valleys where the mills were located. The millrace leading from the mill dam some ha If mile above the mill itself. The water on the days when logs were to be sawed or when grain was to be ground, was let out of the "gate" in sufficient quantity to turn the great water wheel, either undershot or overshot, as conditions suited. The grain was thrown into a great hopper, passed down onto the buhrstones, stones fitted and dressed in such a manner that the grain was crushed and ground into flour. The crushed grain fell into a revolving cylindrical frame covered by finely woven cloth, called bolting cloth. Here the fine meal was sifted through leaving the coarser material to pass into the shorts bin and the feed bin. Late in the afternoon the oxen would wind their way back home, after a full day's work.

Little Deer Creek had a gristmill on the present site of the drug store in Russellton. It was first owned by the McConnell family. Later it was bought by the Grays. They gave their name to the village here. Grays Mills, and to the schoolhouse located nearby. Nothing remains of this mill but the remains of the millrace along the new cement road north of the town. Mr. Robert Porter also traces a part of the old race below the town of Russellton on his property.

The great-grandfather of Russ Montgomery built the house now occupied by Gertrude Ekas with money he saved while in the army during the Civil War. There are three other houses in the same area built about the same time, out of brick from the same kiln. In Blanchard, the Hemphill house, later the Stewart house, has been lived in by Don Stewart and Bill Erskine. Also in Blanchard is the Lebbroni house, now lived in by Alex Caponi, dating from the same period. The Norris house, now owned by Samuel Knoch is unoccupied and faces the Blanchard Road.

The John Consolaro house, behind the Consolaro garage, was built in the same period. The Gilmore Hazlett house, now the home of James Snyder, is near the West Deer Municipal Building in the Curtisville area. In the Curtisville area also is the Monnier home, known to have been built in 1854 from brick made near where the telephone building now stands. This house is now the Hammerman home. Some family histories indicate that the brick houses in the Curtisville area may be about ten years older than the Blanchard houses.

Two other brick homes in West Deer built in this period would include the Kaufman house on Kaufman road, occupied for many years by the Boden family. The other is the Ben Hughes house on Middle Road Extension. There probably are more, but they are unknown, to this author at this time.

A number of frame houses in West Deer date back to Civil War times or longer. They were all farm houses built from locally sawed lumber. The older ones will have hewn beams and lumber sawed on an "up and down" saw. Several of these houses are now lived in by Glen Hemphill on Hemphill Road, Mrs. Jennie Camanini on Kaufman Road near Little Italy, and Joe Aber on Saxonburg Road near the West Deer No. 2 Fire Hall. There are probably many more but these three are known to be typical of those built at that time.

Another former farm house known to be quite old is the stone house used as the office for the Pittsburgh Auto Salvage Service near the Deer Creek Church. It has hewn beams in its construction.

A hundred years or more ago Deer Creek was called Dawson's Run and vice versa. It is not known when the names were changed.

The first gristmill is credited to James Dawson and was located along Shephard Road just upstream from the bridge on Glendenning Road. It was near the present residence of Burton Stevenson. James Dawson was the great-grandfather of Mrs. Clarence Monnier of the Culmerville area. He and his son James operated the mill for two generations and also served as the area’s undertakers. The Dawson family history records that at one time some of the children played in coffins that were stored in a shed.

The Dawson house, although not mentioned in the previous paragraphs, dates back to the very early brick homes. It is not known where or when the bricks were made, but other construction details place it in the 1850- 1860's period. It has pole rafters upon which laths were nailed to support the slate roof.

Dawson's Knob referred to in a latter paragraph was probably what we call Dillner's Knob. It is southwest of Bairdford and has the MCI tower on it. This knob and the one south of East Union Church are the only places in West Deer where it is known that any coal was mined from the Pittsburgh seam. The coal near the church was removed by stripping many years ago.

Perhaps the last of the old mills to operate in West Deer was that of Bryson's sawmill, located across the road from Bell's School on the Bakerstown Road. Some of our oldest citizens may remember it in operation. It is now known what type of power was used, but it was probably either a steam or natural gas engine, gas being available from local wells at that time.

On a more modern note, one saw mill was known to operate in West Deer for several years in the mid-1950's. James and Lyle Hemphill operated a portable sawmill on their family farm near Blanchard and did some custom sawing. They used a large gasoline engine for power. Today one would probably have to haul logs for many miles to get them sawed.

Sometime near the close of the Civil War a number of farmers in West Deer formed the Farmers' Oil Company with shares selling at $1 5.00. How much its assets were worth is not known. Oil had been discovered at Titusville only a few years before and many people were anxious to get into the oil business. Why they thought there was oil here is not known, but they were serious about what they were doing. The first well was drilled along Lick Road and the second near it on a hill. One of these wells was 150 feet deep with no oil. The disappointed farmers then hired an "oil smeller" to smell out a better drilling site. He smelled oil on the Huey farm and that was where they drilled next. After several hundred feet of drilling they began to withhold payment to the driller. After 650 feet of well they suddenly appeared to find oil. Suspecting it might have been put there, they stopped all payments and went to court. The farmers won their case and the well was abandoned.

The first producing oil well came in about 1888 on the Montgomery farm. From then until after 1900 a number of oil and gas wells were drilled, mostly in the northern and western part of the township, but later in all parts. There may have been as many as a hundred wells in this township at one time. The picture found elsewhere in this book makes a few of the farms look like Oklahoma. Drilling continued at a steady pace until about 1916. Some of the better wells kept this production up for a month, producing 3000 barrels. Wells had numbers like mines. There would be names like Sterling No. 1 or Hazlett No. 4. Depending on the topography, depth would vary. At one place oil was found in a six foot thick layer of sand at 1803 feet. Another well struck gas at 2700 feet. Some spoke of their wells being drilled to the "fourth' or "fifth" sands. Some of these wells produced oil as late as 1984. In general terms, most of the wells were not highly productive, most were between 1400 and 1800 feet deep, and none made any local millionaires. They did, however, add to the local economy and make life a little easier for a number of farmers. Both oil and gas were piped out of the township to other, larger, pipelines.

The power used to drill the early wells was the steam engine. Later gasoline engines were used to pump the wells and in some cases natural gas engines were used.

These early wells were made by pounding a bit through the rock. The rotary drill was not used until perhaps the 1930's when two deep wells were drilled for gas. One of these was on the Magill Farm behind the present Deer Lakes High School and the other on Cedar Ridge where the housing development of that name now stands. While that well was being drilled so many local people came to see the huge drilling rig that the driller began charging by the carload to watch him work. Both these wells were dry. The local joke of the day was that the driller was going to cut the hole in small pieces and sell them for postholes.

It is interesting to note that many of these early wells produced both oil and gas. Many of the wells being drilled in Western Pennsylvania today do exactly the same. Indiana County, fifty miles to our east, leads the state in the number of new wells. None have been drilled in West Deer recently, although the possibility exists at a future date.

Picture 2 – Oil wells Monniers 1905ish - winter

Picture 3 – Oil wells Monniers 1905ish - summer

Picture 4 – Oil wells – John Schwab house early 1900’s

Picture 5 – Oil wells –- Porter House

By: Gladys Hess

One hundred and fifty years ago West Deer had no post offices. Farmers had to ride horseback to Stewartstown, now called Sharpsburg, through dense forests on the Kittanning trail to get their mail. In 1836 any mail directed toward West Deer would be sent to one of the settlements in the Allegheny Valley from where it would be picked up by someone coming this way.

The first post office to be established in West Deer was on the farm of William Porter in 1853. These early post offices were usually in the kitchen of a farmhouse or on the wall of a general store or trading post. This one, called Rural Ridge, was in a farmhouse, now gone, which sat across the road from the present VFW on Starr Road. How long it stayed there is not known but a few years later it was moved to the Aber house on the prevent Saxonburg Road, now lived in by Joe Aber. From there it was moved to the Ackley property at the junction of Logan Road and the Kittanning Pike. Our history also tells us that there was a blacksmith shop there which outlasted the post office by many years. When the post office was located there it was in a store operated by a Mrs. Leslie. The post office was located there possibly in the late 1860's.

This same Rural Ridge post office was moved again to the George Magill farm for a few years. This farm later became the Harry Magill farm and then became Magill Heights. From this location it moved to Gray's Mill (Russellton) where it was destroyed by fire a few years later. This fire took place on August 23, 1874. We must assume that it was rebuilt or placed in another building because it remained at Gray's Mill until Russellton became a town. The post office received its mail deliveries once a week, probably from Sharpsburg or Harmarville. About 1905 the Rural Ridge post office was moved into the company store called The Bessemer Supply Company. Two years later in 1907 it became the Russellton post off ice and the Rural Ridge name was moved several miles south where it is located today. The Russellton post office then remained in the company store building until the store burned in August 1930. Suburban Hardware now occupies this spot.

After the fire the post office was located in the back part of the bank building next door and remained there until about 1935 when it was moved to the Long Building to the room now occupied by Russ Montgomery's business. At this time Mrs. Willis Saloman was postmaster. It remained in the Long Building until the 1950's when it was moved to the Bongiovanni Building where a larger space was available. This space is now occupied by the Trevellini Distributors. It is interesting to note that in the 1950's the government paid $35.00 per month rent.

Needing even more space, the post office moved into the building formerly occupied by the Bizyak Hardware when it remains in that location today.

West Deer had two other post offices of historical interest. In 1854 one was established in Culmerville. It was located in the Campbell house, now gone, which was located across the road from where the Benke Garage sits. How long this post office operated is not known but it was not for a long period of time.

The other post office which operated in the last century was the Lewis post off ice. It was located in a store operated by William Donaldson at the southeastern corner of the Deer Creek Cemetery. It opened in 1883 and was named

Lewis post office after Jane Lewis, a member of the Hunter family who lived nearby. Later it was moved to the house of James Hunter, across the road and down the hill a short ways in the direction of Bairdford. It is not known how long it remained in operation.

The post offices of Bairdford and Curtisville came with those mining towns. Each has made minor moves within the town and remains in operation today with the names that they have carried for more than seventy years.

The post offices of Bairdford and Curtisville came with those mining towns. Each has made minor moves within the town and remains in operation today with the names that they have carried for more than seventy years.

The late Rebecca Mcintyre, who lived to be a hundred years old, often told her family how she rode horseback from her farm near Bairdford (now part of the West Deer Community Park) to the Rural Ridge post office at Gray's Mill (Russellton) for the mail. One would only go for the mail once a week because the post office received mail only that often. This would have been in the latter part of the last century. Mrs. Mcintyre was the grandmother of Dr. Alien, the well-known Oakmont obstetrician.

Some of our older residents remember hearing their grandparents speak of the post office at the junction of Kittanning Pike and Logan Road.

West Deer is a very large township in area and has a large number of mailing addresses. Besides the post offices at Russellton, Curtisville, and Baridford there are rural deliveries out of the Tarentum, Cheswick, Gibsonia, Allison Park, and Saxonburg post offices on at least eight RFD's.

There has been a movement for many years to establish a single West Deer PO but it never got beyond the talking stage. Perhaps one day…

When we speak of recreation and leisure time we speak of something almost nonexistent in the lives of our earliest citizens. For the first half of West Deer's existence, that is up until early in this century, most of the residents were of Scotch-Irish descent and were Protestants, usually Presbyterians. These people lived by the Protestant ethic. The influence of their religion and economic necessity required that they be frugal, temperate, thrifty, and deny themselves most of the pleasures of life. Anything that gave pleasure, other than producing goods and family, was regarded as forbidden and sinful.

Thus, any pleasurable activity was not done for the pleasure of the activity but for the productive work or the church activity, and the recreation or pleasure came as a secondary reward. For this purpose we can list a number of nineteenth century "community" activities. There were "barn and cabin raisings", "log rollings", harvest activities, all day Sunday church, and a few others whose purpose was not necessarily social.

As the farm population became greater and neighbors lived closer to each other, other rural activities became popular. Horses replaced oxen, more land was cleared, and time moved into the twentieth century. School houses were dotting the countryside and were closer together, as were churches. More rural activities involving "neighboring" were commonplace. Neighbors helped each other butcher hogs and beef, thresh their grain, husk corn, make apple or peach butter, and with many other tasks, particularly if a neighbor were sick or injured. Husking bees and pie socials were part of the social climate.

These husking bees were sometimes simply a social get- together, but were often held to help an injured or sick neighbor. The stalks of corn with the ears unhusked were put in the barn or shed and lanterns hung high away from burnable materials so that the husking could be done after dark. All the men and boys would husk corn while the ladies served cider and cookies. Sometimes they helped too, but just being there was part of the game. It was the custom when a young man found a red ear (of corn) that he could kiss either the nearest girl or the one of his choice. The more corn he husked, the better chance he had of finding red ears. Some people think that work incentive is a modern innovation! These husking bees were sometimes followed by a barn dance.

A pie or box social was held as a fund-raising activity. Young ladies would prepare a pie and other tasty treats in a highly decorated box with their identity unknown. The boxes would all be auctioned, each going to the highest bidder, who got to eat lunch with the girl who prepared it. Supposedly, he would not know who it was until he bought and opened the box. Every young man would, of course, try to get a certain girl's pie box. The game of the day was competition during the bidding when a young man's "friends" would pool their money and try to outbid him.

The schoolhouses were the places where most of the pie socials took place. Some were also used for literary societies. These meetings served as a cultural exchange for local talent in music, poetry, and drama. Aber school, with its lamps, was well suited for these affairs.

Another very popular social affair of earlier years was the church picnic on the fourth of July. It was held on the actual date, usually not Sunday, and had no church service. It was a good time for food, talk, romance, and patriotism. At all these affairs the older people talked of farming and the practical aspects of life, including politics, while the young people had other interests: each other. The chance to meet and talk to each other did not come too often. Our concept of modern-day dating and meeting other young people had not yet developed.

It must be remembered that the two "place" names in West Deer's history were Culmerville (Brimstone Corners) and Gray's Mill (Russellton). These two crossroad communities had stores, blacksmith shops, taverns, and one, a mill. They were "gathering" places for past generations and would also serve as "gathering" places for later generations.

With the coming of the mining towns to West Deer, there were many other changes, which would influence the social structure of the community. The people coming to these new towns were from varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds. There were more and better roads and autos and busses to run on them. Electricity was being brought to places like West Deer. There were theaters, roller-skating, bowling, a YMCA, ball games, and new ideas about recreation.

The management for the Ford Collieries mining towns appeared to have much more concern for the personal lives of their employees than the other coal companies. Ford Collieries built a YMCA at Curtisville and this building was the center for much recreational activity. Mr. A. R. Pollock is given much credit for this. He also helped organize and taught a Community Men's Bible Class described elsewhere in this book.

Baseball games were popular in the mining towns. Another popular activity was the excursion to Conneaut Lake Park. The Bessemer railroad ran excursion trains to their park at the lake and round trip fares were not expensive.

The Culmerville Hall, sometimes called Staley's Hall, was an early dance pavilion or hall and was also used for roller-skating on other nights.

In the Hughes-Weisz history, a Lyric and Davis theater is mentioned that was in the area of the Siwicki Funeral Home. It states that in 1924 it was converted to a skating rink but later became a Union Hall. It was known to contain bowling lanes before it burned some years later. The other theater in Russellton was opened by the Griffiths in 1920 and remained in the movie business until the late 1940's. Two other places in Russellton were known to have bowling alleys in the past. They were on the location where Bibri Appliance and the Post Office now stand. There was also dancing on the second floor of the building where the Owls Club is now situated. There were also bowling lanes at one time in the YMCA in Curtisville.

The young people's organizations at each church were very popular with the youths of that church. They were usually a combination of religious and social activity.

As transportation improved and the young people of West Deer began attending high schools in Tarentum, Springdale, and Etna, the recreational picture began to change. The outside world was no longer outside. Sports, cultural activities, and education in Pittsburgh were within range. Better theaters, skating rinks, dance halls, and other recreational activities in the Allegheny Valley were also within range, even for an ancient Ford or bus. West Deer was no longer isolated or dependent on the railroad.

Present day recreational activities are literally unlimited for the young people; school activities are as inclusive as any high school in the area. Local sports involvement includes all ages and sports. For adults, the proximity of Pittsburgh and the modern auto gives an unlimited range to sports, cultural, and educational activity.

When old timers get together and talk about the "good times" they had back during depression days, the name "Barons' Grove" invariably is mentioned. Many of our older citizens from age sixty up from both farm and mining town remember the good times they had at Barons' Grove.

The Barn was originally the mule barn at the Superior mine. It had been used to stable the mules when they were above ground. In 1934 it was purchased by Stanley Baron, Sr., then torn down and rebuilt on his property not far away, on a site, which is now part of the Deer Lakes Park. Baron rebuilt the barn similar to its original size except that the interior was more open and covered with a good maple floor suitable for dancing. Stanley, along with his wife, Babina, operated the barn and grounds as a rental concession from 1935 until 1948. There were picnics, dances, and wedding receptions held there.

The barn had electric lights inside and around it, running water from a well with an electric pump, but no heat for winter operation. There were several large outbuildings used to dispense food and refreshments. The usual outside toilets were there also.

Lodges such as the Russian Club, the Polish National Alliance, and the Italian Club did not have their own facilities in those days and would rent the Baron Barn for their own picnics and for public dances as fund raising activities. The Barons received anywhere from $15.00 to $25.00 for a day or evening rental. They also stayed around to insure proper behavior at their grove. Reports indicate that there were some very good bands, which played for these dances. (ALL profits went to Transfiguration Church as a donation from the Baron’s, Vicky Baron Lewetag)

Picture 6 – Baron's Grove (Farmstead)

Many of the people who attended these dances during the depression and World War II walked from their homes in New Kensington, Tarentum, Cheswick, and Springdale and walked home again after midnight. Although no dress code existed people attending these affairs usually dressed rather well.

Dances and picnics were held from May to October when the weather was suitable. The Grove was simply shut down in winter.

In the fall, when apples were ripe, everyone had free apples from trees surrounding the barn.

Most of the social activity at Barons' Grove was on Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays. Activity would start early in the afternoon and generally ran to midnight or later. At picnics there generally were outside games and races.

The Grove closed in 1948 and the barn was torn down some years later when the Allegheny County Department of Parks purchased the Baron farm. Many of those who attended affairs at Barons' Grove have fond memories and often make the comment used with a popular TV show. "Those were the days."

In compiling a brief history of the West Deer Schools, it will frequently be necessary to quote from the Hughes-Weisz, "One Hundred Years of Progress", 1937. This reference will be referred to by "H/W". Their quote concerning the first school: "The first school erected within the present bounds of West Deer Township was the Hazlett School. The history of Allegheny County records that it was erected prior to 1800. This school is located on the grounds of the original Hazlett farm, midway between Culmerville and Deer Creek, at the junction of the Culmerville and Bakerstown and Logan Roads."

These authors refer to an early school in the area where Bairdford is now located that was abandoned about 1848 and converted into a house by the Gray family, but was finally torn down. It was a stone building. This school was probably in use in 1836.

We may assume that in 1836 West Deer had at least two schools, Hazlett and Ritz, and possibly two more, Gray's Mill and Culmerville. History does not give us the facts. We know that by 1900 there were six schools and districts in West Deer. For the purpose of this history, each school will be treated separately. After 1900 with the building of the mining towns, the old names, with the exception of Culmerville, were dropped and new names and numbers given to the schools.

The No. 1 district was the McGowan School. To quote H/W, "The McGowan School was located just west of the Deer Creek Church on the Bakerstown Road. Mr. McGowan gave a grant of land for the building, but later, when plans were made to rebuild, a plot of ground was bought outright from the Bells. This school was also abandoned a few years ago." Many of our older citizens will remember Bell's School and Bryson's sawmill near it. The school was closed when the Bairdford Consolidated School went into operation.

At that period in our state's history, school districts were urged to "consolidate" their one-room schools into larger, more modern schools and were given subsidies as an incentive to do so. Thus, Bairdford, or "West Deer Consolidated School" as it was called then, got its name. The Bell School building was converted to a dwelling and at present is the home of Harry Arbuthnot.

The No. 2 school district was the previously mentioned Hazlett School. To further quote H/W, "Four buildings have been in use on or near the present site. The first was a log building with benches. The second, a frame building, was located on the Logan Road. A third building, erected in 1906, on nearly the same site, was burned down in 1922. The present building was erected the same year, and is now used in connection with the consolidated school at Bairdford." The building was closed later, converted to a dwelling, and is now the home of Mrs. Evans.

The Culmerville School was in district No. 3. According to H/W, "The Culmerville School likewise has a very old history. The first building was a log building like most of the others, and was located near the home of Jamison Norris. Later a brick structure, made of bricks burned locally, was erected across from the Milt Norris home. This was finally torn down and a frame building erected just below the site of the present school. Some time after the Bessemer railroad was built through this section, the frame building was abandoned, and sold to the Norris family. They moved it to a location at the rear of the Hose House, and having remodeled it, used it as a dwelling. The present building, located on the hill east of Culmerville, was built about 1921." The school remodeled as a dwelling is now the Mildred Norris home. The "present" building as mentioned in 1937 was not quite the building that followed this last one. It was replaced by a two-room building with a bell tower. It is pictured elsewhere in this book and in a recent Bull Creek Church history. This building was moved in 1922 when the railroad tunnel was "daylighted". It was moved up the hill behind it to a permanent location and two more rooms were added. As one old-timer phrased it, "They drug it up the hill." This building was included with the 1951 school closings of substandard buildings, it was used as a dwelling for a while but later it was burned by the No. 1 Fire Company for practice. The site was cleaned up and sold to another party. It now holds the home of the George Golojuhs.

Picture 7 – Culmerville School

The No. 4 district was Gray's Milt school, which probably existed when West Deer was born. It was a log building and was situated on the Gray property, either on the site of the present railroad or so close to it that it had to be moved. We know it existed before 1850 and that it was moved when the railroad was built in 1896-97, to the Russellton No. 1 site just south of the Thomas Mower Shop. On this location it would undergo many changes in size and be called the Russellton No. 1 School, it would be expanded to six rooms plus several pre-fab buildings before its closing in 1951. Many memories of this school include the fire drills, the eighth grade yearbook, and the associations of fellow students and teachers. More information is given in the historical account of Russellton. All buildings have been removed and the area cleared for new construction.

Aber School made up the No. 5 district. The H/W account states, "The Aber School was organized prior to 1850. Mr. R. E. Aber is said to have been taken to visit the carpenter who built the second building, about the year 1859. The carpenter lived there and built the school on the grounds, living in it. Mr. Aber had also attended school in the previous log building. The last building was erected about 1905. The school was closed the first Monday of November 1929, and the pupils who attended it were transported to Culmerville, books and all. The building and property then reverted to the Leslie family, who had bought that part of the farm of Mr. Aber."

Picture 8 – Teacher Frank Hunter and list of Pupli from 1902-1903

(Pupil's include - Baumgartel, Harry Black, Albert, E. Chester, Elda, Elizabeth, Elma, Eva, Lawrence, Robert, Wilda Bonin, Bertha, Harry, Harry, Irene, Viola, Albert, David, Sophia, Walter Campbell, Bertha, Clifford, Raymond Cook, Anna Davis, Agustia, Cora, Ida, Lillie Dillner, Fred, Joseph, Louis Drum, George, Otto, Willie Hamilton, Eva Hitchel, Thomas Koethe, Carrie, Emelie, Frank, Fred, John Love, Florence, May Lucas, Elodia, Grove Reining, Rose, Willie Scheerbaum, Gilbert Schroder, Clyde, Ida Setzpfandt, Anna, Carl, Elma, Fred, Freda, George Weber, Charles, Myrtle, Robert, Willie Wise, Mary, Myrtle, Willie)

Picture 9 – Hazlett School with Jim Catherwood

Picture 10 – Hazlett School on Logan Road

Superior had two one-room buildings for grades one through four. The older pupils walked to Russellton.

The last school used had several features not found in most of the one-room schools of the day. It was used by Oak Valley Grange for their night meetings as well as for pie socials and other evening events, and was equipped with oil lamps. More surprising, it had indoor chemical toilets. Each had a tank under it to which chemicals were added periodically. Each one was piped to a cesspool some distance away from the school pump. It also had a vestibule in the front of the building from which the bell rope was pulled to ring the school bell. As in the others, it had one large furnace to keep it warm in winter.

This building was converted to a dwelling and has lost the appearance of a school. It is located in Allegheny Acres on the bluff across from Grubbs Road near the Roth Refrigeration business. It is now the home of the Kiesewetter family, who has lived there since 1959.

Picture 11 – Superior School Class 1923

No. 6 district had the Martin School. The Martin family had given a grant of land for the school. The site, not now recognizable, was just south of Route 910 between the Bairdford (Oak) Road and the intersection of Martin Road. It was east of the bridge over Deer Creek. When it was closed and abandoned is not known, but would certainly be no later than the opening of the Consolidated School near Bairdford.

After 1900, with the building of the mining towns, the elementary schools had to make rapid additions. The term "portables" is a familiar word to many of our older citizens. These were prefabricated buildings having one room and no permanent foundation.

The Curtisville No. 1 School, started about 1910, was a four-room building, which had three "portables" and two "outhouses". It was closed in 1951 with the other old schools. The Curtisville No. 2 School was a two-room "portable" built with the town but closed in 1951.

When Bairdford was built in 1914, a five-room school, with necessary outbuildings, was constructed at the edge of town. It, too, was closed in 1951.

Russellton No. 2 school was built in 1917 along with two prefab school rooms which were used until 1925 when the new, yellow brick school at the southern end of the No. 1 town was built. The old buildings were sold to a farmer who used them to build chicken houses. According to Sophie Pogormik Pensack these class rooms were located on the top of Russellton #2 hill.

The new Russellton School still carried the No. 2 label and had ten rooms. Later two substandard rooms were put in use for several years, carrying the name "chicken coop class room". The building was closed in 1973 and for a year stood empty. From 1974 until 1982 it was used for the school district warehouse. At present it is unused.

As previously stated, rural districts in this state were under pressure from Harrisburg to consolidate their one- room schools. "Consolidated" School was a result of this pressure. It was built in the 1928-29 years and was put in operation in 1930 or 31. Since then, it had had two major additions. In 1956 four rooms and office spaces were added and in 1967 five more rooms were added, as well as a cafeteria-all purpose room. Declining enrollment caused this school to be closed in 1982 along with the Curtisville School. It remains closed and unused.

In 1942 most of the construction work was done on the West Deer High School building as described separately in this book. Additions were added in the 1952-54 period with minor additions to the gym later.

In 1969 it became the Deer Lakes Senior High School, containing grades nine through twelve. When the new high school building began operation in the fall of 1973, the old building went through a two-year renovation at which time the entire inner structure was changed to include some "open space" classrooms. It then became the Deer Lakes Junior High with seventh and eighth grade classes. This lasted until 1982 when further internal changes converted it to an elementary school, which is its present use. It is now called the Deer Lakes Elementary Center.

Picture 12 – Culmerville School before move

The ten-room Curtisville Elementary School was opened in September, 1954. It replaced the old frame and prefab schools in both Curtisville villages and received pupils from Allegheny Acres. In 1956 two rooms were added. This school remained active until 1982 when major changes in the school district took place because of decreased enrollment. Curtisville School was closed as a school building, remained empty for a year, and opened as the West Deer Township Municipal Building

In the early 1960's when pupil population was still growing, a new building was planned and built to absorb the expanding seventh and eighth grades. Called the "annex" it was, on paper, the annex to a future high school building. It served, as a junior high from 1965 until 1969 when the jointure went into effect and it became annex to the senior high, serving primarily for ninth grade classrooms. When the senior high moved into the new building in 1973, it reverted to the elementary and became the East Union Elementary School with several rooms of each grade, one through six.

With the aid of a federal grant, applied for in 1975, this school received a number of new rooms and service facilities, with most of the construction work being done in 1977. In 1982 when the last major changes in school assignments took place, this school became a K through 2 building and the former high school became the Deer Lakes Elementary Center.

Although the East Union School was built with considerable public resistance, the citizens of West Deer have a bigger bargain in this structure than any other building in the township.

The present Deer Lakes Jr./Sr. High School was built in the 1971-73 period, being open for classes in the fall of 1973. It was built at a cost of seven and one-half million dollars and can accommodate about 1300 pupils.

Since West Deer became an independent school district in 1946, there have been five superintendents. The first, Mr. Clarence Norris, was followed by Mr. William Burns, who in turn was followed by Edgar Holtz. Dr. Holtz left before his term was completed and it was finished by Mr. Burton Stevenson, who was acting superintendent the last remaining months of the West Deer school system. The new Deer Lakes district elected Dr. B. W. Norris who was followed by the present superintendent, Mr. Anthony Marsico.

Picture 13 – Aber School

Picture 14 – Old Bairdford School (side view)

Picture 15 – Russellton #1 School (Front View)

Picture 16 – Russellton #1 School (side view)

Picture 17 – Curtisville No. 1 school

Picture 19 – Curtisville No. 2 School

Picture 20 – Russellton "Yellow" school house

Picture 21 – Curtisville Elementary School, built in 1954

Picture 22 – Entire faculty of the West Deer Township schools about 1938

The following account of the West Deer Township High School was written several years ago for another purpose. It will be included here because almost three thousand young people graduated and many of them live here. Although this was written primarily for teachers, it should be of interest to anyone who was ever associated with West Deer High. It is hoped that it will bring back memories of high school days for many. It is with sadness that we remember that a number of these graduates and a number of their teachers and administrators are no longer with us.

Picture 23 – West Deer High during construction

Picture 24 – West Deer High during 1940's

Picture 25 – 1943-1944 First Football team

Leon Goodlow Ed Bittner Vince Salvati John Polc Ernie Lubatti Al Lewetag Fig Soster Joe Stegner Andy Logut John Biser

Augie Thalman Jim Murry George Allen Nello Colpo Bill Rodgers Wade Stepp Joe Contie Morris Ed Czwalga Ed Silcox

Carl Trusiak Frank Grill Joe Chabal Ralph Buttyan Joe Gbur Jim Yeloushan Clayton Evans Joe Bohatch

Not Shown: Coach Fred Schenley, Ass't coaches William Burns and Maesh Silverstein

Picture 26 – Front of West Deer High

It is for those who remain, and their children, who by now have attended or graduated from the old West Deer or the new Deer Lakes High Schools that this review is presented. It is also with fond memories that I have known twenty-three of those twenty-five graduating classes.

In January 1943, the new West Deer Township High School opened its doors to pupils for the first time. Only six rooms were finished on the second floor and construction on the rest was continuing. Pupils in the eighth, ninth, and tenth grades made up the new high school. The tenth graders would graduate with the first class in 1945. Juniors and seniors who were attending neighboring high schools would continue there until they were graduated.

During this first spring a baseball team was organized and began playing exhibition games. A band was established and began practicing. They had no uniforms of any kind and a number of instruments were missing, but they had a remarkable start with the new principal, William Burns, in charge.

By the time school opened in the fall of 1943, the remainder of the building had been completed and was open to pupils from the eighth to the eleventh grades. There were about 500 pupils in the building at that time.

World War II was a long way from being over and West Deer High was operating during a time when our nation's future was being decided on the battlefields of the world. Patriotism was very evident in the student body. War Bonds and Stamp sales were high, and a mounting number of blue stars were being changed to gold. For you who missed this generation, a flag with a blue star was often hung in a front window when as on went off to war. If the son was killed, the star was changed to gold. In West Deer, like most high schools during wartime, the major reason for quitting school was to join the armed forces.

School activities included the organization of a basketball team and the making of plans for many more student activities for the next school year.

Part of these plans became reality the next fall when the first football team was organized and a mascot picked. The Indian Brave would serve as mascot from the fall of 1944 until the formation of the Deer Lakes District in 1969. A yearbook staff was selected, the first Junior Class Play was put on, and the school got its first motion picture projector. This class of 1945 was West Deer's first graduating class. They were proud of their class, their new yearbook, and their new school.

The high school office was beginning to be a busy place. B.F. Edlund was the district superintendent and had his office in the high school. Louise Camanini was the first school secretary and worked for both Mr. Burns and Mr. Edlund. Louise would later become Mrs. Dineff and continue working for both West Deer and Deer Lakes school districts.

When school began in 1945 there were about 420 pupils in attendance. Clarence Monnier was the only science teacher in the school and would be the only teacher to remain on the faculty as long as West Deer High would operate. Editor of the yearbook was Bill Roger who would later serve the school district as a member of the Board of Education. The yearbook was called the Coalagra, after the two main sources of livelihood in West Deer, coal and agriculture.

School supplies were stored in the basement room on the way down to the boiler room. The Agriculture room and shop occupied the present three rooms between the office and the gym. Several rooms were not used, including the "art" room upstairs. The cafeteria was used for band practice and storage. There were eighteen teachers on the faculty.

When school started in the fall of 1946, Mr. Burns welcomed 440 pupils and twenty teachers. Two of these twenty teachers were new and were going to stay with West Deer for quite a while. One was a dynamic Latin teacher from Etna and the other a young college-type with bushy hair from Dormont. This was the beginning at West Deer for Stella Jarema and Bill Powers. In January, a new agriculture teacher was hired. He was a tall, thin, farm boy, just back from military service. John Graff had been added to the faculty.

This class of 1947 had a number of veterans in the senior class. In a shop class of seven there were four veterans. Some "old-timers" might remember the high school then as a single building. There was a football field but no fence, bleachers, or lights. It was so easy to sneak into a football game that it wasn't any fun. The Agriculture class in those days raised tomatoes. In 1947 they raised eight tons and made eleven dollars. Very little money was made, but rich experiences and many wonderful tomato battles were benefits. The treasurer of the freshman class that year was Albert Sabatini, whose father was West Deer's only policeman. Young Albert would later become a teacher himself and would serve on the West Deer School Board.

Beginning in February, 1947, West Deer had a teacher's strike, which closed the high school for several weeks. Your author had been teaching a week and didn't know of an impending strike until the day before it happened.

The next school year saw many changes in the faculty. Only half of the twenty teachers returned. In one semester your author moved from number twenty-one to number eleven. This was probably the fastest rise in seniority in teaching history. To move the next ten places would take a lifetime of teaching.

With the ten new teachers was a young-lass from Sharpsburg. Just out of college was Angeline Narcisi. In case you don't recognize the name, she became Mrs. Schuster, Junior High Principal. The President of the senior class that year was a young fellow named Daniel Angeloni. The band used East Union Road to do its marching. There was little traffic and it was seldom that they had to get off the road. Your author remembers watching them pass by a large tree which stood where Reaghard Drive now is, and two boys regularly dropping out for a smoke, then dropping back in on the way back to the school. Possibly Bob Jackson remembers also. What he doesn't remember was that the whole Agriculture class was watching while working in the fields where East Union Elementary School now stands.

The Agriculture classes were busy between 1947 and 1949 planting the school grounds with pine trees. The beautiful pine forests around the school today are a result of this effort. The huge, unsightly gullies above the football field are gone and few will know or remember how it was once.

The football team won four and tied one for the best record to date. Fred Dinner's car, a flashy Model A, was the most envied car in school. A few seniors may remember their picnic at North Park when Fred lost his keys while playing ball. The whole class looked for them and when Fred's best friend found them, he took a load of girls for a ride while Fred was still up on the hill at the ball field looking for the keys.

We got a new brick entrance to the school parking lot. It was built by Mr. Camanini who told your author, "Don't build anything for your club, church, or school. Too many bosses." It seems that he had too much advice on how to build it. Another activity that was begun at West Deer was the annual summer trip for the Agriculture seniors. The summer of 1947 saw a three day trip to Lancaster County. Vic Valletto couldn't ride a car longer than fifteen minutes without having to stop at a lunch stand.

1948 was a great year for new faculty faces. More teachers started that year, and stayed, than in any other year of the high school's history. Vincent Antonelli was the new coach and physical education teacher. Hannah Ekas, Ray Fortun, Elizabeth Keppel (Mrs. Cunningham), Joe Unites, and Leo Zilla all started that year. Other changes took place too. Our field got a new fence, bleachers, and lights. Our student body was becoming larger and the word "crowding" was being used commonly. We had about a hundred tuition students from Indiana Township and about five hundred of our own. These were all in the upper four grades. There were no eighth graders in the high school at this time.

In the fall of 1949 there were no new teachers who stayed in the High School. Mrs. Jaloski began teaching that fall and would later teach in the elementary schools. Charlie Grottenthaler was class president. He is now a school superintendent near New York City. Forty-nine was the year with the football records. Seven wins under Coach Antonelli has never been equaled and will therefore stand as the all-time West Deer record. We also had a great baseball team under Coach Zilla which won the section championship.

"In Service" meetings for teachers began with the 1950 school year. Faculty events of note included a Christmas dinner and a North Park picnic later in the spring. This was the year of the "big snow" when West Deer got thirty-one inches on the Friday after Thanksgiving. School was closed for a week.

Ruth McCredie wrote a poem in the 1951 yearbook entitled, "Our Teachers". Bill Suvoy was Senior Class president. This was not a record-breaking year in sports. West Deer was "building".

When school opened in 1951, a new home economics teacher was on the job. Joan Kraft was beginning her teaching career. Margaret Girdwood, who had taught earlier in the high school, returned to the faculty. Mabel Mallory, later Mrs. Daniel Angeloni, was the school secretary. Bill Powers and Vincent Antonelli will be remembered for their handsome heads of hair. Where has it gone now? The senior class president was John Grottenthaler, now the superintendent of Brookville Area Schools. The Grottenthaler family from Russellton had two sons who achieved their Doctorates in Education and are both school superintendents. Andy Massimino from Rural Ridge was also a member of this senior class. He would be the only West Deer High graduate to be graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Almost thirty years later, Robert D. Speer of Magill Heights, Deer Lakes High Class of 1980, would also graduate from the Naval Academy.

This year the agriculture boys got their first tractor and were getting "driving" lessons while the drivers' training classes were getting their driving lessons under the patient direction of Joe Unites. During August the Agriculture seniors spent three days in Gettysburg and Washington D.C.

In September 1952 we had a new school nurse, Annabelle Yeloushan, and a new teacher by the name of Daniel Angeloni. Another new teacher was Sylvia Mariotti who would later leave and return as Sylvia Radovitch. This was the fall that the eighth graders came to the high school along with three gentlemen whose names are familiar to West Deer students and graduates. George Sipes, John Piazza, and James Marsili came to the high school from several of the elementary schools. Several of the oldest buildings were closed and the remainder went on split sessions for two years while a construction program was underway. A new school was being built at Curtisville as well as new shops and an agriculture building behind the high school. Also a new kitchen, cafeteria, band room and a boardroom were added to the high school building itself. A new garage for West Deer's bus fleet was being built. We were beginning to modernize!

Larry Murray and Ed Yaworski were seniors. After college, both returned to our elementary schools and remain on the faculty. In sports football was 3-5-2, basketball 12-10, and baseball 6-0. The most exciting event that winter was the explosion in the agriculture shop. It blew out the windows, scared the pupils in other rooms, started a small fire, and one boy received minor burns. Fortunately damage was not great and there were no serious injuries.

When the pupils and teachers returned to the high school in the fall of 1953, the elementary schools were still on split sessions. Aside from crowded classrooms, high school life was fairly normal. Three familiar names were among the football seniors; Steve Paskorz, end, Frank Yenca, tackle, and Jim Yaconis, quarterback and co- captain. After college, all three would return to teach at West Deer.

In January 1954, just a few months before the Salk Polio vaccine came into use, a heartbreaking tragedy struck at West Deer High. Three pupils were stricken with polio. Clark McCredie, Rod Hohman, and Ernie Baughman were hospitalized with that disease. Ernie escaped without permanent crippling and was the only one who did. Rod suffered damage to one leg. Clark was hospitalized for most of the remainder of his life. He died in August 1975 in his thirty-ninth year. Those who knew Clark are aware of his suffering and how he was sustained by his abiding faith.

In sports that year football was 2-8-0, basketball 12-8, and baseball 7-2.

Things were better in September 1954 when the whole school system returned to normal. This was a big step in West Deer's school history. Gone were the outside toilets, the cold rooms in winter, and the schoolhouses with no water supply. The old frame elementary schools which had served the mining towns in West Deer were closed permanently. A new brick school at Curtisville and additions to Bairdford Consolidated were in operation.

The high school was now a complete Junior-Senior High School with grades seven through twelve. There were thirty-nine teachers. William Kernan started in the wood shop and Albert Mauroni began as band director. In the office, Mabel changed her name to Angeloni. We began eating in the cafeteria. Nelson Tonet was editor of the Coalagra. He would later serve on the Board of Education. We had 812 pupils in the building and, in spite of the building program, were feeling somewhat "crowded". Paul Tomiczek was a senior. He would be our only graduate to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is now retired after serving many years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In the summer of 1955, there were only three Agriculture boys to make the trip to Washington. Clarence Monnier, John Graff and the three boys toured Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, and Washington on the last of the FFA Summer trips. The Agriculture classes were being phased out and few seniors would be graduating.

When school opened that fall there were no new teachers who would stay at West Deer. What was new, were lockers in the hallways. There was also a new print shop in the new shop building. Jack Tady, a musically inclined senior, graduated that year. A good football season was followed by a great basketball season under Coach Zilla, who boasted a 16-6 record.

Jolene Cecchini (DiGiralomo), David Whartenby, and Katherine Williams were new faculty members in 1956. Judy Zonarich and Walter Cesaretti were seniors. Walter now teaches at the Elementary Center and Judy (George) holds forth in our biology department. We now had four sections in each grade and 42 teachers on the faculty. Our six district-owned school busses were always crowded. The drivers-ed class had a brand new 1957 Pontiac. The Agriculture classes bought a used Farmall tractor.

1957-58 was a newsworthy year. We saw the first sputnik, we were hit by the Asian Flu, and we started to talk about an East Deer-Frazer merger. Donald DiMarco came to our metal shop that year and Mickey Vitkay joined the science department. The prom was held on a large boat on the Ohio River. Mr. Angeloni's journalism class went to New York City. The Tamburitzans performed in our gym. The Agriculture classes went to the Farm Show and while touring the capitol building were personally greeted by Governor Leader. The general science classes came up to the school at night to look through the telescope that John Graff built. We won three football games. This just wasn't our year for sports. It was a year for rebuilding.

It appears that every so many years changes take place that have more significance than others. In the fall of 1958, William Burns became Superintendent of Schools and Matthew Petrina came to our high school as principal. Arnold Capellman joined our shop staff. We were graduating more seniors every year and more were going to college. More emphasis was being placed on college preparation.

At the turn of the "decade" when we entered the sixties we saw several new faces in the high school. Joseph DeFazio came to us from the elementary school and Mary Kay Molnar started in the math department. Several familiar names were in the senior class: Dee Charney, Bob Beitko, and Joe Yourish. The first two were combined and now Dee Beitko, who did teach in the biology field, now does some substitute teaching. Joe Yourish is now on the High School faculty. The Junior class this year had a great auction. Fawn Haven was now the home of a growing number of our students. John F. Kennedy was running for President and a number of our students met him in Pittsburgh at a special conference. The shops were entirety remodeled and new classes added. The agriculture courses were "phased out" and John Graff was teaching science and geography. The drivers-ed car was a '60 Rambler. "Operation Jag" caught 825 students in the arm. The biology classes got their second microscope. We had an archery club. Daniel Angeloni moved from the Antler to the Coalagra. Football was 3-7, basketball 9-13. Donkey basketball came to West Deer and with it some sore spots on several areas of the faculty. The prom was at the Hilton, the first prom to be held at this new hotel. The management was pleased with our conduct. We were making plans for a Foreign Exchange student. This was a good year.

The fall of 1960 heard a new phrase, "How sweet it is." Everyone was excited about the Pirates and the Pennant. Anthony Marsico joined us as guidance counselor. Joan Voskamp was new on the scene. Steve Paskorz came home to West Deer after teaching in Arizona. Dick Sekanick began teaching after working for several years in industry. Giovanna Montafani became one of "us" and graduated before returning to her home near Milan, Italy. There were lots of student activities and field trips. YFC (Youth for Christ) was a byword. Football finished with a 6- 3, basketball with a 13-10. The Junior Class had another lively auction. The prom this year was at the Hillcrest Country Club. These auctions financed bigger and better proms.

When school started in the fall of 1961 John Pastorek was new in the art room. There was also a new personality in the library. Geraldine (Mrs. John) Piazza began her career as West Deer High's librarian. Chris Lambert resigned after spending a number of years in that position. Mildred Collier was Mr. Petrina's new secretary. We had a foreign exchange student from Indonesia. The prom was at the Alcoma Country Club. The sports record was satisfactory.

The 1962-63 school year showed several signs of things going up. Most noticeable was the skirt length. Knees began to show. Another secretary was hired for the office. The job went to Florence Kondrak. Al DeCapite began teaching science. This was not a great football year. We finished with a 4-5 record. Basketball fared considerably better. Coach Marsili's team brought home the WPIAL section crown with an 18-4 record. The prom went to the Churchill Valley Country Club. Bobbie Grass was our official 2000th graduate.

Dora Zilla and Len Scimio joined our ranks in the fall of 1963. School got off to a good start. The football season ended with a 4-5, the same as the previous year. Our nation was under the leadership of a popular young president. No one will easily forget that awful day in November. The tragic death of President Kennedy was a blow to every student. This event left a certain sadness which lasted much of the school year. The prom the following spring was held at the Royal Ridge Field Club. The class of '64 had 138 members. It was the 20th West Deer graduation and the coldest in school history.

September, 1964 found only a few changes in the faculty. Hannah Ekas returned after having been gone for several years. We now had forty-three teachers and 1083 pupils. Construction was underway on a building which would be called the Annex. It would serve as West Deer's Junior High for four years, then as part of the senior high, and eventually as the East Union Elementary School. This was the year that the Chorus went to the New York World's Fair to sing during Pennsylvania Week. Basketball made a 13-7 record and baseball a 12-3. The prom this year was on the Gateway Clipper which was boarded at Oakmont. The senior class graduated 141, which exceeded the previous year's record by three. It was an outside graduation ceremony on the football field but was interrupted by rain and had to be finished in the gym. When it was over West Deer had graduated a total of 2282 young people.

It had been quite evident for some time that West Deer High needed much more classroom space. There were 1200 in a building engineered for half that number. Crowding was not just classrooms. It included hallways, toilets, drinking fountains, stairways, cafeteria, doorways, safety considerations, ventilation capabilities, and much more. The new Annex building, under construction for more than a year, was the result of much controversy as to what would best suit the need.

In the period between 1960 and 1965 when college students were making headlines with their protests, many of our citizens were doing almost the same at public meetings and in the press. A local "shopping news", frequently labeled the "fish wrapper", was the media by which local groups and individuals swapped insults and criticism. This was especially true right before the '63 and '65 primary elections for local offices.

There was so much criticism in those days that it is indeed surprising that we got any building at all. Although subject to severe criticism at the time, this building would eventually be recognized as one of the better "buys" made by this school district. Much of the credit for this addition to our schools must be given to Nelson Tonet.

The summer of 1965 was one in which several major changes could be observed taking place. The new Annex building was being finished for the opening of the fall term. Angeline Schuster was elected Vice-Principal of the high school to be in charge of the seventh and eighth grade. This was her official title, but in reality she was the new junior high principal. Since your author was a junior high teacher this writing will be more concerned with the junior high than the senior high, although both will be included for the next four years.

By this time we were up to six sections of each grade. This made scheduling difficult because each teacher taught five sections. This meant that a few teachers would be "stuck" with a number of preparations. Howwell Steve Paskorz remembers! To further add to scheduling problems, all "round robin" and gym classes had to be held in the main building. Also, all lunches would have to be eaten in the cafeteria. This caused considerable movement between buildings in all kinds of weather, also, one senior high math class and a study hall had to be held in the Annex. The study hall was held in the back hallway and gave more meaning to the term "study hall". Even with a brand new building, we were still crowded.

The Junior High had its own library with Marden Dahlstedt at the helm. She would later leave and become an author of children's books, but not before she organized our library. Teachers' aides were new this year and were part of a new federal program to help education. Anthony Marsico had the job of setting up this program as an assistant administrator. Everyone agreed that a good job was done. It was indeed difficult to match the aide to the job.

Many junior high activities were organized and put into action. The yearbook for the next four years would include the junior high. Cathy Bochek was this year's editor. Wynn Kenyon was senior class president. At graduation, 158 seniors received diplomas, bringing the total to 2440 in twenty-two years.

This was not a good sports year. A heartbreaking football season ended 0-9, the only winless season in West Deer history. Basketball did a lot better with a 14-6. This was one better than the previous year which took the section crown. Baseball had a good season with a 10-3. Several players gave a good account of themselves. Lon Stock batted .435 and struck out sixty-one in seven games.

The Junior class had a Powder Puff game to help raise money for the prom. Your author heard comments at the game that his daughter Bonnie and Adriann Hazlett should have been playing for the varsity. The prom was held at Holiday Inn and was termed a huge success by those who were there. I

In the spring of 1966 William Burns announced that he would retire from the superintendence. After much consideration, a new one was chosen, Dr. Edgar J. Holtz, of the Monroeville area.

The summer of 1966 for your author was a significant year, having spent most of it touring Europe. The return to school that fall was a quick trip back to reality. The Left Bank became the left hallway down to the library.

The Junior High by now was well established and operating efficiently. Several events highlighted the school year. The library sponsored a book fair and the eighth grade was invited to participate in the Junior High Quiz on TV. Ricky Wirtz came to our new junior high and photographed a number of scenes for the TV show. Our team won the round championship but failed to win the coveted grand prize, a three-day Washington trip. Through the efforts of several teachers' aides who solicited local funds, the team did get to spend three days touring Gettysburg, Washington, and Harper's Ferry. Their sponsor (me) and Joe Yourish chaperoned the kids through three busy days of sightseeing.

The Junior High pupils watched a project the fall of 1966 that they will probably never see again. The football field was plowed and harrowed just like a farm field. Since it required a great deal of work on it in the way of reseeding, there were no home football games. All the "home" games were away, including the homecoming game, which was held on the Richland field on a Saturday afternoon.

The football team won one game this fall. Ozzie Kenyon was the most valuable player. Basketball won five, lost twelve. The baseball season ended with an even 6-6. Golf and track teams were organized, trained, and began competition.

Marlene Georgic, now one of our elementary teachers, was Homecoming Queen. Ozzie Kenyon and Bonnie Graff were King and Queen of Sports. Tom DeMartini was senior class president.

Senior High activities included the Tiny Tim dance and Christmas baskets. A new Pep Club under Bill Powers direction began cheering loudly when the situation required it. The shop boys of Don DiMarco built a unique choo-choo and won recognition at the Industrial Arts Fair.

Spring graduation presented 165 diplomas and brought the total to 2605. Each graduating class was just a little larger than the previous year's class.

The school year of 1967-68 was not one of great events or happenings, but rather one of steady growth. We were growing larger and more crowded, and the conning merger was only two years away. Most future planning was being done with that goal in mind. Much had been done and much more had to be done before this merger would become a reality,

The Junior High continued to grow into its own identity. A program of feature movies was instituted. Since it was very difficult to have separate assemblies, increased effort was made to have similar programs within the building. The library and its adjoining classroom opened to a space large enough to handle each grade. The student council under Joe Yourish began to take greater interest in their own affairs. Granny dresses, hot pants, and slacks were still banned for student wear. After considerable planning and groundwork, the eighth grade, under the sponsorship of Joe Yourish, made a long one-day field trip to Gettysburg. It was the beginning of what would be other, longer field trips, which would include Harrisburg, Hershey, and Washington, D.C.

In the Senior High the biggest news was a new football coach. Coach Boulton was on the job. The most intensive training program in years yielded only one win. Don DiMarco's basketball squad finished with a 12-10. Pinky Victain racked up 466 points. Baseball held its own with a 4-3.

Stanley Pitman was president of the senior class. The treasurer was Dotty Jamison. They liked the arrangement so well that it was made permanent. Mrs. Dotty is still the treasurer. The band got a new director, Roger White. The student body was shocked when George Metzier's untimely and tragic end came on February 19th of viral pneumonia.

The year ended with the prom being held in the ballroom of Chatham Center. The after-prom party was held on the Gateway Clipper. This year's graduates numbered 174.

September, 1968 was the beginning of the final year of the West Deer Township High School. Sports wise it did not finish in a blaze of glory. Football showed some improvement with a 4-5 record. Basketball was 8-15 and baseball ended with a 4-10. Bob Parasso was the last senior class president. Another tragic death of a student came when Lester Linamen, a senior, was killed in an automobile accident.

West Deer did make a name for itself at the Industrial Arts Fair at Kaufmanns. A 1903 Cadillac built by Lance Molnar and Ron Leggens was judged "Best of Show".

In the Junior High the Explorers' Club was getting underway with John Graff and Charley Mann as the sponsors. Although active since 1961, the club had never given itself a name and was more or less "underground' in its activities. Several caves were explored by the group that year.

Again, the eighth grade was invited to participate in the Junior High Quiz. This time the team, composed of a rare combination of brilliant young minds, went all the way, winning the Grand Championship, another trophy for the school, and a great trip to Washington for themselves, their principal, and their sponsor (me). In this manner, the Junior High did finish in its own little blaze of glory.

Dr. Holtz resigned the superintendence as of January 1, six months before the merger with East Deer was to take place. Burton Stevenson was named acting superintendent until July 1 and an immediate search began for a new super. The board's final selection was Dr. B.W. Norris, who was hired on March 3 to begin duties the following July as Deer Lakes Superintendent.

Much of the spring 1969 activity in the high school was centered around the choosing of a new name for the coming merger, new school colors, new mascot, new team name, new yearbook name, and many more.

The largest class in West Deer history was graduated in June 1969. 177 seniors received their diplomas, bringing the grand total to slightly less than three thousand. There had been twenty-five graduations in the twenty-six-and-a- half years of the high school's history. Only one member of the faculty, Clarence Monnier, had been with the high school through its entire history.

The final event for the juniors and seniors was the prom, held in June, after graduation. This gala affair, held in Webster Hall, was a fitting climax for the West Deer High School. The after-prom party, back in the high school gym, was the last affair in the West Deer Township High School. Thirteen days later it would lose its identity.

At a five hour joint meeting of the school boards held on June 23, the districts each ended their own identity and accounts. One week from the next day, July 1,1969, the official Deer Lakes School assumed all credits and liabilities of the two members. Dr. Norris, elected earlier in March, then became the Superintendent of the Deer Lakes District on active duty. That meeting also assigned the official titles to the administrative staffs of both districts.

Picture 27 – Coal delivery

by: Sister M. Bernadette Giba, O.S.F.

September 1, 1964 - Opening of the new Transfiguration School with the Children's Liturgy at 9:00 A.M. Rev. Stanley Piekarski officiated at the mass. School opened with two grades; fifty-eight children were registered for grades 1 and 2, thirty-two for grade 1 and twenty-six for grade 2. Sister Rosalia Barabas, O.S.F., was the first Principal.

On December 29, 1964, Rev. Francis Weaver replaced Rev. Stanley Piekarski as pastor of Transfiguration Parish.

June 13, 1965, seventy-three children received their First Holy Communion. Twenty-six were from Transfiguration School Grade 2 and forty-seven from CCD Grade Three.

Each year a grade was added at Transfiguration School until Grade 6.

On September 3, 1968, Transfiguration School opened with six grades, 1-6, with a total of 188 pupils.

On April 24, 1969, the Sisters moved into the new convent next to the school. Due to the death of Sister Rosalia on May 12, 1969, the office of Principal became vacant and Sister Francis Kopas became the second Principal of Transfiguration School, a position which she held until June 1976. In September of 1976, Sister Geraldine Pavlik became the third Principal of Transfiguration School until June 1979.

On August 29, 1977, Transfiguration School opened its doors for the first Kindergarten class with 24 pupils. The total number of students for grades K-6 was 124

On August 28, 1979, Sister M. Bernadette Giba, O.S.F., was assigned new Principal of Transfiguration School. The year opened with 58 boys and 58 girls in grades K-6, a total of 116 children.

This year, 1984-1985, Transfiguration School has an enrollment of 131 children was nearly half of the students from eleven neighboring parishes, Catholic and non- Catholic.

In addition to the excellent quality education Transfiguration provides for the future citizens of West Deer, it also boasts of an excellent CCD Program under the direction of Sister M. Joyce Burkhart, O.S.F.

For twenty years, Transfiguration School has continued to provide outstanding men and women for the community and will exert every effort to provide the children with the best Catholic and academic education because the staff realizes they are here to train and teach the whole person" spiritually, physically, emotionally and academically.

The land upon which the town of Russellton now stands was purchased in the early 1800's by a Mr. Porter. His total holdings were 238 acres of which he later sold a part to men in the Griffith family. This was the northern part of his land, which again was sold, in part, to the Gray and Geisy families.

There seems to be no well-known name given to this area before Gray's Mill. A McConnell family operated a mill on this site, later selling it to the Gray family who gave their name to the mill, the crossroads, and the log school there. There is no record of the McConnells and it is not known if they held ownership of property.

Over the years, with the moving in of more families, a blacksmith shop was opened by the Griffith family, who later sold it to the Geiseys. The Griffith also had a general store and a livery stable. Records tell us that a Rural Ridge post office was located in Gray's Mill. A log schoolhouse also existed on the Gray property. This all transpired before the railroad came through in 1896-1897.

In 1884 a test hole was drilled in the vicinity of Gray's Mill which indicated a rich vein of coal. Some years later, about the turn of the century, George Love came to Gray's Mill to buy coal rights. He was the son of a pioneer family and former resident of the area. Altogether he purchased the coal rights under about a thousand acres for the price of $29.00 per acre. He also bought a 67-acre farm upon which the town and mine of Russellton No. 1 would be built. The land, which he bought, was formerly Griffith-Gray holdings. It extended south to the Porter land and was on both sides of the valley. At this time the railroad and the coal were known facts. The mine and the market were yet unknown.

Little consideration was given in 1903 to town planning. In the beginning no dwelling faced a public road. All were built on private paths, back from the road. One row was built north of the mine and the remainder in several short rows to the south and across the roadway. These houses were constructed without basements, plumbing, or electricity. Since no miner owned a car or a horse, only footpaths connected the houses with the mine or the public road. There was no class distinction in housing. The mine owner lived in a cottage on the hillside opposite the mine. All mine foremen and workmen lived in the double houses provided for them. The only class distinction, which existed, was that of location. Some rows were considered to have a higher prestige value than others. In later housing class difference became greater.

These first miners were recruited from other Western Pennsylvania mines. Later many would come directly from their homelands in eastern, central, and southern Europe.

By the end of 1904 the mine was in operation. Twenty- five double houses and seven singles had been completed and occupied. Many of the early families boarded one or two more. Several local men also labored at the mine, making a labor force in the neighborhood of a hundred men.

This coal operation was known as the Bessemer Coal and Coke Company. A subsidiary operation known as the Bessemer Supply Company was set up about 1905 to serve as the company store. It must be remembered that the local store and post office had been in operation before the mining town was built. The company store was built facing the public road near the mine plant and also served as the mine office and post office. When the post office, formerly called Rural Ridge Post Office, was put in the company store building it was renamed Russellton Post Office, and the Rural Ridge office moved several miles to the south in Indiana Township. This happened in 1907. For several years previous to this the railroad station which served the village was called Russellton Station. In this same period a private grocery store and meat market was built at the southern edge of town, the land most likely coming from the Porter farm.

In the period between 1904 and 1910 many new company buildings were erected. A boarding house was built and around it a dozen double houses. Several short streets were laid out at right angles to the road and lined with double houses. A United Presbyterian Church was built. A school addition was added north of town to handle the increasing enrollment. A Roman Catholic Church was added several years later.

Class distinction came with the addition of these newer houses. The "New Patch" was considered more desirable than the "Old Patch". Houses facing the public road were the ultimate. The first row built in 1903 in the northern part of town became "Blue Row" when they were painted blue. A new row facing the road was painted yellow and became "Yellow Row". The row by the church became "Church Row". Another row was built on a muddy public road leaving the main row in the southern part of town and became known as "Muddy Row". A short row was built on the bank along the road consisting of single houses with basements. These had the highest prestige and were occupied by mine foremen. A few houses were built as late as 1917 but the town form, row names, and such prestige values that existed were already established.

These houses, for the most part, were without basements, plumbing, electricity, or central heating. Water was supplied from wells placed at intervals along the paths, which would later become company streets. Heating was by open fireplaces unless the miner could afford a heating stove. A total of eighty-five houses were built, of which twenty-one was single and the rest double. No Company doctor was provided for several years until a new house of good quality was built to serve as his residence and office. A similar house was also built for the mine superintendent.

Until 1912, the town of Russellton in appearance was that of a mining town. The original crossroads store and blacksmith shop was still serving the rural trade, undisturbed by the mining town not very far away. The land to the north was unoccupied except for the schoolhouse. A mile to the north was the mining town of Curtisville No. 1 with more residents than Russellton and even fewer business enterprises. This was the setting upon which the commercial part of Russellton was to grow.

North of the mining town was two farms which, up to this point in time, were not for sale. In 1912 lots became available for the first time. Free enterprise could now show itself. The railroad had changed management and was known as the Pittsburgh, Bessemer, and Lake Erie Railroad. Considerable reconstruction was done in the 1906-1910 period. During these years a work train and several temporary living quarters were in use along its lines near Russellton. With this work finished, the operation of mine run crews required that the trainmen be quartered in Russellton. In 1913 the railroad bought several acres on the bluff between the road and the tracks south of the school property. On this site it constructed seven two-story houses for key people. Four years later a three-story hotel was built for the mine run crews.

In 1900 the school building had one room. When the company houses were occupied more rooms were needed so a second floor was added in 1904. Several years later the lower room was divided into three smaller rooms. In 1912 two additional rooms were built and the divided room restored to a single large room. In 1915 two more rooms were constructed. At the beginning of Russellton's commercial development the school contained six rooms.

Within the 1912-1916 period considerable progress was made in all sections of town. The Coal Company had built a modern brick building to house its offices and a bank. The second floor served as a hotel for office employees and visitors. A livery stable had been built beside the blacksmith shop and now offered taxi service to New Kensington, Springdale, and Pittsburgh. A shoe store, barber shop, and drug store were in business. A dentist opened an office and a doctor built a residence and office. A local bus line began operating on a somewhat irregular schedule. The early stores were characterized by the proprietor having his living quarters in the rear or above the store. The bank had built a house for its manager because of the isolated position of Russellton.

The Little Deer Creek Road had been improved in 1910 but was still not considered a dependable road. Russellton was considered remote. The railroad was the only dependable line of communication and connections were not too convenient. The cost of taxi service to New Kensington was $9.00 and to Pittsburgh, $10.00. These were considered all-day trips and included any reasonable number of riders, a reasonable wait in town, and the return trip. We can laugh now, but that was the way it was in those days. In 1916 bus service was available to Springdale but the trips varied with the road conditions and the number of passengers.

The period from 1916 to the early twenties was one of continued progress in the business district. Several stores changed ownership, several failed, and some new ones were started. This period saw two theaters operating with silent films, barber and beauty shops, hardware, several groceries, a new drug store (Miller Drug Later Palmers) and a number of houses added to the business district. The first theater was moved by rail from Numine, Pa. and reconstructed in the northern part of town. It had its own power plant and opened in 1920. It was used as a theater on certain nights when folding chairs were set up and on other evenings as a roller skating rink. There were possibly thirty residences in this part of Russellton by this time. They were owned and occupied by miners, railroaders, and businessmen.

Picture 28 – Russellton #1 Bank and "the Playground"

Picture 29 – Russellton #1 Main Street 1920's

This is Main Street with the company store looking North from about where the bank was the sign on the porch reads "US Post Office Russellton, Pa." (Picture courtesy Theodore Albert Gall & daughter R. S. "Sue" Sukle)

Picture 30 – Map of Russellton

The period from 1916 to the early twenties was one of continued progress in the business district. Several stores changed ownership, several failed, and some new ones were started. This period saw two theaters operating with silent films, barber and beauty shops, hardware, several groceries, a new drug store (Miller Drug Later Palmers) and a number of houses added to the business district. The first theater was moved by rail from Numine, Pa. and reconstructed in the northern part of town. It had its own power plant and opened in 1920. It was used as a theater on certain nights when folding chairs were set up and on other evenings as a roller skating rink. There were possibly thirty residences in this part of Russellton by this time. They were owned and occupied by miners, railroaders, and businessmen.

One gasoline station had an early beginning beside the company store in the early twenties, it was operated by the chauffeur of the mine owner. Considering that in 1920 there were three autos in this town and little through traffic there was little need for more than one service station.

By this time (1920) electricity had come to Russellton. Unlike the other mining communities, no electricity was generated at the mine plant for the tenants. This was a late date for this service, keeping in mind its nearness to centers of population. It made life more enjoyable but had little influence on progress. It probably influenced the building of a modern theater in the late part of 1920.

The 1920 Decade

The early and middle part of this decade was a period of economic difficulty in most of the local coal mine's. During the First World War business had boomed. Now there was an oversupply and the government had imposed a price ceiling in 1921. The Bessemer Coal and Coke Company had by this time been sold to the Republic Steel Corporation and was completely captive, thus making it dependent upon prosperity in the steel industry. In the meantime a second shaft called Russellton No. 2 had opened with additional coal rights and a more efficient operating site, making the closing of the No. 1 mine an obvious fact. The closing took place in 1924 and the miner reported to the new shaft. He did not experience the economic hardship common to other mines. In the twenty years of its operation the No. 1 mine produced about eight million tons of coal.

The coming of the auto and better roads brought several service stations. A billiards parlor and a bowling alley opened for business. Another grocery store was established. This grocery was the only one of these businesses to operate for a long period of time. Several new houses were built each year. This construction was in the private development of Russellton north of the company town.

The two greatest social stories which could be written about Russellton in the 1920's would concern prohibition and the great coal strike of 1927. They are both part of the history of the town. The strike story will appear elsewhere in this book.

Trying to imagine what the commercial town of Russellton looked like in the early 1920's is difficult for a newcomer but I have tried to put together other people's remembrances. Geisys lived where Bochecks now live and had their livery stable just to the south along the road. The blacksmith shop was across the road beside what is now Sal's Styles Unlimited. The Griffith Theater was nearby on what is now an empty lot. The Lyric and Davis Theater to the north was used for skating and later became a union hall before burning down. The drug store went up about 1925. The Roccos had a barbershop where the liquor store now is and were known for their music. The remnants of the dam and millrace for Gray's mill could be seen where James Marsili now lives. The Catanese family had a fruit stand near the junction of McKrell Road. Several portable school buildings were placed near the large frame building. They were needed for the Russellton No. 2 children until the current unused No. 2 building was built about 1926. The Griffith house where the Claus family now resides had some stained glass in the windows, which can still be seen. Abe and Nathan Rutstein had a grocery and general store not far from the present dry cleaning plant. Farther north toward the school was the Dompe store along the road. There are probably many places left out of this description but these are a few which some remember. Local people did not always drive their Model "T's" to Russellton to buy supplies. Roads were often so bad that it was easier to walk or use the more dependable horse and buggy.

The 1930 Decade

The early years of the depression had the same effect upon Russellton that it had upon most other mining towns whose economy was geared to a single base. Mine work was not always steady. There was widespread unemployment, business failures, and some emigration back to Europe. In the town of Russellton this was a period of fires. Between 1929 and 1930 the business section of town was almost eliminated. In the fall of 1931 there were seven major fires. The majority of the buildings were eventually rebuilt, some as modern brick structures. Business starts, changes, and failures were common during this period. The bank closed in 1932 and, although it had been in good financial condition, never reopened. A State Liquor Store opened in December 1935 and has operated since in the same location. A real estate and insurance office opened in 1932. An auto repair shop opened in 1936 and has been in operation since then. A small grocery opened and later expanded into a large supermarket. A beauty shop opened in 1935 and remained in the same location for many years although under different management. Two taverns, a beverage distributor, and several clubs originated with the end of prohibition. Other enterprises which ended during this period included a bowling alley, fruit market, jewelry store, a dry cleaning place, and a local office for an out-of-town funeral home. In 1935 natural gas became available for home heating.

By 1940 Russellton was established as the only retail center of any size in West Deer and drew customers from other parts of the township. By this time there were about seventy houses in Russellton in addition to the company houses.

Picture 31 – Street scene Russellton 1930

Picture 32 – Main Street Russellton 1930

Picture 33 – Russellton train Station

War and Post-War Russellton

Soon after our entry into the war, city water was brought to Russellton, narrowly escaping the steel rationing. Building had to end with the war but local residents were now working full-time, locally, and commuting to other jobs, and were accumulating the capital for building in later years. A hardware (store) was opened in 1942 and developed into a modern, well-stocked business. A poolroom and bowling alley opened and operated for a few years. The most important local change came in 1944 when Republic Steel sold all of its houses to those who lived in them. Company streets became township roads along with other changes. About ten more houses were built in Russellton in the post-war period. More people were working at places other than the mines and were no longer under the "company" influence. Other changes came too. A dry cleaning plant and an auto salvage yard were opened right after the war. After several tries by others, a local man took over a funeral home and was successful; this was followed by a floral shop. A few years later, in 1953, an appliance shop with repair service was added. A modern medical center was established in an old store building, but later moved out of the township. In 1955 a lumberyard opened, in 1956 a restaurant, in 1957 a studio. The hardware store moved into a new, larger building, the lumberyard expanded, and the drugstore enlarged to several times its former size. The dry cleaning plant opened retail outlets in other towns and enlarged its cleaning facilities. One change from the "old days" was evident. Many of the new enterprises had the owner living in a house somewhere else, not above or behind his business.

As Russellton moved through the sixties and seventies, the business district placed more emphasis on bringing in more trade to the area. Leonard Freedman, whose store on the main road had burned, built a new, modern building to house a bank, variety store, and supermarket in addition to a restaurant on the same property. After so many years of traveling to other areas, local people could do they're banking in Russellton. The restaurant eventually converted to a savings and loan association, giving Russellton two banking institutions. The post office had been moved to the Long building, then the Travellini building and finally to its present site in 1974. A large lumberyard flourished for about ten years and burned in one of the largest fires in Russellton's history. A number of businesses and services were established in this period but all did not survive.

In the late seventies a large commercial building was built in the valley just south of town. The local supermarket moved to this location which also housed a new drug store while another grocery was established in the Freedman building. Soon afterward it was replaced by a chain supermarket. It was obvious that Russellton's growth in business was bringing in customers from farther away. Many of the older one-of-a-kind businesses were now multiple and competition was real. Russellton now had two grocery supermarkets, drug stores, auto parts stores, banking institutions, funeral homes, hardware and building suppliers, plus a growing number of other stores and services. This mining town had come a long way since 1910.

Picture 34 – Street scene Russellton 1955

Picture 37 – Aurora Movie Theater

Russellton No. 2 is a former mining community of a hundred houses located on a high hill above the former Republic Steel Corporation mine of that name. Unlike some of West Deer's other mining towns it does not have any significant commercial or residential district next to it. In that respect it is dependent on the mother town of Russellton No. 1, almost a mile away. The Coal Company needed adjacent land for gob piles and none was available for private building.

This mining town has its beginning during the First World War. With the purchase of more coal lands and the need for a better shaft site, the Bessemer Coal and Coke Company made the decision to sink a shaft at the present location early in 1916. In June of that year construction of the shaft was started plus the engineering work for the community which was to be built near the mine. It was laid out on a steep hill above the mine and has a greater difference in elevation than any other mining village in this township. All the nearby valley locations were to be needed for the gob piles and, being unsuited for this purpose, this steep hill then became the most logical location for the town. The elevation ranges from 920 feet to 1140 feet, leaving a difference of 220 feet. In 1917 the factor of slope in company streets was of little concern when very few miners owned cars and didn't need them to get to work. Currently, this slope requires extra attention in winter when snow and ice are present.

In 1917 a construction firm began the building of the fifty-seven double houses and thirty singles which were to house mine officials and miners. Since the object of this new shaft was to connect and operate with the underground workings of the No. 1 mine, the same men could be sent to either opening. In fact, it was not until several years later when the mine tunnels were connected that all the houses became occupied and this mine operated at capacity.

In March of 1917 the first coal was hoisted from this shaft and it became a commercial mine. With the basic houses completed and the mine operating, the ownership of the Bessemer Coal and Coke Company passed to the Republic Steel Corporation on January 1, 1918 and was under its management until it was sold again to the LTV Steel Corporation in the early 1980's.

The structure of No. 2 as a mining community had several variations from the typical. Aside from a company store it depended on the No. 1 town for almost all the company and commercial services.

By 1918 a small commercial core had become established in Russellton No. 1 .The company doctor, bank, other administrative units, and mine offices were centered there also. Therefore the function of No. 2 was not complete in itself from the beginning.

Difference in housing was not as expressive as in the Curtisville communities. In Russellton No. 2 there was only one basic difference in housing. Single houses with basements were built along the main Company Street from the bottom of the hill to a point about halfway to the top. Double houses without basements were built along side streets toward the top of the hill. All were wired for electricity but none had running water. All had to be heated by heating stoves. Three of the first single houses had an extra room for a future bathroom. The single houses starting at the bottom of the hill were occupied by supervisory personnel and all the rest by miners. All families had four rooms.

Water was supplied by wells located at convenient points along the Company Street. However, in 1923 a hydrant system was put in which carried unfiltered mine water for fire protection and washing. Mine water was pumped to two reservoirs above town and flowed by gravity to all points. A year later a filtration plant was put in so that this water was clean enough for drinking and cooking purposes. When the hydrant system was installed the company furnished pipe to the miners so that they could pipe the water into their homes. Thus, by 1924 every house in No. 2 had running water. Sewers drained wash water from the single houses and later included all.

Every house had been wired for electricity and each family paid a flat rate for this utility. This current was purchased by the mining company from a commercial producer and resold to their tenants.

All heating was done by coal burning heating stoves. Years later natural gas lines were run to a few of the single houses for heating water and cooking only.

The mine superintendent's house was built close to the mineshaft for his convenience and so that he would be very close to all operations. The company store was built along the main highway at the foot of the Company Street. Thus another compensation for being in management was not having to carry groceries and supplies all the way up the hill.

A large boarding house was built in 1917 with the rest of the town but was not used as such until 1924 when the town was just be coming fully occupied. Between 1917 and 1924 the superintendent lived in the boarding house and the assistant in the "Super's" house. When underground operations were connected in 1924, operations were nearly normal and housing was used for the purpose for which it was intended. The mine office and boarding house were put into operation in the No.2 location and the function as a mining town became complete except for a few business and commercial services, which were never to leave the No. 1 town.

In 1917 two pre-fabricated one-room schools were built to accommodate the growing number of children. As the houses became occupied these were not enough. In 1925 a modern twelve-room elementary school was built at the southern edge of the No. 1 town within walking distance for the children of either town. The pre-fab schools were not converted to housing but sold to a farmer and moved away to become poultry houses. The school buildings had been used at an early date for union meetings until the Union hall was completed south of town in the next township.

No church was ever built in No. 2. At one time some services were held in the Union Hall but other than that there were no permanent religious organizations. The one Protestant and one Catholic Church in Russellton No. 1 were ample to meet the religious needs of this community.

This has described the organizational make-up of the original community. A review of the topographical setting would aid in a more complete understanding of this operation. The mine plant was situated in a narrow valley through which ran a hard-surfaced road. Superintendent's house, company store, and boarding house faced this road. From the company store a street ran up a steep hill branching out in several places. The single houses were on each side of the street along its lower half. The doubles were at the top of the hill. The map included here, shows the town layout.

Picture 38 – Map of Russellton No. 2

Picture 39 – Russellton #2 line January 1949

The coal strike of 1927 had the same basic effects on Russellton No. 2 as it had on the other mining towns. Several barracks were built nearby on rented land and the town was cleared of its tenants until the strike terminated. During this strike the Coal and Iron Police were housed in the boarding house.

In 1928 when operations were resumed the houses again were occupied and the activity of a normal mining town returned.

There were no significant housing developments in No. 2 from the time of its founding until 1944. A few houses had been built south of town in the next township but none in the immediate vicinity. All of the immediate land was held by the Coal Company and the only other land between No. 2 and No. 1 was a farm, which could not be purchased. At one time an attempt was made by the company to purchase part of this land for the expanding gob pile.

In 1944 the majority of the houses were sold to their occupants. At this time several changes took place. The old waterlines were sold to a water company, which began supplying this utility from a better source at a flat rate per tap. Electricity was purchased directly from the utility company. The former company streets became public roads and each new owner began paying real estate taxes. small amount of real estate frontage along the highway was purchased by a mine official and resold as building lots. Since that time several houses have been built, mostly by former miners. This has been the only expansion in housing in No. 2 in forty years.

Several commercial additions were made. A small grocery was started in 1944, a beverage distributor shortly afterward, and a toyshop in 1948. The latter developed into a cabinet shop specializing in kitchen work and has grown in size and reputation. A tire retreading shop also started. A company-owned gasoline station was modernized and leased to private management. Not all of these enterprises survived.

The boarding house was sold and converted into several apartments. Six of the single houses were retained by the company but were sold at a later date.

The gob piles were large but built scientifically to prevent their burning. Those along the highway have been a factor in the prohibition of commercial growth there.

In the 1950's Republic Steel purchased additional coal rights and an old shaft in the Superior area. The shaft was improved, hoists and outside plant built, and the mine put into operation. All coal was then removed from this site rather than at No. 2. A large coal washing plant had been built at No. 2 and the coal from this new mine taken there for cleaning before it was shipped out.

Picture 40 – Aerial of Russellton No. 2

This operation worked rather steadily until the summer of 1962 when it shut down for about nine months. Then after a brief period of operation it shut down again for a similar period. Since this mining operation depended on how well the steel industry was doing it had a somewhat uncertain future. Work through the sixties and the seventies was more or less steady. In the early 1980's Republic Steel sold their holdings in West Deer to the LTV Steel Corporation. The mine was shut down in October 1982, idling about 170 miners. About twenty men remained at the cleaning plant, which processed coal from the Newfield mine owned by the same company. When that mine went on strike in October 1984 because of no contract, the cleaning plant, with no coal to clean, had to shut down, leaving West Deer with no operating mines or employed miners producing coal within the township. In 1946 it was estimated that over 1200 men worked in the mines of West Deer Township. Now there were none.

Curtisville today shows many signs that it was once a company-mining town. A few buildings are gone and a few new houses have been built, the streets have been paved and underground water lines, sewers, and gas lines have been installed, but otherwise the rows of houses are still quite evident. Aside from these changes Curtisville is still almost a classic example, in physical layout, of an early twentieth century mining town.

The West Deer area became coal conscious around the turn of the century. The drilling of gas wells had revealed the presence of a thick seam of high-grade coal. The exploitation of this resource presented a challenge to a number of investors. One of these, a Mrs. Louella Eisler of Butler, Pennsylvania, had taken options on coal rights on about 6500 acres in the central part of the township. In 1908 these options were purchased by the Michigan Alkali Company for an average price of fifty dollars per acre. In early 1909 its agents came to this area and began preparations for the opening of two mines. More coal lands were purchased, bringing the total to about 8000 acres.

After numerous drilling tests the sites were selected for the first two mines. Since most of the original purchases provided clauses for land options, the sites could be located and the land purchased without difficulty.

Several factors governed the location of the shaft sites. Since the coal sloped upward to the north and varied from east to west, low points were chosen so that loaded coal cars could be drifted to each shaft's bottom. Such sites were located generally so that each shaft would remove about 2000 acres of coal. Each would also be located where the shaft would not be too deep, a shallow shaft requiring much less time for raising and dumping coal than a deep shaft. Lastly, and very importantly, was the proximity of such sites to the existing railroad lines in the area. These mines would be shipping huge tonnage of coal and would require spur lines and small shifting yards.

Thus the shaft sites were determined after considerable research and planning. Since these sites were the primary consideration, the community, which would take form, resulted from secondary planning on such land that would be purchased near the mine plant.

It must be understood that such villages were planned as company towns and were designed for the efficient operation of the mine. They were not planned as model communities but as private towns built on private property and including only such streets, utilities, and conveniences that were judged to be necessary and economical at the time.

Curtisville No. 1 was to be the first and largest of the Ford Communities. As such it was to contain certain buildings and facilities not to be found in the other mining towns. The majority of these buildings were dwellings or offices for special personnel who were to provide certain services for all the Ford communities. These would include medical, police, fire protection, house maintenance, and others.

Contracting firms were hired to sink he mine shafts and built the first group of company houses. Later, company carpenters would complete the town, but first it would be necessary to have a number of houses constructed so that workers could be moved in.

This Curtisville mine, named the Benjamin Mine by Ford Collieries, had a valley location. Only a short spur was necessary to join the main railroad. The mine plant itself, was placed in the valley bottom, dividing the lands owned by the company. The major portion of the town was to be built on a triangular-shaped hillside between the mine and the main railroad. The administrative center was at the apex of this triangle. It overlooked the mine valley and was near the railroad, the only good transportation around.

The only utilities necessary in an early mining town were streets good enough for a wagon road and water. Such streets were the bare earth, later to be covered with slate or gravel. Water was supplied from a number of wells which finally totaled almost a hundred and which later had to be supplemented by a system of hydrants from central storage tanks. Houses in Curtisville were wired for electricity, which was produced at the mine plant. In this respect they were more modern than local farmhouses.

The administrative section called "bosstown" by some miners, contained two of the most important buildings in the company town, yet two of the first to disappear from the town scene after their use was no longer needed. Across from these buildings were the general manager's house, the mine superintendent's house, and the store manager's house. These supervisors lived right across the street from their work.

The residence of the mine official was usually larger than that of the miner. It contained plumbing and was certainly modern for 1909. Water was piped in from a central source and a large septic tank sewage system was constructed. None of these conveniences was installed in the miner's house. Although all heat was originally from fireplaces, furnaces were later put in the officials' houses. The standard of living in 1909 would not have classified any house in Curtisville as substandard for a rural area. Other mine officials to have modern housing included the foreman and his assistants, the engineer, office men, and company doctor. The tatter's house was large enough for his office.

Most mining towns contained a large boarding house where a number of single miners lived. These were large frame structures capable of rooming from twenty-five to forty men. In Curtisville, a second boarding house built to handle non-English speaking men. Today these buildings have been converted to apartments.

The office boarding house or "clubhouse" as it was called was constructed to house the male office workers and any single mine officials. It was also used to house visiting company officials. This building had better plumbing and heating facilities and did not put as many men in one room.

Curtisville had a combination barn and company jail. Horses and mules were needed for dray work outside the mine and a few company riding horses provided the company doctor and high officials with transportation. Part of the barn was partitioned off and cells built to accommodate those employees who drank or fought too much. The tenant was locked up for a day or two and sent back to work without any fanfare. Such details were the duty of the company police.

It must be remembered that this entire town was company property, including all the streets. Farmers were permitted to deliver produce on company streets but those who were purveyors of liquid spirits were not. These deliveries were made to the nearest public road, from which the purchaser carried his refreshment to his house.

Picture 41 – Map of Curtisville No. 1

Provision was made in the boarding house for a barbershop, although it was later moved to the Y.M.C.A. This Y.M.C.A. building was built in 1920 by the Coal Company and operated as an industrial unit. When membership dropped, it was operated by the company as a community recreation center. Later, ownership went to the American Legion, then to a private owner who operated it as a concrete vault plant. Nothing remains today.

About the same time as the "Y" was built, a battery of garages was constructed and rented to those who had automobiles. During this same period a firehouse was built to house a company-owned engine. This engine answered call in the three Ford communities.

About 260 houses were built for the miner and company officials. They were built in an assortment of sizes, shapes, and qualities. The typical miner's house had a foundation but no basement, four rooms, each with a fireplace and a path to the outbuildings in the back yard. Each house was wired for electricity from the mine plant. Wells were located either at the sides of streets or in backyards. Later, hydrants supplemented poor wells. A total of ninety-eight wells were drilled and fifteen hydrants used to insure sufficient water.

Of the total houses, about fifty were pre-cut and were set on posts instead of foundations. These were built during the First World War when additional mine production was needed. They had only two or three rooms and were not designed to be permanent.

Other construction, which was made with the birth of this town, included a four-room schoolhouse, a railroad station and stationmaster's house, two churches, and a parish house. The school facilities were later expanded to include three two-room pre-fabricated buildings. The church facilities are the only ones which remain and are in use today.

In 1924 a series of operational setbacks caused the closing of the No. 1 mine. A number of rock faults among other reasons caused the removal of coal from this mine to be uneconomical. The remaining coal was divided between the No. 2 and No. 3 mines. Some miners were transferred to other mines while many were left unemployed in company houses from which they had to move. As a result the cheaply constructed temporary houses on Michigan Hill were torn down after about eight years of use. One lone house was left for a blinded miner and for a number of years marked the location of Michigan Hill. Seven or eight houses in town were later torn down and about the same number burned.

The first post office was in the company store but was later moved to the basement of the boarding house. In 1980 it was moved to "Little Italy."

Of the original 257 houses in this community about 200 remain today. Several new houses have been built since Curtisville became a public town.

In 1947 the dwellings were sold, mostly to those who lived in them. This began the rebirth of Curtisville. Basements, bathrooms, kitchen outfits, paint, shingles, and new roofs began showing. Much effort was made to make one house look slightly different from the one next door. The utilities of water, gas, and, much more recently, sewage, made their way into Curtisville. Although it still retains the physical appearance of a mining town, many of the houses provide just as comfortable homes as those in a modern housing development.

Picture 42 – Aerial of Curtisville No. 1

Looking Westerly, Curtisville #1 (Benjamin) Mine would have been on the far left of the picture. In the lower left just west of the railroad is where the company store was. On the south side of the road is where the old jail was. In the center is the baseball filed.

Picture 43 – Close view of Curtisville No. 1 mine entry

Picture 44 – Large view of Curtisville No. 1 mine

Ford Collieries No. Mine (Benjamin). Curtisville, Pa.

Picture 45 – Entry to Curtisville No. 1 about 1922 #1

Picture 46 – Entry to Curtisville No. 1 about 1922 #2

Picture 47 – Enter into Curtisville No. 1 Looking to Ball Field

Picture 48 – Curtisville looking from over mine

Picture 51 – Map of Curtisville No. 2

Picture 52 – Arial of Curtisville No. 2

Picture 53 – The man-entry at the Francis Mine (Curtisville #2) about 1920

In 1916 a much larger company store was built facing the public road and the older one was converted into a church. At this time the number of miners' houses was almost one hundred. Seven modern houses were built for mine officials on newly acquired land. The miners' union had also purchased some land and built a union hall.

Picture 54 – Curtisville #2 "Francis Mine" early man entry

Picture 55 – Curtisville #2 Ford Collieries "Francis Mine" in 1951

Many of these houses had partial basements built for structural reasons because of the steep hillside. They were also built in a variety of sizes and shapes. By 1918 this naming town was complete. It had its own boarding house and company store but all other services and facilities were drawn from the main Curtisville No. 1.

With the building of this town a two-room portable school was set up and operated until 1950, when it was closed as substandard. A new twelve-room elementary school was built between the two Curtisville's in 1954.

As in most other mining towns some private property became available at the edge of town where individuals could build their own homes or open a store, tavern, or other business. When the miners' union became strong and the company hold upon the miners' buying was lessened, private stores could offer competition to the company store.

The No. 1 mine did not remove as much coal as the other mines and therefore had a smaller gob pile. It was in the valley and not the eyesore, which the No. 2 gob pile became. However, most of this No. 2 gob would be removed later since its carbon content was high enough to be mixed with other coat and used in modern boilers.

This has been a brief overview of the history of the Curtisville communities. The reader can supplement the modern history and bring it up to date.

Bairdford is a former mining community of about 175 houses of which about 130 were former company houses. This mining town, sometimes referred to as No. 3, was an outgrowth of the Ford Collieries expansion of the two other Curtisvilles and had been planned from the beginning of their operations as their No. 3 mine.

Prior to 1914 the area was occupied by two farms. One lone building, a Methodist church, was the only other feature on the landscape. A dirt road passed the church, with lanes going in to the farmsteads. After seventy years the church remains much as it was, with steeple and vestibule added.

The development pattern began the same as for many of the other mining towns. The actual building of the town began in 1914 when company carpenters began building the houses and a construction firm began sinking the mineshaft. Temporary railroad tracks had been placed for light duty use in bringing in lumber and other supplies. Later the railroad crews built a permanent track to the mine site

The superintendent's house was built on the hillside overlooking the mine plant. It was a frame house of good construction, including modern plumbing, a feature not to be found in any other house built here at this time. All construction work was timed so that when the mine was ready to begin production a sufficient number of houses were completed to house the superintendent, section foreman, other "bosses", and a number of miners. A large boarding house and company store were included as necessary buildings.

When operations began in 1915, the planned town had taken form. The mine plant and railroad spur were completed. In addition to the "super's" house, six houses had been completed on the main street for the various foreman. These dwellings had seven rooms but no plumbing, each house having its own well, a utility which was shared in the miners' houses.

The typical miner's house was built in four and five room sizes. In most instances they were placed rather close together in straight rows, each looking like the house next door and giving a typical "patch" appearance. The necessary small buildings in the backyard were likewise in rows. Company policy was to have one well and pump for every three houses, the well located on the side of the street for easy access. In the event that these wells did not yield enough water for several families, it was necessary to drill more so that some of the worker's houses had their own wells.

The company store and boarding house were similar to those in other mining towns. In the beginning there was no mine office or doctor's office since the ones at Curtisville were used. A doctor's office did come later.

Within the several years following the opening of the mine more houses were added. The "Russian" patch contained twenty-six. "Hollywood," so named because the increasing number of Anglo-Americans desired a higher-class name for their section, boasted twelve houses. "Shantytown," somewhat removed from the nucleus and containing thirty-six small pre-fabricated houses, became part of the Bairdford community. This brought the total to one hundred and thirty-three houses, completing the housing of Bairdford.

In keeping with this development, the local railroad added a self-powered passenger car making two trips daily to the main line near Curtisville No. 1, where it met trains running toward Pittsburgh. Since the Bairdford site was not easily accessible to any paved road, this was the primary link to the "city." When hard-surfaced roads were built later, this train was discontinued. Ironically, the local people also used the tracks for a path out to the Saxonburg Road where they could board a bus for Sharpsburg, thence to Pittsburgh by streetcar. Thus, before hard-surfaced roads came to Bairdford this track served a double purpose.

A doctor's office was built for the company doctor from Curtisville No. 1 to use when in Bairdford. Provisions were made for a post office although it has been moved several times before arriving at its present site. Many remember the sign that was on it for years: "Bairdford, Elevation 1100'."

An eight-room frame school was built in 1915 to handle the large amount of children who had moved there so quickly. A Roman Catholic Church was built on the hill in 1916. The existing Methodist church served Protestant needs.

Picture 56 – Map of Bairdford

Picture 57 – Aerial view of Bairdford

Picture 58 – Aerial view of Bairdford "Shantytown"

Picture 59 – Bairdford Main Street in 1920

Picture 61 – Bairdford Orchard Street 1940 with snow

Picture 62 – Bairdford Company Store

In the late 1920's a great strike was in effect, which had great temporary influence but little permanent change on the town. Strikers were ordered out of their houses and had to move into barracks provided by their union. After the power of the union was broken the miners moved back and continued working, but at lower wages. During the strike the horses of the "Coal and Iron" police were stabled in a building in the center of town which was later converted to the doctor's office and a drug store. Later yet it became the post office and confectionery, at that time being the "social center" of Bairdford. Today it serves only as the post office and is not quite large enough for that purpose.

Bairdford never developed a commercial core. There have been, at one time or another, two insurance offices, two taverns, several grocery stores, a variety store, a garage, a dance studio, and a confectionery.

It must be remembered that Bairdford is seventy years old. Two generations have passed since the original town was built. Some of these two generations have wished to remain in the area and have built homes on the fringes where land could be purchased. At least forty houses have been built for this reason.

Probably the greatest action of permanent significance occurred in 1947 when the company houses were sold. The families living in the mining houses were presented with the choice of buying their house or having someone else buy it. As a result most of the residents purchased the house in which they were living. The company streets were accepted by the township and became public roads. The new homeowners immediately began improvements on their homes. Both interiors and exteriors began to change. Kitchens, bathrooms, basements, walls, carpeting, and painting were all in order.

In 1953 the mine closed down permanently and Bairdford was literally changed overnight from a mining town to a residential community. The outlook at that time was not too encouraging. However, Bairdford did survive. The "city" water lines were extended and with the utilities of natural gas and public sewers Bairdford will survive as a residential community. The mining town company houses are seventy years old and, properly cared for, will last much longer. An industrial plant, located in town, gives some employment. Good roads will enable Bairdford to remain a place in which to live yet allow residents to be employed as far away as Pittsburgh.

The mining town area known as Superior is located north of Russellton in the east-central part of West Deer Township. Although not as large as the other mining towns in the number of houses, it does cover a wide area and it would be difficult to define the "city limits." It has about forty houses but contains at least double that number of families. The majority of the dwellings are double and some of these have been converted to three- unit apartments. The old company store houses four families. Those houses which were used formerly for mine officials plus four bungalows were the only single dwellings in the town.

In 1909 the Monarch Fuel Company purchased coal rights under a number of farms in this part of the township, and in Indiana Township, two miles to the south. It made preparations for the opening of two shafts, the Superior shaft on this location north of Russellton and the Rural Ridge shaft on the southern location.

Picture 64 – Map of Superior

The Superior shaft site was in a valley, lateral to the Little Deer Creek Valley and facing the Little Deer Creek Road. The pattern of the company town was similar to others in the area. After test holes had been drilled, the shaft was located with regard to the railroad, coal slope, and shaft depth. The town was then built on the unused land surface so that it would not hinder coal removal or the piling of mine wastes. A half-mile spur was built from the main railroad to the mine.

In the building of this town half the houses faced on public roads, the other half on company streets. The first group built were on a company street north of the shaft. There were thirteen double houses, a boarding house, a company store, and a mule barn. South of the shaft and along the public road were placed six more double houses. With these facilities plus four water wells, the operation began in 1910.

The houses were double, without plumbing, central heat, or electricity. Some had half basements and some had none, depending on the slope upon which the house was built. Basements were used at this time to provide a level foundation for the house and not for the convenience of the tenant. Wells were placed so that a number of families could use each one. Houses were heated by fireplaces or heating stoves. Since this mine was not electrified, no electricity was available from the mine plant.

In the five years following the opening of the mine the remainder of the dwellings were constructed. The mine superintendent and foreman were furnished with large single dwellings overlooking the Little Deer Creek Valley rather than the mine itself. Another company street was laid out and along it three single houses for assistant mine foreman and five more double houses for miners were built. Six more doubles were built along the Little Deer Creek Road south of the mine foreman's house. Directly east of the mine plant along the public road, four bungalows were built, completing the mining town. The last two groups built were wired for electricity, which became available from a public utility company. The other houses obtained this utility within a year.

The Superior mine operated continuously from 1910 until 1917 when an underground explosion resulted in a shutdown lasting for a year. From 1918 to 1921 it again operated, but closed temporarily because of a depression in the coal industry. Operations resumed in 1922 and continued until the coal strike of 1927 when this mine closed permanently. Since Monarch Fuel still operated the Rural Ridge mine, many of the miners continued employment there. Others went to the Ford Collieries or Republic Steel mines after the strike

Picture 65 – Superior Mine about 1817 after explosion.

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In the early 1920's Superior was known to have two very crowded one-room school buildings located near the company store. Mrs. H. John Harper, now living in Natrona Heights, taught in Superior then, and reports that there were ninety-two pupils in the first and second grades and seventy in the third and fourth grades. Mrs. Harper (Melva Christy) taught grades one and two, the first grade in the morning and the second in the afternoon. Back in the 1950's we thought split sessions were something new in West Deer!

The company store was closed, the mule barn and boarding house torn down, and the railroad spur removed (note railroad spur was still in operation as was mine into the early 1950's KEL). As a mining town and operation. Superior was finished. As a town of rented houses it continued with little change for the next twenty years.

At the close of World War II the Republic Steel Corporation purchased the remaining coal lands of the Monarch Fuel Company. This purchase included the surface land around the old shaft site. The houses were all sold to their tenants or others if they did not wish to purchase.

Between 1947 and 1950 considerable remodeling was done by the owners of these houses. The company store was converted to an apartment building. The local American Legion Post built a large hall and ball field beside the old company store. A gasoline station and repair garage had also been built along the main road. As described under Russellton No. 2, the old shaft was revitalized and the mine operated again.

Blanchard is the name given to a group of houses in the northeastern part of West Deer Township. These twenty- nine houses plus a few more built after World War II are referred to as Blanchard, the name coming from the original owner and builder of the town. It was never a complete mining town, containing only houses, and serving as the "patch" for the mine that was a half-mile away and not in sight. The mine itself served as the purpose for the building of more houses elsewhere than are contained in Blanchard, but the name applied only to this one group of houses.

The Blanchard Coal Company was formed in 1921. The coal rights under several farms and the land surface on one farm bordering on the railroad were purchased. It had been determined previously that the coal was "low coal", averaging forty-two inches in thickness. Topography was such that a slope mine could be operated rather than a shaft.

The coal tipple was built beside the railroad and the slope driven eastward and downward toward the coal. It extended 500 feet from its opening before reaching coal.

The farm purchased for the town and mine location was bounded on two sides by private property, on the third side by the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad, and on the fourth by a small frontage on a township road. This boundary was such that the only place where the town could be built was in the remote corner on the township road. This was also the location of the farm buildings of this farm.

In 1921 the Company Street was marked off and twenty- eight single frame dwellings built on both sides of the double rows. The houses were of the pre-cut type and had half basements. Heating was furnished by coal-burning space heaters. No house was wired for electricity. Eight wells along the Company Street furnished the water supply. The houses were all the same and were occupied mostly by miners. The few foreman employer at the time built houses on the Saxonburg Road near the mine. Miners in Blanchard walked the half-mile over the hill to the mine. The old brick farmhouse was occupied by Mr. Blanchard, owner of the company.

Picture 66 – Map of Blanchard

This coal operation was short-lived. After five years of marginal operation, the firm went into bankruptcy in 1926. The coal lands and tipple were bought by the Batcher Coal Company and the town and adjacent surface lands by the ABCO Realty Company of Pittsburgh.

At this time the town and mine were separated in ownership but were closely allied economically. Mr. Batcher lived in the farmhouse, a tenant himself. The other occupants remained as tenants of the new owner but continued employment at the same mine. The only major difference was that they could not be evicted if they no longer worked at the mine.

The Batcher mine was the only large mine in West Deer to benefit from the coal strike of 1927. Being non-union h managed to operate during much of the strike. Its location with regard to public roads and railroad shipping was such that pickets could not halt operations.

The town of Blanchard continued from 1926 to 1946 as a community of rented houses. The old farmhouse served as a residence for the rent collector, who also did the repair work on the houses and streets. It must be remembered that the street was not a public road. One minor improvement came in 1932 when the houses were wired and electricity was first used there.

The residents of Blanchard were, with few exceptions, coal miners, the majority of which worked in the Batcher mine. In 1945 this mine closed and a diversity of employment soon became evident. Some men went to other mines, while others went to the industrial plants of the Allegheny Valley.

In 1946 The ABCo Realty Company surveyed additional lots in the vicinity of Blanchard and offered all of its holdings for sale. The houses and a few of the extra lots were sold to the residents. Some of the lots took several years to sell.

This sale was the beginning of considerable change in Blanchard. Since only a few of the houses had wells on their lots, a number of wells were drilled. In the ten years following only a few houses were left without water from their own supply. Ten had complete plumbing, fifteen had running water, and those remaining carried water from the old street wells. The street had now become a public road and was improved.

In this ten-year period following the sale, six new homes were built on the lots, mostly by children of residents. By this time there were only three coal miners living there.

Allegheny Acres, or the "Acres" as it is often called, lies on both sides of the Saxonburg Road from the southern border of West Deer near the Valley View Nursing Home northward to the No. 2 fire hall and the Magill Heights area. It includes almost two hundred houses, most of which are less than fifty years old. This area, which originally contained over five hundred building lots on almost four hundred acres, does not have the appearance of an urban development. It is scattered over several long hills and valleys, and has large wooded lots, presenting a rural setting where a number of the houses have only a few neighbors in sight. The houses are not of similar design like many developments. Neither were the motives for building here or the characteristics of the individual builders similar. Unlike the other communities in West Deer, which grew in a prosperous economy, Allegheny Acres was born of the Great Depression.

Few communities have grown without reason or purpose. Fast growth is usually indicative of some strong economic force. Yet here is a community which grew rapidly for no conventional reason and with no strong local economic or esthetic force.

Some of the communities in West Deer Township were developed because of mining activities. Some developed because of building contractor promotion, others because of good building sites and strong local relationships. None of these could be said to hold true in Allegheny Acres. If one were to attempt placing the purpose of origin he would arrive at a combination of circumstances which cumulated in the promotion of an intensive land sales program.

This entire community was to be built on two and one- half farms which, for the most part, had ceased to operate as farms. It covered an area of 393 acres and the only original housing was a farmhouse, a 'converted grain-house, and an empty schoolhouse.

The largest of these farms, containing 176 acres, was purchased by a real estate dealer specializing in rural properties and farms. This farm had passed in ownership from the original settlers and was purchased for little more than the taxes which had accrued against it. It was the original intent of this new owner to improve this farm somewhat, give it a prosperous appearance by farming it, and resell it at a profit. While this venture was being carried out, the adjacent farm to the east containing 137 acres was likewise purchased for a low price.

This second farm had been abandoned for many years and had little value as a farm. It had been timbered in the twenties. After the purchase of this farm the total land area in one block amounted to 313 acres, most of which were hilly. The farms were both long and narrow, covering a "Y" shaped valley in its entirety. Public roads were located in the valley bottoms.

Since the owner's primary objective was the resale of this property as a farm, an attempt was made to make the land look prosperous. All abandoned land was fenced and pastured by sheep to clear the brush. Open fields were cultivated by a tenant farmer. All steps were taken so that in a few years these farms would be ready for resale at a profit to the investor.

A series of events was taking place at this time which was to change completely the plans for the disposal of these farms. The year was 1932. Banks had closed, taking the meager savings of many people. Mortgages were being foreclosed, people lost their homes and were forced to seek shelter in crowded slums. Rent in the city was still relatively high and these slum areas were all that many could afford. People accustomed to living in good residential areas were forced to move to these slums.

Picture 67 – Map of Allegheny Acres

Fifteen miles from Pittsburgh, it was not too far for those who had some employment there. Yet here in a rural scene it was far enough from the city that it could be called a rural community.

The addition of another two miles of graded roads enabled every part of these farms to be divided into lots.

As this development began, another 80 acres bordering on the north were purchased. All land was surveyed and a system of roads laid out. With the beginning of the road system in the southern part a land sales office was opened.

Advertising was carried on in Pittsburgh and thus most of the new owners came from there. It was this advertising program more than any other reason, which brought people to Allegheny Acres. If one were to imagine himself the victim of the economic situation previously described, and reading the glowing account of this new paradise in the country where one could live independently for only $10.00 down and $7.00 monthly, he might more easily understand the motives which brought people here. Advertisement made this acre in the country look like something the city dweller had always dreamed about. This type of copy brought hundreds to the country to look over this new development. Many picked a lot, paid the ten dollars, then went home to change their minds. Others bought and later lost their lots before they could build on them. Those who bought lots, built houses, and stayed are the only ones of importance in this description. Their characters, their motives and their choices gave birth to the community of Allegheny Acres.

In the other clustered settlements in West Deer Township the general rule prevailed that most people living there had something in common. They were all employed at the same place or belonged to the same economic class. In the "Acres", however, this rule was not true. Here was a diversity of peoples found in no other community.

Some came because they wanted a home in the country and here was the golden opportunity. Others came to get out of the city slums. Many more came because they had lost their homes in the city and here was a chance to build a cheap house and still be owners of their homes. Their economic classes varied from unemployed to engineers and physicians.

As the people varied, so did the quantity and quality of their individual homes. The phrase common to this settlement, "tiny houses all over the hills," was used by visitors to describe it. These houses varied from one-room shacks to large modern houses. Construction materials varied from those in standard usage to packing crates, cardboard boxes and similar items. One houseboat was brought up from the river piece by piece and reassembled into a small house of the same design. This project was formally underway in the spring of 1932. The roads in the southern part of the project were completed and a number of lots sold. By fall of that year eighteen families had built houses and moved to Allegheny Acres.

This entire tract of 393 acres had now been subdivided into 522 building lots. The lowest sold for $250.00 and the highest for $450.00. All of these lots were located either partly or wholly on a hillside. Very few were on level land. Since the typical lot shape was narrow and deep, each could reasonably be expected to contain some hillside. As mentioned, the overall topography was that of an Y-shaped valley. One road was put on the crest between the valleys and all the rest traversed the hillsides.

Some buyers bought a number of lots in one tract and some of the roads were discontinued when they were not needed. These lot sales did not follow any pattern. If a buyer could afford it he bought several lots. Very frequently relatives would purchase consecutive lots. The land sales office was located at the southern end until that area was nearly sold off, then moved a mile north to handle sales there. This took place in the summer of 1933. By that fall one hundred families were living in the acres.

Progress between 1933 and 1938 was slow, but moderately steady. In that period the remainder of the lots were sold, many to people already living in the area. About fifty more homes were added, bringing the total to one hundred and fifty. In 1938 the land sales office was converted to a dwelling and sold.

After this project closed in 1938 there were still a few lot owners who would build homes in the future. There were a great many more, however, who would rebuild or add to their existing small houses. With better economic conditions in the late thirties this would begin and continue until the present time. Immediately after World War II perhaps ten more new houses were added. When this building was completed the total housing in Allegheny Acres was brought to one hundred and seventy-five.

In an overview of this development several factors are outstanding. There was little building done by contractors. Most of the homes were built without much outside help. Although a few were built by local carpenters and a few more by the original developer, the total of speculative homes would not be more than ten. The era of speculative building was not to begin in West Deer Township for another fifteen years.

The "Acres" never developed a business section or commercial core. With several miles of road frontage on a well-traveled highway the potential was there but never developed. A number of enterprises were started but did not remain permanent. Among these were several groceries and a general store. Of the commercial enterprises currently in operation and which appear permanent, are two auto repair garages, a tavern, a heating and air conditioning business, a lumber and millwork operation, and a trailer court holding several dozen mobile homes. For a number of years this was the only mobile home court in the township.

Most of the "Acres" area is served by all public utilities and hard-surfaced roads. There has been some damage to homes from mine subsidence but it has not affected a large number of houses. Neither has it stopped an occasional new house from being built. Growth rate with regard to new housing is slow mainly because of limited availability of good building lots.

Most of the rural townships of Allegheny County experienced periods of rapid housing development in the years immediately following World War II. Many of these building "booms" started in 1946 and have continued, limited only by the availability of building space. Some were extensive in scope while others consisted of only a dozen houses. The majority, however, did have something in common: they were mass produced houses for sale to the industrial worker and others within his financial capabilities and were within twenty miles of Pittsburgh. This township lies on the edge of such an area and therefore could not be expected to develop as quickly or extensively as the more desirable, closer areas with perhaps more utilities available.

Such post-war building in West Deer Township was characterized by the building of single houses on lots already owned by the new homeowners. There was no mass building or project development until about 1954 when several local carpenters or contractors started small projects, which continued for several years and terminated after a dozen homes had been built in each of several projects. The sites for these were the individual choices of the builders who had considered sales appeal and availability of utilities.

Picture 68 – Map of West Deer Manor, Ideal Manor, Magill Heights, & High School Area

Two of these projects continued into a larger development and are worthy of further description. The number of houses in one continuous group approached 200 and was the only community of such size in West Deer Township having all new brick homes. A new pattern was set, new to this township but common to other areas.

Located in the south-central part of the township, immediately to the north of Allegheny Acres, it was developed on part of one farm on which a section of the "Acres" had been built and on all of another farm just north of the eastern half of the "Acres". These two farms yielded 120 acres on which about 200 houses were built.

The development of both farms was similar. Either the farmer or the builder-constructed streets acceptable to the local supervisors and a water line, so that each of their surveyed lots would have a road frontage averaging ninety feet and have water available. Other utilities were put in upon customer request and financed by that utility company.

The first of these streets was a dead end road through a twenty-acre pasture field. This was the first plan in West Deer approved by the County Planning Commission. Built in 1948 as a lot development, it sold rather slowly until 1954 when the road was continued through the next farm by Mr. H. T. Magill and joined a hard-surfaced road near the present Deer Lakes Elementary Center. When this was completed the entire program moved with greater speed. While the remainder of the first group of lots was being sold to individuals, the new plan, with the exception of one lot, was purchased by two contractors. By the fall of 1955 there were forty-four homes built, leaving only two vacant lots.

Several significant factors became evident in the sales of these homes and lots. Since the township had lost population between 1940 and 1950, during which period perhaps a hundred new homes were built by local residents, it was obvious that certain internal changes had taken place. The large family of the miner had become smaller. His Children had matured, married, and many had built homes within the township for social reasons. Few new people had come here to live and many had left. In this new housing project the observation was made that for the first time since the building of "Allegheny Acres" in 1932- 1937, new residents were coming to West Deer Township from other areas.

A survey of the residents of this development showed that 20 percent of the families came from other parts of West Deer Township. The majority, therefore, had to come from other areas, Pittsburgh and its close suburbs being the main source. The primary reason for their choosing of this location was that of a good housing buy. There were, of course, many other reasons, but this was the most common. Several teachers built here to be close to their work. Several more came because one member of the family had parents living nearby. The majority were employed in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, and, having small children, desired a home in the country. In West Deer Township they found a good buy and thus became residents of this area Most of the new families had children of preschool age, only a few having children in the upper grades or high school. As a result of this and other similar developments, additional elementary school rooms were added to existing buildings in 1956.

Upon successful completion of this project on the Magill farm, both contractors purchased additional acreage on the same farm and continued their housing development. Almost a hundred houses were constructed in the 1955- 1956 period. Although a few were built to the "customers specifications, the majority were built for speculation. Similar to the earlier project, most of the purchasers were from the metropolitan Pittsburgh area. Here for the first time came retired persons seeking a home with more of a country atmosphere. In general, the new residents were similar to the earlier ones in age, income, and employment.

Picture 69 – Aerial of West Deer Manor

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Picture 70 – Aerial of Magill Heights

In 1957, hampered by county sewage regulations, this project slowed almost to a standstill. After completion of almost 200 houses, building almost stopped, although about twenty lots were unused.

These houses for the most part were constructed on large lots facing newly constructed hard-surfaced streets. All houses were of brick construction and averaged six rooms. Their selling price averaged $14,000.

The impact of this development on the township was noticeable. School facilities had to be increased. Sudden interest in schools and township government was observed. A new standard in housing was set in an area where "patch" houses and many self-built homes were predominant. Any new projects in the future would have to match or surpass these standards. The people of West Deer Township looked upon this development as-a sign and standard of progress,

Deer Creek is the name given to the rural community located at the intersection of the Tarentum-Bakerstown Road and Middle Road Extension. Located in the northwestern part of the township it embraces a road distance of a mile in the north-south direction on Middle Road Extension and a half-mile east and west on the Tarentum-Bakerstown Road.

The area, locally defined as Deer Creek, contains about forty houses, an auto repair garage, a tire retreading shop, an auto salvage yard, and two churches. The immediate area of the crossroads contains the businesses, churches and sixteen houses. As new houses had been built along the public and branching private roads, their owners claimed Deer Creek as their place of residence and the locally accepted confines of the community became larger.

The crossroads was known by name in the nineteenth century because of the local importance of the church of that name, the actual creek being three-quarters of a mile away. There were at that time six farmhouses and a school located within a quarter mile of the crossroads. It was not until after the First World War that the addition of other buildings gave it the appearance of a rural village. A sawmill had been built near the school probably in the early part of this century. An auto garage was built before 1920 on a corner location and a grocery store on another corner about ten years later. During the twenties about fifteen houses were built in the vicinity, some by miners and a few by men working in the Pittsburgh area. The depression years, which followed, saw a small grocery and gas station open and a few more houses built.

After World War II about fifteen more new houses were built along the roads in the area. The trend was toward larger houses on nicely landscaped grounds. In general, they were not spaced closely together and the area still appeared rural in nature.

The grocery store on the corner ceased operation in 1955. The other grocery and service station, a short distance away, closed about the same time, leaving Deer Creek with only the auto repair garage on the corner. There were, however, several contractors in the village whose services were available from their homes. One of them constructed and began operating a modern service station in 1957. This was on the site of the present Best Wholesale Tire Co. In 1962 The Pittsburgh Auto Salvage Service set up a large operation adjacent to the Deer Creek Presbyterian Church. They serve as a brokerage for insurance companies and dispose of salvaged vehicles.

The second church, the Fundamental Church of West Deer, Was built on the only empty corner of the crossroads, across from the new service station, and opened in 1968. At just about the same time the other service station was sold and a tire retreading shop opened for business on that location. Best Wholesale Tire Co. has expanded into a large operation. The addition of an apartment building was the only other change in the Deer Creek landscape. A few new houses have been added. There is some city water available but no pubic sewers. Nevertheless, Deer Creek remains a desirable place to live.

Place names develop in an area through usage. Before 1900 West Deer had possibly four place names. Culmerville and Gray's Mill were welt-known and two churches located near crossroads gave their names to small areas. A third church, not on a crossroads, was also well known. Bull and Deer Creek Churches had been well- known since the beginning of the nineteenth century. East Union, not founded until 1850, became a place name later and today gives its name to a road, a school, and a crossroads. The word "district" has also been used. Some people refer to their place of residence as the East Union "district".

The East Union area has no given boundaries. If someone who lives almost a mile away says that he lives in the East Union area then that is his place of residence.

Between 1900 and World War II there were ten farmhouses and one church manse within a short distance of the crossroads. This was an unusually high concentration of farmhouses and may have originally influenced the location of the church. In the ten years following World War II about twenty-five houses were built in the area, along with an expansion of one business and the beginnings of two more. A service station previously built at the crossroads was enlarged and living quarters added for its operator. A dry cleaning plant was built in 1954 and a bowling alley in 1957.

In subsequent years more houses were added until almost all available frontage was utilized. Mine subsidence had terminated many years ago making this area more desirable than some other areas for home building.

A residential development containing about 160 houses was built about 1975 and a medical center in 1978. These, along with a few other new houses, brings the East Union area to about 225 houses whose residents claim or could claim East Union as their place of residence.

Picture 71 – East Union Crossroads

By Dorothy Voeckel

It has been said of all the people in the world, we Americans are the most restless, most inquisitive, most energetic and most of all, most dissatisfied. We have always strived for the biggest, highest, longest, fastest, always attacked and overcame the impossible. Perhaps this is why our pioneers were able to transform the wilderness into useful farmland and farmland into town and factory space.

Our pioneers were in conflict with the Shawnee and Iroquois Indians as early as 1734 and took much wealth from their knowledge. We made their paths the routes of our highways and railroads. We built on the sites of their villages. We learned how to clear the land for crops and obtained some of our seed from them. We learned how to preserve the crops, how to tap maple trees and boil the sap for sugar. Our hunters learned from the Indian how to conquer the wilderness, how to stalk wild animals by keeping on the proper side of the wind so the animal could not get our scent, how to preserve meat by drying and smoking it and how to tan the animal skins for clothing. Most of all, we have taken his land, fields and gentle hills that fashion our community.

The streams and Indian trails were routes to settlements of early immigrants and in later years served as avenues of commerce. Most of the early settlers were English speaking, of Irish descent, Protestant, white and young, as frontier life did not appeal to the middle aged or older. Most families were large even though the infant mortality rate was high.

Most pioneer villages originated around a blacksmith shop and general store.

Culmerville, the oldest village in West Deer Township, is located in the northern part of West Deer Township where Saxonburg Boulevard, Culmerville-Bakerstown and Millertown-Culmerville roads connect. Saxonburg Boulevard was known as the Kittanning Pike and was the wagon route between Pittsburgh and Kittanning.

Prior to 1899, Culmerville was called Brimstone Corners, probably because there was much fire and brimstone. Two inebriated Irish immigrants killed each other in a shoot-out and died on the steps of the creamery. Another recorded story states that in 1858 a man named Fox lived in a small house next to the tavern kept by William Lackey. His stepfather, John Fox, called upon the younger man after having imbibed quite freely at the tavern. Difficulty arose when the older man struck his stepson. The younger man was taken sick immediately afterwards and died. His physician stated his death resulted from the effects of the blow. We do not know when or how the older man died but it is said these four were buried behind the blacksmith shop where Benkes' Garage is now located.

Towards the end of the 19th Century Brimstone Corners became known as Culmerville and assumed the respectability of a quiet country village.

The Culmer family lived in a log house at the crossroads where their daughter, Mary Ann, was born. Culmerville was named for Mary Ann and her family. Mary Ann married Mr. Anderson in Iowa but later they returned to this part of the country. This log house was the stagecoach stop as well as the post office as early as 1854.

There is an 1860 deed conveying Culmerville property from Robert and Catherine Norris to George Staley, which specifies the property as "situated at Norris X Cross Roads." No other reference has been found using this name.

However, the name Norris was not used when Culmerville was named because it was used in the Norristown name. Norristown is named for the part of the Norris clan that settled in the eastern part of the state. One of the first roads through Culmerville came from Tarentum past Bull Creek Church (founded 1794) across the northern part of West Deer Township and lead to Bakerstown which was an underground railway for the runaway slaves in route to Canada.

The area was basically agricultural, basically rural for many years. Farmsteads covered the countryside. The average farmer's investment in tools did not exceed a few hundred dollars, as his basic tools were the ax, cradle, spade and fork. Hand, rather than mechanical devices, remained the rule of the typical farm.

To break the monotony of regular chores, there were frequent festivities such as apple parings, quilting bees, and, of course, barn dances.

The churches were the center of the community life: After churches, the tavern was the next most popular Spot.

Churches

The first churches were the Bull Creek Presbyterian Church founded in 1794 and the Pleasant Unity Church in 1841. There is record of "The Old Covenenter Church" having been located along the Kittanning Pike, close to the Allegheny-Butler County line, about 1875. More information regarding Bull Creek and Pleasant Unity may be found in the church section of this edition.

A custom in the pioneer church worthy of mentioning was the method in which the collection was taken. It was collected in a bag on the end of a pole with a bell attached to be rung to arouse a sleepy contributor.

The log post office was here as early as 1854. The mail service was slow and irregular since the mail was brought by horseback to the post office and had to be picked up at the post office by the receiver. Today, in Culmerville, we have our mail delivered to our homes and businesses. The Grubbs family had a store in the same building. The post office also served as a stagecoach stop.

Enter the railroad

The railroad entered the picture in 1896 when Andrew Carnegie financed the building of an extension from Butler to East Pittsburgh, through Culmerville. This brought about the formation of the Pittsburgh, Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Company.

A 400-foot long tunnel was constructed for the trains to transit under the crossroads of Culmerville. The tunnel was expensive to maintain due to drainage problems and proved too small when the larger engines were introduced about 1912. The tunnel was replaced by an open cut and a steel deck truss bridge was installed to carry the public highway that crossed at this point.

Picture 72 – Steam shovel uncovering tunnel

Picture 73 – Deck almost completed after tunnel

The bridge deck is partially completed. Notice the Culmerville garage which does not have the second floor. The top of a bus can be seen behind the garage. Photo by B. & L.E. R.R.

Picture 74 – Bridge almost complete

Picture 75 – Bridge Wooden walls exposed

The wood construction inside the tunnel was bracing used to shore the tunnel when it started to cave in. This did not eliminate the problem. Picture by B. & L.E. R.R.

Picture 76 – Culmerville north end during tunnel removal

This picture shows the old blacksmith shop on the left, then the home of Harry Ekas (now Benkes). Just to the right of the pole is the log house that in 1854 contained the post office, stagecoach stop, and the store, as well as living quarters. The picture was taken about 1921.

Picture 77 – Tunnel almost gone looking NW

The tunnel has been partially removed. The bridge is almost complete. Note the Culmerville garage before the second story was added. Photo from the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad

Picture 78 – Tunnel is gone

Picture 79 – Bridge complete

Picture 80 – Culmerville crossroads

Aerial view of the Culmerville crossroads looking north

At a location north of Culmerville near the Allegheny- Butler county line a sag in the line presented a difficult operation problem. A major improvement was started. The railroad originally crossed the valley on a viaduct. The viaduct was replaced by a fill about 4000 feet long, which was finished about 1912. This did not eliminate the problem and a higher fill was started beside the existing line and considerable material was placed in it until the year 1927. However, it was not completed because new motive power and changes permitted the use of the line located on the original track.

Picture 81 – Original Trestle over Bull Creek

Picture 82 – Bull Creek Viaduct

Old-timers have told us one hundred mules were brought in to be used on this project. Many blacks and immigrants were hired as cheap laborers for as little as $.90 a day. It has been told that when a mule didn't do his share of work it was killed and pushed over the side and covered with the next load of fill. If a man died or was killed and did not have anyone to make burying arrangements, his body was disposed of the same way. There was much gambling and fighting. When someone was killed, it wasn't unusual for the body to be put in a train car and shipped out. Several tarpaper-covered shacks were built for the workers to live in. At night the workers played their musical instruments and sang and harmonized such songs as "In The Evening By The Moonlight".

Two homes were built for the switch operators by the Railroad Company. A station and signal tower was also constructed. A telegraph was manned by the stationmaster.

The railroad was used to import farm supplies, feed, building, building materials, large items from the mail order houses, etc. Their main export was coal. Special passenger trains were used for such events as the Butler Fair and Conneaut Exposition Park. Most passenger train service was discontinued before World War II. The train whistle could be heard for miles. Many fires were started from the sparks of the passing train.

Travel, Voting and Doctoring

Travel was slow. If someone chose to go to Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) from here, he usually got into his best bib and tucker and went by horseback to Harmarville and took a canal boat to the settlement. In 1900 we were still in the horse and buggy era. Watering troughs were built along the roads for the horses. Shortly after 1900 the first horse-less carriage came into use. The horse-less carriage driver was considered "wild and daring". The horse-less carriage was a toy and luxury to the daredevil rich. The car license and driver's license came with the vehicle. The horse-less carriage frightened the horses, as well as the people, and caused much confusion. Since the roads were not hard topped, the cars often became stuck. When the newer models were made, the older ones were referred to as Tin-Lizzies or Flivers.

The Millerstown-Culmerville Road (Bull Creek) was paved about 1910. The stone for abutments and sewer heads was from the local McCullough Stone Quarry. Stone, not satisfactory for construction, was used for field drains.

Voting at Culmerville had been done in several places: a small building beside the bus garage, the upper level of the garage, and in the fire hall.

The doctor traveled on horseback or horse and buggy. The earliest known was Dr. Herron who lived in the vicinity of Bull Creek Church.

Dr. Dan Rowley (1858-1918) moved his office from a stone room built into the hillside in Millerstown where he learned from his father, Dr. Myron Rowley. He moved to Rowley's Corner, which was at the intersection of Millerstown-Culmerville Road and Tarentum-Culmerville Road. Dr. Rowley was a much-respected individual as was his wife Clara Hazlett Rowley. She has been credited as having been an able helper to her husband and a schoolteacher for many years. Dr. Rowley's death was attributed to an illness caused by going out in a freezing rain to tend a patient.

The burying ground for four people was a plot behind the blacksmith shop (now Benkes' Garage). The two Irishmen who had a shoot-out and the Foxes were buried here. There was a small burying ground over the tunnel between the post office and crossroads. This was dubbed the "Unbelievers Cemetery". The name implies the survivors did not believe the scriptures and/or did not choose to transport their deceased very far. However, other factors such as weather, time, etc. had to be considered. Anyone could bury their deceased here. There was also a burying ground where the Crossroads Hotel and parking area are Some of the graves were on the hillside which was not landscaped. There were brass railings around some of the plots. Some of the local children, including the Norris children, were afraid to go through or pass by one of these cemeteries, as a human limb was visible at one time.

In the will of Robert Norris, it stated that he left "this lot of ground lying north of the Kittanning Road and east of the state road from Tarentum occurring six rods square for a burying ground." The description could be grounds described in the last paragraph. Bodies were moved about 1922, when the railroad reconstruction was begun. Robert Norris's body was moved to Deer Creek cemetery. Frank Norris was moved to Westminster Church cemetery in Clinton Township.

School

There was, of course, the school with the schoolmaster who taught Readin', Ritin' 'n Rithmetic. The boys put the girl's curls or pig tails in the ink well, tied their sashes to the seats, put off firecrackers and drilled peek holes in the girls' privy. Of course, the girls giggled and then retaliated.

The first building was built of logs and situated near the Jamison Norris property. It had log seats without benefit of backs to rest upon. There must have been some type of fireplace to warm the building. About 1853 a brick structure, made of bricks burned locally, was built across from the Clarence Norris home. This was torn down and a frame school erected about 1908 near the Culmerville crossroads. When the railroad was being reconstructed this building was abandoned and later remodeled into a dwelling. It has since been remodeled and until recently, some of the original windows remained in place.

Picture 83 – Culmerville School before move looking down hill.

There was a population explosion in the schools due to people migrating and immigrating to this community seeking employment in the coal mines. Mrs. John Norris (Annie Donaldson) reminisced, having had 75 pupils in her classroom during the 191 1-12 and 1912-13 terms. The next building was built about 1920-21 when the railroad changed. It had two rooms and was a few yards from the railroad, which it paralleled. It was moved to the top of the hill and two rooms were added. Along with the traditional bells and belfries were the coal stoves, coal buckets, water pumps, ink wells, slates, hickory sticks, lunch bags and the privy. At times the lunches were frozen and had to be thawed near the furnace. The seats graduated in size according to the size a pupil should be at a particular age. In the higher grades, the seats were double. For a few years, students from Curtisville #2 came here after fourth grade and some eighth grade students were bussed to Russellton #1 or went to Curtisville #1. After the building was abandoned as a school it was used as a residence for a few years and in 1973 the local fire department burned it down as it had deteriorated and became hazardous to trespassers.

Picture 84 – Culmerville School before move looking up hill.

In a deed from Nancy Pillow to Henry Davidson dated Dec. 13, 1893 there is a statement "The school lot may have been conveyed by Robert Norris to W.D.T. School."

Lands and houses

The first patents (deeds) to purchasers were issued to those who had received warrants from the government in 1786. The remainder of the land was known as Depreciation lands. These tracts were not patented by receiving them but reverted to government and later sold to Stephen Lowrey in 1807 by Marshall sale. Stephen Lowrey owned at least 9000 acres at one time. He willed his Pennsylvania property, of which Culmerville was part, to his daughter, Sarah Collins. Lowrey sold land to John Carnahan in Culmerville on Feb. 15, 1808.

The Carnahans owned land but had to re-buy it and were given a lower price because they were one of the first to come to terms with Lowery's agent. The Carnahan (Carnaghan) log cabin was built soon after the family came here from Ireland, and is believed to be one of the oldest in the village. Their home was much like others of that era, built of logs, notched and saddled at the ends to leave the cracks between the logs as small as possible. The cracks were "chinked" with wood or just plain mud. The rafters were small saplings smoothed off on one side. Lath was the same material held onto the rafters by wooden pins. The covering of "clapboards", split from oak trees, held in the "shaving horse" and smoothed with a drawing knife was placed on the roof and held on by weight poles overlapped in such a manner to keep out the weather. Nails were difficult to obtain as they were made by the blacksmith and iron was scarce. Pig bladder was used in lieu of glass for windows, sometimes-greased paper, sometimes nothing. The rooms of the home were small and few, one room served as the parlor, bedroom, washroom and kitchen. A new kitchen was added to this home sometime later as it was moved up the hill, beside the new house, to be used as a summer kitchen.

Picture 85 – Mary Ann Culmer Home

Picture 86 – The Commissary

Picture 87 – Robert and Mary Jane Norris farm in 1896

Picture 88 – The Norris Farm 1937

There was a large fireplace that was used for cooking and heating. They used large back-logs and smaller pieces of wood was held by andirons which were made by the blacksmith. There was a crane to support the kettle for cooking. The kettles were round, made of iron with three small legs so they could set over a nest of glowing coals. A pile of wood was stacked near by. A roll of cord was usually visible on the mantle. The windows served for light and ventilation as well as portholes. The doors were made of heavy boards held together with batons pegged to the boards. The hinges were made of wood. For a latch, a stick was pegged at one end, on the inner side of the door; the other end extended beyond the door for the latchstring, and was free to be lifted into a catch fastened to the doorjamb. A short distance above the latch a small hole was bored through the door for the latchstring. This was a piece of raw hide passing through the hole, fastened to the wooden latch. The latchstring was left out during the day but pulled in at night and a bar placed across the door to secure the house for the night. The furniture was somewhat crude, as most was homemade. Some folk had a few pieces shipped from England. The kitchen table was large, with benches, and was the meeting place for food, entertainment, study and solace. It was here disputes were settled, lessons were done, financial problems solved, and prayers said.

Soap was made of lye produced from drippings of the ash hopper boiled with the proper amount of fat and water.

The walls were covered with useful herbs. There was also a bottle of root bitters, some whiskey and jug of dandelion wine for medicinal purposes and special occasions. There were bags of dried berries, fruits, corn and strings of dried apples and pumpkins. In winter everyone tried to sit to get the best advantage of the heat from the fireplace. There was a rocking chair and baby's cradle. Since the chores were many and tedious, the mother soon learned to rock in her rocking chair and rock the cradle with her foot as she did a chore. There were trundle beds with straw, feather, or cornhusk mattresses. The parents' bed had either rope or cords instead of slats. The feathers had to be washed periodically; the straw or cornhusks had to be replaced frequently and the ropes or cords had to be tightened. There was a bootjack or two in every home.

There was a musical instrument here and there as they had to provide their own music for entertainment and dancing. This family of Norrises (Robert and Mary Jane Carnahan Norris) was all able to play at least one musical instrument and often played for dances.

The log home did not have a cellar. A spring-house, which was blasted out of rock, took its place. The churning was done there. The water was carried from this spring. In a protected spot near the spring, a bar supported by two posts was used to suspend the large kettles. It was here the water was heated; the butchering was done as well as making apple butter and pumpkin butter. There was a groove for a shelf cut into the rock on which the milk cans fit.

Arrow heads and Indian lore were found and kept as souvenirs.

The bake oven was made from a barrel. The barrel had a tin can and lid placed in one end and all but the section for a door was covered with soft clay and patted securely. A fire was built in the barrel, burning the barrel and baking the clay. Years later a brick oven was built near the new home.

The parlor was used only when the preacher or special company came. This was where the body was laid out for viewing when a death occurred. It was placed on a couch, bed, or in a casket, whichever the family desired. The body was taken to the church for services and burial. A crepe was nailed to the wooden frame of the front door. If it happened to be an infant, who passed away, a white ribbon crepe was used. If a middle aged person died, a lavender ribbon was used, black was used for the elderly. About three yards of the best satin ribbon was used to make a crepe. Long streamers used up about two yards of the ribbon and the rest was worked into a fancy bow to which dried wheat or live flowers were added. The crepe stayed on the doorframe until the last. The crepes were sometimes used more than once with a different floral arrangement.

In 1896 the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Company got a right-of-way which went between the log house and the new barn. Due to the condition of the log house it was necessary to replace it at this time. In 1897, the Norrises (Robert and Mary Jane Carnahan Norris) had a new 6 room home with a pantry built. The bid for the carpenter work was $75.00 and because double weather-boarding was used an additional charge of $8.00 was added. The total price paid to Jim Goldinger for labor and material for this home was $880.00. There was a stone foundation, a fireplace in every room except the kitchen where a coal stove was used for cooking and heating. When the railroad was being constructed, some of the railroad employees boarded here for $4.00 weekly.

1920's

A new barn had been built near the log house. In 1921 more ground was condemned because of the railroad tunnel problem and the new barn had to be moved. It was moved to a higher location above the new home. John and Jim Norris did the hauling for which they received $4.50 a day for their team and $1.15 a day for their labor. Along with the farming, there was a dairy route in Curtisville and Russellton. Milk was shipped via the railroad from the Culmerville station. There was an icehouse several feet from the barn. The ice preserving process required much labor. The ice was cut as large as possible and put in the icehouse. Saw dust was put between the ice pieces to keep them from freezing together. A pulley and tongs were used to move the larger pieces. There was a wagon shed, a wheel horse behind the barn, spring house and the ever important out-house (privy).

Many families boarded workers to supplement their income. The Angeloni family had a boarding house close to the Allegheny-Butler County lines. The Benkes, the Hazletts, the Norrises and others kept boarders. Some boarders slept in the home; others slept in the barn or even on the lawn and ate at the picnic table.

Beef, pork, potatoes, hominy (corn hulled), dried fruits and vegetables, coarsely ground or crushed grain (usually cooked) were some of the more staple items of their diet. The meat was smoked in the smokehouse or "put down" in brine in crocks and barrels. Such foods as kraut, pickles and pears were put into crocks or barrels.

Sarah Collins sold 107 acres and 117 perches to Adam Norris for $430.92 on May 16, 1831. She also sold 155 acres to Robert Norris for $165.00 on Dec. 28, 1830 and another 100 acres to him for $250.00 on Sept. 16, 1838. A large portion of the Norris land was transferred to Henry Davidson through the Norris heirs. The Robert Norris home was where John Consolaro's home is now; the Adam Norris home is the old brick home on top of Blanchard hill.

Adam Norris owned the land where Blanchard is located and much of the surrounding lands and this has been transmitted to his heirs (listed in the Norris family history).

Buses and other transportation

The Culmerville-Russellton-Cheswick Transit Company was incorporated Apr. 15, 1915 by A. J. Norris. Clark Porter & James Norris became partners after W.W.I.

The first route was from Culmerville to Cheswick. When the mining industry flourished about 1922 special trips were made for the miners.

During the winter the wood busses were heated with oil stoves. The busses had solid tires and could carry as many as 25 passengers. In later years, modern busses replaced the old as needed.

In the 30's the bus route was expanded to New Kensington. A charter service was available from the company.

After the death of A. J. & Susan Norris, their share passed to J. Floyd Dawson. After the death of James Norris in 1943, the owners were J. Floyd Dawson, Mrs. James (Mildred) Norris and son, Harold Norris & Clark Porter.

An auxiliary garage was located at the intersection of Blanchard and Culmerville-Millertown Roads (Burns property now). Another garage was built near the bridge at Culmerville. In 1958 Mr. Norris bought the Culmerville Auto Transit Company franchise. In 1961 he purchased the Mount Royal Boulevard route from Harmony Short Line Company. The greater part of the routes were to Pittsburgh after 1958.

When Port Authority Transit took over Mar. 31, 1964 there were 35 employees and 35 busses.

The Culmerville Auto Transit Company was started prior to 1920 at the crossroads. Dwight Bryan and James Staley bought out the Martin Bus Company. The garage and buses were destroyed by fire along with the Norris store October 1920. The owners of the Culmerville-Russellton- Cheswick Bus Company loaned them enough buses to complete their schedules without interruption.

A new block building was built in 1921 near the site of the original garage. The first buses were wood with solid tires and were chartered to go to Sharpsburg; the Pittsburgh franchise came later. The regular bus routes were to/from Culmerville, Tarentum, Pittsburgh and for a few years were petitioned to haul workers to Allegheny Steel Corporation, Brackenridge for mill turn changes. Many riders were shoppers but most were employees going to and from their place of employment.

The buses were used to bus school students to/from Tarentum and Etna High Schools. At this time, the student was responsible for his own transportation costs. Later when West Deer High School was opened, they were contracted to haul students for the school district.

A second story was added to the building and the Roof Garden Restaurant was opened. The restaurant was not financially productive. Consequently, the space was converted into a social hall to be used for dances, etc. At a later date it was used as a roller skating rink. An office and a smaller restaurant (or food bar) were added at different times and each has since been removed. Candy, tobacco, ice cream, and some auto incidentals could be purchased here. The company was disbanded in 1958, when it was sold to Harold Norris who represented Culmerville- Cheswick-New Kensington Transit Company.

The Railroad Company purchased the damaged Norris store and then sold it to the Bus Company to be torn down. When it was torn down the blocks and the smaller windows were used to add apartments to the side of the garage.

The Vernon Anderson Service Station/Convenience Store and Ultimate Industries, Inc., a machine shop owned by Ray Conway since 1972, has been housed here.

The Norris Store

The first Norris Store, owned by Alex and A. J. Norris, was located in Russellton. The next store was in Culmerville with two apartments on the second floor, plus Mr. Douthett's feed store and a blacksmith shop attached to the side. In October 1920 a fire started in the Culmerville Auto Transit Garage and spread to the store. Both were a total loss.

To keep the store business going, a store was set up in a black building on the opposite side of the tunnel. This store was referred to as "Black Maria."

A new store was built of block on a cement foundation northwest of the present bridge. The foundation cracked due to the faulty drainage system in the railroad tunnel. The railroad bought the building and sold it to the garage owners who tore it down and used some of the materials to add to their building. The show windows were kept by the Norrises and used in the new building.

In 1920, A. J. and Alex Norris leased land from the Railroad Company and built the present building. General merchandise, groceries and farm products were sold. The Robert Norrises bought full ownership in 1933 from J. Floyd Dawson, an heir of A.J. Norris. The Railroad Company leased land to the Norrises at a "reasonable rate" since they were responsible for the damage to the other store. The lease rate was thirty dollars a year plus one hundred dollars a year for taxes. There was a one hundred-year lease, which ran from 1920 to 2020. After Robert Norris became infirm his younger son, J. Leroy and his wife, Janet Jones Norris, operated the store. After Mr. Norris' death they continued to do so until 1970.

The term "on tick" or "on book" was used to acknowledge the financial arrangement for credit buying.

The building was used as a cycle shop and Zeieski's West Deer Home Improvements after the store was closed.

Automobiles were being used more and people began going to town for bigger and better selection, possible lower prices. Gasoline rationing during W.W.II had some influence on where shopping was done. Many women, as well as men, went to work in factories and the class of living was up-graded and less credit buying was necessary.

Gone are the days of penny candy, tub butter, barrel pickles, baskets of eggs and the friendly grocer.

The scales were located at the crossroads near the store and were used to weigh wagons.

Picture 89 – The Norris store

Brink yard, Oil wells and other business

The Brick Yards were in operation prior to 1853 and were owned by the Norris family. One kiln was located in Curtisville #1 and the larger one was on the Adam Norris farm in Culmerville near where the town of Blanchard is now. Pleasant Unity and Bull Creek Churches and the Culmerville School were built of these bricks. The four early brick houses are: the Adam Norris house which is now Caponi's, the David Hemphill house is now the Stewart-Erskine house, the Dave Norris house is now Knochs' (unoccupied) and the John Montgomery home is now the Mrs. Wilbur Ekas home.

The oil wells first went into production in 1897-98 when T. W. Phillips Gas and Oil Company drilled two oil wells on the Adam Norris farm and two on the Joe Norris farm. After drilling some dry holes in the same vicinity, they pulled out the four and plugged them.

There was an oil station of Columbia Conduit Company on Bull Creek near the Fawn Township line about 1889. There were four oil wells on the John Norris farm that were drilled by Ferguson-Porter drillers. This farm was dubbed the "Seldom Seen Farm" as the home could not be easily seen from the highway.

The Benke Apartment Building was built of concrete blocks in 1924 by Fred Mateer and sold to Benkes in 1927. He had dug the foundation by hand with the aid of a breast drill like those used in the coal mine. He used-three wheelbarrows and paid local boys 25 cents a day to push them.

The building is three stories high housing 24 rooms. Each room has a door adjoining the next. This plan allowed for renting an individual room or a series of rooms to form an apartment.

Single rooms were rented to railroaders and miners. Mrs. Mike Benke had a restaurant on the lower level for) approximately two years,

The Benke Blacksmith Shop and Garage was started when John C. Benke bought the blacksmith shop from John Poitney, who had bought it from John C. Norris.

John C. Benke went to trade school in New Kensington to learn to be a machinist. He came to Culmerville in 1917, opened the blacksmith shop and hired Paul Risch Toqether, Mr. Benke and Mr. Risch, shod the mules for Curtisville mines, made and repaired steel wheels and had a wood shop to repair the wooden wheels on the wagons used to deliver coal.

With the passing of this era, Mr. Benke transformed the blacksmith shop into an auto dealership .in 1923. He sold and repaired automobiles.

The company has recently been sold to John Orsini but will continue to use the Benke name.

The Creamery was operated by W. David Norris who bought the Blanchard Coal Company in 1926 and changed the name. The Creamery was operated by W. David Norris who' went to Penn State University to learn the creamery profession.

Culmerville Coal Co. was owned by Joseph Batcher who bought the Blanchard Coal Company in 1926andchanged the name.

The company was started in 1918. The original owners built 28 houses in a group and formed the town of Blanchard. These were some of the best quality owned houses and were rented to Blanchard Company employees. When the Blanchard Coal Company was sold in 1926 the occupants were given the option of buying the homes. Most were sold quickly and have been well maintained and remodeled.

The employees were paid union scale wages. When the mine first operated under the Culmerville name, the wages were approximately $2.00 a day and when it closed were approximately $45.00 a day.

There were approximately 250 employees at the highest peak, many less during the depression days.

Most of the coal was lake coal which was shipped by rail to the lake and then to barges on the lake. A small portion of coal was sold to local individuals and truckers. The tipple burned in 1945 but the mine stayed in operation until 1953.

Many Culmerville miners walked to the coal mine which was only a mile or so away.

The company also bought coal from other companies for resale.

Smaller Mines

The Benke Coal Company operated near the Allegheny- Butler County line between 1923 and 1938.

The Henry Coal Company was located on Henry property west of the Kittanning Pike (Saxonburg Blvd. or K.D.K.A. Blvd.) It was owned by David (1824-1900) and John (1854- 1915) Henry as early as 1886. They supplied coal to the local farm people. The mine was given to McClain, Frank and Clarence Henry who were sons of John Henry. They mined it with the aid of another brother Bill and McClain's son, John, along with a few other employees. After John (Sr.) died, Frank worked in the mine in the winter and farmed the family farm during the crop season. Later he and Bill worked elsewhere. After McClain's death, Clarence worked in the mine until 1958.

A coal mine, owned by Charlie Bryan, was located over the hill, behind where the Blanchard Coal Company once was.

West Deer #1 Fire Department

The West Deer #1 Fire Department was started in Culmerville on March 21, 1929. The department raised funds to operate by collecting donations and holding card parties, raffles, dances, etc.

In August of the same year a fire truck was purchased, an American LaFrance for $6150.00. After the fire truck was purchased, the firemen hauled used lumber from Dorseyville to construct a single bay fire hall on land owned by Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad. An addition was made to this building to accommodate additional vehicles and provide an area for social activities. This building was used from 1929 until the fall of 1969 when a new modern structure was built with over eight thousand square feet of area on the western side of the Culmerville Bridge.

The Ladies Auxiliary had done much to help the department. A junior fire department was activated in 1971.

"The Stand"

The "Stand" was owned and operated by Mary (Molly) McNaughton at the crossroads. The front of the building was constructed so that it could be completely or partially opened. Her homemade food was considered exceptionally appetizing but expensive. Ice cream cones, as well as candy, chewing gum, tobaccos, etc. were available.

Sara Hill had a sandwich shop in the addition on the front of Culmerville Auto Transit garage. The shop was closed after a short time.

The Culmerville Hotel was built in 1947 by owners, Fred and Andy Charney. The hotel consists of twelve rooms, one efficiency apartment, combination dining area, dance floor and bar. The brothers operated the hotel together for two years at which time Andy chose another profession and Fred took over the business. With the aid of his wife Julie, Fred operated the hotel until his death in 1968. After his death Mrs. Charney ran it until 1974. After 1974 she and Glenn Piper operated it until selling it August, 1983 to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bertha.

The Crossroads Hotel

The Crossroads Hotel was built by Anthony and Jean Busin. The two-story tavern was built in 1950 with the sleeping accommodations on the second floor. In 1954 these rooms were used for the second hand furniture business which Busin's also owned. In 1960 these rooms were needed to meet the hotel occupancy requirements and a third floor was added. There are 16 bedrooms on the second floor and an efficiency apartment on the third. The hotel has a kitchen, bar and dining area on the first floor and is now owned by Anthony (Jr.) and Mary Busin.

Culmerville Used Furniture Outlet

The Culmerville Used Furniture Outlet was owned by Anthony and Jean Busin. The first outlet was opened in 1953 in a Quonset hut. The business prospered and the second story of their tavern was used to house additional items. When this space was needed to meet hotel occupancy requirements in 1960 and additional space became available on the second floor of the Staley and Bryan garage, the business was moved across the I highway.

Sometime after 1964, when the buses were no longer garaged in the bus garage, Busin acquired the use of the garage area in addition to the second floor area.

After Mr. Busin's death in 1972, Mrs. Busin and Anthony, Jr. continued operating the business until 1981 when ill health prevented Mrs. Busin from continuing the business.

Hess Garage

The Hess Garage and service station was built in 1935 parallel to the highway, east of the bridge. Eddie DeVando took over the business in 1951 and continued until his death in Dec. 1963. His brother-in-law, Joe Makuta, continued to operate the business for Mrs. DeVando until April 1, 1976. Currently it is owned by Jura, Inc.

Culmerville Airport

The Culmerville Airport was started in 1951 by Fred 0. Eiler. From 1951 to 1962 it was used basically as an instruction field and aircraft storage hanger. From 1962 until this writing it held a commercial license but was used for advertising banner towing, a private enterprise. From 1974101976 skydivers boarded their plane here, jumped and returned to this field, providing entertainment for sightseers. Instruction to become a parachutist was available. An Electronics Company was operated here from 1977 to 1980.

Deer Lakes Mobile Home Park

Deer Lakes Mobile Home Park houses a large number of Culmerville residents. The 35 acres of land on which it is built was purchased by William and Ramona Moretti from Harry Davidson, Jr. and in 1970 preparation was made for road, gas lines, water, underground wiring and their private sewage system. There are nearly 100 single and double wide mobile or modular homes. A post office type mailbox near the entrance of the park has been constructed for convenience and security. The Culmerville Sportsman Club is located on Saxonburg Boulevard near Curtisville #2. The Club building contains a kitchen, dining area and bar. They also have a rifle range where an occasional turkey or ham shoot is held.

Picture 90 – Aerial Deer Lakes Mobile Home Park

Part of Deer Lake Mobile Home Park with Curtisville #2 in the background

Other businesses

From 1916-1924 Stanley Gray had a repair shop and a Model T Ford sub-dealership about 1/2 mile south of the crossroads on Saxonburg Boulevard. After the Ford garage closed, the Star Automobile was sold by "Smitty." Andy Charney had a Prestolite franchise and rebuilt batteries in 1957 & 58. This franchise was taken over by Frank Barlow. The battery operation has been discontinued but an auto- truck repair business started at the same time remains.

A Laundromat was operated near here. The Lloyd Concrete Products Co. and the Lloyd Vault Co. are currently in operation.

Consolaros started as an independent repair and service station in 1939 and continued in this capacity until 1948 when they took the Kaiser-Frazer franchise. They continued until 1954 when the manufacturer became defunct. After termination of this franchise, they were sub- dealers for Ford for a short time. In 1955, they acquired the Chrysler sales & service dealership until they closed in 1972.

John's Service Center and Sales is owned by John Fiorita and has been in a portion of the Consolaro building for the past year. Gallenz Auto Sales is owned by William E. Gallenz. Mr. Gallenz buys and sells automobiles and does auto body repairs. He has operated his business in the showroom section of the Consolaro building since 1972.

The Alex Norris Farm was purchased by the railroad company when the tunnel was removed. It was later sold to David and Mary (Browley) Norris for one hundred dollars. In 1938, the home was moved 600 feet up a steep hill at a cost of $1 .00 a foot. The family lived in the house during the transition which took little more than a week.

Bell Haven was started in the early fifties by J. 0. Elliott on an acre of ground on the Culmerville-Millertown Road. There are many bells on display on the grounds as well as exhibited in the home. The home and bell collection was turned over to the elder daughter, Iva Mae Long, in 1983 after Mr. Elliott's death.

Shady Brook Golf Course was built by Wilbur and Gertrude Ekas on the Ekas farm in 1960 and was used until 1980 when ill health hindered Mr. Ekas from managing it.

All of the land was at one time farmland. During the depression in the thirties some farmers were forced to sell part of their property to help pay expenses. Many of the on- coming generation had become nubile and wanted to build their own homes.

One of the first Pre-Cut Homes is now owned by the Frank Henry family. It is a Sears, Roebuck home that was built for Ed and Clara Henry McGinley about 1915.

An 82-foot long earth shelter home is under construction by George and Joanne Golojuh on the site of the Culmerville School. The home will be 3/4 under ground upon completion. It contains a thermo hoop, a passive solar system which will cool and heat the home.

The number of new homes has been limited due to the lack of desirable building space. There are some new houses paralleling the railroad on Russellton Road.

We have had many small businesses: beauty shops, service stations, sandwich shops, snack bars, auto sub- dealerships, an ice cream parlor, nursery stock sales, Christmas tree sales, a kindergarten in the fire hall, etc.

Obviously, Culmerville has changed over the past years, usually for the better, but we are always striving for the improvement of our community

Picture 91 – Culmerville cross road 1937

Picture 92 – Aerial Fawn Haven #2

Fawn Haven #2 with Grouse Run in the background.

After World War II many of the suburban areas around Pittsburgh experienced "housing booms." This period of rapid expansion in some areas did not stop until suitable building land was gone, West Deer, being on the periphery of suburban development, got a late start and then only in the more desirable locations. The availability of water and sewage were also influencing factors.

The Magill Heights area, described previously, was the first of West Deer's major developments. Before this plan was completed, another one called Fawn Haven was under way. Developed by Norman Fry, Fawn Haven was built in three phases, each bearing a number, similar to the mining towns. Almost thirty years later these numbers are still in use.

These Fawn Haven homes were built in the period between 1956 and 1962 and were mostly three-bedroom brick homes. This plan had its own sewage treatment system and used West View water. It would eventually be tied in with the Deer Creek Drainage Basin Authority sewers. Since this development was on West Deer's western border, access to Route Eight was easy. The new residents were more oriented to Pittsburgh employment than that in the Allegheny Valley.

The total homes in the Fawn Haven Two and Fawn Haven Three is about 160. Fawn Haven One is almost entirely in Hampton Township.

Deer Park, a community of 162 homes, lies along East Union Road between the Deer Lakes High School and the East Union Crossroads. Developed by Ryan Homes' land development arm, it was built entirely on one farm, sometimes referred to as the Henry Baumgartel farm. This plan was also built in three phases.

Phase one had seventy-two homes, phase two had sixty- five, and the third phase, built on a single street, had only twenty-five. Most of the building, which had begun in 1972, was finished by 1975. The residents were somewhat divided in employment between Pittsburgh and the Allegheny Valley, both being within commuting distance.

One of the largest farms in West Deer was located in the extreme southwestern corner of the township. Known as the "Backhaus" place, it contained several hundred acres. Many older residents may remember the huge tower on the gas well drilled there in the 1930's. It was developed into streets and building lots by Norman Fry, who had previously developed Fawn Haven.

This plan, called Cedar Ridge, is located on Cedar Ridge Road and is, as previously described, in the southwest corner of the township. On the west it borders Hampton Township, on the south, the turnpike, and on the north, Cedar Ridge Road.

In the planning stage for some time, it opened with the Home Show in June 1978 when a number of homes by different builders were on display. The first residents were this author's daughter and son-in-law, the Stephen Szallays, who moved in during the home show, their home not being on display. A number of others whose homes were on display could not move in until after the two-week show was over.

Picture 93 – Aerial Fawn Haven #3

Picture 94 – Aerial of Deer Park

Picture 95 – Aerial of Deer Park second view

Picture 96 – Aerial of Cedar Ridge from West

Picture 97 – Aerial of Cedar Ridge from another angle

The homes built in Cedar Ridge varied considerably in size and design since a number of builders were involved. It has been noted that a number of these new citizens of West Deer, both here and in nearby Grouse Run, might be classified as "Yuppies," young, upward-moving professionals. Many are employed in the large corporations of the Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh. Before long their weight must be felt in local government where control has moved from the farmers to the miners and is now moving toward newer residents in the developments.

Cedar Ridge has been, and is being, built in phases. There were seventy-eight lots in the first, ninety in the second, and sixty-nine in the third. The fourth phase is currently being built, bringing the total number of finished houses to about 265. The final phases have room for about 200 more.

Picture 98 – Aerial of Cedar Ridge showing part of the 1985 development

Cedar Ridge showing part of the 1985 development

When one would drive southwest in West Deer on Middle Road, the last farm on the right would have been a large vegetable farm known as the Lager Farm. Many of our citizens remember the large field of vegetables and the hot beds of vegetable plants. A few of our very old residents might even remember when it was called the "TB" farm. It was owned many years ago by the Tuberculosis League and was used as a "fresh air" country place for TB patients.

It was later purchased by the Lager family, who were vegetable growers. About 1977 they sold it to the Ryan people and plans were made for a four-phase development to be called Grouse Run.

These four phases had ninety-four, one hundred and four, sixty-six, and ninety-five lots respectively for a total of two hundred sixty-nine. By the end of 1984 all the lots had been sold, although perhaps two dozen remain without houses.

This location, a short distance from Cedar Ridge, appeals to the same type of buyer. Most are new to the area and wish a home in the country, not too far from the city.

The four plans described here have added about 850 houses to West Deer and have room for at least 200 more. The potential for additional plans is good. In another fifty years this will have to be totally rewritten.

Picture 99 – Aerial of Grouse Run

Picture 100 – Aerial of Grouse Run another view

In the hundred-year history of West Deer by the Rev. Hughes and the Rev. Weisz, the only reference to medical care is the following:

Nothing is known now of Dr. Herron. More is known of a Dr. Rowley. He had an office in Millerstown but his home and home-office were near Culmerville. The Larry Murray family now resides in the Dr. Rowley house. It is not known exactly when Dr. Rowley practiced here but it is believed to have been before 1900 and for some time in the early part of this century. After Dr. Rowley passed away his widow taught in the Culmerville School for several years. Their grandson is now a judge of Superior Court.

Several doctors who served West Deer residents are known to have lived and had offices in Bakerstown, Dorseyville, and Ivywood. The names of Doctors Halstead, Stepp, Miller, and Merhson have been mentioned with these offices. Dr. Merhson is known to have made house calls in the Culmerville area in his horse and buggy.

There is no record of any dentists in West Deer before the coming of the mining towns or in the early years of these towns. A tooth simply decayed -until it ached and then it was pulled by the local doctor. The fee most commonly charged for this service was fifty cents.

Several dentists in West Deer are remembered from the early days. A Dr. Smith and a Dr. Kreimer were in practice in the second floor of the Long Building, where several members of that family now live. A Dr. Krumpe had an office in his house on the Bakerstown-Culmerville Road, as well as one in East Liberty. A Dr. Lutz came in somewhat later in the Green River Market (Davis) building in Little Italy (Curtisville). These were the only known dentists until after World War II when Dr. Petitto opened his office in Russellton. Some years later a Dr. Kistler had a part-time practice in his home-office on Shuster Road. His main practice was in Oakland but from 1967 to 1982 he had a part-time practice in semi-retirement. Dr. James Graham, a West Deer native opened his practice in Russellton in the early 1980's. West Deer has produced a number of dentists but Dr. Graham was the only one to "return home."

Not long after the two large mining operations began at the Russellton's and Curtisville's, each of the coal companies set up offices for their "company doctors." These doctors had the entire company's personnel to care for but were always available to the area farmers if needed. The names of these doctors are known to several generations of West Deer families. Among these names are the Doctors McMasters, Dickie, Campbell, Kuntz, Griffin, Cross, Richards, Jose, Allsop, Egan, and Reynolds.

In 1952 Dr. Reynolds resigned as the Republic Steel Company doctor to go into private practice. The Curtisville mines were about to close. This presented a crisis in local medical care which the miners' union took immediate steps to alleviate. Through the efforts of several local members and the district office, the Russellton Medical Group and the Russellton Building Inc. were instituted to house and operate a medical clinic. Dr. Ferrier was the first physician and was assisted by several nurses and an office staff. More doctors and specialists were added as needed. Dr. Fine is remembered as being on this staff.

In the early 1960's it became evident that this clinic could not continue in its present quarters. It was simply too small for the amount of business that was coming to it. Pressure from other areas was too great. This prompted the building of the facility in Harmarville which now serves this area. Many doctors including a growing number of specialists, are available through this facility.

When the Russellton Medical Group moved its operation from Russellton to it's new building near Harmarville, West Deer was left without a primary medical facility. People could use this new clinic several miles away at Harmarville but the distance made it somewhat inconvenient. West Deer was left with only one doctor within the township and over 10,000 citizens. This (situation was to continue for about ten years.

In the mid-seventies communication between leading citizens and the St. Margarets Memorial Hospital resulted in the organization of a Citizens Advisory Committee. This committee met with administrators from SMMH and plans were formulated for a family health center. This committee consisted of Rev. Richard Kennedy, Peter Catanese, Gladys Hess, Alien Reid, and William Palmer. The idea of this local health center was very enthusiastically received by the citizens of West Deer.

St. Margarets applied for and received a generous grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This organization is a private philanthropy dedicated to the improvement of health in the United States. The amount received was $401,944.00, of which $331,000.00 was for the actual health center and the remainder to subsidize its operation until it became self-sufficient.

In the summer of 1977 a five-acre plot was purchased on the Russellton-Dorseyville Road and construction begun on the planned health center. During construction two trailers were set up so that patients could be cared for until the building was completed. These new temporary facilities were used from July 1977 until the following May when the new building was completed.

From the beginning this facility was owned by SMMH and operated as a group practice by three physicians on the hospital staff. They called their group the Deer Lakes Medical Association. Doctors Morphy, Marks, and Matthews became familiar names to many West Deer citizens.

Seven years later (1985) SMMH maintains ownership of the health center facility and the center operates as the private practice of the same group, the Deer Lakes Medical Association. A fourth physician, Dr. Baecher, has been added to the group. In February 1985, the 100,000th patient was treated at the facility. The Center now provides a full range of family medical services including pediatrics internal medicine, obstetrics, gynecology and geriatrics.

The Deer Lakes Family Health Center open by appointment five and a half days a week and a physician is on call twenty-four hours a day in case of emergencies.

by Samuel DiSanti

Before the coming of the mining towns to West Deer the only law officers in the township were the elected constables. This office was more of an honor than one of necessity. As one of the county historians in the last century stated, "For years West Deer has been noted for its quiet, and lack of excitement of all kinds." '.

With the coming of the mining towns and increased population there was an obvious need for more police. Fortunately the mining companies furnished their own "company police" and in general took care of their own problems. In fact they had their own private jail. In the 1940's as the coal companies were selling their houses and turning their company streets into public streets it became evident that West Deer would need a police department.

November 4, 1943 marked its beginning. Albert Sabatini became our first policeman at the salary of $150.00 per month. He was paid five cents a mile to use his own car, properly insured, and the township was to furnish his uniform. He had to keep detailed records and present them to the Board of Supervisors the first of each month.

Three years later in 1946, William "Scotty" Thompson was appointed as an additional policeman under the same conditions as Albert Sabatini. Sabatini was made Chief and both were given raises to $175.00 per month. Working conditions for police at this time were poor. Pay was low there were no holidays, and they were on call continually

In 1948 conditions improved for the policemen. They were given limited sick leave and a modest pension plan The police and the Lions Club sponsored a wrestling show to raise funds both for their own club and this pension fund. Today this pension program is much improved and is similar to that of state employees.

In 1949 our township police were authorized to cooperate with the State Police, County Detectives, and other municipal police in the pre-investigation of crime but only one township officer was to do so at one time.

The first police car was purchased in February 1949 and was a Chevrolet sedan costing $1757.64. During the years that followed they bought Ford's, Hudson's, Plymouth's, and Studebaker's.

Patrolman Thompson resigned on November 2, 1950 and his position was filled by Stephen Radage of Bairdford. He would later become Police Chief in 1958 and continue for a total of twenty-eight years of faithful service until his retirement in February 1979. He was the first recipient of the Deer Lakes Business Association Hall of Fame Plaque.

Going back to 1956, Albert Sabatini had just completed a new brick home on Reaghard Drive when he died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Samuel DiSanti was appointed to fill this vacancy. Salaries were now up to $350.00 per month, considered low by industrial standards. There were many reports now to be made and a policeman was expected to take a wide range of courses on law enforcement, drugs, narcotics, child abuse, accident procedures, first aid, and firearms use, all on his own time. By 1978 these courses had become mandatory with compensating time.

Sam DiSanti had served as a Deputy Constable for twelve years in West Deer prior to his police appointment. In August 1965 he was appointed to the rank of Lieutenant and served in that capacity until he was made Chief of Police in January 1980. In March 1982 he received a commendation from the Board of Supervisors, to be conveyed to his men as well, regarding the arrests of 28 persons and the recovery of over $50,000.00 in stolen property.

In 1957 an agreement was made with Richland Township for Police Radio Service. There had been a previous agreement with the Pittsburgh Radio Base. In February 1957 Eugene Phillips of Bairdford became a member of our police force. He went on to become Sergeant in January 1982, working and handling his men well. Also in 1957 the police were given six paid holidays.

In 1959 Anthony "Tony" Arlott began working on the road department and two years later in 1961 began with the Police Department as a full-time police officer. He has served his community well and has constantly kept up-to- date on courses as well as marksmanship qualification.

On June 4, 1959 we entered into agreement with Richland Township, Middlesex Township, and Butler County for mutual police protection. In September 1960 we entered into agreement with a two-way police dispatch service with Richland Township.

In January 1960 a police work schedule was agreed upon and in addition no police officer was to act as a truant officer. Don Simonetti became a part-time police officer in July 1964 and became full-time a year later. He has served the township well and has advanced his training at the Police Academy and the University of Pittsburgh. He has received commendations for his police work.

Picture 101 – Company Policeman on their horses about 1920

Picture 102 – Company Jail in Curtisville about 1955

The West Deer Police entered into an agreement with the KQV New Operation Alert to keep stations informed of emergencies. This duty was given to Chief Radage. The Police also authorized Fawn and Frazer Townships to answer calls and provide protection service in and for the Townships of Richland and West Deer.

Rudy Truckley became a police officer in June 1968, starting first on a part-time basis, then full-time. Rudy has done well in his police work, once receiving a commendation from the Richland Police for his efforts in the apprehension of a burglar.

Many factors are dictating the need for more policemen. In February 1974 Stephen Chearno and Charles (Marty) Pleischer were hired as police officers. Both men had to undergo training and serve a probationary period. Fleischer was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in January 1982 and has been cited for outstanding service. Chearno has also been commended for outstanding work.

Our police department had really grown into something to be proud of. In 1974, Mr. Czwalga, Police Commissioner, received a letter of commendation from Robert Kroner stressing the cooperation and assistance of our police officers in the round-up of fifty-eight drug pushers. Each and every one of our officers had contributed their efforts for such an accomplishment. ,

Our Police Department branched out with the purchase of radar equipment, police photographs through the Photographic Safety Consultants, Inc.; the Block Parent Program; and the Emergency Preparedness Manual. We had also entered into agreement with Shaler for a joint police radio base.

January 1983 brought about the existence of the Crime Prevention Program under the direction of Chief DiSanti, who appointed Officer Chearno to take charge. This program, along with Officer Chearno and his volunteers, has helped our community to see the need for a Crime Watch. They have videotaped our children as well as some of our senior citizens. The senior citizen taping was implemented for those considered to be a problem if they should wander away.

In September of 1982, the Board hired Russell Linderman as a part-time police officer; then in July of 1983, hired Joseph Catanese, Harry Compson, Thomas Czwalga, and Greg Paijavcsik. Paul Wain was hired in September of 1983. On June 14, 1984, Joseph Catanese, Harry Compson, and Thomas Czwalga resigned, followed by Russell Linderman in July 1985. This left Greg Paijavcsik and Paul Wain, who serve to relieve our full time officers in addition to maintaining their positions when off duty. Each is fully trained and works about twenty hours per week.

In addition to the part-time officers, we have had Auxiliary Police. These dedicated men, who have served our Township Police Department in traffic details, parades, stack-outs, and numerous other police responsibilities, I deserve a lot of credit. They have taken proper training and given of themselves without any compensation. These men are: Frank Barlow. Donald Cushman, Harry Compson, Clarence Dillner, John Hammerman, Joseph Hohman, Ernest Koberlein, James Rogers, George Valerio, and Jack Compson.

Our West Deer Police Department from 1943 to the present day has grown to fulfill the needs of the Township. We now have a Police Commissioner, Matt Arena; a Chief, Sam DiSanti, a Lt., Marty Fleischer; a Sgt., Gene Phillips; four full-time officers, Tony Arlott, Den Simonetti, Rudy Truckley, and Steve Chearno; two part-time officers, Paul Wain and Greg Paijavscik. They are dedicated and honest men of whom we can be proud. Some people took the time to commend some of the Officers, but all of our Officers have done outstanding service to all while expecting no praise. They answer every call with patience and understanding and a great desire to help. At this sesquicentennial celebration we can really take pride in our West Deer Police Department.

The Miner Organizes

The labor movement in America was gaining considerable momentum in the years prior to the First World War. In the coal industry in particular, the plight of the miner was such that an organization was needed to speak for him.

The first union charter in West Deer was issued to the miners at the Francis Mine at Curtisville No. 2, in 1915. Later charters were issued to locals at Russellton, Bairdford, Curtisville No. 1, and Superior.

The unions were all chartered in 1915 but were not recognized by the three coal companies involved. Early in 1916 a general strike by the unions forced recognition and the negotiation of a contract which was signed by the coal companies and was endorsed by the United Mine Workers of America on April 10, 1916.

Peace End tranquility never existed in the coal industry. On one hand was a constant demand for higher wages and better working conditions and on the other economic pressures for just the opposite. Labor strife was common. The strike was the only weapon the miner had and he had to use it frequently to better his working and living conditions. He lived in a company house, bought his groceries on credit at the company store, and lived by company rules. He was free, however, to quit his job and work someplace else under the same conditions. On the other hand, the coal companies often were generous in their contributions toward facilities for the miners' health, recreation, and religious welfare. Mining town histories are full of stories of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

When Philip Murray became president of the Executive Board of District No. 5, one of his first goals was to establish some uniformity in pay scales within the area of the Thick Upper Freeport Vein. A conference between the operators and miners resulted in a satisfactory agreement with uniform scales for tonnage, prices, and classifications. This proved satisfactory until April 1, 1927. The resulting strike is a story in itself. It is given here in some detail.

The Miner Strikes

The adult population of West Deer is familiar with the song, "Sixteen Tons," made popular by Ernie Ford a few years ago. Our young people would do well to listen to the words of this song. Nothing reflects the plight of the early miner in West Deer better than the words of the song. The company store, the check-off system, and the economic rut which the miner was always in as he tried to support his large family, make up a very real part of West Deer's history. The coal industry has always been marked by a history of conflict between the company and the miner. These battles were sometimes verbal but more often were of more serious confrontation. The company had many ways to wage its economic war but the miner had only one: the strike.

There have been many coal strikes in West Deer but one stands above the rest. Old timers refer to it as the "Great Coal Strike of 1927." Hughes/Weisz in their "Hundred Years of Progress" give a good account of the background of the union in West Deer and the subsequent strikes.

A number of our older citizens lived during this strike and were old enough to be aware of the situation. The following statements are made from discussions with some of these people.

The Jacksonville Agreement, in effect at a number of mines in the United States, called for a basic daily wage of $7.50 for eight hours work. The local coal companies would not sign and in an effort to break up the union ordered the miners to work at their offer (about $6.00) or get out of the company houses. Squads of "Coal and Iron" police enforced the order.

Each mining town had its "barracks." They were erected on available private property adjacent to the company town. At Bairdford, the barracks were across the road from the present St. Victor church. The Curtisville barracks were at the site of the present West Deer Alumni Club. At Russellton they were built in the Valley below the town which would place them behind the yellow brick No. 1 school in the direction of the Shop N' Save Supermarket.

Ex-residents of the barracks tell of the cracks in the weather boarding which let in the cold air during the winter of 1927-28 when many miners had to spend the winter in them. Food was distributed weekly from trucks and included flour and potatoes but very little meat. A number of miners went to live with relatives elsewhere until the strike was over.

The coal and iron police, at least in Curtisville and Bairdford, had horses. The Bairdford horses were stabled in the present post office building. The boarding houses in each mining town were used by the police. A number of state police were supposed to have been quartered here for awhile.

There are many stories of the hardships suffered by the miners during this strike. It was a massive effort on the part of the coal operators to break the union and break it they did. As the strike went into 1928 many of the miners were defeated financially and their morale was broken. A few moved away and got work at other mines. Those that stayed slowly moved back to their company houses and went back to work for whatever wages they were offered. While this process went on the coal and iron police kept tight rein in the company towns. For the last holdouts life was not easy. If they were suspected of being union organizers they would never be called back.

In the period between 1928 and the mid-thirties when federal legislation during the Roosevelt administration gave encouragement and protection to union organization every effort was made to keep union organizers out often mines and out of the company towns. There are horror stories of some of the tactics used by the coal companies get rid of organizers. One such story involved a "planted match, an in-mine search and an ex-employee caught carrying matches in the mine. In those days a fired miner might find his family and furniture at the end of the Company Street and off company property. I

Those days are part of our not-so-glamorous history Fortunately, most of us have a better way of life today. As we remember, let us not forget.

Picture 103 – Francis (Curtisville #2) Night shift miners.

Two movies were made about the strike. A documentary, "The Miners' Strike" (1928) shot by Sam Burke in cooperation with the National Miners' Relief Committee, was banned and only shown at Communist meetings or rallies. The other, Black Hell, was written by the highly regarded Judge Michael Mussmano from Pittsburgh. Ceding to pressure from the National Coal Association, Warner Brothers had it redone. The Hollywood version, Black Fury, staring Paul Muni bore little resemblance to the original screenplay. Even so, it still was considered too radical by the censors and banned even after the controversial parts were chopped out. The film soon was "swept under the rug."

Back to Work

After the miner went back to work, he labored under two serious drawbacks: he had no union to protect him and the nation was in a serious depression. If he quit his job he had no place to go. On paper the miner in West Deer was hardly ever unemployed. The statisticians in Washington were not using the term "part-time employment". Some miners worked only a few days a week while others worked almost daily, usually in summer. When the Great Lakes froze in winter and shipping stopped, so did some of West Deer mines. Work was never steady but the miner did survive. State-sponsored social study in 1937 showed only for families in West Deer receiving welfare aid and only small number on WPA.

They worked without union protection until 1933 where federal legislation gave the rank and file the right to organize and have a union. The local unions were then reorganized under these guidelines. The pictures of Franklin Roosevelt and John L. Lewis were on the walls of many living rooms.

Although unionized, the miner still lived in a company house, bought his groceries at the company store, and lived by a number of company rules and regulations. In a sense he was still a company vassal. The national union did improve wages. Daily wages during at least part of the depression were $3.76 with no portal-to-portal allowance Rent and electricity and other items such as coal were deducted first and ran as high as $14.00 a month. The bill at the company store took most of the remaining pay depending on the number of days per pay worked Whatever pay was coming was paid in cash. In some areas the miner got paid in company script which could only be spent at the company store.

The miner began buying cars. By the 1930's the second generation was evident and making its own lifestyle. Cars began showing up all over West Deer's mining towns. The Model T and Model A were still popular but newer cars were coming in. Although many of the older people still used the bus and train, their children were in the auto generation,

There were local unions at Bairdford, Curtisville and Russellton. This author wrote in his master's thesis in the' 1950's that the strongest influence in West Deer at that time was the miners' unions. They were strong in the economic, social and political influences in the mining towns and in the township. At the time of the schoolteachers' strike in February 1947 there were five school board members, all belonging to the United Mine Workers.

The strike was the chief tool the union had to improve wages and working conditions. The national organization bargained for wages over a large area but the local had to handle smaller grievances of a lesser nature National strikes generally followed the termination of a contract period. A local walkout could happen at any time for any reason. As one miner said, "We would throw the water out of our pail and go home for some reason and then wonder later what it was and why we did it." These local walk-outs never made any great impact on the overall economy. It was customary in the mines to layoff for twenty-four hours if anyone was killed in a mining accident.

Every union local had its grievance committee, which handled the local complaints. Unions were also active in giving their members safety education but the company generally sponsored the first aid training and rescue work.

In the later 1930's there was one strike which was not for better wages. The steelworkers of Republic Steel were having problems organizing and the miners of the captive mines went on a sympathy strike to aid their brothers in the steel mills.

During World War II, a serious strike led by John L. Lewis brought daily wages to over $6.00 a day. This strike was popular with the miner but not with the rest of the nation and the men in the armed forces.

After the war the coal companies sold their houses, giving first choice to the miners who lived in them. The company streets became township roads and the grip of the company lessened. The union by then was very strong and both the coal industry and the steel industry were doing well. Although the company stores were still in operation, the miner could buy his groceries where he pleased. There were a number of local, independent grocery stores. Some so-called company stores gave credit, which gave them some advantage.

In 1953 The Bairdford and Curtisville No. 2 mines closed and Ford Colleries leased their coal reserves to Republic Steel. The miners in those towns suffered the unemployment shock thirty years ago that many steelworkers and others are suffering today.

By the 1980's Republic Steel sold their holdings to LTV and in the fall of 1982 the Russellton mine ceased most of its operations. In the almost forty years that this author has been in West Deer, employment in the mines has gone from about 1200 to almost nothing. The very strong unions of the post-war years have faded away. At some time in the future, when demand for coal is greater than at present, the remaining reserves will undoubtedly be removed. Coal will not be king again but it may provide some jobs for a number of miners for a while.

West Deer Township, Allegheny County, has the shape of a square which is about five and seven-tenth miles in the east-west direction and five and one-tenth miles in the north-south direction. The area of this square is 28.65 miles and the acreage is about 18,500.

The 1980 census places the population of West Deer at 10,602 persons. The 1985 estimate by township officials is much higher, at 12,600. Accounting for much of this change are the four hundred or so new homes built after the federal census. We may safely assume that the population is somewhere between twelve and thirteen thousand.

The one significant change in our population is the rapid decrease in foreign-born residents. At one time this group made up a high percentage of our population. By 1350 it was down to 14 percent and by 1980 was only a few percent.

West Deer Township lies slightly north of the 40th parallel of latitude, between the approximate lines of 36 and 40 minutes. With regard to longitude; it is located at 79 degrees west, between 49 and 55 minutes. If we were to compare it to well-known cities on the same lines we would say that it is as far north as Salt Lake City and is due north of Charleston, South Carolina.

Our township lies within the dissected Allegheny Plateau, south of the southernmost glacial advance and almost entirely within the drainage basin of Deer Creek. Two parallel streams flowing southward have created valleys in the eastern and western halves, divided in the center by a ridge which averages between 1 100 and 1200 feet in elevation. These two north-south valleys have smaller dendritic valleys joining them from both sides.

Deer Creek, which flows southward in the western valley, is the larger stream of the two and drains over half the total area. It rises along the northern border at an elevation of over 1100 feet and leaves the southern border at an elevation of about 850 feet. Little Deer Creek, the eastern stream through whose valley the railroad runs, drains about forty percent of the total area. It rises on the northern border at about the same elevation as Deer Creek and leaves the southern border at slightly under 900 feet. It empties into Deer Creek three miles to the south. The combined streams flow into the Allegheny River at Harmarville.

Two minor exceptions to the drainage pattern exist. In the northwestern corner the water from about 100 acres drains to the northwest to a tributary of Glade Run which empties into the Beaver River at Ellwood City. The northeastern corner of the township is crossed by Bull Creek, which drains about a square mile. It leaves the township at an elevation of slightly less than 900 feet and flows into the Allegheny River at Tarentum.

The local relief is about 300 feet. It is not generally marked by steep hills and therefore does not appear to have this much difference. The two exceptions are knobs, which rise to 1267 feet and over 1300 feet. These knobs do appear as high steep hills. If you stand on Route 910 and look at the tower on Dinner's Knob you are viewing the greatest visible difference in elevation in West Deer Township. From the road to the top of the hill is 336 feet. You are not looking at the highest point, mentioned later in this chapter, it just appears that way.

The soils of West Deer, for the most part, belong to the Gilpin series. They are almost entirely derived from shale and fine-grained sandstone's. The soils are generally not too deep, are naturally acid, and have moderate to low natural fertility. Available moisture varies with soil depth but generally is moderate.

The soil types include Silt Loams, Shale Loams, Channery Loams, Clay Loams, and Stony Loams. One of the more common soils found on many a farm is the Westmoreland Silt Loam.

Both erosion and depletion have taken their toll on West Deer's soils. The landscape is dotted with abandoned fields covered with Poverty grass, Brome Sedge, and Scrub brush. On land were soil conservation and proper soil management have been practiced the productivity varies from moderate to high.

The natural vegetation was that of mixed hardwood with the exception of some coniferous growth in the lower Deer Creek valley. Hemlock can be seen still growing in that area.

Most of the land was cleared at one time with the exception of areas, which were either left for farm wood lots or had soils too rocky or thin to farm.

West Deer lies entirely within the Northern Appalachian Coal Field. The Pittsburgh vein was found in a few high areas. History records that a small mine on Dawson's Knob (Dinner's) operated before 1850. There were also country bank mines on Murdy's Knob south of the East Union crossroads. Many more mines were on this same ridge farther south in Indiana Township. Some say this is why Rich Hill got its name. Stripping operations removed all the coal from Murdy's Knob and lowered the elevation of West Deer's highest point sometime around World War II.

The coal deposit of much greater importance was that of the Upper Freeport vein. It was a high-grade bituminous coal of excellent coking quality. It was used for fuel, chemicals, and coke. The total amount under West Deer was estimated as high as a hundred million tons.

The "Thick" or "Double" Freeport vein is the local term given to that part of the Upper Freeport vein in areas where it is considerably thicker than its normal three to four feet. In West Deer Township this area includes all of the area east of Deer Creek except the Bull Creek Valley. Two-thirds of West Deer had the thick vein while the remaining part had the normal or "low" coal.

The thick Freeport coal averages about six feet in thickness, with a characteristic boney six to eleven inches in thickness and located from two to four feet below the roof. Some cannel coal is found above the roof in local areas but that is not characteristic. The clay floor found in many places is also not persistent.

The coal vein rises slightly to the north but varies somewhat in the east-west direction, although the average elevation is consistent. In general, it has the same conformity as a sheet of corrugated metal roofing, with the longer dimension to the north and elevated slightly.

Prior to the 1900 there were nine country bank mines operated in the township, mostly by farmers on a part-time basis. There was no demand for coal in the summer and therefore mining activity was restricted to cold weather demand. These mines with one exception were located in the Deer Creek and Bull Creek valley areas where slopes into the low coal were used. The entry into the Pittsburgh coal was on a high knob and went in on a level drive. These early mines never furnished a livelihood for more than five or six families at one time. Most were late nineteenth century operations.

After 1903 when exploitation of the coal resources was begun on a large scale, West Deer began to grow into a large mining camp. Five shafts, each employing as many as five hundred, were in operation in the early 1920's. Another mine, a slope into low coal, employed almost 150 men. In later years another large slope mine and two strip mine operations were to open. No accurate measure of the amount of coal removed is available but it is conservatively estimated at 75,000,000 tons.

With the final closing of West Deer's last large mine, most of the coal under the township had been removed. Since the major coal companies owned coal beyond the township boundaries, much of the coal removed in recent years was not West Deer coal.

The 28.65 square miles of West Deer are crossed by a hundred and five miles of township, county, and state roads. Even a short distance of Interstate 76 (the turnpike) crosses the southwest corner of the township. The main roads, with exceptions in the more populated areas, follow basically the same pattern they had at the turn of the century. The roads, of course, have been improved and many are hard-surfaced, but the layout has seen only minor changes. Most houses in West Deer face these roads and in only a few cases are long country lanes evident.

Bus or jitney transportation has been available in some areas since 1914 or 1915-The two bus companies, which served West Deer for many years, were taken over by the Port Authority which now operates the only public transportation available.

The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad was built through West Deer before 1900. There were stations at Culmerville, Curtisville, and Russellton, which handled freight and passengers from early in this century until 1950 when passenger service was discontinued. Some freight and considerable coal were carried until the last mine closed at Russellton in 1982.

West Deer has two small airfields but no scheduled flights. Taxi and charter service has been available at one time or another.

Public utilities have been an important limiting factor to housing development. City water and natural gas were well on their way when World War II forced a curtailment on expansion. After the war water lines were put in as individuals, developers, and the school district paid for such lines. Several grants helped the township supervisors extend water lines to the mining communities which did not have water and this made it available to many miles of road frontage. Gas lines were extended by the gas companies as new customers applied for gas. Larger housing developments have streets and water lines put in by the developer.

Public sewers have been installed in the more heavily populated parts of the township. There are a few homeowners who have sewers but no water and some that have water but no sewers. West Deer is a rural municipality and will remain so for many years. The size is simply too large and the cost too high to have all utilities available to every one.

With regard to elevation. West Deer lies between 900 feet and 1300 feet above sea level. The lowest point is where Deer Creek crosses the southern border at about 850 feet. The two highest points are Murdy's Knob and a hill on the Alexandrunas farm on Sandy Hill Road, both points being above 1300 feet. Murdy's Knob has long been regarded as the highest point but coal stripping some years ago may have lowered it to about equal with the other hill. The 1908 topographic map indicates that this knob exceeded 1340 feet in elevation. The 1960 map simply shows that it exceeds 1300 feet, with a strip mine inside the contour line. The older maps were made with field surveys and the later ones with dimensional aerial photographs. We simply conclude that both points are slightly over 1300 feet above sea level.

Dillner's Knob at 1267 feet is the most prominent knob in the township, although McCredie's Hill, where the aircraft spotters watched during World War II, is within a few feet of the same height but is not as noticeable.

In general, most of the surface land was not too steep for agricultural settlement nor has it hindered later housing. The climate of this region is referred to as the humid continental, which means that it is influenced by the continental land mass of America with slight modification due to nearness to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic seaboard. The greatest influences to our climate are air masses from the west, northwest, and the Gulf of Mexico.

The ground water in West Deer has been a variable factor over the years. The mines, in a sense, acted as huge underground drainage ditches from which large quantities of water were pumped to the surface to flow away in natural watercourses. This served to lower the water table below its natural level. This caused many wells and some small streams to go dry. Some time after the cessation of mining the water sources were restored, but they were not always as abundant as they had been.

Precipitation is distributed rather evenly throughout the year with about one-fourth of the total falling as snow. The annual average is over thirty-six inches, with June, the wettest month, receiving about four inches and October, the driest, -two and one-half inches. Snow lies on the ground an average of thirty-three days. During summer months the sun shines more than 50 percent of the possible time.

The normal temperature is 50.6 degrees with the January norm 29 degrees and July 72.3 degrees.

For the student of geology or for anyone interested in rocks, some information on the rock structure under West Deer is presented here. Although not easily observed, these rock outcroppings can be seen in road and railroad cuts and in exposed cliffs such as Campbell's Cliffs. Those who have dug the mine shafts or drilled water, gas, or oil wells in West Deer are familiar with these layers of rock.

The rock under West Deer lies almost entirely within the Pennsylvania system and includes the lower part of the Mongahela group and most of the Conemaugh group. The following chart lists the strata with each name and the average thickness.

The Rock under West Deer Chart

(NOTE - in the original book the total depth was 680 feet but based on the numbers provided after entering the depths the total is 650.5 ft)

Imagine that you are standing on Murdy's Knob (before the coal was mined and stripped). You would be at the top of the chart. All the layers on the chart (unless eroded in prehistoric times) would be under you. If you were at the Russellton coal washer you would be at one of the shale's a hundred feet above the Freeport coal. If you were in Cherry Valley at the Gizienski stone quarry you would be looking at the Lower Mahoning Sandstone with some limestone on top. Farmers have reported seeing the outcropping of thin coal veins. You will note there are five thin veins of coal between the Pittsburgh and Freeport formation. This is why the Conemaugh group is referred to as the "Barren Measures" by geologists. You will also note the Upper Freeport coal at the bottom of the chart. Miners tell of a fairly solid roof (Mahoning Sandstone) and a clay floor, which could come up on a timber prop. In mining this vein of coal, roof bolts made for safer conditions than timber props.

Far below the surface of West Deer are layers of sandstone known as "sands" to the driller's of oil and gas wells. These lie between 1, 400 and 4,000 feet below the surface. There were possibly eleven "sands" drilled through or into under West Deer, which produced varying amounts of oil and gas. Yields varied from nothing to one hundred barrels a day. These sands were located from about 1300 feet (Murrysville Sands) to 2600 feet (Speechley Sands) below the Freeport coal vein. Earlier wells in West Deer went to the "Fifth Sand" which was about 1800 feet deep. To the geology student most of these wells were drilled in the Upper Devonian and along the Kellersburg anticline. One gas and oil field was known as the Dorseyville field. Another pool was called the Deer Creek Church Pool.

In this area drilling for oil and gas was at its peak from 1886 to 1904, with peak production in the 1890's. Peak gas production in western Pennsylvania came in 1906.

Few fossils of invertebrates can be found in West Deer. The Ames limestone has some but its outcroppings are hard to find. A few are also found in the upper portions of the Birmingham shale. Plant fossils are abundant in several of the lower shale's; especially those exposed along Campbell's Cliffs.

Most old houses like the one in the popular song have many stories in their past. They could tell of love, poverty, hardship, and tragedy. The old houses of West Deer were no different than those built in other frontier areas.

Who has the oldest house? We don't really know and chances are, the owner doesn't know either. Some families kept better records than others while other families simply handed down stories from one generation to the next. Facts often get lost in the retelling of stories.

The first house in West Deer, according to historical records, was a log cabin built by one Benjamin Paul. In 1796 log cabins had one room, a dirt floor, often no windows, and a clapboard or sod roof. His was probably typical of the period.

In the evolution of house-building we should consider at least three phases for the farmhouses of West Deer. First was the log cabin such as Benjamin Paul probably built with such family help as was available. The fireplace and chimney were built of logs and lined with about six inches of clay. The roof of clapboards was usually held in place with weight poles.

Next came the log house built of squared, hewn logs. It was often built or "raised" in several days with the help of a number of neighbors. There were generally four windows of glass and a chimney and a fireplace of mortar and stone. The second floor or loft was more sophisticated and often had crude steps leading to it. The floor was generally split logs or sawed timber. The roof had pole rafters and nailed wooden shingles. This type of log housed was in common usage in West Deer between its founding (1836) and the turn of the century (1900).

The third type of housing had more variation. Some hand-sawn timber came into use before this area had sawmills. This was done by two men, one standing in a pit and getting more than his share of sawdust and the other standing on the log or plank. The first sawmills were "up and down" mills and the timber cut there shows a perpendicular kerf. Later mills had circular blades and show a curved cut. Houses built by mid-century were usually of either locally made brick or locally rough lumber. A few stone houses were built of stone quarried near the building site. One local stone house actually is located in the stone quarry, having been built there in 1859. Locally made brick was available from the early 1850's and several houses and churches are known to have been built then. These buildings usually had pole rafters and slate roofs. Some of the beautiful old farmhouses and church buildings are still in use, although some parts of them have been rebuilt. Between 1860 and 1900 a number of farmhouses of wood, brick, and stone replaced the log houses that had preceded them. Some of these still show a certain colonial charm. If we were to typify one of these we could imagine a two-story, red brick or frame, with a clay floor in the basement. The roof would be slate and would have three or four chimneys coming from the many fireplaces used for heating in the winter. The walls would be of sand plaster and would not be as smooth as walls built today. The pump and well would be close to the back porch or there would be a nearby spring house for water and food storage. The other necessary outbuildings would include the coal or wood shed and the privy. Many had a bake oven outside which had a round or beehive too. Few people today remember these ovens. Some also had a separate wash house with facilities for heating water.

One of West Deer's last log houses, now rebuilt at the Tour-Ed Mine near Tarentum, was removed from its original site in 1974. Close inspection of the photo elsewhere in this book reveals some interesting facts. The logs appear to be hewn and original as well as the rafters. The roof, however, has sheeting boards and roofing paper, which have replaced the original. There are concrete blocks in the foundation, a twentieth century innovation. Look closely at the chimney top. The two flue liners sticking out of the chimney indicate some late improvements.

A little knowledge and some detective work can help determine how an old house was built but could miss the age by many years. Written family records and official deeds are more accurate.

There are several known log houses in West Deer that are covered by lap siding or vertical boards. There are probably others covered in this same manner or by a layer of brick. There may be families living in such houses who are unaware of it. One such house, the Ignored residence on Saxonburg Road, was discovered to be of log construction when a side was cut out to install sliding glass doors in the kitchen (see photos below). Such log houses were generally built between 1830 and 1870, making them, in some cases, as old as West Deer.

So, how old is an old house? If we can't measure it in years, then perhaps we should measure it in memories.

Picture 104 – The Ingold Log Home

When John Ritz was discharged from the 25th Ohio Infantry he passed through West Deer Township on his way home to Woodsfield, Ohio. He had friends, the Stouffers, who lived where the Christonia Farm is now located. He apparently liked the area because he went home to Ohio, sold his holdings there and returned to West Deer to buy a forty-six acre farm from the Dawson family, who had the grist mill near the junction of Deer Creek and Dawson Run. He then cleared some land and built a two- room log house. Three years later at age forty-nine he married Caroline Frouser from O'Hara Township and added a four-room addition to his log house, making it a two-story log house containing six rooms. The Ritz's had seven children and lived in this log house the rest of their lives. John died in 1917.

His son Charles retained ownership of the farm and lived there intermittently until 1948. Charles' son Charles now owns the farm and has lived there intermittently since 1948.

The original house was built of logs and caulked with mud and straw. The outside was then covered with rough sawed boards placed vertically with strips sealing the joints. The beams supporting the second floor were hand- hewn and are about six inches square. Boards on these beams make up the floor of the second story. This house is in a good state of preservation and with West Deer's 150th birthday will have its own of 120 years. Interesting also, is a picnic table on the lawn, which has, been in place since 1936. It is a millstone from the Dawson Gristmill on Deer Creek. It was dug from the streambed fifty years ago and placed on the lawn on a concrete pillar. Made of hard stone, it has remained unchanged in fifty years.

The following photos show the original two-room house and the four-room addition. The half-ton, mill stone picnic table is also shown.

Picture 105 – The Ritz Log Home

Picture 106 – Close view of Ritz home construction

Picture 108 – The 1876 Map of West Deer

This is a map of West Deer made about 1875 or early in 1876 showing the location of the farm families, schools, roads, churches, grist and saw mills, blacksmith shops, and stores of that time. If you look closely you can identify

Just at the close of World War I a global epidemic of influenza killed over twenty million people, more than had died in the war that had just ended. In America, where a half million died in a period of about six months, no community escaped. Some were better prepared to handle the sick than others. Many rural communities like West Deer were ill prepared for any such emergency. These communities which needed much help received it from the Red Cross and the U.S. Army. Since the war was in its final stages or had just ended, the army was well supplied with men, trucks, tents, cots, blankets, medicines, and in a position to quickly give such help as we needed.

It was apparent that some type of emergency hospital was needed. To get any medical care at all the sick would have to be collected in one central location. The site selected was in the woods just north of the old Flat Top Restaurant. At the junction of Benjamin Street and the Little Deer Creek Road was a small bus station. Just below that building a dirt road was built going up hill and into the woods. This was the location of the tent hospital. A low place in the road bank is all that is visible today.

A number of wood platforms for the tents were built by local carpenters. Leonard Monnier (father of Clarence Monnier) was known to be one of the carpenters. How many were built is not known but several estimates place' the number between twenty and forty. Upon each platform an army tent was erected and filled with appropriate cots and blankets. It is probable that from one to two hundred patients were cared for at one time.

Army ambulances were trucks with solid rubber tires and square boxes on the back. As long as roads were passable they served as ambulances or hearses. In the winter when the roads were too bad, horses and farm wagons were used for this duty. Word would come to the hospital where to go for the sick. The dead were either claimed by the family and taken to a temporary funeral facility in Russellton or to the Curtisville School, which served as a morgue. School was not in session during part of the fall and winter of 1918-19.

Soldiers did the hauling and some of the non-medical tasks involved. The Red Cross sent truck loads of food to the hospital. The Red Cross had one doctor and one nurse on full-time duty. These people stayed at the George Long Residence. Long, father of Melba Jean Hudon, was the Chief Mining Engineer at the Curtisville mines. Mrs. (Mae) Long spent many hours daily as a volunteer nurse at the hospital as did many of the local women. For the families of these volunteer nurses and helpers there was always a fear of bringing home the dreaded disease.

This epidemic started in the late summer or fall before the "normal" flu season. As winter approached, kerosene heaters were placed in the tents. These helped some, but it was bitter, cold winter for all concerned.

Medicines at this time were not nearly as effective as they are to day and there was not much hope for the serious cases. Daily deaths were the rule rather than the exception. There were stories of the sick, while being brought to the hospital, died on the way. Another tragic tale concerns the ambulance going for a whole family, only to find no one living when they got to the house.

The facts concerning sanitation at the tent hospital are sketchy. Water was believed to have been hauled in by the army. The sewage was simply carried out in buckets and dumped over the bank to flow away in the Little Deer Creek.

There were few families that were not affected. While a few local families lost sons in the war, a larger number of families lost a father, mother, or child to this terrible flu. Those alive today remember it as the most deviating experience in this community.

Some of those who died were buried in the Transfiguration Cemetery near Superior. A number of graves were marked with wood crosses, which long ago have rotted away. Others were buried in the Russian Cemetery in Russellton and some were sent to the St. Clement Cemetery in Tarentum when burial was refused in Russellton. Local Protestants were buried at the Bull Creek and Deer Creek Church Cemeteries.

Stories are told of parents, with sick children, who refused to have them moved to the tent hospital because of the harsh winter conditions. They would keep them at home, to live or to die, in a warm house and with loving care.

Another story is told of grocery deliveries. If there were any sickness in the house, the delivery boy from the company would walk in the kitchen door, place the groceries on the table, pick up the next order, and leave without any contact with the occupants.

Regular coffins were in short supply and burials were made in hastily constructed pine boxes. John Kaduk of Russellton was one of the men who made such boxes. The epidemic stopped as fast as it had started. As one senior citizen said, "It seemed to have started all at once and stopped the same way."

Dr. Cross of Curtisville and the Red Cross doctor were involved full-time and are remembered for their devotion to their patients. It may be assumed that the company doctor from Russellton possibly a Dr. McMasters, was also involved.

To those few who remember this great tragedy we owe a "thank you" for passing these few thoughts to the reader. Elio Tabacchi, Clarence Monnier, Melba Jean (Long) Hudon, Anne Lavrich, and Elva Taliani are among those who have passed a few remembrances to this author.

West Deer Township operates a Human Services Department that is unique in Western Pennsylvania. It had its beginnings two years ago to aid the many unemployed in West Deer. Although a number of services are available, the most visible is the food bank, which aids many needy families. The department is involved with drug and alcohol abuse education, physical fitness programs, rabies clinics, senior citizen programs, and a special Christmas program for children but its major effort is toward supplying food for the needy.

It is funded, partially by the township and directed by Sherry Smith who works on a part-time basis. According to Mrs. Smith, "Human services turns out to be whatever anybody needs."

The food bank, called the West Deer TECH Food Bank, is funded through the Hunger Action Coalition and private donations. With funding from the coalition and special discount rates, offered by the Golden Dawn supermarket in Russellton, the food bank distributes food for over 150 families.

By Russell E. Montgomery

In the early 1960's there was considerable verbal speculation as to what was going on in the Russellton area concerning some large tracts of real estate. A local realtor, Russell E. Montgomery, was in the process of getting options on ten tracts of land totaling almost one thousand acres. There was a shroud of secrecy surrounding all this dealing and rumors were flying. It might be a refuse dump or maybe a storage place for cattle between shipping points now that the stockyards in Pittsburgh were closing. There was also speculation that a new joint high school would be built on the Vedro farm. All that "Russ" Montgomery could tell anyone was that it would be a good improvement for the community.

Upon final purchase of the tracts it was announced by the County of Allegheny that approximately seven "Baby Parks" were to be located throughout the county. Their purpose was to relieve the heavy recreational traffic at the larger North and South Parks and to make county parks more accessible to the people.

Later, through Mr. Montgomery, additional tracts were purchased to enlarge the park and include highway frontage, as parklands. This would help eliminate possible commercial aspects.

The purpose of the park was for simple recreation and to retain the natural beauty of the land. It was to be developed in phases. Phase One included the three fishing lakes and picnic areas. Phase Two had the ball fields, more picnic areas, sledding and cross country skiing areas and some hiking trails. It now consists of about 1200 acres and is considered one of the finest regional parks in the Allegheny County park system.

The park had been managed by the late John Sobran of Russellton who had been Park Superintendent from its opening until his death in July 1985. He had done an excellent job of maintaining the high standards of the park.

Picture 109 – Deer Lake Park Lake

Fifty years ago baseball teams were abundant in this area. Most of the mining towns, as well as other villages had a team and a field where league games were played. Bairdford used the field on Ford Collieries property just south of the town. There were two ball fields, each with a backstop. The teams arranged for dragging and other maintenance work.

When the company houses and other former mine property were sold about 1947, this field was dedicated to West Deer Township for recreational purposes and continued to be used for that purpose.

The township supervisors, realizing that better facilities for recreation were needed, purchased an additional seventy acres in 1974 and hired a landscape architect to design a park area.

The development of this park required a great deal of effort and financial support. The township received a Federal State grant of about $100,000.00 from the Pennsylvania Department of Community Affairs to help with this project. From the county came personnel and equipment form the Works and Parks Department that was instrumental in the surface preparation. Locally, the supervisors committed as much manpower and money as they could afford. Donations from local residents and from civic and business organizations exceeded $60,000.00. This included a $7,500.00 gift from the West Deer Lions Club to be applied to the cost of the picnic pavilion.

The result of all this cooperation is quite evident. The Bairdford Community Park is a definite asset to the West Deer community. It is used for many purposes and by many groups. Ball games, picnics, family reunions. Communities Days, and for daily playground use, are among the activities common there. The addition of tennis courts a few years later added another dimension to the park.

The value of all grants, contributions, various aids, labor, equipment, and any other help has been estimated to exceed $280,000.00 of which very little came from local public funds.

Fifty years ago a book was written about West Deer Township. It was called "One Hundred Years of Progress" and described the changes in West Deer from pioneer days to the Great Depression. Those one hundred years saw the, coming of the railroads, motor cars, large coal mines, a new influx of population, new cultures, and many other changes in West Deer.

Now, fifty years later, we must pause for a look back, and contemplate these changes that this last half-century has brought.

We have witnessed the decline of the mining industry and the importance of the railroad in our township. We have seen the landscape change from one where the main features where farms and coal mines to one which consists primarily of "bedroom" communities dependent upon employment in Pittsburgh and the Allegheny Valley. The agriculture remaining in the West Deer has become either specialized or part-time and the mines have simply ceased to exist as such.

Fifty years ago the major utilities were electricity, an antiquated phone system, and natural gas if you happened to live near a well or gas line. Today the majority of our homes have available a public water supply, public sewers, natural gas, modern telephones, electricity, cable television, mail delivery, police available twenty-four hours a day, three excellent fire companies available within minutes, and a well-trained and equipped ambulance service. We have a food bank, service clubs, and programs for the elderly, a modern medical clinic, and we can choose from a number of commercial enterprises and services.

Our school system has expanded and changed to meet the needs of the community and the requirements of the law. It is as good as any other around us and our graduates have done well in college.

A half-century ago West Deer Township had 1074 dwellings according to a government survey done at that time. We had fewer houses because many of the mining town houses were double. Of these dwelling units, 11% were owner-occupied, 80% were without running water, and 92% were without bathrooms. Today we have three times that number of houses and almost all have running water and bathrooms. Most of our homes today are owner- occupied. None can deny that this is progress. Our fifty years of progress in that area of housing is indeed, significant.

These new houses, for the most part, have been built in an orderly manner, regulated by what we call planning and zoning. These innovations were unheard of fifty years ago and required a great deal of effort to get them established here.

Who was responsible for these changes? The people of West Deer, of course! Some changes were brought about by individual effort but often it was a governing board who acted on the county or state level. We have always had the Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education that controlled most of the facets of township government but recent years have seen the formation of a number of other boards, authorities or agencies. These governmental groups are responsible for progress in their respective areas.

We now have the Deer Creek Drainage Basin Authority whose responsibility included the funding, construction, and operation of our public sewer system. The Planning Commission and the Zoning Hearing Board regulate and guide growth in the housing and land use areas. The Northeast Allegheny County School Building Authority funded school improvements and the construction of new buildings.

Individual groups have been responsible for some areas of progress, particularly in the field of health care.

None of this progress came easily. It took a great deal of planning and constructive effort to get such progress established. There have always been critics who say that this progress was not needed, or took too long, or cost too much, or was done for private gain, or in some manner did not please them. In spite of this opposition, progress has been made and will continue to be made.

In another fifty years West Deer will celebrate a bicentennial. There will be much to write about. What we do today will be history and judgments will be made concerning our present progress. We must not forget that today is tomorrow's yesterday.

One hundred years ago we probably had three supervisors whose primary duties were scraping the dirt roads with a team of horses, repairing the public watering troughs, filling in washed out places, and levying taxes. Fifty years ago we also had three supervisors, most of whom worked on the road themselves and whose duties included repairing roads, mowing the roadsides, minimum snow plowing, and "red dogging" the dirt roads. The latter was probably the most important job. The township actually owned a steam shovel which was generally kept at the burned "boney" pile at Bairdford. Red-dog is burned "boney" and was the best and cheapest material available for building roads. The township also had two or three dump trucks which were housed in the township garage on the D Dillner farm.

These early supervisors were aided in their work by an elected tax collector, constable, and tax assessor. They met in homes and paid rent to the owner of the township garage. Before the Municipal Building was built about 1950 on East Union Road, the township garages had been on the Large and Dillner lands.

Today, how many people does the operation of our township facilities involve? First we have the elected offices. There are seven supervisors, a tax collector, a constable, and three auditors. Then we count the appointed, the hired, and the volunteers. There are nine on the Deer Creek Drainage Basin Authority but all are not from West Deer, on the Planning Commission there are seven, and three on the Zoning-Hearing Board. The Recreation Board has varied from none to nine. We have a Township Manager, an office force of three, a Director of Human Services, a Township Engineer, a building inspector, a road crew of at least seven, five police, three com