ellwood city historical society

Ellwood City Historical Society – August Update

At the August meeting of Ellwood City Historical Society, the board reviewed the Ways and Means committee reports. The Annual Fund Drive started June 15, 2024 and will end on August 15, 2024. Andy Kindle chairman of the committee stated that the society has received 70% of the $10,000.00 goal. The Society still needs the communities help to raise the needed $3,000.00. You can send a donation to the Historical Society at 310 Fifth Street, Ellwood City, Pa. The Society is continuing it New member drive that it hopes will bring in at least 30 new members. The memberships begins…


Ellwood City Historical Society Annual Fund Drive Starts This Week

The Annual Fund Drive for the Historical Society will run from June 15 through August 15. The goal this year is set at $10,000.00. “Today we have received 42% of our goal,” says Andy Kindle. “We need the businesses and the community’s help.” Please send a donation to the Ellwood City Historical Society at 310 Fifth Street, Ellwood City, Pa 16117… c/o – Andy Kindle. MEMBERSHIP: The Ellwood City Historical Society membership committee is offering an 18 month membership for the cost of a 12-month membership. The 18 months will be from July 2024 through December 2024, then it will…


Ellwood City Historical Society: June Updates

This is 30th Anniversary of the History Center. The Steifel Building was bought in 1994… and became the home of the Ellwood City Area Historical Society. June is Membership Month for the Historical Society. The Society is offering a 18 month membership for the cost of a 12 month membership. The 18 months will be from July through December 2024 then continue through January to December 2025. A monthly newsletter included each month. An individual membership is $10.00 per year and a family membership is $25.00 per year.. Research is in the process of seeking information on the reason of…


Historical Society Recognizes Excellence In Local Education

When the Ellwood City Area Historical Society Board adopted the topic for this year’s Robert and Janice Barensfeld Scholarship Essay, “Write About a Prominent Person in Ellwood City,” they expected to get papers on familiar names like Hartman, Steifel, or Schill. However, when Everett Bleakney’s Scholarship Committee received the entries, the members were surprised and elated to get five essays on living people and two on recently deceased residents rather than the older historical figures. What was even more surprising was that the best of those essays were about local teachers who had a significant impact on the young writers’…


Ellwood City Historical Society New Membership Drive

The Ellwood City Historical Society at its monthly board meeting, Andy Kindle, Ways and Means Chairman, suggested to the board that it hold a Membership Drive for new members. Kindle stated that the Ellwood City Chamber of commerce is planning over 20 activities this summer. Kindle said it is an opportunity for the Historical Society to promote a membership program. He also stated that starting now gives the society the rest of 2024 to promote membership to the community. The idea of giving free membership for the six months of 2024 and then only collecting a membership fee for the…


Historical Society Selects Scholarship Recipients

The Ellwood City Area Historical Society is pleased to announce the winners of the Robert and Janice Barensfeld and the Marlene Painter scholarships. Eleven students from Lincoln and Riverside High Schools submitted essays for these grants. The scholarships are available to any high school senior living in the Ellwood City area regardless of the school they attend. Seven students wrote about “A Prominent Person of the Ellwood City Area” for the Barensfeld award, established in honor of long-time prominent Ellwood City citizens Robert and Janice Barensfeld. Four students penned an essay on “Why I Want to be a Teacher” for…


COOL BEANS! Coffee Is Subject Of The Next Meeting At The Historical Society

Tim Hunter will be the guest speaker at the next Historical Society meeting, open to the public, scheduled for Monday, February 12, at 7:00 p.m. in the Janice and Robert Barensfeld Meeting Room at 310 5th Street, Ellwood City. Tim has twenty-five years of experience in the banking industry ranging from branch manager, business banking and cash flow management/analysis, to starting a company from scratch and purchasing another company to grow. He put this experience to good use when he and his brother started Hunter Brothers Coffee, located in Ellport, in April of 2016. Tim is a graduate of Seneca…


Ellwood City Historical Society To Award Four Scholarships

The Ellwood City Area Historical Society will award four (4) fifteen hundred dollar ($1,500.00) scholarships this year. All graduating seniors living in the Ellwood City Area School District or the Riverside School District are eligible. Applications and requirements may be obtained from either high school Guidance Counselor, or from the Ellwood City Area Historical Society. The History Center at 310 5th Street is open Monday through Thursday from 10 am until 2 pm. Scholarship competitors may make appointments to use the History Center’s research facilities by calling 724-752-2021. There will be two (2) $1500.00 Robert and Janice Barensfeld Scholarships awarded…


Historical Society Starts New Year With Awards

The Ellwood City Area Historical Society had its first public meeting of 2024 at the History Center, 310 5th Street, on Monday evening, January 8, 2024. The meeting started with the Pledge of Allegiance led by 101 year old World War 2 veteran, Guy Prestia. Immediately following the pledge, Society Board member and Past-President, Everett Bleakney, inducted the new Board and officers for 2024; President, Bob Morabito; 1st Vice President, Andy Kindle; Secretary, Lois Liebendorfer; Treasurer, Angela Hyde; and Board members, Dylan Baney, Charles Brown, and Blanche Novak. Unable to attend the meeting and scheduled to be inducted at a…


One Officer, One Gun: A Brief History of the Thompson Submachinegun

The classic image of a Thompson submachine gun with its distinctive drum magazine was made popular by romanticized movies and TV shows like “The Untouchables” depicting Prohibition-era gangsters using the euphemistic “Chicago typewriter” in gangland drive-by shootings. This is the image most people have of a Thompson. Few of us envision a lone Ellwood City Police officer using the iconic weapon against criminals at the end of the Lincoln High School-Veterans Bridge on 5th Street. The story of that very occurrence is wonderfully told by Robert Barensfeld in his 1995 essay written for the Ellwood City Area Historical Society entitled:“The…