On this anniversary of the 1889 Flood - thought you would enjoy seeing some early film of the Flood Memorial up at Grandview.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Flood Memorial
On this anniversary of the 1889 Flood - thought you would enjoy seeing some early film of the Flood Memorial up at Grandview.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Duncan Lumber Company
Duncan Lumber Company - Fort Hill - Somerset County. These narrow-gauge steam locomotives were used to transport logs and rough lumber. The locomotives were built on swivel tracks so that they could negotiate the sharp turns and rough track conditions all along the forest floor.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Armistice Day - 1918 - Part 2
Second look at Johntown celebrating the end of The Great War - 1918. Franklin Street Bridge in the background with the Conrad Building on the left hand side. Click to enlarge.
Armistice Day - 1918 - Part 1
Armistice Day - 1918. The parade making it's way across the Franklin Street Bridge. The wooden structure on the right housed Johnstown Fire Department - Company No. 1. Click to enlarge.
Special Shout Out!
Two weeks ago I ordered a new Vupoint scanner. I'd just about wore my old one out. I also ordered the scanner docking station - all you have to do is feed the pictures thru. Well as luck would have it - the Vupoint dock ended up in Somerset instead of Johnstown - I don't have a clue how because our addresses aren't even close.
Leslie from Geochemical Testing in Somerset - kindly repackaged the docking station and sent in on to me. Now I have to say - that was very nice of them and I'd like to just send them out a big Thank You for being so nice and going above and beyond the call of duty!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Bank Expansion - 1972
All the buildings at the corner of Franklin and Vine - were bought by U.S. Bank when they decided to expand back in 1972.
Market and Vine
This is the intersection of Market and Vine - current location of the Zamias Building.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Geistown-Windber Road - 1894
Very cool look at the old Geistown-Windber Road in 1894. I have no idea which section this is.
First Lutheran Church Fire - 1918
A reader sent in this picture of the First Lutheran Church Fire in downtown Johnstown in 1918.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Goodyear Mute Train
The Goodyear Mute Train at the Johnstown Train Station - Goodyear would go from town to town - looking for deaf workers for their tire plants in Ohio. My grandfathers deaf brother Albert is standing just below the X. Goodyear employed thousands of deaf people to work in the noisiest sections of their plant. They must have gotten decent wages - since alot of them worked for Goodyear for years and were able to retire with a great pension plan. Besides Albert, my grandfathers sister Lena (Lenz) Pittman and her husband also worked for Goodyear in Ohio.
Train Cuts off Head
From the August 9, 1907 - Johnstown Leader. A warning to some - it's a tad bit graphic!
Friday, May 24, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The Death Roll - L.R. Brallier - 1907
The Death Roll - L.R. Brallier - August 1907 - Johnstown Businessman
Gallitzin Church Has Fine Organ - 1907
Gallitzin Church has Fine Organ - St. Mary's Polish Catholic Church - August 1907
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Gee Bee Ad - 1967
Gee Bee Ad - Retreads - $6.44 plus tax - Free Cigarettes for our Troops in Vietnam
Walnut Grove - Geistown - Johnstown Passenger Railway - 1907
I found this clipping from 'The Weekly Tribune' - August 1907 - very interesting. Johnstown Passenger Railway - petition to expand trolley service from Walnut Grove to Geistown along with the naming of Oakland - the neighborhood in between the two.
Johnstown Tintypes
A pair of tintypes. On the left - Isiah Foust and Levi Lehman. On the right - Levi Charles and Frank Lehman. All I know about these men are - that they lived in Johnstown.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Early Settlers Die - 1907
Some of the names mentioned: Settlers - David L. Davis, John Turane. Miner George Lefever hurt in a rockfall at a Vintondale Mine - John Wilkinson and his new erection - August 1907
Main and Franklin
Corner of Main and Franklin Streets - Downtown Johnstown - Penn Furniture, Woolworth's and U.S. Bank.
Morrellville - 1940's
My grandparents Carmela and John Cacicia standing on K Street with my Aunt Lucy and her husband Charlie Wiley. Also a nice look at the street above - Mercury Avenue. This was taken in the early 1940's.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Rescued Babe from Fire - Morrellville - 1907
Every old house has a story to tell. If only you can figure it out. I ran across this clipping from The Johnstown Leader by accident. I was just scanning anything interesting I could find and this is one of them. This happened August 9, 1907 - at 1139 Virginia Avenue - Morrellville at the home of Rollo Herdman. The house next door - owned by James McCloskey also suffered damage.
This 1139 Virginia Avenue now - and as you can tell - this home was rebuilt soon after the blaze.
Ann's Place - Bedford Street
Reader Rick Callihan sent in another shot of Ann's Place on Bedford Street - 1950's
Franklin Street
Bob Cribbs sent in this shot - 940 Franklin Street about 1955 - it's now a parking lot.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Bheam School - 1906 - Morrellville
My own grade school - Bheam School with the fire escapes of death on the sides of the building. Bheam was built in 1906. You can also see more of Bheam School HERE IN 1942 and all the Morrellville kids parading on Halloween. We still did the same thing when I went there in the 1960's. These old schools had character. Something I think is lacking in today's cookie cutter buildings along with some now unused words. We put our coats in the cloakroom and used the lavatory. Kids now a days would have no idea what I mean including the word "shan't" - a favorite of one of my old teachers...
We played pickup games of wiffle ball and kickball and would fight over who would go down over the wall to get the ball. It was even better if it made it's way under Fairfield Avenue and you had to scale down the wall by the candy shop....sneeking in the store for a quick pick me up.
I have to add - that the meanest teacher I ever had in all my years of schooling was my old 6-th grade teacher there (she will remain nameless).
But Bheam also had the best teacher I ever had in all my years. My 5-th grade teacher Miss Bach. Her classroom opened a world of opportunity to me that I never imagined was there....all because of an old beat up print of 16mm silent movie. This was the day of black and white tv - with the choice of three channels - cable was years away. It was then and there that I fell in love with film and video and the way the medium can tell a story.
We played pickup games of wiffle ball and kickball and would fight over who would go down over the wall to get the ball. It was even better if it made it's way under Fairfield Avenue and you had to scale down the wall by the candy shop....sneeking in the store for a quick pick me up.
I have to add - that the meanest teacher I ever had in all my years of schooling was my old 6-th grade teacher there (she will remain nameless).
But Bheam also had the best teacher I ever had in all my years. My 5-th grade teacher Miss Bach. Her classroom opened a world of opportunity to me that I never imagined was there....all because of an old beat up print of 16mm silent movie. This was the day of black and white tv - with the choice of three channels - cable was years away. It was then and there that I fell in love with film and video and the way the medium can tell a story.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital Staff
Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital Staff - A.M. Wakefield, C.E. Hannan, F. Schill, H.E. Tomb, D.W. Evans, W.E. Matthews, J.C. Sheridan, W.B. Lowman and Geo. W. Wagoer.
