USA > Ohio > Jefferson County > Steubenville > Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, 20th > Part 53
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
375
NEW ADDITIONS TO THE CITY.
The growth of the city naturally created a demand for more building lots from time to time, and new additions were laid out, first by subdivisions of the outlots, and then in the adjacent territory. Following are the plats added to the original 236 lots to the present time :
1870
April 19 --- W. R. Lloyd.
7
1870
Oct. 15-H. G. and F. C. Wells.
39
1870 Oct. 15-W. R. F .. Elliott.
1870 May 28-W. R. E. Elliott.
1869 Nov. 11-J. M. Rickey and M. J. Urquhart. 30
1871 Jan. 25-Justin G. Morris. ..
136
1871
April 11-J. Manly & H. G. Garrett.
7
1871 April 19-L. and W. C. Anderson.
28 54
1872 Jan. 4-J. P. Draper ..
10
1872 Jan. 4 -- John Orr and C. Hineman
109
1872 March 1-Wm. H. Moonley.
4
Date. Name.
No. Jots.
1805 July 25-John Ward
6
1808 Sept. 21-Geo. Atkinson
6
1809 Nov. 21-James Johnston
1811
Sept. 10-Thomas Dadey
6
1873
June 23-Wm. H. Mooney
1814
Jan. 31-Robt. Carroll and Thon. Kell .. 1814 July 23-James Gray
20
1873
Aug. 13-1. A. and J. C. Wells.
36 49 4
1814 July 25-James Gray
26
1873 Sept. 4-J. B. Salmon and W. H. Mooney ..
20
1814 May 2-John Wilson und R. Wells
19 1873
Sept. 13-J. Manly and H. (, Garrett. 105
1814 May 11-Brice Viera
19
1874 March 16-Wm. H. Mooney ..
1815 Jan. 15-Bezaleel Wells
27
1875 May 31-James Nicholson
13
1874 June 1-E. 8. Wood and W. R. Lloyd.
1877 Jan. 31-C. Hineman's Assignee
48
1881 Der. 20-John A. Collier.
1815
Oct. 25 -- Brice Viers
23
1887 March 28-A. Shaw's heirs
24 - 3
1816
April 1-Wm. R. Dickenson.
48
1885 Sept. 8 -- J. A. Collier 2d.
3 5
1835 Nov. 15-Samuel Stokely
15
1889 July 3-Sinclair 2d ..
16
1836
Jan. 23-David Cable and Jas. Mckinney ...
21
1590 May 5-Samuel Speaker
19
1836 May 7-Jas. Turnbull and Wm. Kilgore.
1836
May 19-Alexander McMurray
14
1892
Jan. 26-Margaret Turnbull
14
1893
June 26-J. Dunbar, Admr. Thos. Mears.
41
1837 Feb. 27-Alexander Doyle
1844 Aug. 29-James Wilson
7
1902
July 5-T.ney Angle
5
1844
Oct. 18-Nathaniel Dike and Jas. Wilson.
1902
Sept. 27-A. R. McNeal ..
18
1848
Feb. 3-Henry J. Hukill ..
7
1902
Aug. 12-LaBelle View Land Co.
746
1848
March 21-Peter Anderson and F. Donaldson
16
1902 Ang. 12-Pleasant Heights Imp. Co
205
184%
April 28-Jas. Turnbull and Win. Kilgore .. 12
1905 Feb. 28-Steubenville Conl & M. Co.
46
1848
June 20-Dr. John Andrews.
16
1905
April 11-R. J. and George Bentty 27
1848
Aug. 26-Wm. MeLaughlin
9 1905
April 19-H. G. Simmons.
1848
Dee. 6-Matthew Nicholson
6 1905
May 9-Beatty 2d
25
1851
May 2-Wm. MeLaughlin
8
1905 May 9-G. G. Gaston.
1864
April 7-David Buchanan
5
1865
Dee. 6-Robert Sherrard, Jr.
24
1906
April 10-Mary M. Hill
37
1866 June 20- John Fisher
13
1907 Oct. S-Beall & Steele.
6:
1867
Aug. 4-John Fisher
1867
April 10-W. R. E. Elliott.
1868 April 16-M. Andrews, Trustee
1869 July 13-J. Manly and H. G. Garrett
1869 Feb. 1-Roswell Marsh
1865 Oet 1-Peter Thomas
4
1869 June 17-John Flood
16
1869
Oet. 28-C. Hineman and G. M. Cummins . . 24
1865 Oct. 1-Peter Thomas.
4
1869 Nov. 16-W. P. Hays.
4
1870 March 28-Peter Thomas.
6
1870 April 25-Thomas La Dewitt.
7
1870 July 19-Basler Bros ....
5
1870 March 28-E. Tubble and J. H. Bukoffsky ..
14
1870 April 25-B. W. Dovle ...
4
8 that section, but owing to the absence of
12 6 50 10
1815
Aug. 17-Nicholas Murray
22
1884 April 22-A. MeNeal
1831
March 23-James Ross
45
1888 Sept. 8-D. J. Sinclair.
1833 May 14- Samuel Stokely
15 1889 May 18-H. L. Wilson,
1836 Feb. 23-Preston Roberts and Henry Orr ...
16
1891
June 18-J. J. Gill ..
32
1890 Jan. 4-Pleasant Heights and Poplar Springs 24
1836 June 16-Henry Orr
1836 Oct. 5-Henry Holdship
48 1901
June 8-M. J. and O. V. T. Co. (Altamont ) . 180
9 1901
8 Dec. 28-W. H. Freudenberger.
1853
March &-John Armstrong and J. W. Gray. 15
1905 Feb. 27-W. H. Freudenberger
1906 April 24-H. B. Mears.
34 7
27 13 11
The above, with the 236 lots of the Orig- inal Plat, make a grand aggregate of 3,935 lots. A few of the smaller additions are subdivisions of lots in the Original Plat and elsewhere, which would reduce the net figures by about half a dozen. The Alta- mont Addition, platted on the hill south of the city, was laid out with the expectation that the electric line over the summit to Mingo would induce a demand for lots in
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1815
March 1-John Ward
1815
Feb. 13- James Ross
1872 July 18-John Fisher
20
1872 Nov. 1-Justin G. Morris,
59
18
1873 Sept. 5-Steubenville Board of Education ..
1815 Feb. 16-John C. Wright
187년 March 16-Wm. E. Fisher
1873 April 22-J. W. Gray.
1971 April 10-W. H. Wallace.
1871 Sept. 26 -- W. H. Mooney and J. B. Salınon. .
1870 May 15-St. Paul's Church
376
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
water, gas and other facilities these ex- pectations were not realized, and when the course of the line was changed a few years later the addition was practically aban- doned. The Pleasant Heights and Poplar Springs Addition in 1890 marked the be- ginning of a definite movement of popula- tion towards the hilltops. Part of the pro- ject was a driving park. In 1856, and for a few years thereafter, a county fair was held on South Third Street, at the present site of the La Belle mill office, at which the exhibits were creditable and good races for that day. Previous to the erection of the original mill a fair had also been held on that site. But these enterprises did not pay, and they were abandoned. No further attempt was made in this direction until 1873, when a number of enterprising geu- tlemen secured what was known as the Dr. Scott farm of thirty-five acres, adjoining the Means place, where a good half-mile driving track was constructed. The first races were held here on July 12, and al- though the premiums were large and the exhibitions good, there was not sufficient interest manifested to keep the concern going, and after a few years' losing experi- ments the ground was purchased by H. G. Garrett, who, in turn, sold it to Joshua Manly, and it reverted to agricultural pur- poses. The experience of the Pleasant Heights people was much the same. The track was one of the best in the country. There were fine races, driving and bicycle, one successful county fair and large crowds, but financially it was not enconrag- ing, and the tract was acquired by Eli Cast- ner. Buffalo Bill gave his first Steuben- ville performance on the Scott place, and other like exhibitions followed at Pleasant Heights. Adams Street leads directly into this addition, Grand View Avenue extend- ing along the bluff, succeeded by Pine, Elm, Walnut, Cedar and Union. The cross streets are Park und Jefferson. On August 12, 1902, the Pleasant Heights Improve- ment Company placed 205 more lots ou this hill, and now had street car conunui- cation downtown. The streets here parallel
with Adams are State, Plum and Orchard, with those at right angles being Wilson, McKee, Henry, Maxwell, Lawson, Union and Cedar. At this time Pittsburgh parties purchased about 170 acres from the Means heirs and others, the tract extending from Market Street close to Franklin Avenue, on which was laid out the largest addition yet made to Steubenville. It is a city in itself, the streets paralleling with Market being Belleview, Enelid, Ridge, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Wellesley, Oak, Grove and Arlington. They are crossed by Wilkins, Pittsburgh, Carnegie and Ohio. The Beall & Steele Addition is laid out on both sides of Ridge Avenne, the cross streets being Brady, Weldon and Me- Dowell. These four hilltop additions con- tain an aggregate of 1,254 lots, over one- third of all within the corporation limits. They are building up rapidly and having the advantages of water, gas, sewerage and all the conveniences to be found in the val- ley are becoming a favorite residential see- tion.
POSTAL SERVICE.
It was not to be expected that a com- munity as enterprising as were the early Steubenvillians would long be without reg- ular postal facilities. There does not seem to liave been a postmaster, however, until 1802, when John Galbraith was the first appointee. He kept store at what was afterwards known as Odd Fellows block, on Market Street, the site now being occu- pied by Bristor & Mueller's store. Gal- braith was a Federalist and opposed to the second war with Great Britain; in fact. this community was so nearly evenly di- vided between the two parties at that time that William Lowry, Republican, and J. G. Henning, Federalist, tied on an election for justice of the peace, and on a second election Lowry ouly won ont by one ma- jority. When the Americans won n vic- tory he withheld the news, and when the British won it was otherwise. When the report of Perry's victory was received public indignation had become so strong
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LA BELLE VIEW HOSE COMPANY, STEUBENVILLE (Volunteer Firemen)
HIGH PRESSURE RESERVOIR, STEUBENVILLE
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ROLLER SKATING RINK, STANTON PARK. STEUBENVILLE
STEUBENVILLE COUNTRY CLUB, STEUBENVILLE
379
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
against Galbraith that he resigned the office in favor of Henning. But before Hen- ning's papers reached the postmaster gen- eral, who was then in New Jersey, he re- ceived a letter from Judge Tappan, recom- mending David Larimore for the place, and he received the appointment. He held the position for twenty years, and the whirli- gig of politics having brought him into op- position to Judge Tappan, at the latter's instigation he was removed. He conducted the office on the site of the present Im- perial Hotel, but when William Cable was appointed in 1837 he moved the office to North Third Street, between Market and Washington. He served four years, and his successor, William Collins, moved the office to the Turnbull block, on Market Street. Whitaker O'Neal was the next, in 1845, who moved to a one-story building east of Alley A, the site since occupied by the United States Hotel saloon. Francis A. Wells succeeded him in 1849 and was, in turn, succeeded by Thomas Brashear from 1853 to 1861, when George B. Filson be- came the eighth in succession and moved the office up street to present No. 331, where a moving picture show is conducted. James Reed was his successor, and on the completion of the new Odd Fellows block, in 1873, the office was removed thither. where it remained ten years, and was then removed to its present location at the west end of the city building. F. O'Neil was sie- ceeded by George Moore in 1886, James F. Sarratt in 1890, James Trotter in 1894, M. 1. Miller in 1898, and Alexander Sweeney. the present incumbent, in April, 1906, he being the fifteenth to hold the office. The business of the office has grown rapidly during the last ten years. The receipts from the sale of stamps and postal cards for the year ending March 31, 1898, were $17.357.33, and for that ending March 31, 1909, were $48,771.62, or nearly treble. The money order department for the year end- ing June 30, 1909, showed 9,162 domestic orders paid and 419 foreign; 23,191 do- mestie orders issned and 2.468 foreign. by which it is seen that a great deal more
money is sent away than is received. The business of the office amounts to about half a million dollars a year and is handled by the following office force, in addition to Postmaster Sweeney: Charles Irwin, assistant postmaster; William F. Schaefer, chief clerk; J. T. Brady, money order clerk; Joseph P. Stepliens, register clerk; C. S. Flanegan, general delivery; Gladys G Wyatt, assistant; Chester W. Reed, gen- eral utility clerk; Charles W. Strean, stamper; F. A. Engel, Joseph M. Hnston, John S. H. Patton, night clerks; J. C. Will- iams, James B. Allison, dispatchers ; Frank MeNally, substitute clerk; Harry E. Fel- lows, Humphrey J. Goodman, Charles L. MeLeish, John J. Helmes, William G. Ilerb, William Dargue, William H. Bair, John J. Huston, Wesley L. Fleming, Jo- seph S. Feist. John A. Schnorrenberg, John Ellis Welday, Robert L. Adams, Al- bert M. Bird, Lawrence E. Patterson, car- riers; Peter A. Ward, Paul Geisinger, Reuben Jones, substitutes; George R. San- ders, rural delivery carrier No. 1, for Knoxville Road and northwest; I. G. Bneey, No. 2, for Market Street road west and south; John B. Swinehart, special de- livery messenger; D. F. Baldwin, mail mes- senger; Charles Fleming, assistant. This makes n force of thirty-six persons in quar- ters entirely too cramped for the business done. Efforts to get adequate accommo- dations have so far been fruitless, but it is hoped that a bill introduced into Congress by Hon. D. A. Hollingsworth, appropriat- ing $100,000 towards this object, will meet with better fate than its predecessors. (The bill has since passed.)
In this connection it may be noted that Jefferson County has twenty-one rural free delivery routes, those outside of Steuben- ville being: Adena, 2; Amsterdam, 2; Berg- holz, 1; Bloomingdale, 2; Dillonvale, 2; Fernwood, 1; Hammondsville, 2; Irondale, 1; Mingo, 1; Rayland, 2; Toronto, 2; Unionport, 1.
PROGRESS IN WATER SUPPLY.
A reliable and constant supply of pure water is a prime necessity in every grow-
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380
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
ing community, and it was not long before it was realized that the public wells already mentioned were insufficient, even when sup- plemented by numerous private wells and springs, the latter being plentiful along the base of the hills. Accordingly, in 1810, a company was formed under an act of the Legislature, dated January 10, and styled The Steubenville Water Company. The incorporators comprised the following named gentlemen : Bezaleel Wells, John C. Bayless, John England, Brice Viers, Jo- seph Beatty, William Hamilton, David Larimore, Benjamin Tappan, Thomas Me- Kean Thompson, David Hoge, Jacob, Fetches, John Galbraith, Thomas Scott, Sampson King, Samuel Hunter, Hans Wil- son, Thomas Henderson, James G. Hen- ning, Zacheus Bigger, William R. Dieken- son, James Larimore and Obediah Jeu- nings.
This company was authorized to pur- chase lands, lay pipes, erect pent stacks and to do whatever else was necessary to afford a sufficient water supply. The com- pany first laid a line of wooden pipes from a spring, between Market and Washington Streets, above Seventh, and these becoming insufficient, an additional line was laid from the Doyle, afterwards known as "Spencer's Tan Yard." The remains of these wooden pipes are yet struck occa- sionally in making excavations. The logs were laid southeasterly around the Elliott tan yard to Market Street, and at the court house and other several points were stone cisterns to husband a reserve supply, espe- cially for fire purposes. The logs were ten to twelve inches in diameter, with a two- inch hole bored through the center by Jacob Brickard. It is very likely the logs leaked more or less at the joints, but the system seems to have worked fairly well until ahont 1820, when it gave out, and a system was adopted of hauling water in large bar- rels, at 61/4 cents per barrel, from the river. This lasted until 1835, when the necessi- ties of the town and losses by fire induced the calling of a public meeting, which authorized the town conneil to procure esti-
mates for the construction of a more com- plete and adequate water system. In the meantime, James Collins, mayor, had been requested to visit Pittsburgh and obtain information concerning the water system of that city. The mayor made an exhaust- ive report of his trip -- the annual expenses incurred and the income derived from the system. Accordingly a loan of $35,000 was negotiated by Humphrey H. Leavitt from Edward Coleman, of Philadelphia, and the money placed to the credit of the city of Steubenville in The Farmers and Me- chanics Bank. Mr. Leavitt's total expenses for the trip and time employed in securing the loan were $59.65. The plant was erected at a total cost of $34,453.24, and put into operation in 1836. An effort was first made to have the pumping station located on the west side of Water Street and draw the water from a well, which it was thought would draw an unfailing supply from the river, but this plan was soon abandoned, on account of quicksand and the plant moved out to the river bank at the foot of Adams Street. It has never been satis- factorily explained why the pumping sta- tion was located at the south end of town, below all the drainage from the city, instead of at the north end. The reservoir was located half way up the hill, at the head of Adams Street, 192 feet, perpendienlar height, above the pumps, and three-fourths of a mile from the works. A forty-horse- power engine forced 200,000 gallons into the reservoir each ten hours, and the ca- pacity of the reservoir was twice that amount, which was considered doing very well, as Pittsburgh then was using only 500,000 gallons per day. In 1854 an addi- tional reservoir was joined to the other on the west holding 600,000 gallons, thus giving a total storage capacity of 1,000,000 gallons. By 1864 it was evident that the works must be rebuilt, the old machinery, besides being worn out, was entirely too light for the work now needed. Accord- ingly the works were enlarged to double their former size, a twenty-inch main laid to the reservoir, new boilers and two 150-
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381
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
horsepower engines installed, one of them the West Virginia shore, leaving a narrow being made at the Means foundry, and new, up-to-date pumps, with a capacity of 2,480 .- 000 gallons each twenty-four hours. This was far beyond the consumption at that time, which, in fact, did not reach half that amount until 1879, so that it was only necessary to keep one engine in operation, the other being kept in reserve. This work was completed in 1867, at a cost of $50,000. A few years after another reservoir was added, bringing the storage capacity to 1,700,000 gallons. A twenty-inch main was laid along Seventh Street, from which an eight-inch pipe led down Market Street, and six-inch pipes down the parallel streets to the river (now eight-inch on Washing- ton), from which the laterals are con- nected.
It was estimated that the city was now provided with a water plant which would, it was supposed, answer every purpose for half a century to come, but early in the nineties the daily consumption was equal to the full capacity of the reservoirs, thus guaranteeing only a twenty-four hours' supply in case of accident. The machinery was once more out of date and none the bet- ter for its thirty years' steady work. The adoption of sewers made the location of the pumping station undesirable, and the disastrous Lindsey-Falk fire on August 14, 1893, demonstrated that the water pressure was not sufficient to cope with a great con- flagration in the large buildings which were occupying the downtown district. All this led to the conviction that not an improve- ment of the old water works was needed, but an entirely new plant in another loca- tion. The matter was taken up by Mr. Sin- clair, then a member of the Board of Com- cil, and it is chiefly to his energetic ef- forts that the city owes its present magnifi- cent plant, conceded to be the best on the Ohio River. The old Alikanna Iron Works property, just above the month of Wills Creek, was purchased and in 1894 work of construction was begun. The river here makes a large curve, and a ledge of rock, exposed at low water, extends almost to
and deep channel with swift current. Through this the supply pipe was laid, se- curely protected from ice floes and resting on a crib in the deep water, below any dan- ger from passing boats and getting the purest water that is in the river. The large stone pumping station on the bank is an attractive feature of the landscape. Be- sides being surrounded by beautiful and well kept grounds, which give it the ap- pearance of a summer hotel, its site is di- rectly opposite the celebrated and famons "Half-Moon" farm, comprising about 1.400 acres of as well located and park- like farming land as may be found at any point along the upper Ohio. Just above it on a hill top is located Stanton Park, from which an entrancing view of the surround- ing country can be obtained for many miles.
The daily capacity of the pumping sta- tion is 6,000,000 gallons, from two E. P. Allis pumps, As the storage capacity is 7.200,000 gallons, and the consumption about 2,500,000, the city is always assured of a supply in case of emergency, and in addition consmmers have full knowledge that the water has a chance to settle before being used for any purpose. The high pressure reservoir is located in a natural depression at the head of Franklin Ave- nne, 250 feet perpendicular height above the works. From this a twenty-inch main leads down Franklin and Seventh Streets to the original low pressure reservoirs, and from which a high pressure system of pipes covers the city for fire and special purposes, in addition to the low pressure for domestic use.
There are about forty miles of mains in use, ranging in size from twenty-four inches to four. These pipes are divided into two systems, one carrying a pressure of forty to seventy-five pounds, and the other, high, from one hundred to one hun- dred and thirty pounds. The city has some 300 fire hydrants. When the works were constructed provision was made for the installation of a 6,000,000 gallon pump
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382
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
when the same should be necessary, and an additional high pressure reservoir, with a capacity of 5,000,000 gallons, was also partly constructed. There is now talk of completing these improvements, together with another low pressure reservoir. When the works were constructed it was foreseen that the hilltops above the reservoirs would ultimately require n water supply, and it came sooner than was anticipated. To meet this demand a sixty-five-foot standpipe was erected on La Belle View, which is fed by an ingenious arrangement. Where the water pours into the low pres- sure reservoir has been placed a hydraulic ram, which receives the full force of the current. Its operation throws sufficient water to the standpipe, while the surplus flows into the basin below. This self-acting pumping station is operated practically withont cost, and apparently contradicts the scientific diction that one cannot lift himself over a fence by pulling on his own bootstraps. The capacity and purpose of the high pressure system nre snch ns to throw six heavy streams at one time over the top of the court house, and steam fire engines have been relegated to the realms of the "have beens." These works were completed in 1895, at a cost of $180,000. They would now cost double that amount. The contractors were Floto Brothers and A. W. MeDonald, of Steubenville, and the work was done under the supervision of D. J. Sinclair, R. M. Brown, Charles L. Foreman, R. E. Blinn, Thomas Frithi. Charles E. Moody, Frank Spearman. David MeGowan and Winfield Scott.
The estimated value of the entire plant with mains, ete., en Jannary 1, 1909, was $381,221.85, with outstanding bonds of $170,000 The receipts for 1908 were $38,729.41, and total expenditures $41,- 903.87. In the latter, however, are included 45,000 bonds redeemed, and $6,405.96 for pipe extension to outlying districts, which, of course, are a permanent addition to the plant. So the water works not only pay their own way but provide a sinking fund for the bonded debt, make their own exten-
sions and furnish free water to nh city buildings, schoolhouses, churches, fires (in- eluding construction of hydrants) and street sprinkling, public and private. The subject of public or private ownership of public utilities is a much debated one, but in Steubenville there is but one opinion so fur as the water service is concerned. No- body would be willing to turn it over to a private company.
G. V. Robinson, of Pittsburgh, became superintendent of the works in 1836, James Baron in 1839, R. J. Irwin in 1865, William Hunt in 1883, F. B. Ford in 1889, S. B. Curfman in 1896, George O'Neal, present incumbent, in 1907.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Closely connected with a city's water service and depending largely on it for efficiency is the fire department. The orig- inal method of fighting fires in Stenben- ville was by the "bucket brignde." Each family was required to keep in a conve- nient place at least two leather buckets, which were unbreakable. When the alarm of fire was given every man, woman and child wns expected to respond with the leather bnekets, especially for the pur- pose, and fall in line to pass the buckets of water from the river or the nearest cistern to the point of danger. The full buckets were passed up by the men, emptied by those fighting the fire and thrown to the other line of women and children, who rap- idly passed them back for supply. This service was far from being inefficient, espe- cially as most of the buildings at that time were small and the stream of water was al- most as constant. if not as strong, as from an engine. In the year 1822 a meeting of citizens authorized the council to purchase a fire engine, and a small hand machine was procured in Philadelphia, and honsed in a one-story building on Third Street, just north of the court house. This did not do away with the bucket brigade, whose ener- gies were now chiefly directed towards keeping the machine supplied with water.
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