USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Braddock > The unwritten history of Braddock's Field (Pennsylvania) > Part 6
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In the year 1898, the School Boards of the Boroughs of Wilmerding, Turtle Creek and East Pittsburgh organized the Union High School,. having previously been instrumental in having passed in the State Legis- lature a special law authorizing separate districts to establish and main- tain joint high schools. The School therefore was organized and started in October 1898, with an enrollment of thirty-three (33) pupils.
The first class graduated was the Class of 1901, with an enrollment of 18 pupils. In all 440 pupils have been graduated from the school to date.
During the present year, 402 different pupils have attended the school. The 1917 graduating class consisted of 42 members. This is a recognized first-class, high school maintaining two courses of study, the regular academic preparatory course and the commercial course, each of four years. The school is supported on a pro rata basis according to the number of pupils attending from each respective district. At present the enrollment includes pupils from the districts of Wilmerding, Turtle Creek and East Pittsburgh, Wall, Patton, Wilkins, Braddock, Penn, Plum, North Versailles, Trafford, Chalfant, Franklin, Westmoreland, Export Boro, and two special pupils. The school has grown so rapidly that it is compelled to work on a double schedule until the completion of the new $200,000.00 building now under construction. The faculty consists of fourteen in- structors at the present including the manual training and domestic science and arts departments. The principal of the school for several years and at present is Herman W. Goodwin. The school is doing a work hardly to be over-estimated, and a notable feature is the large proportion of boys to
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
girls going through the school to graduation. The present graduating class consists of 24 boys and 18 girls.
Among the churches are the United Presbyterian Church, organized in June 1820, by Rev. Joseph Brown. The present pastor is Rev. Frank G. Findley, with a membership of about 250; the Presbyterian Church was organized in 1867 by Rev. Dr. Wightman, with a membership of about 50. The present pastor is Rev. Grant E. Fisher, with a membership of about 450. The McMasters Methodist Episcopal Church was organized February 1872, with Rev. Dr. Slease as the first minister. The present pastor is Rev. Dr. W. C. Weaver, the membership is about 600; St. Cole- man's Roman Catholic Church was organized September 1882. The first pastor was Rev. Thos. Neville. The present pastor is Rt. Rev. Monsignor W. A. Cunningham and his assistants are Rev. J. P. Shields and Rev. N. J. Vitale. They have about 550 families, representing about 3,000 members. Other churches are the First Baptist Church, present Pastor, C. W. Townsend; the Christian Church; Lutheran Church; Alpha Re- formed Church and the First Methodist Protestant Church, being a split of the McMaster M. E. Church.
The population of the Borough of Turtle Creek at this time is 7,000. A large portion of the present works of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company and the Westinghouse Machine Company are located within the limits of this Borough and most of the citizens are en- gaged in some capacity or other at this great plant, which at the present time employs about 25,000 people.
The Union Railroad is one of the interests of the United States Steel Corporation and runs through a portion of this town and makes con- nection with the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad.
The Banks are the First National Bank and Turtle Creek Savings & Trust Company.
The first coal shipped by rail to Pittsburgh was mined and shipped by Dickson and Stewart, from their mine called "Oak Hill Mines" located opposite the present site of the East Pittsburgh Station on the Pennsyl- vania Railroad. The coal was known as the finest and best gas coal in this region, and was purchased by the Philadelphia Gas Company, and was used in making artificial gas, which was in extensive use before the dis- covery of natural gas. Oil and gas interests are sinking quite a number of gas wells in this vicinity, but as yet have not struck the center of the gas.
The Hon. J. C. Haymaker, at present one of Judges of the Common
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
Pleas Court of Allegheny County, was born in Patton Township on the Simpson Farm, his mother's father's place. The farm is at present owned by Judge Haymaker. The Judge's father and mother, with their family also lived in Turtle Creek. It seems that his Honor, Judge Hay- maker, loves the chase; and many are the tales told of the fun they used to have in chasing "Sly Reynard" around the hills. Squire J. C. Mc- Clintock, Stewart Tillbroke and Judge Haymaker all had fox hounds and coon-dogs and hunted over "Riche's Hill" and what is still known as the "Shades of Death". It seems their favorite mode of hunting was to take a position on the point of Riche's Hill at which location they could hear the dogs nearly all the night. Squire Mcclintock says they spent many a happy night at this great sport, and as an example of their prow- ess, Squire Mcclintock had fifty-six (56) coon hides tacked on both sides of his barn, the "catch" in one fall.
Duncan Hamilton, (whose daughter, Mrs. Harry Alters, lives at Monroeville) ran the old grist mill which was located on the west side of the residence of S. A Rath. There was also an old distillery located on what is now known as Sycamore Street. The stone out of this old dis- tillery is now located in the building in the rear of Ross' Fruit Store, the date being 1755. Hugh Maxwell, an early settler in Patton Township who later resided in Turtle Creek for thirty-five or forty years, died last winter.
The Borough of Turtle Creek made rapid progress after the erection of the Works belonging to the Westinghouse Interests along the North side of the Creek in the Boroughs of East Pittsburgh and Turtle Creek. Its principal street is Penn Avenue, and is traversed by a Street Car line running from Pittsburgh, via Wilkinsburg, Ardmore, East Pitts- burgh, through Turtle Creek to Trafford City. By other lines the bor- ough has direct connection with the entire Monongahela Valley. There are also macadamized roads extending out into the Township, seven roads centering in this Town. The Greensburg Pike, now called Penn Avenue in the Borough of Turtle Creek, is a portion of the Great Lincoln Highway.
Wm. A. Bryans, who came to Turtle Creek about 1870 and has been indentified with the progress of the Borough, has in his possession three almanacs called the Pittsburgh Magazine Almanac for the years 1821, 1822 and 1823. It is time well spent to call at the Squire's Office and look over these books. He also has a page from a Squire's Docket, and we note in this docket the name of Mr. Wm. MeElvoy, who is the McElroy spoken of earlier in this recital.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
Among those identified with the progress of Turtle Creek and ever striving for its success we find the Hon. W. H. Semmens, formerly member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature and now State Senator from that Senatorial District; Dr. W. L. Hunter, Joseph Hezlepp, John Black, Thomas McMasters, Capt. Jobe, Anthony Lewis, James Gilmore, Sr., father of the members of the Gilmore Drug Company, (Jas. Gilmore, .Jr., one of the sons lives on a farm on the Greensburg Pike and still attends the United Presbyterian Church in Turtle Creek), Chas. Naylor, John Lari- mer, A. O. Tinstman and C. P. M. Tinstman, John C. McClintock and sons, Charles and Garfield, and daughters Flora and Sadie P., Samuel C. Wil- kinson, John T. Trevaskis and his brother A. L. Trevaskis. Mrs. Gale Hun- ter Slick, wife of F. F. Slick, who resides at the corner of Jones and Bell Avenues, North Braddock, and her sister, Mrs. Leonora Markle Ander- son, who resides in New York City, are daughters of Dr. W. L. Hunter, now deceased.
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UNDERGRADE
COPELAND
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THE RAILROADS.
BY ALBERT DIETHRICH.
The transportation facilities of a community are very large fac- tors in its growth, prosperity, and culture: and lack of such facilities re- sults in a corresponding lack of progress. There are large sections of the United States, today, which are in a very backward state of development, largely on account of their inadequate means of communication with the rest of the world.
The history of Braddock shows the value to a community, of a sit- uation in which ample transportation facilities are available.
One of the events in which this city took a very conspicuous part, the Whiskey Insurrection, was brought about by the lack of facilities for carrying the products of this region, of which Pittsburgh is the center, to market. The principal product was grain, and there was no means of transporting such a bulky commodity east in paying quantities, on account of the mountains, and the western route, down the river, was practically closed because a large part of the course of the Mississippi River was in control of France, not very friendly to the United States at that time. Consequently, the farmers of this section found that the easiest way to ob- tain the value of their corn and other grain was to convert it into whiskey, in which state a man could carry in a small container what represented a much greater bulk of grain, and receive for it a larger sum than for the corresponding amount of grain. Hence, when the Government put a tax on this whiskey, which took away the profit, the people of Western Pennsyl- vania arose in revolt, and Braddock's Field was the scene of the mobiliza- tion of the insurrectionary forces.
In its later history, however, Braddock has been very highly favored in its transportation facilities, and owes most of its prosperity and importance to that fact. Even if the railroads had not been developed as they were, the city was situated in a favorable location for traffic on the rivers, and canals, which in the event of the non-development of railroads, would naturally have become the chief routes of travel.
The means of transportation were very limited in the early times, and improvements did not begin till about 1805. The river was the line of communication westward, and eastward the only methods in use were by pack-horse, or by carrying on foot, which required nine or ten days for the trip from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
At first there were two routes to the east, the old Braddock Trail to Cumberland and Baltimore, and the route through Bedford, Chambers- burg, and Harrisburg, to Philadelphia. On these roads the freight was first carried by pack-horses, but this was soon superseded by four or six horse wagons, of the type later known as "Prairie schooners", which car- ried a trough for feeding the horses, and in which the drivers lived while on the road. This wagon traffic lasted until 1829, when the Pennsylvania Canal was opened.
In 1805, a stage line was started, between Pittsburgh and Phila- delphia, the trip requiring three days.
But freighting by wagon soon proved inadequate for the growing needs of the country, and attention was turned to canals. About 1829 the Pennsylvania Canal, connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, was con- structed by the state. The canal boats were built in sections, and carried over the mountains on inclined railways, which were later used, temporari- ly, to connect the eastern and western sections of the Pennsylvania Rail- road.
But the canal was badly managed, and had not proved a successful venture financially, having failed to pay even the interest on its debt.
Just about this time, between 1813 and 1829, steam as a motive power was being developed in England, and in 1830 Stevenson succeeded in attaining a speed of thirty miles an hour with his engine. The first railroad in this country was built in 1826, but for some reason, develop- ment was not very rapid.
The Baltimore and Ohio, the first steam road in America, was also the first to attempt to enter the Monongahela and Ohio Valleys. It came as far as Cumberland in 1842, and tried to reach the Ohio through West- ern Pennsylvania. But the people of Philadelphia, thinking that the trade of this section, if carried on a road having its terminus in Baltimore, would be diverted to that city, placed obstacles in the way of the granting of the right of way to the Baltimore and Ohio, and thus, through sectional jea !- ousy and lack of foresight, the road was driven to adopt the route through West Virginia, to Wheeling.
Finally. the object was accomplished by strategy. A bill for the incorporation of the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad was tacked on to an omnibus bill, and passed by the Legislature while the Philadelphians were off their guard, and as this road was really a part of the Baltimore & Ohio system, its incorporation gave the latter road the opening it de- sired into the Pittsburgh district.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
Progress on the construction of this road was so slow, however, that many of the stockholders grew impatient at the delay and invested in the Pennsylvania and Ohio, which later became the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad.
At this time the Philadelphia people determined to organize a road of their own, and the Pennsylvania Railroad was chartered in 1846, with a capital of $10,000,000.00, and construction was begun in 1848.
In 1852, the road was opened, though at first the inclines of the canal were used in crossing the mountains, and it was not till 1854 that the road was completed so that trains could run through on its own tracks.
The Pittsburgh end was constructed as far as Brinton, where it was delayed for some time at the point where the plank road between Braddock and Turtle Creek had to be crossed, as the crossing of a previous right of way was a more difficult matter at that time than now. This con- nection was made in 1852.
In 1857 the Pennsylvania Railroad bought the main line of the Pennsylvania canal, paying $7,500,000.00 for it, thus obtaining a monopoly for the railroads, of the traffic east and west.
The canals had been badly managed, and graft and engineering difficulties made them unprofitable, as over $30,000,000.00 had been ex- pended on them and they had failed to pay the interest on their debts. Also, at this time, popular opinion was so strongly in favor of the rail- roads, that the value of the "Miserable ditches" was not appreciated, and the canal was sold. It has since been realized that, if the main canal between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh had been maintained and brought to a point of high efficiency, it would have tended to regulate freight charges, and prevent discrimination.
The Pittsburgh and Connellsville, or Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was built from Connellsville as far as Port Perry, now Bessemer, in 1856, and connected by a short junction line with the Pennsylvania at Brinton, and from there Baltimore and Ohio trains ran to Pittsburgh on the tracks of the Pennsylvania. In 1860 the contract was awarded for the completion of the road to Pittsburgh, and this section was finished, so that trains could run through to Pittsburgh in 1861.
The first freight locomotive on the Baltimore & Ohio at this point was of what was known as the "Camel back" type, and is said to have been very noisy while in operation. Other engines in use in the early times were designated by names, as the "Harmer Denny", and the "George
PRESENT SYSTEM TRAVEL.
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1
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1
SLATTERY'S
OLD CAMEL BACK LOCOMOTIVE.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
Washington". Another, the Number 5, was continually getting off the . track.
Some of our most famous men of affairs received their early train- ing on these primitive railroads. J. Edgar Thomson, after whom the Edgar Thomson Steel works are named, was the first Chief Engineer, and later President, of the Pennsylvania; and Andrew Carnegie was once Superin- tendent of the same road.
Things were done in a much more simple manner in those days than at present. An incident which happened on one occasion shows the ab- sence of red tape in the management at that time. While Andrew Car- negie was Superintendent, Mr. J. B. Corey, a coal operator, who still lives in Braddock, went to Mr. Carnegie and asked for some coal cars. Carnegie said "All right, they will be out there before you will". Mr. Corey said that would be impossible, as he intended going out on the next trip of the one passenger train which ran between Pittsburgh and Braddock at that time, and which was lying in the station ready to start. Then Mr. Carnegie ordered that the coal train be coupled on ahead of the passenger train, which was done, much to the displeasure of the conductor, John Routh, a famous character in the early days of railroading on the Pennsylvania, and the coal cars really reached Braddock before Mr. Corey did.
As another instance of the lax methods of the early days may be cited the means of acquiring the right of way. When the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad wanted to go through Braddock, they just laid their tracks down on Halket Avenue, one of the main streets, running the entire length of the town, without asking permission of any one, and no one seemed to object. At that time there was a good wagon road along the right bank of the Monongahela, clear to Mckeesport. This road looked good to the Baltimore & Ohio, and they appropriated it also. At first only one track was laid. Later it was double-tracked, and finally the four tracks occupied all the space between the foot-hills and the river. The township then went into court and got an order compelling the railroad to build a wagon road along the hill side. In compliance with this order the railroad scratched the hill side a little, but six months after the wagon road was completed a goat couldn't walk over it without danger of falling off. After years of litigation the matter was finally adjusted, only recently, by the railroad's paying into the township treasury a definite sum.
From these comparatively simple beginnings the Pennsylvania and Baltimore and Ohio Railroads have developed to the great institutions which they are today.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
In 1883, the Pittsburgh, Mckeesport and Youghiogheny Railroad, a subsidiary of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Lines, was constructed through Braddock, during the excavation for which a number of Indian skeletons and implements were dug up. This railroad, as originally planned, was to have run along the south shore of the Monongahela River, but, in order to obtain some of the business of the Edgar Thomson Steel works, the plan was changed, and the road crossed the river and ran along the right bank of the river. Besides this, the Pitts- burgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad, of the Pennsylvania System, runs on the opposite side of the river, and connects with the main line of the Pennsylvania through the tunnel at Port Perry; and the Bessemer and Lake Erie, and Union lines also touch this district at the same point. The Western Maryland also has connections here, using the tracks of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Lines. Braddock thus has a direct outlet over five of the greatest railroads of the country; the Pennsylvania system, the Baltimore & Ohio, the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie, (a part of the New York Central), the Bessemer & Lake Erie, and the Western Maryland.
The Bessemer and Lake Erie was built in 1898, by the Carnegie Steel interests, because of discrimination in freight rates against this district by the old systems.
These roads have made many improvements since the original tracks were laid. Both the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio rail- roads have developed from single track to four track roads. About 1880 the Pennsylvania widened its line to four tracks, and the present Braddock depot was built in 1884, to replace the old one which had been in use since about 1865. Later, improvements were made on the line through Brad- dock which are probably as extensive as any to be found in the same length of track at any point on the road. The grade crossing at Fourth Street was eliminated, the present Copeland station and underground passageway, or tunnel, was constructed; bridges were built at Thirteenth Street and Second Street; a roadway under the tracks was constructed at Sixth Street, and the bridge and passageway at Library Street were entirely made new. Since the completion of these improvements, in 1913, there have been almost no accidents on the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Braddock.
In 1907, the Baltimore and Ohio began operations on the widening of their right of way through the Borough of Braddock, and bought all the property between Wood Way and its own tracks between Seventh and Eleventh Streets; increased the number of its tracks from two to four; re-
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
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placed the Passenger Station at Ninth Street by the present one at Eighth Street; built the new Freight Station at Eighth Street, and paid a sum of money into the Borough treasury.
All these roads handle an enormous traffic, both in passengers and freight, to and from Braddock, and are factors of immeasurable strength in the manufacturing and commercial importance of the community, and the favorable situation of the city in this respect is a guarantee of the con- tinuance of its importance and prosperity.
THE FIRST STREET CAR OF BRADDOCK-OPERATED ON BRADDOCK AND TURTLE CREEK ROAD, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1891 .- HENRY FOYE, MOTORMAN.
COREY AVE
1. .
MODERN STREET CAR AS USED IN 1917.
MIDDLE SCENE-HENRY McNANY, GIVING THE KIDDIES A FREE RIDE JULY 4, 1908.
BRADDOCK ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.
BY D. NEWTON GREER.
The electric motor is one of the marvelous inventions of the nine- teenth century. The railway system had not long been introduced when the first proposition to employ electric locomotive traction was made. As early as 1835 experiments in this direction were made by Thomas Daven- port, who constructed a model electric car operated on a circular track by means of batteries.
In 1850, Professor Page of the Smithsonian Institution of Washing- ton, D. C., employed the current from one hundred large Grove cells to operate an electric locomotive which developed sixteen horse-power, and ran at the rate of nineteen miles an hour on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road; but it was quite impracticable for it was far too expensive. The dis- covery of a cheap and easy means of electric traction was later developed. The first practical overhead trolley line was built in Kansas City in 1884, in which double overhead conductors were used with a trolley wheel riding on top of the wire. In 1885 Mr. Daft constructed a third rail line in Balti- more, and Mr. Depoele installed an overhead trolley at Toronto, Canada.
The next step made in the development of the electric railway in the U. S., and the one which did most to stimulate capitalists and inventors to the action which has produced the marvelous perfection in electric rail- way transportation which we witness today, was the contract made by the Union Passenger Railroad Company of Richmond, Va., with F. J. Sprague to equip its thirteen-mile system of street railways for electric traction.
On January 1, 1888, there were thirteen electric railways with forty-eight miles of track in operation in the United States and Canada. These followed a period of consolidated interests among electric railway builders, and the modern era of electric railway development was opened. Since 1888, or in twenty-nine years, electric railways have grown wonder- fully until now the valuation of electric railways in the United States is approximately one billion dollars.
THE BRADDOCK AND TURTLE CREEK RAILWAY COMPANY.
Street Railway service for Braddock began on Saturday, July 25, 1891, when the Braddock and Turtle Creek Street Railway Company brought three old horse-cars from New York City and converted them into electric cars. These cars were put in commission on Braddock Avenue and ran from the Baltimore and Ohio Station at Rankin to Thirteenth Street, Braddock. The novelty of the Electric cars at that time is shown
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
by the fact that the receipts of that short line on that first Saturday amounted to Sixty-five dollars, in consequence of 1,300 persons having taken advantage of this new mode of travel.
Early in 1892 the line was extended to the Mckinney homestead near Bessemer, on the East, and as far as Keating station on the West.
The late William Yost, Esq., was President, and George E. T. Stamets, lately deceased, Superintendent, of the company opening this line. Other stockholders were Joseph Wolf, the late Fred Edwards, Mrs. Mary Matlack. Henry Foye, present Lieutenant of Police, was motorman, and Charles Johnson, conductor, on the first of the three cars sent out. In 1892 Mr. Foye was appointed assistant superintendent. Hen- ry McNany of 201 Main Street, North Braddock, was motorman on one of the three cars mentioned and has acted in that capacity somewhere on the Tine ever since. His present run is between Rankin and Keating. In an accompanying illustration a very commendable trait of character of Mr. McNany is exhibited. It was his custom on the Fourth of July to invite the children along his route to participate in a free trolley party, and he had no trouble in getting a crowd.
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