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THE RIVER FLOWS NORTH
by Frank J. DePolo
Table of Contents
Chapter
I
History of the River
Chapter
II
History of the Community
Chapter
III
History of the Vessel
Chapter
IV
History of the Church
Chapter
VI
History of Mon Valley Bible Institute
Chapter
VII
The River Still Flows North
THE RIVER FLOWS NORTH
Back to the Table of Contents ......... Back to "Living in the River"
"A work of history
ultimately becomes a dialogue between past and present, between the object
of research and the researcher; the questions posed and the answers discovered
often lead in unexpected directions." As this quotation states, researching
and compiling this work truly was a dialogue between past and present which
yielded unanticipated but pleasant conclusions. It entailed, necessarily,
the analysis of my personal history, with its mysteries and questions. The
resulting observation that God had perfectly situated my life in His spectrum
of time and purpose was, for me, remarkable.
My journey began near a small tributary of the Monongahela River in north-central
West Virginia. Simpson Creek flows into the West Fork River which, in turn,
flows into the Monongahela at the confluence of the West Fork and the Tygart
Rivers at Fairmont, West Virginia. It flows through the coal fields and mountains
of West Virginia and cuts valleys into western Pennsylvania where lies one
of the great industrial areas of the country. The Monongahela River flows
approximately 100 miles north to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and meets the Allegheny
River at the confluence to form the mighty Ohio River. Native Americans called
the Monongahela the "river of the falling banks". Their name for
the Ohio River was the Spa-la-wee-thepi.
Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, is one of the many communities nestled along the
Monongahela River. Any historical account of Belle Vernon would not be complete
without mentioning the Monongahela River. Were it not for the Mon, the name
for the Monongahela River commonly used in southwestern Pennsylvania, Belle
Vernon and many other similar communities might not be in existence today.
These riverside towns and cities were founded around the boating industry
that began in the Mon Valley in the late 18th century.
The earliest mention of industrial travel on the Monongahela River is September
2, 1786, when John Blair began a boat service for freight and for passengers.
His weekly shuttle ran between Pittsburgh and points as far as 35 miles up
river. Just months later in 1787, river travel expanded into a major industry,
accommodating westward-moving colonists eager to reach the newly opened Northwest
Territory. Although they knew little or nothing of conditions in the west,
hundreds of thousands of dwellers in the original seacoast colonies packed
up and moved out west to remove forests, to grow corn, and to form new settlements.
They found that the easiest route westward into the lovely rich territory
which now comprises the states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin,
was over the mountains, either over the National Road to Brownsville, or over
Forbes Road to Pittsburgh and from there down the Ohio River. Upon arrival
in Brownsville or in Pittsburgh, these early pioneers discovered that they
need only build or buy a boat and be on their way. As a result, boat-building
yards at Brownsville, Belle Vernon, Elizabeth, Webster and Pittsburgh sprang
up quickly.
Thus boat building was the first industry on the Mon. "The most bizarre
aspects of Monongahela boat building was the period during which seagoing
vessels were built,
launched, loaded with cargo, and sent down the long river trail to salt water.
This curious business was begun in 1801 when a number of farmers in the vicinity
of Elizabeth (then Elizabethtown) organized a stock company and built the
Monongahela Farmer, a deep-water schooner of 92 tons burden. The vessel was
loaded with 721 barrels of flour, 500 barrels of rye whiskey, 4,000 deerskins
(the male deer is called a buck...it is from this that we still today refer
to currency as two-bucks, three-bucks, five-bucks, etc. They would trade deerskins
as a medium of barter), 2,000 bearskins, plus some quantities of hemp, flax,
and firearms. She left downbound with the above cargo in command of Captain
John Walker, who was under the following orders from the owners: 'Proceed
to New Orleans. Should the markets for flour be low at New Orleans and the
vessel appear to sell at a disadvantage, you in that case have it in you power
to sell part of a cargo, to purchase rigging, fit out the vessel and employ
hands to sail her to any of the Islands you in your judgment and to the best
information may think best, and then make sale of the vessel and cargo.' "
Shipwrights from the East established several boatyards to utilize the abundant
timber and construct boats for the westward migration down the Ohio. After
the Revolutionary War, western farmers and traders began to ship goods down
river to New Orleans, dismantling the boats for lumber at the end of the one-way
trip. Agent Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat, launched a river steamer
on the Monongahela near Pittsburgh in 1811, the first of thousands to be built
there until the 1880's. (see figure 1.1 in appendix I)
Steamboat navigation began on the Monongahela in 1814, when the Enterprise,
which was built at Brownsville, left that place under the command of Capt.
Henry M. Shreve and
passed down the Monongahela, Ohio, and Mississippi to New Orleans. This was
the first boat to make the trip to New Orleans and return.
In 1837, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania chartered the Monongahela Navigation
Company to build a series of seven locks and dams from Pittsburgh south (up
river!) in the direction of the West Virginia state line. The federal government
followed suit and built eight additional locks and dams up river as far as
Fairmont, West Virginia. Company locks charged tolls, but those belonging
to the government were free to all traffic.
The government eventually bought the Pennsylvania locks from the navigation
company in 1897, making the Mon a toll-free navigation system to Pittsburgh.
The present Mon navigation system has nine locks and dams of several sizes
and types constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1902 and
1997. These locks allow boats to travel in a series of steps down the 147
foot decrease in pool elevation from Fairmont to Pittsburgh.
The locks and dams on the Monongahela enable it to carry as much tonnage as
the flat lowland rivers of Europe like the Rhine and the Thames. Most of the
heavy traffic primarily coal transported both downstream and upstream to steel
mills and power plants, uses mainly the lower six locks. Most of the companies
along the Mon use the river for shipping and depend on the pool for a reliable
water supply. Tygart Lake, in the headwaters of the Mon, was built by the
Corps to provide a more dependable supply of water in case of drought on this
important waterway.
Locks and Dam 2 (see figure 1.2 in appendix I) is one of nine navigational
structures which provide for year-round travel on the Monongahela River between
Pittsburgh, and
Fairmont. It maintains a pool for 12.6 miles upstream to Locks and Dam 3 at
Elizabeth, Pennsylvania.
Locks and Dam 2 is located at river mile 11.2 at the city of Braddock, Pennsylvania.
The lock chambers and operations buildings are situated along the right bank
of the river adjacent to a major steel-making plant. Road access to the project
is from 11th Street in Braddock. The elevation of the pool is 718.7 feet above
sea level. Construction of Locks and Dam 2 at this site began in 1902 and
ended in 1906. After 40 years of use, a major rehabilitation of the project
was completed in 1953. This work involved reconstruction and enlargement of
the lock chambers and adjustment of the length of the dam.
Locks and Dam 2 consists of two lock chambers and a fixed crest dam. This
type of dam is basically a concrete weir or wall across the river which keeps
the river channel upriver of the project deep enough for navigation - at least
9 feet or more. Water which flows over this type of dam cannot be controlled
locally. Consequently, it cannot provide any control over flood waters. An
incidental benefit derived from the pool formed by the dam is the availability
of a source of municipal and industrial water.
There is a tremendous spiritual truth connected with the locks and dams that
are constructed on the river. In the natural realm, if the river could speak,
it would resent the intrusion into its flow. It would oppose having obstructions
placed within its very heart. It would feel certain that they only serve to
hinder and obstruct its freedom and liberty. In reality, the locks and dams
serve to deepen its pool and allow the free travel of commerce and progress
within its boundaries. In the spiritual realm, we often fail to realize or
understand some of God's actions in our lives. We often feel that the Lord
is restricting or hindering our
ability to do as we desire. In reality, He has placed some obstructions in
our lives to deepen our spiritual pool and thereby enable all that He has
planned for us to be accomplished. Some of these restricting life experiences,
that we feel hinder us, actually serve to prepare us for work that God has
planned for our lives. That work would not be accomplished if it were not
for the Divine locks and dams that He constructed along our paths.
I have traveled to the sub-Sahara region of West Africa for ministry on seven
different occasions. After carefully observing and comparing life in the desert
region and life in the area affected by the Monongahela River, I found a noticeable
similarity between the otherwise completely different worlds. Life gathers
around the river! As I found village after village near or at water sources
in West Africa, so I find community after community all along the Mon River
from its headwaters to its confluence. In his letter to the Corinthian Church,
Paul stated a divine principle, "...not first that which is spiritual,
but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual" (I
Corinthians 15:46). My purpose in sharing these facts about the Monongahela
River is to use the natural laws to unveil or reveal the spiritual principles
contained therein. When Jesus spoke about "rivers of living water flowing
out of your belly" in John 7:38, the writer John goes on in the next
verse to reveal that He was speaking of the Holy Spirit who was not yet given
because Jesus was not yet glorified.
As one travels up and down the Monongahela River, he discovers one community
after another along or near the river. Early in the development of the area,
the railroads quickly secured most of the riverfront property; today there
are trains traveling on both sides of the river. The river is the gathering
place of humanity. It offered life, security, hope and
a future to the people.
It is more than just a body of water; it is a solid foundation upon which
lives can be built.
God's intention is that the Holy Spirit should be as rivers of living water
for His people. Any other explanation is either short of, or contrary to,
the mind of God. In a booklet I prepared for my Coffeebreak Bible Class, I
wrote, "...God's thought and God's mind is that which is symbolized by
rivers of living water. By that I simply mean that all this represents the
great disposition of God to give. We might call this the "givingness"
of God. He is set forth as One who desires to give. One whose inclination
is to give, and to give abundantly. As I traveled in the arid, hot desert
of West Africa, one basic necessity is water...it is a matter of life and
death. One way to discover water is to look for vegetation and foliage. When
you find it, you know water is near. You can always tell where the Lord really
is, or has been, by the spiritual greenery, foliage, and vegetation. The Lord
leaves His mark in this way."
We must realize the spiritual application which the natural river symbolizes
is really God's mind, thought and intention for today. From the scriptural
passage in John 7 referred to above, we can infer certain things about the
intention of God. First, of course, is God's intention for individual believers:
"If any man thirst ... he that believeth ... out of him shall flow rivers
of living water..." God's intent for us individually is that out of us
shall flow rivers of living water. The application is clearly noted in the
Lord's discussion with the woman at the well of Sychar: "...shall become
in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life" (John 4:14).
This is also God's intent for the corporate body, the church. In the final
chapter of the Revelation, the New Jerusalem comes into view with the river
"in the midst of the street thereof". If this is a symbolic presentation
of the Church, as I believe it to be, then God's vision for the Church at
the end, toward which He is working all the time, is that from the city to
the nations shall flow fullness, this flowing river of the water of life.
What is true of the Church as a whole, universally, is also intended to be
true of every local expression of it (the individual local church, body, or
congregation). God's idea for every local company of His people, wherever
they may be, is that out from them shall flow rivers of living water.
Because the river of God is so significant for His people, we must study how
the rivers of this Earthly world affect its inhabitants. It was a great triumph
when pioneers first surmounted the Appalachian barrier and planted civilization
along the banks of the Youghiogheny, the Monongahela and the Cheat. It was
the "forerunner of those successive frontiers that carried the American
people to the Pacific in another century." The historical significance
of Pittsburgh was determined, from the beginning, by geography. The swift
Allegheny and the "brawling Monongahela met here to form what the French
well called the Belle Riviere" , the beautiful river. The city that rose
at this strategic point on the threshold of the forks was at once the bridge
from the East and the gateway to the West, the most western of the great cities
of the seaboard, the most eastern of the great cities of the valley. It is
no accident that it has commanded this position now for one hundred seventy-five
years.
This pioneer village on the confluence of the two rivers grew at a safe and
steady pace. The seed planted in the area where the Monongahela joined the
Allegheny (see Figure 1.3 in appendix I) was a hearty one. It flowered and
blossomed with apparent ease. "In less than one generation, the virgin
forests gave way to rows of homes, spreading factories, and bustling business
establishments. The idyllic picture of the primeval landscape faded away;
the wilderness retreated before the axe of the woodsman, and the shape of
the city became apparent." One could see the transformation with the
naked eye, as day after day, new buildings and new settlements were added
to the older ones.
The area grew because God endowed it with fabulous riches. There was wood
in the forests, coal in the hills, limestone, sandstone, and clay in the soil,
and flax and cotton in the fields. Iron ore, though not in the immediate neighborhood,
was readily available. The timber that covered the land supplied logs for
building homes and charcoal for iron-making. It gave material to build barrels
and casks used to preserve and ship goods. It was made into rafts, boats,
and barges, those early means of transportation that took the produce down
the river, steadily expanding the market and laying the foundations for the
area's future industries. Limestone and sand were used for glassmaking, clay
for bricks, flax and cotton for textiles, and iron ore for nails, utensils,
and implements.
The area also grew because of the rich farmland that surrounded it. The fertile
soil always found near great rivers yielded more than those who tilled it
could consume. Soon there was a surplus which could be sold or exchanged for
other necessities. It was mainly because of this farm wealth that Pittsburgh
would become a manufacturing town. Within its
confines, mills turned grain into flour; tanneries made leather goods out
of the hides of animals; iron works, textile mills, and glasshouses sprang
up, using the raw materials of the nearby countryside. The area grew because
of its sturdy, hard working citizens.
Though early descriptions damn it as a wicked place, Pittsburgh was, nonetheless,
a religious place. "A compound of worship on Sunday and whiskey on Monday,
thus blending the spirits," went the saying. Presbyterianism ran strong
in the veins of the men and women who settled on the western Pennsylvania
frontier. It formed a mold for their thinking. The Presbyterian Church, the
Scotch-Irishman's bulwark in legislative, social and moral matters, was the
prominent force in the greater Pittsburgh/Mon Valley area. There was a story
told that when John Knox, the Scottish religious reformer, had prayed, "O!
Lord give me Scotland or I will die!" that God had not only granted the
request, but had thrown in Pittsburgh for good measure. In local folklore,
there is a little girl from Pittsburgh who, when asked about her religious
affiliation, replied: "Mamma says it is sinful to boast, but I am a Presbyterian."
The strength of Presbyterianism was the result of the early labors of their
missionaries and of the determination of their followers to retain their Scotch-Irish
traditions. "Their pastors, courageous, freedom-loving men, came from
a hearty breed. During the week they worked in the fields; they were one with
their flock; they had their respect and confidence. Thus, despite the numerous
Methodist and Baptist communities, despite the strong Catholic and Quaker
influences, it was Presbyterianism that took hold of the town and gave Pittsburgh
its moral fiber."
The two great rivers, vital arteries of communication and trade that flow
together at Pittsburgh's heart, gave a great boost to the town's development.
The Allegheny coming from the north connects northern Pennsylvania with the
southern part of the state, while the Monongahela flowing from the south taps
the commerce of northern Virginia and the eastern corner of western Pennsylvania.
In Pittsburgh overland and river traffic met. It was here that the goods brought
over the mountains on the backs of packhorses or in Conestoga wagons were
put on the river boats which transported them and the region's agricultural
produce down the Ohio and the Mississippi. Figure 1.3 in the appendix I shows
a plan of the city of
Pittsburgh in 1805, when the population was about 3,000. It is easy to see
how the three rivers gave definition to the city.
Pennsylvania is a commonwealth rather than a state. The difference is found
in the organization of state and local governmental bodies. In a commonwealth
many of the communities are boroughs, incorporated villages with limited powers
of self-government. Cities, however, can also be found in commonwealths, and
are more autonomous. Pittsburgh was a borough until 1816, when it became a
full-fledged city with a population of about 10,000, including the adjoining
communities. One of the first ordinances permitted the planting of ornamental
shade trees along the banks of the Monongahela River, "providing they
do not incommodate the passage" and "that they be set on the side
of the street next to the water, and so as not to stop or obstruct the passage
of water along the gutters."
The river craft and the wagons that linked the area with the outside world
were the carriers of a commerce upon which the city's capacity to grow depended.
As the war of 1812 came to its close, commerce was still the primary element
of Pittsburgh's prosperity. "By
then the city had become the main eastern gateway to the whole trans-Allegheny
west. Overland traffic from the Atlantic seacoast to the interior was not
only difficult and time consuming but costly. Whatever roads existed were
poor, seas of mud in the spring, dusty in the summer and obstructed by snow
in the winter. Shippers therefore preferred to send their goods by water and
Pittsburgh was the node of a river system which gave it an incomparable advantage
over any rival." Here the Mon and the Ohio come together to form the
Ohio, which flows unimpeded into the Mississippi and southward to the Gulf.
Almost
without interruption from this point, men and freight could move by inexpensive
water transportation to the very heart of the continent and to the ocean at
New Orleans.
The appearance of the steamship on the western waters naturally added to the
volume of commerce. Before the steamship era, most of the traffic could go
down the river, but to move a vessel upriver against the current was a laborious
and time-consuming task. Usually it could be done only by pulling against
ropes attached to a tree (see figure 1.4 in appendix I). It was easier and
less expensive to ship from New Orleans by sea to Philadelphia and across
the mountains to Pittsburgh than to come directly up the river against the
current. The steamboat changed all of this. As steam-propelled boats became
numerous, goods moved upstream as easily as they did downstream. The Monongahela
River carried the tonnage of a major seaport - over 3.5 million tons in 1885
and almost 12 million thirty years later (see Figure 1.5 in Appendix I of
the Monongahela wharf in 1890). The river remained an important center of
commerce even though the railroads had linked Pittsburgh to the
industrial complex of the North and Midwest. The Monongahela still carried
a great deal of manufactured products to other parts of the country. The river
continued to play a significant role in the support of the city's booming
industries.
From its headwaters in Fairmont, West Virginia, to its confluence at "Three
Rivers Point" in Pittsburgh, the Monongahela River has been a source
and a force for southwest Pennsylvania. Along with the economic growth and
development, the Mon has been a source of pleasure through boating, fishing,
and swimming. It has been life-giving, providing water for communities on
both of its banks. "The Monongahela River is one of the most important
rivers in western Pennsylvania. It begins in West Virginia and flows more
than ninety-one miles through Greene, Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland, and
Allegheny counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania. To this day the river plays
a major role in the development of the industrial region of the area. Huge
barges moved by tugboats travel its waters, bringing coal to feed the steel
mills and factories that line its banks at Donora, Charleroi, Clairton, McKeesport
and Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh became known as the "Gateway to the
West," because the boats and river craft that traveled along the Allegheny
and the Monongahela Rivers could continue west on the Ohio River as far as
the Mississippi River. During an air excursion of the area one writer tells
of "passing over the mountainous areas of Laurel Hill and Chestnut Ridge
and heading north toward Pittsburgh. We now have a good view of two important
valleys as we fly between the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers. The Monongahela
Valley on our left is as busy as a beehive. Mining and industrial towns form
an
almost solid line all the way north to Pittsburgh. Mine shafts, docks, highways,
and railroads line the Monongahela River on both sides. Hundreds of coal and
supply barges move along the river. Here and there, tugboats new and old,
can be seen pushing their barges up the Monongahela."
Moving from the natural to the spiritual, one can quickly perceive how the
Holy Spirit, as the river of living water, brings us into the ever-flowing
current of God's activities. Ever moving onward, ever moving forward, not
through energies of the flesh, but rather through the awesome power and might
of His Spirit, we find ourselves growing closer to Him who is our life and,
at the same time, becoming more like Him whose likeness is ever being fashioned
in us by His Spirit. The river is essential to all: the House, the heavenly
government concerning the House, and the Holy Spirit's sovereign authority
in all matters concerning the House. All that the river means relates to the
House, the Church, the Body of Christ. Where shall we find the sovereign rule
of the Man in the glory by the Holy Spirit? - If it is not in the Church,
it is nowhere!
When the church, as a unit, through prayer in the Spirit, overcomes opposition,
sees the sick healed, takes provisional care of its poor and becomes an example
of love to our worldly neighbors, we have taken what we might call "House"
or "Church" ground. When we gather together corporately, in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, not as something made or brought about by man,
but in the Holy Spirit, we have taken the same ground. As the natural river
grows larger and larger as it continues toward the sea, so we must understand
the difference between enlargement and limitation. This difference will be
determined by
whether we are governed by the Holy Spirit. If we get out of our place , or
let outside circumstances invade our place, we will do terrible damage to
the House of God, and we will upset the Holy Spirit's plan in our particular
relationship to that House. We must be certain that we are where we are because
the Holy Spirit placed us there! This is a principle to which I can personally
testify and which is more fully discussed in later chapters as this story
of Divine direction and Divine activity continues to unfold. We must know
that He has anointed us for the particular task at hand. We must know that
it is the task for which, and into which, we have been called, prepared, equipped
and set apart. We cannot just drift into it. We cannot just take it up as
a project. We cannot just assume the task because another has asked or directed
us to it. Rather we must know: "This is where the Holy Spirit has placed
me. I am in this place, in this circle, in this company of believers because
He has placed me here. Because I know He has placed me here, I know He has
some purpose in my being here. It is for me to determine what that purpose
is and for me to keep within my measure and fulfill that function, whatever
it may be.
The functions are numerous. Oh, how many aspects there are in this house!
All are very different and very definite, yet all are related. But one must
be appointed by the Spirit and not by man. One cannot allow man, whether as
man or as a part of some organization or institution, appoint him. The appointment,
even when it comes through godly men, must originate in the Holy Spirit.
The river of water of Life which, as we see from John's comments (7:38-39)
is no other than the Holy Spirit Himself expressed in fullness. The river
is related first to the people of God, and then through them to the nations.
The Bible makes that very clear in the very beginning, in the book of Genesis.
The river running out of the Garden of Eden in 2:10 is the river found in
Ezekiel chapter 42. All the land is affected by the river, as shown above
with the Monongahela River of southwestern Pennsylvania. In the end, in the
book of the Revelation the river runs out from the throne, past the south
side of the altar giving life to the trees; and "the leaves of the trees"
are "for the healing of the nations" (Revelation 22:2). What is
"within" the people of God is intended to be available to give character
to the contents of this world. The Lord's thought is that His people should
first receive abundantly from Him by the Holy Spirit and receive so abundantly
that they have rivers flowing out from themselves. The receiving aspect of
this is most important: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and
drink", and when he has filled himself, "out of him shall flow rivers
of living water." The little chorus currently being sung in charismatic
circles says it so beautifully:
"Holy Spirit, flow through me;
Holy Spirit, flow through me.
Make my life what it ought to be.
Holy Spirit, flow through me."
May the northward flowing of the Monongahela River of southwest Pennsylvania
reveal the flowing of the river of the Holy Spirit ... with fullness and power
... ever taking us closer to Him who sits on the throne ... in the north!
Back to the Table of Contents ......... Back to "Living in the River"
II. The History of the Community
Back
to the Table of Contents .........Back
to "Living in the River"
The northward flow continued, from my birth, within a few feet of one of the
tributaries of the Monongahela River, to my high school education, farther
north along the West Fork River and within ten miles of the confluence of
the Monongahela River, and has led me to my return to full time ministry on
the very banks of the Monongahela, to the present. Ever moving northward,
ever following the flow of the river, I currently find myself in the small
borough of Belle Vernon.
Presently 185 years old, Belle Vernon is one of the oldest communities along
the Monongahela River. As originally plotted, the town contained 360 lots.
Some of them were in Westmoreland County, but most of Belle Vernon is actually
in Fayette County. There were nine streets in the plan: Water, Main, Solomon,
Wood, Market, First, Second, Third and Fourth. There were also five alleys:
Long, Pleasant, Locust, Strawberry and Flint.
Times have changed in the 185 years since Belle Vernon was founded. In 1990,
I was elected as a councilman in the borough. One of my first undertakings
was to organize the borough's ordinances into a book. They were very outdated.
Ordinance #1 stated, in effect, that it was illegal to ride a horse down Main
Street faster than a normal trot. It was also illegal to allow pigs to run
loose in the borough between the months of May and December. Another ordinance
prohibited individuals from harassing the minister coming to or going home
from church."
There also have been considerable
changes in transportation and communication since the borough was established.
From river travel and horseback, the residents of Belle Vernon have seen and
used practically every form of transportation. River traffic gave way to the
railroad, which in turn gave way to trolleys and buses, which in turn has
now given way to the automobile.
Belle Vernon celebrated its sesquicentennial in 1963. In the words of the
sesquicentennial committee, "History never stands still. What was news
yesterday is history today." Residents have seen Belle Vernon blossom
from what was primarily a farming area to a manufacturing and shopping city,
renowned for the production of window glass. Boat-building was another big
industry for many years, as was the production of natural gas.
At what point in time the first white settlers came into the Belle Vernon
area is not definitely known. However, it is a well established fact that
the whites were not the first settlers. The Mingo and other tribes were here
long before any Caucasian settler arrived. Mounds, graveyards and battlefields
containing skeletons, war implements, and other interesting relics have been
found in abundance in the Mon Valley. They differ from those generally conceded
to belong to known Native American tribes. Those killed in battle were buried
in a mound. Many such mounds remain today. The forts were erected in an elliptical
form and the dead killed inside were buried in a circle on the inner edge
of the forts. They were laid in a trench on the left hip in a semi-sitting
position with their faces looking toward the
east. An earthen pipe and bowl were buried with the body, but rarely has any
instrument of war been found.
The early days of Belle Vernon were not easy ones for area settlers. They
encountered many dangers and difficulties which today cannot be fully appreciated.
Early immigrants were generally from the eastern states, although some came
directly from foreign countries and some from the Virginia (now West Virginia)
area. Pennsylvania would not rank as high in population in the United States
were it not for the large immigration of the past. Hundreds and thousands
have migrated to this state, but the more significant fact has been the great
variety of national groups which participated in these migrations.
The United States has long been called the "melting pot of nations".
Perhaps nowhere in the fifty states has this been more emphatically illustrated
than in Pennsylvania. We are a composite people, welded together by common
ideals, hopes, faiths and hungers. Almost every nation of Europe has contributed
ingredients to our human melting pot, and each has had its broad or subtle
effect in making this new alloy which we call "America".
An understanding of the significance of this diversity in ethnic background
is crucial to an intelligent appreciation of the people of Pennsylvania. From
the arrival of those first Swedish white men to the coming of the Hungarian
refugees, Pennsylvania offered a haven for those seeking freedom and opportunities
for new life and work. Perhaps no other state's
citizens have such a diverse background. Broadly speaking, there have been
three great movements of people into Pennsylvania: the various colonial migrations;
periodic waves in the years of 1790 to 1890; and another influx of people
after 1890.
Among the earliest arrivals, the English were the largest and most significant
group. Although the English Quakers were the real founders of the colony,
after the first few years they were soon outnumbered by Englishmen who did
not share their religious views. The Germans also came into Pennsylvania in
large numbers during the colonial period. These Germans, often erroneously
called "Pennsylvania Dutch", were more closely identified with Pennsylvania
than with any other colony. Unlike the English who settled in and around Philadelphia,
the Germans pushed westward into the areas which today include such counties
as Northampton, Lehigh, Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon and York.
The Scotch-Irish were the other major group that came to Penn's colony in
large numbers. These people migrated to Pennsylvania by way of Northern Ireland
from their original homes in Scotland. Individualistic, hard-working and fearless,
they continued to push westward. By the end of the 18th century, the counties
of Bedford, Westmoreland, Franklin, Fayette, Washington and Allegheny were
settled by their efforts. However, the number of Scotch-Irish never surpassed
that of the English or Germans in the colony. This was because many of them
continued their trek into Kentucky and Tennessee.
Finally, adding a kind of seasoning to our colonial melting pot, came smaller
groups from nations such as the Netherlands, Sweden, Wales and France. Of
course immigration did not end with the colonial era. The volume of immigration
mounted, finally reaching avalanche proportions in the first decade of the
20th century. This later flood of immigrants arrived after the frontier had
been largely closed. The restless westward movement had slowed, and new arrivals
were more inclined to settle in our cities. So many immigrants came that certain
towns and even parts of cities took on an old world appearance as a result
of the heavy
concentration of foreign-born persons living there. These newer immigrants
of the early 19th century included the Irish and Germans, who dominated migrations
prior to the Civil War. But later, near the end of the century, thousands
upon thousands of new immigrants arrived. There were Poles, Czechs, Slovaks,
Greeks, Russians, Croats, Bulgarians, Hungarians, and Italians, including
my paternal grandfather. This added diversity to our population and made the
pattern of the pre-Civil War period seem almost homogeneous.
During this era, the Scotch-Irish were among the most numerous settlers who,
by their manners and strict habits, gave much character to the different settlements.
Block houses for refuge and defense, into which families fled when danger
threatened, were established in every community. These block houses were different
from Indian forts. They were built of round logs, compact and capable of resisting
arrows. Guns, generally held by the whites, were used in defense and proved
superior to the war implements of most of the attackers.
The first settlers in the vicinity of what is now Belle Vernon first voted
July 8, 1776, at Spark's Fort, near Burns' Ford on the Youghiogheny River.
"The site on which the town of Belle Vernon is built lies within 40 degrees
35 north latitude and 3 degrees west longitude of Washington, D.C. - two hundred
feet below Uniontown (Fayette County Seat), 760 feet above sea level and 172
feet above Lake Erie."
Upon arriving in the area, the first duty for the new settlers was to erect
cabins for shelter. This was followed by selecting a suitable area for cultivation,
as the few supplies brought with them were soon depleted. The cabins were
built of logs chinked with clay. The chimneys were on the outside. The bottom
of the fireplaces were made of split logs. The
fireplaces themselves were lined with stone and mortar to prevent them from
catching fire. The floors, when not dirt, were made of split logs hewn to
fit together closely.
One window furnished the light, and the one door hung on wooden hinges, with
a latch and string. The latchstring hanging out was a token of welcome. The
furniture was, for the most part, very crude. The chairs and tables were homemade.
The old chests, brought from the east, were ample for clothing. The cupboard
ware was pewter. The beds and bedding were also usually brought from the east.
Immigrants generally arrived in the spring of the year, so the first crops
were usually corn and flax. The corn provided food for both man and beast.
From the flax, clothing was made. The cabin was always located near a spring
from which could be obtained water for the household and stock. Early settlers
differed in their preferences of locations. Some preferred the high lands
and others the lowlands near the river.
Eventually sawmills were built along the creeks. This made the transporting
of the logs to the sawmill easier. It was also more practical in getting the
finished product to the various buyers who were beginning to build and construct
homes and eventually communities as well.
The territory embraced within the limits of the borough of Belle Vernon was,
prior to the formation of Fayette County in 1783, a part of Rostraver Township
in Westmoreland County. Westmoreland County received its name as a result
of an urgent message sent from the governor to the residents of the frontier
in Bedford. He had received word that the governor of Virginia was sending
troops into the area of current southwest Pennsylvania to claim land for Virginia.
The urgent message to those settlers on the edge of the frontier was, "Move
west ... take more land! West...more...land!" As a result of that message,
the entire area was called Westmoreland County. In later years parts of the
large county became the counties of Fayette, Allegheny, and Washington.
At the first court held in Fayette County in December 1783, the county was
divided into twelve townships, one of which was named in honor of General
George Washington. "Rostraver Township at that time was bounded by the
Youghiogheny and Monongahela Rivers, and a straight line from the mouth of
Big Redstone Creek, on the Monongahela, to a point on the Youghiogheny opposite
the mouth of Jacobs Creek. When Fayette County was formed, the boundary line
was changed to run due east and west from Jacobs Creek to the mouth of what
is now Speers' Run on the Monongahela near Gibsonton. This line was changed
April 15, 1863, to run from the mouth of Speers' Run to the middle of the
stone bridge, thence in a straight line to the corner of the school house
lot, now near where the Post Office stands, along the upper site to Long Alley,
thence to the county line, and thence east again to the Youghiogheny River."
The borough of Belle Vernon was founded in 1813. American was young. There
were only eighteen states in the Union. There were approximately 7.5 million
Americans, none of whom lived west of Missouri. The Constitution was only
twenty-five years old. America was at war. In 1813, the dying captain of the
U.S. Chesapeake, James Lawrence, ordered, "Don't give up the ship!"
Commodore Perry, victorious on Lake Erie, reported, "We have met the
enemy, and they are ours!" America was blessed with great men. James
Madison was President; James Monroe was Secretary of State and Andrew Jackson
was earning his nickname, "Old Hickory."
The land that eventually became the borough of Belle Vernon originally had
belonged to John Cockey Owens, to whom the state of Pennsylvania had granted
a land patent on May 17, 1781. The ground originally was thick with sugar
(maple) trees. The ground between
First Street and Speers' Run was not in the original section of the town.
This tract included the ferry and was called "Summer House".
Owens sold the land to Henry Speers on June 1, 1784. When Speers died, the
patent was transferred to his wife, Regina, and his son-in-law, Benjamin Frye,
both of whom were executors of his estate. It included the ferry and three
acres of land. It was conveyed to Noah Speers by Regina Speers, on January
16, 1797. Noah Speers passed it on to Solomon Speers on June 2, 1832. It was
Noah Speers, sometime between 1816 and 1820, who built the first brick building
in which he started the first store.
In the Washington, Pennsylvania "Reporter" of July 12, 1812, the
first advertisement for a sale of lots in Belle Vernon was placed by Noah
Speers, owner of the ground and the town's founder. According to this notice,
the planned lots were 75 x 100 feet. Cross streets 40 feet wide, and main
streets were 50 feet wide. Subsequently the size of the lots was reduced to
60 feet wide. The ad held out great possibilities for the future of Belle
Vernon.
Speers, who paid for the advertisement, had hoped that the town would eventually
become the county seat.
Speers advertised that, "The town is situated on the beautiful river
bottom on the east side of the Monongahela River." He offered free land
for a school, pointing out that the town would be "nearly centrable"
for four counties, which he said was an "agreeable situation." He
also said that "if a new county should be struck off and laid thereon,
ground will be given for a courthouse and market house, and $2,000 for the
purpose of erecting public buildings."
There were no sales from this notice. The first recorded sale was made on
April 18, 1814. A premium of ten dollars was offered for the first house erected.
Thomas Ward, who built his house at the corner of Main and Second Streets,
took the honors. The next building erected was the Hornbeck tavern, which
stood for many years on the corner of Main Street and Cherry Alley.
Despite Mr. Speers' hopes, the town was slow getting started. In fact, for
a time it was little more than a backwoods settlement. This fact was so apparent
that Mr. Speers planted corn on the lands he had laid out as streets. This
caused quite a stir. The few residents of the town told him they wanted the
streets and threatened to pull down some fences if he persisted. That didn't
seem to bother Noah until he got up one morning and found his fences down.
He stubbornly put them up again, and again they were torn down.
This happened several times. He finally realized how important the streets
were to his residents, so he stopped planting them in grain.
Another issue that seemed important to early Belle Vernon residents was education.
The first school in Belle Vernon was taught by John Hazelbaker in the kitchen
of a house owned by Morris and Mary Corwin. The house originally stood on
a farm owned by James Ward and later was the dwelling of Michael Springer.
School was taught in this kitchen for about three months. The next school
was kept in a house on Main Street, built by Joseph Springer, and formerly
occupied by William Mackey. The first teacher in that school was J. B. Gould.
The first building erected specifically for educational purposes was built
shortly after Pennsylvania adopted the public school system in 1834. It was
built of brick taken from the old Rehoboth Church which had been standing
since 1803. Solomon Speers and A. P. Frye raised the money by subscription
and supervised the building. This building was on the hill and considered
so inconvenient that the school board of Washington Township decided to build
a new one in Gould's Hollow. It was built of brick taken from the old mill
near the mouth of Speer's Run, formerly owned by David Furnier. After the
schoolhouse was built in Gould's Hollow, the one on the hill was abandoned.
However, in later years, when two schools became necessary, it was again occupied
under the auspices of the Washington Township School Board. This brick schoolhouse
on the hill was a subscription school, sponsored chiefly by families from
the window glassworks, then operated by William Eberhart. Teacher salaries
were originally paid by Mr. Eberhart and L. M. Speers. In 1857 the old school
house on the hill and also the one at Gould's Hollow were abandoned and sold.
A new brick building was erected on the corner of State and Short Streets.
It was a two-story building with two rooms on the first floor and one room
on the second floor. The school was built under the supervision of James Davidson
and J. M. Springer. Solomon Meredith did the brickwork, and Peter Snyder did
the carpenter work. The total cost was $1,327.18. It was first occupied in
January 1858. John Wright and Florilla Tower were the teachers. Other teachers
included Ross W. Phillips, Sallie Vanhook, E.C. Griffith, C.C. Baugh, John
Hasson, Mary Beazell and Myra Fulton.
The next school building, the first to be built after Belle Vernon's incorporation
as a borough, is still standing today. Located at the corner of Wood and Third
Streets, the building was completed in 1874. Total cost was $30,000. The townspeople
complained and criticized, stating that the construction was unnecessary.
J. W. Gibbons was elected principal of the first school in this new building
on September 17, 1873, at a salary of $80.00 per month. Classes were begun
on January 12. Teachers included H.T. Bailey, at a salary of $60 and Theodore
J. Allen and Miss Hattie Davidson, both at $45 a month.
Belle Vernon's high school was built in 1920. It was located on Market Street.
For many years North Belle Vernon operated a ten-year school plan with its
Junior High graduates then going to Belle Vernon High School for the final
two years of schooling. The two school districts merged in 1946 and organized
a Vernon Jointure, with Belle Vernon and North Belle Vernon exchanging grade
school and high school pupils. Vernon High School was formed at that time.
This jointure continued until 1951. At this time the Bellmarette Joint School
District was formed which included students from Belle Vernon, North Belle
Vernon, Washington Township and Fayette City. This jointure is in operation
today. The school district is currently known as the Belle Vernon Area School
District and is comprised of these five municipalities.
A sketch of the old schoolhouse on Wood Street is included in the appendix
I, figure 2.1. Also included is a picture of Main Street in Belle Vernon in
the 1880's, (Belle Vernon, figure 2.2); a picture of Main and Second Streets
in the 1860's, (Belle Vernon, figure 2.3); and a copy of the first issue of
the Belle Vernon Patriot, (Belle Vernon, figure 2.4). This was the second
newspaper to be published in Belle Vernon. The issue is dated April 23, 1874.
The Patriot was owned by E. A. Hastings and J. T. McAlpin. Figure 2.5 is of
the Somer's No. 2 coal mine at the nearby community of Pricedale in 1900.
Several industries have established themselves within the boundaries of this
community over the years, but none have lasted. Although the river area seems
to draw settlement, the river can also be a detriment to its people's endeavors.
Being part of nature, the river can be the source of natural disasters. Being
a river town, Belle Vernon has experienced its share of floods. This is because
the Monongahela River has its sources among the mountains. Water quickly reaches
the Monongahela following heavy rainfall or sudden thaws.Older
residents long ago used to talk of the "flood of 1832," which set
the standard for high water in the Monongahela. However, no accurate record
of its height was retained, so exact comparisons could not be made with later
floods, (See figures 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, and 2.9 of various floods appendix I).
The next high water which seemed to approximate the flood of 1832 came on
April 6, 1852. Marks made as the water receded revealed that it had reached
a height of 33'-11". Even higher levels were reached as the years passed.
Some attribute this to the cutting of much timber along the headwaters, while
others say it was due to the narrowing of the channel in the Mon.
Other recorded high flood stages include: April 19, 1852 at 34'; January 10,
1862 at 33'-11"; August 3, 1875 at 31'-2"; and January 17, 1877
at 32'-11". The latter was the most destructive in memory because of
the heavy ice that accompanied it.
However, it was the St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936 that brought the highest
water ever recorded along the Monongahela. It had rained on the 14th, 15th
and 16th of March and the weather was generally disagreeable. There was a
lot of water frozen deep in the ground by the unusually cold winter, but few
believed there would a flood of any consequence. As St. Patrick's Day dawned,
no one foresaw the quick rise in the Mon that would take place in the next
few hours. Pittsburgh was flooded. All the towns in Pennsylvania that lie
near the rivers, embracing sections of 40 counties, were flooded. When the
waters finally receded and authorities had time to tabulate the losses in
the state, the record showed that more than 80 lives had been lost, and property
damages exceeded a quarter-billion dollars. Many more deaths were indirectly
attributed to the flood. Approximately 3,000 people were injured. More than
200,000 were temporarily displaced from their homes; over 1,000 homes were
destroyed and more than 26,300 homes were damaged. The most fearsome aspect
of the flood was its suddenness. Everyone was caught off guard and unprepared.
Belle Vernon was probably the hardest hit of the Mon Valley towns. The water
reached a depth of 13 feet under the railroad trestle on Second Street. Rowboats
were being used as the only means of transportation. The post office was flooded
and mail was transferred to the rear room of the Valley Deposit and Trust
Co. Those who lived along Water Street were forced to vacate their homes or
move to upper floors, as the water reached a depth of six feet in the street.
Lockmaster Anderson Casebar, at Lock No. 4, reported the crest of the flood
was reached at 2 p.m. on March 18, when the river reached a stage of 40'-1".
The crest was 8 feet above flood stage and 26 feet above normal.
The river has risen and fallen many more times between 1936 and the present.
Having resided in Belle Vernon for the past 23 years, I have personally experienced
two of these disasters, one in 1985, and another in 1996. The 1985 flood was
the biggest and most damaging. Election Day 1985 will be forever etched in
the minds of the residents of Belle Vernon for the damage it caused. Our church
building is constructed with three elevation levels. The main sanctuary is
on the top level, approximately ten feet above street level. Level two contains
the office, classrooms and restrooms. It is approximately four feet below
Main Street level. Level one contains the furnace room. It is approximately
twelve feet below Main Street level. The flood waters completely covered level
one and reached a height of 2'-4" in level two. Damage was extensive
to the church and to our fellowship hall, which is in the basement of an adjacent
building. Water reached the 6'-0" level in the fellowship hall. The river
crested at 43'-8". In meeting with the local Army Corp of Engineers,
we were informed that we live in a 100 year flood plain, and the 100 year
flood water level is 44'-0". That means we were only four inches below
the one hundred year flood plain in 1985.
The most devastating flood for me, personally, occurred in January 1996. Although
the water did not reach the height it did in 1985, its impact upon me and
our church was much greater. As a borough official, I took part in the effort
to have "a state of emergency" declared in our community. We had
asked the governor for a detachment of National Guard soldiers to help prevent
looting.(see figure 2.10 in appendix I) During a 3:30 a.m. patrol of the community
in a 2.5 ton army vehicle called a deuce and a half, we got caught in deep
water. The vehicle stalled, and my patrol party was trapped inside the deuce
and a half in the icy river. The water was up over the seat in the truck.
My two companions were Dennis Wince, a personal friend and member of the Municipal
Authority of the Borough of Belle Vernon, and Staff Sergeant Richard Armstrong
of the Mt. Pleasant detachment of the Pennsylvania National Guard. We were
stranded with no help in sight due to the fact that the community was under
an evacuation order and a state of emergency. Lying in the cold icy water,
I breathed a short prayer for help; within five minutes a light appeared,
and we were discovered by a resident "sneaking back to check on his house".
Our cold, wet, 45 minute ordeal ended as firemen broke through the ice and
rescued us by boat. (See figure 2.11 in appendix I, and article 2.1 in appendix
II).
Among the businesses that have attempted to make Belle Vernon their home have
been a window glass manufacturer, a mining company, and, shamefully, a distillery.
In addition, Belle Vernon was, at one time, a major stop for a large railroad
company.
The glass industry was
founded in Belle Vernon in 1836 by William Eberhart, after unsuccessful attempts
by others, and for many years was the town's lifeblood. During the height
of its existence, it was one of the largest window glass plants in the nation.
When the glass industry pulled out in 1949, having been the largest source
of employment for years, the community was left without a strong industrial
base.
Griffith Wells was the first glass cutter to worked at the plant. Eberhart
inherited his glass-making skills from his father, Adolph Eberhart, who operated
a glass-making plant for many years in New Geneva, Pennsylvania. The plant
was built by Albert Gallatin. Each glass blower flattened his own glass in
what were called shovedown ovens. There were no snappers and second-handers
- only the tending boys who were generally apprentices to the trade. They
made six melts in a week and flattened the glass.
Financial difficulties forced Eberhart to close the business in 1853. The
Belle Vernon works was purchased by George A. Berry of Pittsburgh and the
business was revived under the firm of George A. Berry & Co., which later
was merged with and sold to Robert C. Schmertz & Co., in 1865. The Schmertz
firm later was purchased by the American Window Glass Co., which closed the
plant in 1949.
At one time the firm excelled in the manufacture of ground and frosted glass,
which was used for office partitions and windows. It was the first firm in
the United States to manufacture this type of window glass and thus captured
much of the business which had formerly been given to European companies.
Schmertz was also noted for being one of the pioneers in the development of
the Belle Vernon natural gas fields, which, at one time, was also considered
a very promising local industry. He had the gas piped into his factory and
used the fuel in the processing of his glass, (see figure 2.12 in appendix
I).
R. J. Linton, one of the partners in the Schmertz firm, was a principal figure
in the development of the Belle Vernon Presbyterian Church , which formerly
owned our church building. To this day one of our Sunday school classrooms
bears his name.
The Tremont Mine is also just a memory to most Monongahela Valley residents,
but at one time it was one of the largest and most productive bituminous coal
mines in all of western Pennsylvania. Owned by the Monongahela River Consolidated
Coal & Coke Co., Tremont was located approximately one mile from Belle
Vernon on Route 906 south. It was opened in 1841 by Samuel and W.H. Clarke.
They operated it on a small scale for two years, basically supplying the packet
boats that plied their trade on the Monongahela River. It was abandoned after
just twenty-five acres of coal had been mined. In 1853, Samuel Clark &
Co. opened another mine. The firm continued the mining operation and shipping
of coal until Captain Clark's death in 1879. The coal was screened at the
check house into tram wagons and run down a short incline to a sliding tipple
at the river where it was dumped into boats. This first tipple withstood the
elements well and passed through the big flood of January 11, 1877 with very
little damage. The flood of July 9, 1888, however, was more disastrous. A
craft from O'Neill's Fayette City mine broke away with the current and, in
coursing down the swollen river, took the Tremont and the tipple with it.
John A. Wood & Son, of Pittsburgh, had purchased the mine in 1881. A new
modern tipple was built to replace the old one that was
destroyed in the flood. It was built in 1888 and stood the ravages of time
until 1904 when it was again rebuilt.
In 1895, the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad was extended from Belle Vernon
to Fayette City, allowing the Tremont tipple to also ship by rail. In 1899
Wood & Son sold out to the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal & Coke
Co. Samuel B. Graham, a former North Belle Vernon tax collector, was Superintendent
of Tremont for seventeen years preceding its sale to the river combine. A
spectacular fire completely destroyed the tipple in 1905, burning the structure
to the water line. Another new tipple was built. It was the largest, and the
highest, along the Monongahela River. The distance from track to water was
ninety-three feet.
After years of negotiations, the river combine bought the coal rights to 287
acres adjoining the Tremont diggings from Joseph A. Cook. The price was reportedly
$350,000. This ensured more work for the Tremont miners and additional payrolls
for Belle Vernon business interests. Through the years that followed, several
more disastrous fires did their damage to the Tremont tipple. These fires,
coupled with the need for increased production capacities, soon depleted the
Tremont holdings. When it passed out of existence many hundreds of workers
were forced to find other employment. Almost a century of production ceased.
One of the less attractive industrial records in Belle Vernon's history is
that more than 135 years ago it boasted of the largest distillery of its kind
in the world. The excise law in 1791, introduced by Alexander Hamilton, levied
a federal tax on whiskey. This was the death-blow to smaller distillers. Prior
to 1794, the year of the Whiskey Rebellion, corn was the main cash crop in
western Pennsylvania. But, since corn was too bulky to transport over the
mountains, the pioneers turned it into whiskey. The liquor passed freely as
currency in the area. Following the rebellion, it was a case of the survival
of the fittest. Larger distilleries replaced the smaller ones. One of the
most widely known of these was located in Gibsonton, a small hamlet between
Belle Vernon and Monessen.
In 1854 John Gibson of Philadelphia, who had been buying Monongahela whiskeys
in the Valley, found he could not buy enough to meet the demand. He decided
to go into business for himself on a large scale. In 1856 the cornerstone
of the Gibson Works was laid and in April 1857 the first whiskey was made.
When completed, the capacity of the plant was 250 barrels of rye whiskey per
day. At various times over the years, production rose to 750 barrels per day.
In December 1882, the works was destroyed by fire. When it was rebuilt, the
new plant produce 1,250 barrels of whiskey per day.
The U. S. Government spent $669,992.34 to subdue the Whiskey Rebellion. In
1885 alone, and nearly every year after, the government received $675,000
in taxes from the Gibson Distillery. This was more than the cost of the entire
Whiskey Rebellion.
Upon the death of John Gibson in 1865, he was succeeded by his son, Henry
C. Gibson. Together with Andrew Moore and Joseph F. Sinnott, he formed the
firm of John
Gibson's Son & Co. In 1884 Henry C. Gibson retired, and the firm's name
was changed to Moore & Sinnott. Later the name was changed again to the
Gibson Distilling Co.
Gibson whiskey was known all over the world. The firm had branch offices in
all the principle cities of the United States, and exported their product
to Mexico, France, England, the West Indies, the Philippines and China.
Everything was made on the premises, including the barrels used for storing
the whiskey in the great warehouses that were built on the site. Staves for
the barrels were kept exposed for three years to help with the aging processes.
The barrels were all made by hand. No nails were used and no barrel was used
twice.
The annual payroll in the 1890's totaled $50,000. Following the adoption of
the 18th Amendment in 1920, which prohibited the manufacture of alcoholic
liquor, and a period of legal difficulties, the Gibsonton distillery was dismantled
and Pittsburgh Steel Co. acquired the property. The large stone and brick
warehouses were dismantled in 1926 and sold for $1 a load. Many Mon Valley
homes and buildings were built with this material. A hand drawn sketch of
the distillery is found in the Appendix I Section. (see figure 2.13)
While more homes and businesses were being built, there was a greater need
for improved modes of transportation. "A pioneer railroad that has played
an important part in the transformation of a rich agricultural section into
a rich industrial center" - that is the story of the Pittsburgh &
Lake Erie Railroad. In a move which was destined to prove of vital importance
to the development of the Monongahela Valley, the McKeesport & Belle Vernon
Rail Co. was incorporated in January 1886.
In 1889, a line was constructed from McKeesport along the Monongahela River
through Webster to Belle Vernon, a distance of 27.8 miles. In 1890 it was
merged with the Pittsburgh, McKeesport & Youghiogheny Railroad. The line,
later extended from Belle Vernon to Fayette City, then on to the Brownsville
Junction to connect with the Monongahela Railway, was opened for traffic in
August 1903. It was known as the Monongahela Division of the P&LE Railroad.
Work on this stretch of track began in 1888. After only seven miles of track,
from McKeesport to Elizabeth, were completed, so great was the need for the
railroad that it was opened for traffic in February 1889. The line from Elizabeth
to Belle Vernon was completed and opened for traffic on October 7, 1889. The
railroad company originally sold $280,000 worth of stock and $600,000 in first
mortgage bonds. First directors included S. F. Jones and R. J. Linton, both
of Belle Vernon. On November 5, 1890, the capital stock of the McKeesport
and Belle Vernon Railroad was bought by the PMCK&Y from the P&LE,
which had bought it on January 2, 1890. The McK &BV was merged with the
PMCK&Y on November 21, 1890, and became known as the McKeesport and Belle
Vernon Division. It then became known simply as the Monongahela Division of
the P&LE.
Passenger service on the Monongahela Division was established in 1890 with
three daily trains in each direction. Passenger traffic continued to mount
and during the period between 1915-1920, there were eleven trains operating
daily in each direction. With the improvement of highways during the 1920s,
railroad passenger traffic started to decline. From 1923 to September, 1930,
seven trains daily were operated in each direction. The depression forced
further curtailment, and, together with highway competition, passenger service
on the Monongahela Division was reduced in 1940 to one daily train in each
direction. On April 9, 1949, passenger service was completely discontinued.
The P&LE was completely dieselized during October of 1953. The freight
operations were transferred from Monessen to Belle Vernon in 1962.
Today, Conrail owns and operates the Belle Vernon rail line. Trains daily
pass through the small borough of Belle Vernon; however, none ever stop. Now
the former train station is used as an apartment building. The rails are mostly
rusted, and all that remains are the memories of the splendor and the glory
of another era. Time has moved on. Much has been left behind. As the late
night train passes through our town and I hear its long, lonely, and sad whistle,
I can only imagine those former days and activities. I can see men hurrying
to catch the train to get to work. I can imagine wives and children anxiously
awaiting husbands and fathers returning from work on the last train. I can
envision parents and lovers waving goodbye to sons, husbands or boyfriends
as they board their trains to leave for the armed services and World War II.
Many never returned, and, like the railroad itself, stir only memories of
better times and former days.
Despite these unfortunate economic failures, as one of the oldest communities
along the Monongahela River, Belle Vernon has had many memorable days in its
historic past. The 185-year-old community probably most often remembers three
great projects - the construction of the Belle Vernon bridge, the paving of
Main Street and the completion of the Belle Vernon Water Works. In fact, a
big celebration was staged in the community on New Year's Day, 1895, commemorating
these three achievements, all of which had recently been completed.
One of the big features of the day was a parade. There were bands and floats
(drawn by horses, of course) and hundreds of marchers. The parade formed on
the south end of Main Street, marched the length of Main Street, crossed the
bridge and met a delegation from the borough of Speers. It then counter-marched
back across the bridge and up State Street hill to the old Belle Vernon Opera
House, which was at the corner of what is now Market and State Streets. This
is now the site of the First United Methodist Church.
The program was under the direction of Belle Vernon's pioneer doctor and historian,
Dr. J. S. Van Voorhis. The floats displayed various wares and were sponsored
by the many businesses in the borough. The late Thurman Reeves told about
the celebration in a newspaper interview many years ago, recalling, "My
father, being a blacksmith, had a portable forge and all the accessories on
a wagon in the parade. I remember the day as being very cold but my mother
took me 'down town' to see the parade and I spent the time waiting for the
parade by running back and forth to my father's blacksmith shop to keep from
freezing. It was a great day for Belle Vernon." Reeves mentioned an incident
in the paving of Main Street which, no doubt, many of the residents also remembered.
"When the street was paved as far as the corner of First Street"
(The present location of our church), he said, "a half-day holiday was
declared in the public schools and the pupils marched down the hill (State
Street) and each laid a brick in the street."
The Municipal Authority recently received from the Council of the Borough
of Belle Vernon a twenty-five year extension to operate the Water and Sewage
Works, the successor of the Belle Vernon Water Works celebrated in that 1895
parade. Its board of five directors are appointed by the Borough Council for
a five year term. One charter member of the Municipal Authority, Mr. J.E.
Ted Kuhn, is still serving on the board of directors. His more than 50 years
of service to the community was recently honored by naming the borough park
the J.E. Ted Kuhn Community Park. It is with pride that I can say the action
was initiated by yours truly while serving as President of the Council of
the Borough of Belle Vernon. I felt it was important for the community to
say "thank you" to a resident who has given a lifetime of service.
The Belle Vernon bridge, the source of so much merriment a century ago, is
no more, having been replaced in 1952 by a new span which carries I-70 across
the Monongahela River. Main Street has had its bricks replaced by concrete
and still later by tarmac. The Water Works is still standing and still supplying
water to the residents of both Belle Vernon and North Belle Vernon. It is
operated today by the Municipal Authority of the Borough of Belle Vernon.
Although it is no longer standing, many of the "old-timers" still
remember the Belle Vernon-Speers bridge. The Belle Vernon Bridge Co. was incorporated
on February 11, 1891. Its stated purpose was: "To construct a wagon and
foot bridge across the Monongahela River at Belle Vernon." Construction
could not begin until a February 1893 Act of Congress authorized it. Actual
construction started almost immediately and continued through the latter part
of 1893 and all of 1894. The plans and specifications for the Belle Vernon
bridge were originally drawn for a bridge at Elizabeth. But the planned bridge
was too short to span the river at that point so new plans were drawn for
the Elizabeth bridge and the original plans transferred to Belle Vernon.
Without the advantages of modern machinery, work on the Belle Vernon bridge
was necessarily slow as all construction was "done by hand". Concrete
was then unknown, and the piers were constructed out of cut stone in sizes
from one to two yards square and set in place by a huge crane. A small hole
was cut in each side of the stones and the hooks of the crane fastened in
these holes, allowing the stone to be lifted and set in place. Each pier was
built on a raft and sunk to the river bottom. Originally the Belle Vernon
bridge was a toll span. It continued to be so until 1910. An organization
named the Civic League had been formed in Belle Vernon, and one of its first
projects was to try to induce the two counties, Fayette and Washington, to
buy the bridge and declare it free. Much opposition was encountered and many
hearings were held. However, the men of those days had a community spirit
and would not take "no" for an answer. They finally succeeded and
a large celebration and picnic were held at Lynn's Grove (now Lynnwood) on
July 20, 1910, observing the "freeing of the bridge".
The bridge was remodeled and rebuilt in 1940 and required very little maintenance
throughout its almost 60 years of existence. It was demolished in 1952 and
replaced by the four-lane span which now carries Interstate 70 across the
Monongahela River. A weather-beaten sign, which hung over the first span on
the Belle Vernon side for all but the last few years of its existence read:
"Horses must not be driven over the bridge faster than a walk. Penalty:
$10 fine or 10 days in jail." A hand drawn sketch of the bridge is found
in the Appendix I, figure 2.14.
The small borough of Belle Vernon should have bright hopes of exciting times
as we approach the 21st century. It has the ingredients that are a must if
a community is to survive this day and time. It has river traffic. It has
the railroad. And it has the Interstate Highway. I-70 runs east to west across
the river, over the railroad, and through the heart of Belle Vernon. However,
the community gives evidence of despair and decay instead of growth and development.
Today the population is less than it was one hundred years ago. At the turn
of the last century Belle Vernon had movie theaters, hotels, two banks, and
a multitude of other businesses, (see photographs of Main St. in appendix
I). These are all gone, and less than five businesses remain. The trains don't
stop, and the river boats just pass on by. There is an I-70 exit and entrance
that enables the citizens to go to other towns and cities to buy food, clothing
and other necessities of life.
Most of the young people complete school and then move away to build their
lives in growing and prospering communities. With each one that leaves, Belle
Vernon becomes weaker and smaller. I spent five years as a borough councilman
(1990-1995) and was able to get an inside view of the struggle for survival.
Today our police department works with a seven-year-old police cruiser that
was worn out four years ago. The officers who serve our community earn just
a little more than minimum wages. Our community is kept safe from fire because
of dedicated men and women who volunteer their time and labor. I thank God
daily for those who risk their lives to protect ours. The small borough of
Belle Vernon reminds me of one whose life has been almost spent, and whose
final days are a struggle just to make it to the next one. What can we hope
for in the future? What words can parents say to convince their children to
remain in a community that time has left behind? How can we ask our children
to build (or rebuild) life here? Seemingly
the only thing that has survived and advanced, actually grown, during this
time of decline and disintegration has been the Church. How can it be that
the work of the Lord can still be growing and developing during a time of
physical and moral decay and decline? I have been asked that question often.
Chapter IV of this project details the answer. But, simply put, Jesus said,
"I will build My Church ...", and that is what He is doing. The
Bible also says, "Except the Lord build the city, the watchman waketh
but in vain..."
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