Pitcairn High School - Retrospect Yearbook (Pitcairn, PA)

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A FEW PIONEERS 53? QR -if E31 4 ? Ii I ? ,1,-7 MRS. RACHEL LICFEATERS MR. Sa HIRS. LENTZ MR. and AIRS. HARRY MRs. MARc:ARm' Bm JOHN C. TOOHILL MARTIN XVONDERS ORERMIER and Family MRS. ANNA PARICKI, M ' ' ' ' ' ' CUWW7' T029 R070 MR. XVILIAIAM JAR Mus. XX M. 1m,L1.m 8. bON NIRS. ELIZABETH RICKABY Seated MRS. PENROD MR. Sz MRS. J. H. GRAHAM and Family tfwenry-four

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ties in the western and central part of the State. Soon a genuine boom town was in the mak- ing and families flocked to this new railroad town in an endless stream. That they might find homes in which to live, several plans of lots were laid out, the largest being the VVall's Improvement Co. Plan, which included practically the whole of the McGinnis farm from Broadway to Ninth street, while the lron City Land Co. plan included that part of the town north of Ninth Street. As the village grew. it was given the name of XValurba, which, liter- ally speaking, means a suburb of NVall. The old records disclose that our first churches and lodges, as well as our first news- paper, bore the name of VValurba. ln our early years we were a part of Plum Township, but when the new railroad town took form we were under the government of Patton Township. The first school building in the town was built by the Township School District on Eighth Street. Perhaps the last identity of the old McGinnis farm was the orchard which stood just south of the old farm buildings covering the land now known as Second and Third Street, west of VVall Avenue. In the early years of the town, this old orchard was used as a park and picnic ground. On any warm day men gathered in the shade of the old apple trees to enjoy the out- doors and to meet their friends. Oftentimes a half dozen games of cards were being play- ed under as many different trees. The first meeting place in the town was a hall built on Brinton Avenue across from Sec- ond Street. This was known as Maddox llall. llere many of the first lodges of the town were organized and at least one of our churches held its first services within the walls of this old hall. Broadway in the early days was looked upon with disfavor as a place for buildings, largely because it was considered to be a muddy swamp. The choice location for business was Brin- ton Avenue and the east end of Broadway. Here were found Liggett's, Tilbrook's, and l lack's grocery stores, and Salyard's Hard- ware Store, as well as Maddox Hall. While Broadway was not deemed desirable for real business it was considered fit for a livery stable which was built on the corner of Broadway and Center Avenue, the present site of Jake 's Clothing Store. Sixth and Seventh Streets were thought to be the best location for dwelling houses, be- cause these streets were high and dry. Our first R. R. Station was an old frame structure moved by the company from 1Vall. lt was placed several hundred feet west of the present station and was connected with Broad- way by a bridge spanning the creek at a point almost directly across from the Keystone Car- age. From 1890 to 1894 the sound of the carpen- ter's hammer could be heard on every street of the town as buildings and rows of build- ings became homes for the new citizens. As the town grew larger, the matters of public schools, street improvements, building laws. as well, as numerous other problems were con- tinually brought before the new home owners. and they found no solution through the gov- ernment of Patton Township. To meet the needs of the rapidly growing community the citizens in 1893 were practic- ally unanimous in laying their plans for a new borough government. VVith the close of tl1e year of 1893 one hun- dred and fifty years had passed since the moc- casin of the Indian began to give way to the rough boots of the white men. During the century and a half, this community has had many names. Oldest of all was the Dirty Camp Tract. Next came McKay's Planta- tion and then the Village of McGinnis- ville took its place on the early maps. Mc- Ginnisville lost its identity as the name of The Proving Groundsi' was applied to this segment of the valley. The last of the almost legendary and forgotten names under which we and our former pioneer owners lived was the Village of VValurba. In our next and last Chapter we shall meet with those men and women who laid the solid foundations for our borough almost fifty years ago to a day. Chapter IV-1894-1944 We have now traced our history down through a century and a half of slow but steady development. We have seen our present town emerge from a condition of savagry in 1744 to a well planned tow11 in 1894. In this, the closing chapter, we shall tell first of how Pitcairn be- came the name of our Borough, and then write of the early years of development from the fContinued on page 255 twenty-three

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days of the township down through the past fifty years, from our Boroughs of yesterday until today. To many of us, it seems as though the name of Pitcairn has been always with us, but, in fact, the word Pitcairn was unheard of as a name of this community prior to 1894. As proof of this we note that our first rail- road station appeared on the schedules as Vllalurba, our first newspaper was the Walurba Express, all of our earlier churches were giv- en the name Walurba, and, to all intents and purposes, Walurba was our permanent name. However, as the town grew it demanded its own form of government, independent of Pat- ton Township, as well as a name that did not label us as a mere suburb of Wall. lt was in 1893 when the first agitation began. lt was but natural that the older residents, who had been born and reared in the valley, had 'political and sentimental attachments for the township and were content there to re- main. But a large majority of the 11ew citizens thought otherwise. A petition for the incor- poration of the borough was circulated and signed first in the fall of 1893, and took legal form in the spring of 1894. It was in this petition that the name of Pit- cairn first appeared. The name of Pitcairn came about because we were then, as now, a P.R.R. town and Rob- ert Pitcairn was in 1894, and for many years prior thereto, the Superintendent of the Pitts- burgh Division. Robert Pitcairn came llp from poverty the hard way. He attended school principally at night. Ilis first job was that of a clerk in a variety store. Later he obtained a position with the old Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph Company, learn- ed telegraphy and then obtained work with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. His rise with the railroad was rapid until he be- came Division Superintendent. in locating the railroad center in the Turtle Creek Valley, Superintendent Pitcairn played an important part. It seemed proper to give his name to the town made possible by him. And so it was that the town-after 150 years, had at last a permanent name. The law required that a majority of all the residents should sign the petition for the Borough Charter. The list of names attached to this applica- tion will recall those citizens who fifty years ago demanded a free and independent govern- ment Lfor this community. From the original charter on file in the Court House in Charter Book 21, Page 50, we find these names who represented more than a majority of all who lived here in 189-L: J. G. Stewart, J. F. Tilbrook, C. M. Liggett, J. A. Haverstick, Robert Vllallar, Lewis V. Brickel, W. E. Darrow, A. V. Tomlinson, J. M. Lesher, Norris Cameron, George S. Miller, A. T. Simpson, John H. Mattox, Robert Elliott, Ada G. Sadler, O. M. Tilbrook, Fred Seibert, Edward Gross, D. H. Winebrenner. Mrs. VV. G. Miller, John F. Flack, John Box. J. C. Liggett, J. A. Liggett, Milton M. Flack, H. E. Jones, A. R. Wible. H. Y. Nott, J. H. Murphy, J. P. Trout, Sarah J. Bebout, VV. L. Markell. Mrs. M. L. Keck, Alex Heasley, Charles Koch, E. E. Til- brook, R. D. McElroy, Jolm F. Simpson, F. 'W. Liggett, E. W. Miller, W. H. Brendlinger, Keys S. Miller, George VV. Elliott, Elmer L. Miller, A. W. McClain, Thomas Ogden, James L. Rowe, P. A. Gardner, J. J. Keller, J. W. Graham, John G. O'Neill, Joseph S. Lichten- fels, G. S. Roland, Frank Lesher, Louis C. Shafer. J. VV. McCune, J. J. McCabe, Fred Elwing- er, J. B. Jordan, Lizzie D. Gardner, J. Li11gel- baugh, W. N. Barnhart, VV. B. Tenney, S. E. Jones, J. B. McDowell, H. Fritchman, VV. J. Stiefel, VV. VV. Reed, YV. H. Hugus, Alfred Elliott, John B. Paul, John J. Ogden, John C. McElroy, Joseph Swonger, J. D. Kunkel. Jr.. E. T. Ludwick, John A. Frank, Norman Jor- don, Thomas Jordon, J. M. Graham, O. E. Lig- gett, I. J. Vlfallace, C. M. Howell, Robert Campbell, George VV. Pfeil, Louis VVass, B. S. Rhine, M. Dean, Rebecca T. Young. These names naturally fall i11to three groupsg first, those who have since died or moved from the town, leaving no descendants here to keep alive their names or memories, second, those who have passed on but have left children and grandchildren still in our midst who carry on their names and family traditions, and third, those signers of fifty years ago whose living presence we are still privileged to honor. So far as we know but three persons belong to this third group, our well-known fellow citizens: VV. N. Barnhart, B. S. Rhine and Mrs. VV. G. Miller. The charter being granted on June 9, 1894, the Borough government began to function through an elected Burgess and Council. tContinued on page 27D tfwenty-fifue