The November program meeting of the Bridgeville Area Historical Society featured an interesting talk by Edd Hale on his experience as a volunteer sailor on the USS Niagara. It was his second visit to the Society; last March he gave a memorable presentation on “The Great Castle Shannon Bank Robbery”. The original USS Niagara was one of six warships constructed by Noah Brown in Erie in 1813 as part of a battle fleet assembled to contest the British naval supremacy in the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. The Niagara and her sister brig, the Lawrence, both had drafts…

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The special event for November at the Oliver Miller Homestead was a Harvest Festival commemorating the way eighteenth century pioneers in Western Pennsylvania gave thanks for blessings received, including an abundant harvest. The Homestead was filled with re-enactors in period costume, providing an authentic picture of life well over two centuries ago. My visit began in the Stone Manse, a large, rugged farmhouse that was built in the early 1800s. I was directed upstairs where there are three bedrooms and an interesting display of quilting. The docents there were quite knowledgeable and extremely helpful. Before I had a chance to…

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This month the Bridgeville Area Historical Society “Second Tuesday” workshop returned to its review of the history of Bridgeville High School, this time focusing on the Classes of 1939, 1940, and 1941. The discussion actually began in the middle of 1938. The football team was on the upswing that Fall and celebrated a thumping of Clark High 12 to 0. The Senior dramatists presented a comedy, “The Nut Farm”, with a cast that included Gloria Lutz. Too bad we didn’t have that knowledge to tease her about when she was our teacher ten years later. The basketball team was quite…

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I recently had the privilege of spending some time with a wonderful group of young people – the leaders of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapters from universities in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. I originally was recruited to give a talk at their annual Assembly, which was held at Pitt this year, hosted by our student chapter. Then, at the last minute I ended up pinch-hitting for a much more qualified expert, as a tour guide/narrator for a Friday night cruise on the Gateway Clipper. Actually it didn’t take much arm-twisting…

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Long time readers of this column will remember that I am a member of a group of chronologically challenged (elderly ?) men whom my daughter Elizabeth calls “The Dirty Old Men’s Book Club”. We meet once a month and discuss a book we have all read and then negotiate the choice of the book for next month. Last month we ended up compromising on Saul Bellow’s highly acclaimed novel, “The Adventures of Augie March”. It unfortunately is much too long for me to read in my normal fashion and properly enjoy it. I managed to get through it and then…

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The October program meeting of the Bridgeville Area Historical Society was moved up a week this year to avoid a conflict with Halloween. The speaker was Glenn Flickinger; his subject, “The Origins of World War II”. Mr. Flickinger is a highly successful business consultant who is a passionate history buff with the ability to share his knowledge and enthusiasm with the rest of us. World War II is his favorite topic, probably because numerous members of his family were directly involved in it. In fact, his mother was a nurse in Honolulu on December 7, 1941. He very effectively traced…

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Two hundred and fifty years ago this October Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon ended their survey of the southern border of Pennsylvania, built a modest monument on top of Brown’s Hill, and then turned around and retraced their steps back to the eastern seaboard. Largely through the efforts of one man, Pete Zapdka, this historic event was celebrated this year by a festival at the Mason Dixon Historical Park in Core, West Virginia. Zapadka is the type of person who decides something should be done and then proceeds to make it happen. Four years ago he attended a ceremony in…

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For its October “Second Tuesday” workshop the Bridgeville Area Historical Society interrupted its study of the history of Bridgeville High School to focus on the community’s most famous “cold case”, the murder of Pennsylvania Railroad Station Agent John C. F. Franks attempting to prevent a robbery one hundred and two years ago. On a peaceful Saturday evening, October 16, 1915, a pair of strangers, whose presence in Bridgeville had been noticed for several days, entered the Norwood Hotel bar-room and enjoyed several drinks. A few minutes before 8:00 they paid their bill and left. They crossed the railroad tracks and…

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The Jefferson College Historical Society has a long and distinguished record celebrating the history and heritage of the Canonsburg area. They recently invited me to speak at their Fall meeting. With the subject of the talk left up to me, I decided to discuss the impact of the Flannery Brothers on the Chartiers Valley region, knowing that their involvement with the Standard Chemical Company in Canonsburg was historically significant. James Flannery began the family’s successful business career by opening a funeral parlor in Homewood. By the time his younger brother, Joseph, graduated from Holy Ghost College (now Duquesne University), there…

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The first program in the Bridgeville Area Historical Society 2017/2018 series was a treat for railfans, a discussion of the Little Saw Mill Run Railroad (LSMRR). This three mile long line ran from a coal mine located where Wentzel Avenue intersects Banksville Road today to a barge loading facility on the Ohio River in what is now Pittsburgh’s West End neighborhood. The speaker was a retired railroader named David Aitken who possesses a remarkable knowledge of railroading and coal mining in the nineteenth century, especially in the South Hills area. He has researched these topics extensively and was able to…

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