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The first presentation will begin at 7:00PM on Wednesday, September 17, 2003 at the A.W. Buck House in Ebensburg. Pat Stock, a history teacher at Central Cambria High School will discuss a collection of postcards he has acquired over the years. Most of the collection pertains to Cambria County. Pat is organizing the lecture series along with board member, Toni Marie Clarke, a Central Cambria Middle School teacher. At this writing, the following dates have been selected for the lectures: September 17, October 15, November 19 and December 10, 2003 and January 21, 2004, February 18, March 10, April 21 and May 12, 2004. All presentations to begin at 7:00PM. Admission is free, however, donations are welcome.  Other speakers have not been lined up with presentation dates at this writing but as Pat mentioned “There won’t be a problem finding interesting speakers.” 

One of the goals of the series will be to find a variety of speakers. Suggestions included Melvin Singer who will give helpful tips on genealogy, Dave Huber who has written a new book on the history of Cambria County for the 2004 Bicentennial and, of course, Pat Stock’s presentation of postcards which kicks off the series on September 17, 2003.

A more complete listing of the lectures and speakers will be published in the Fall issue of this newsletter.

Annual Dinner Meeting
A very well-attended dinner meeting was held at the Lemon Drop Lounge on Sunday June 8, 2003. After dinner, guests viewed pictures assembled by Dave Huber for his forthcoming book: The People of Cambria County. 

The second speaker was board member Pat Stock who presented his collection of local postcards. The forum was open and many of the guests volunteered information about the scenes that were familiar to them. 

Thanks go out to Betty Seymour, Dorothy Liphart and the Activities Committee who planned the enjoyable evening. 

Museum Night
Board member John Kimball has organized what will hopefully evolve into an annual fund-raiser. The event is called “Museum Night” and it will feature an evening of food, music and, most importantly, an appeal for contributions. 

A large tent will be erected on the lawn of the museum, a caterer will prepare a delicious dinner and a very talented jazz band will play in the open air as guests mingled among historic displays and became acquainted with the Historical Society and its objectives. 

County History Book
By press time, Dave Huber should have available to the public copies of his new county history book– The People of Cambria County. To order, go to http://www.PeopleofCambria.com.

The first section of the book is a general history of the county covering the first 200 years. The second section features informational tables with subjects in the areas of sports, entertainment and county trivia. The book will be about 180 pages in length with approximately 100 photographs.
The targeted audience for The People of Cambria County is school children in all 12 of the county’s school districts. Details about how to purchase the book will appear in the next issue of The Heritage. 

Bicentennial Notes
To date the Steering Committee of the county’s bicentennial celebration are concentrating on five sanctioned events and dozens of community sponsored events. The five major events in 2004 are: 
March 26th (Friday) Founder’s Day at the courthouse
May 9th (Sunday) Johnstown Symphony Concert at Central Cambria High School
June 27th (Sunday) County Picnic at Duman Lake Park– with fireworks!
August 8th (Saturday) County Firemens Parade in Ebensburg
September 18-19 Aviation Weekend at the Ebensburg Airport
Visit: www.cambriapabicentennial.com

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  When Leona Farino got married, she lived with her husband's family for five years because there were no empty houses in town.

  Sure, an iron fence encircled the town. And sometimes the gates were closed, says resident Marlene Boring who heard stories about the “company town” from her late father-in-law, Darl Boring.

  The town, officially named Marsteller by the postal service, was owned by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal company or just plain old CBC as it was known by the locals.

  Everyone in town worked for the company. At one time, as many as 700 men called the underground tunnels and caverns of CBC home for more hours a day than most people today could imagine. And the company owned everything in town—the mines, the homes, the store, the doctor, the dentist and even the automobile dealership.

  “Oh, there was a lot going on here in Moss Creek,” says Mrs. Farino, who worked for the company store. "You name it, we had it. You never had to go out of town."

  Moss Creek, named for the mossy banks along the creek that runs through it, had its own movie theater, bowling alley and churches. Today the town’s population has dwindled to, maybe, 350 residents. The old Union Hall where people held all kinds of public events still stands though it has not seen a union meeting in many years. 

  Mrs. Boring says local lore tells two different-stories about the isolated community: that the fence—long gone these days—was a way of keeping insiders safe by keeping outsiders out. The other possibility was that it was the company's way of keeping everyone—and their money—in.

  "When I worked at the company store, there were over 500 employees in that mine," says Mrs. Farino, who walked door-to-door taking orders for goods that would be delivered later. "When I solicited the town, I would start at twenty till eight (a.m.). I worked until 4 o'clock. That's how long it took me to canvas the town."

  Mrs. Farino recalls working in the company store: "The people were all very nice. I knew everyone's business. I knew what they were going to have for Sunday dinner—beef or liver." People ordered everything from the three-floor company store: flour, coffee, furniture, meat, dry goods. Bread cost ten cents. Candy was a penny a piece.”

  The mines: Moss Creek 21 and Moss Creek 22, closed nearly a half-century ago. The town was sold in the 1970s to a developer who parceled it out and sold it to the people who'd lived in CBC's town.

  Mrs. Boring didn't live through the 'company town' era, but relishes the stories her father-in-law told. And she loves life in what remains of Moss Creek.

  "This was THE company town," she says, "It was literally a gated community and everything you needed was here. Today, it's a town of mostly retired people where pretty much everybody knows everybody," she says.

  Moss Creek still offers a glimpse through a window to the lifestyle of an earlier day in the Twentieth Century. There were ethnic neighborhoods for English, Slovak, Italian and Irish. Sections of town carried names that described them in simple terms: Double Block, Single Block, Tile Row and Frog Hollow. Perched above the homes of the masses was "Bosses Row," where the homes were bigger and nicer.

  "It was just a good, nice, little, friendly town," Mrs. Farino recalls. "After supper everyone was out on their porches, everyone was talking."

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Special

Points

of Interest

Fund-raising “Museum Night” 

August 23rd

Bicentennial Events

in 2004

Founder’s Day

County Picnic– Fireworks

Firemen’s Parade

Aviation Weekend

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100 Years Ago. . .

Tragedy In Lilly

  The Lilly-Washington Historical Society was recently formed to honor the spirit of the American Worker– particularly the coal miner. But it was the commemoration of a more somber event that got neighbors in the Lilly and Washington Township area to organize.

  The tragedy centered on a group of Italian workers who had been brought to America by the railroad companies.  In a newspaper article by Hugh Conrad, Jim Salony, the president of the newly-formed historical society, recalls the details of that tragic day.

  “The companies went over to Italy and hired them and brought them back here.” said Salony of the workers. “They worked on the railroad and lived in a house in Lilly. They were stacked three or four in bunk beds for sleeping. They had gotten paid one Friday night, and then early Saturday morning, fire broke out in the building. The people rushed to the door, but then remembered that they had left the money that they were sending back to Italy in the building, and rushed back in.

  There they met those trying to get out, and 27, maybe 28, were burned in a pile. They were buried in St. Brigid’s Cemetery in an unmarked grave. This occurred in November of 1903.”

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ac.ces.sion (ak-sesh-en) n.

1. An increase by means of something added. 2. An addition.

Newspapers on Microfilm: 

  Cambria Freeman  1900-1903

  Union Press Courier  1955-1956, 1973,  

  1978-1999

  The Star Courier  2000-2001

  Ebensburg News Leader  1987-2002

Genealogies: 

·          100 Years in America-The Lucosavich

  Family  - Mary V. Kephart

·          Wiatt Frederick Bowers and Daniel Andrew

  Bowers – William E. Bowers

·          Descendants of Christian Frederick Brehm –

  Wiliam E. Bowers

·          Philip Krug of Carrolltown and Jacob Krug of   Nicktown – Lisa Baker

·          Anthony Baker and Appolonia Ochs of   Carroll Township – Lisa Baker

We Can Hear the Cannons Roar Every Day – a collection of the Civil War letters of Philip Andrew Lantzy – Donor: Denis L. Westrick

A Study of the History of Cambria County and the Early Development of its Resources and Industry – written and donated by Patrick M. Stock

Book:  Vanishing Americana – Donor: Robert Freidhoff

Cambria and Indiana Railroad Safety Hall of Fame Plaque – Donor: Robert Springer

1916 Pennsylvania Railroad Schedule, 1916 letter from U.S. Senator George T. Oliver – Donor: JoAnn M. Cox

1912-1913 Ebensburg Elementary School for Younger Pupils booklet – Donor: Robert Ditchcreek

Trunk used on the Battleship Maine, ballot box with handmade marbles, hand carved wooden spoon, and wooden swift – Donor: PA State Society DAR

z z z

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1890 Atlas

Cambria county

Only $45/each

Cash and Carry at the Historical Society

CALL ABOUT MAIL ORDERS

 Make check payable to

Cambria County Historical Society 

615 N. Center St., PO Box 278

Ebensburg, PA  15931

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