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Remainder of Genealogy / Family Sites
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Focusing on the lives
of any person or family who has lived in Little Washington,
Washington County, Pennsylvania at anytime throughout
history to recent times, through data and family stories.
NEW SEARCH BOX ADDED
EAST WASHINGTON, PA
Nearest cities: Washington, PA (1.1 miles ), McGovern, PA (4.3
miles ), Wolfdale, PA (4.3 miles ), Houston, PA (5.5 miles ), Green Hills, PA
(6.1 miles) , Canonsburg, PA (7.0 miles ), Cecil-Bishop, PA (10.7 miles ),
Thompsonville, PA (10.8 miles ). Latitude: 40.17 N, Longitude: 80.23 W
Genealogy and family history
research in the area of
Little Washington, Washington County, Pennsylvania from 1700 to present.
East Washington
in Washington Co, PA
Take East Beau St from the center of Washington PA or Maiden St from
South Main Street. East Washington is bounded by these two streets
on the north and south, and Interstate 70/79 to the south. |
Example of round towers (turrets) on many old houses in East
Washington located in Washington, PA. This was the style built in
the 1800s, usually with wide front porches - some extended around to
make a side porch on one side. |
I must admit, I'm stretching to remember much about East Washington, PA.
Maps show it smack center between Beau Street and Maiden Street.
Wheeling St. ended at a gas station, with a hill behind. Had the street
gone further, it would end up at WEEP School, over the hill.
Beyond the houses on the left, one could see LeMoyne Avenue.
This has always been a residential area. There's never been any industry
(e.g. plants, mines etc) in this section that I know of, but nonetheless has
been part of the bedrock of Washington PA.
East Washington has always been an area of affluence. Here, leaders and
businessmen of the community have lived through the decades, making
contributions to Washington as a whole. Large homes line the streets, many
with round towers called turrets which were common to the Victorian Queen Anne
style of the industrial revolution beginning in the 1880s and 1890s. Some
of these homes had irregularly shaped structures, turrets (round towers), with
classic porch columns often set on a raised section (brick or concrete squares)
or delicate porch posts and lacy ornamental spindles, elaborate gables and steep
pitched roofs -- with many roof sections due to the irregular structures
constructed, and over dormer type windows. These homes are often described
as stately, but flamboyant and while most in Washington PA were tastefully
painted in blues or greens with white trim, similar houses in other areas of the
USA were painted in vivid pinks, oranges and reds (example: San Francisco CA).
Many homes had thick beveled glass doors from the front porch, leading to
pacious foyers, often with ornate wood halls, wood flooring and trim.
Rooms lined both sides of the foyer area, a hall leading to the rear and kitchen
area. Most rooms had large picture windows on the lower floor, looking out
onto the porch. Most had large and often wide staircases to the upstairs,
where only the windows were smaller. Many of these houses also had touches
of stained glass, especially above regular glass windows. Huge old
fireplaces were in many rooms.
By the turn of the
century, this style of home was already going out of style. While the
homes were impressive from the outside, they were hard to maintain and difficult
to heat. Quite a few of these places were separated into apartments or
office space by the mid-1900s, but many in East Washington remained single
family dwellings, or duplexes. My father contracted to re-paint some of
the external structures in the 1960s, on porches, columns and lacy trim where
the brush had to be handled expertly to cover all the intricate places while
avoiding brick and cement areas. Porch floors were wood and needed
repainted every few years to hide signs of wear. The front and side
yards were kept very tidy, with beautiful flower beds along walks and porches,
with potted plants also placed on porches and rails.
My online friend Jo
wrote that "East Washington was a borough and had its own police force of
two as well as an elementary (Grade School as it was called then) and High
School. I think the high school was the latter of the two to close; that
was about 1966 when East Washington kids were sent to Trinity. The Grade
School was long ago torn down and there is a small park where it stood at the
corner on N. Wade Ave. and East Beau St."
Please add to this East Washington description! Where was the borough
building? the school? other public services? (what streets?)
What are your memories of the area? Who were the families who used to live
there and what did they do?
Note: The homes described here were also built on East Beau St
down to Maiden Street.
Map showing the boundaries
of East Washington
See and read about some
"Victorian" house styles. Not all these were used in East
Washington, PA.
SEND ME YOUR PICTURES OR MEMORIES OF
EAST
WASHINGTON in Washington, PA
(washington.co.pa.webmaster@gmail.com - put
East Washington in the subject line)
Donora Historical
Society (Est. 1946)
Regional
area of Washington County (east section)
Go Back to TownTalk
Index
Site History and Updates: Dec '05; Jan '05; Mar
'06
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Washington.Co.PA.Webmaster
(c) Judith Ann Florian
159 E. Main St.
Girard, Ohio 44420
Copyright Notice - Data / info. for individuals and surnames may be
reproduced for personal family histories only, but not for any commercial use or
sale. Please give credit to Judith Florian and Catherine L. Caldwell for
locating newspaper items and original documents. You may use J. Florian's
research conclusions if credit is given. No other data or images may be
reproduced without permission. © 2005-present, Judith Florian, Copyright All
rights reserved.
This page was last updated on Friday, January 16, 2009 00:15
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The background was chosen specifically to
emphasize the matriarchal role of women in "the life" of
children and families, and the resilience of all the women of
southwestern Pennsylvania. |
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