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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
FAIRS HELD IN WASHINGTON COUNTY PA
These pages are dedicated to Fairs, Carnivals,
Bazaars and small Exhibitions held throughout time...
And other festivals...
We all have memories of fairs, carnivals, bazaars, and other
"exhibitions" we attended as children and teenagers. Come share
your memories here!
Genealogy and family history research in Little Washington,
Washington County, Pennsylvania from 1700 to present.
FAIRS
*Note - The newspaper items may be copied with
credit to the researcher who found the articles.
All other write-ups are the property of the authors listed and may not be copied
without permission.*
Historical Information of Charleroi, PA
Carnivals
by Nikki A. C. Sheppick
CAHS Archival Researcher, Charleroi, PA
Info on Carnivals, etc. - from the Rockwell Collection in Charleroi
Here are some info from the items recently turned in by the Walter Rockwell
family. Walter Rockwell was very involved in the building of the
Coyle Theatre (*more on this later), later the builder of the "Demon
House" in Carroll Twp. - considered to be the "cream" of his
building career, assisted well-known Charleroi Architect R. L. Barnhart many
times as a contractor and electrician at the Electric and Palace Theatres, and
was very involved as a charter member of the North Charleroi Fire Company in
1925. That first fire company rested at the bottom of 6th St. where you can
still see the foundation (LaVerne Williams and Irene Hlavisic have planted and
maintained
a floral beautification project there for quite a few years).
According to information from the Walter Rockwell Collection (being held by the
Charleroi Area Historical Society), the Coyle house resided across the tracks
from the Lee-Norse Corporation in the area of the Latchum slate dump prior to
1910. This became the site of the first of many carnivals put on by J. Frank
Hatch who traveled the rails with an entourage of 15 RR cars - for many years
known as "Coyle's Field" and now part of which is located the North
Charleroi Medical Complex located at 7th St. and Lincoln Ave. - right across
from the old fire company location. Coyle's large home and carriage house were
razed to make way for this project. This is the house that John Conrad, the
"founder" of North Charleroi lived with the Coyle family for many
years. In 1974, one large old Maple tree still existed in the corner of the
property next to the RR.
[The southern half of the Coyle barnyard was laid out in a plan of lots by T. J.
Allen, opening up 7th St. from the street car line to the RR in 1906-07. (This
area was known as "Allenwood" for at least half a century with Mr.
Allen's beautiful house - later the Charleroi Hospital - and
"plantation" gardens.)]
In the spring of 1913 - Rockwell (a man who had been very involved in the
Carnivals of olden days) had a workshop in the billing room of the old Coyle
Theatre in which he was constructing a "Crazy House" and
"Japanese Bowling Alleys" and other attractions for the Shady Grove
Park near Uniontown - also managed by Bob Coyle. Rockwell was instrumental in
helping bring many of those carnivals to both towns of the Charleroi name, most
specifically to the orchard area of the old Coyle Orchard of what became the
Latchum slate
dump.
Due to a fire incident with one of the vendors - the new Dr. (Albert S. Sickman)
who had arrived on March 4th of 1913 was sought from his room at the Hiram
Myer's home next to the Coyle's. Being a sound sleeper, both the Higginbottom
and Coyle families were woke up as they tried to rouse the Dr. from his bed. The
Dr. was the chief of staff at the Charleroi-Monessen Hospital at the time. (This
Dr. appeared in Ripley's Believe It or Not.)
To get to the hospital on North Charleroi hill you had to drive up steep 7th St.
hill and it was all mud. In 1919, Rockwell - as a Boro councilman by then - was
instrumental in helping make the road "red dog" and put in steel
beams across a creek - all this without a "bond issue" (loan).
Rockwell considered his best year on Council as 1924 when he, Barly Burke, and
Russell Metz came up with an idea of a Firemen's Bazaar to help raise money
so they could purchase some new fire equipment that was badly needed. With
donations of money and materials, they constructed a 30 X 60 foot dancing floor
with an orchestra platform and a railing all around, a 48 foot tower
for a "slide for life" free attraction upon which "antics"
were demonstrated. Bob McGowan's Orchestra provided the music,
"cake-walks", "snake-eater" demonstrations, and other unique
speciality "shows" and concessions. The Rockwell family moved to North
Charleroi from Uniontown (Walter's birth place) after the two older sons had
become employed at MacBeth Glass Works (now Corning). Asa Rockwell was employed
at the old
Lock # 4 boatyard near 7th St. (we have pictures of this in the archives as
well) as a carpenter for the US Govt. (Army Corp. of Engineers) Walter became a
master electrian through his 7 years of carnival work and he
built and wired much of Eldora and Shady Grove Parks (street car parks) after
which he became a General Contractor. In 1927, with owner Robert Swan Coyle and
architect Victor Rigamont, created the "new" Coyle Theatre - the one
as it appears today.
For many years, the community was known as Lock Four Branch, Charleroi, PA -
abbreviated to "Lock 4", but the RR stop was known as: "West
Monessen". The Rockwell home was located at the corner of Center
& Wilson on the right-hand side at the well-known "Stone Wall".
Rockwell was well-known for loving to "build in the round" with any
kind of materials - such as the gas station at 10th street, round vestibules for
houses (many of which he built in the Charleroi-Mapleview-North Charleroi areas,
as well as 2 round garages with turnstiles or turntables included. Kissler's
Roundhouse in Lockview and his own home and shop later in Carroll Twp.
* Regarding the "Coyle Opera House" as it was first known - in 1906
(picture included) there was a vacant lot next to it and stairs leading up to
the entry way to the Theatre itself, below were other businesses until 1927. A
ticket booth was kept directly at sidewalk level later. Barnhart, builder and
owner of the Palace and Electric Theatres, was the Manager of the Coyle and it
is believed that he designed all 3 buildings. (According to the
Rockwell information, the Electric was the first "movie" theatre in
Charleroi, the second was the Coyle, and the third was the Palace when it was
"converted".) The current "The Coyle" vertical sign dates
from a 1927
"re-build", air-conditioned "Air Cooled by Refrigeration"
was added as was the elaborate gas tube lighting of the marquee. In those days,
there was a maze of all colors of tube lighting that covered the underside of
the
marquee, which is recorded as "stunning to see".
(*There are pictures available. For release of the above research and reuse of
info to use in any publications, a request must be made to the Charleroi
Area Historical Society.)
Charleroi Area Historical Society
Mailing and Street Address:
John K. Tener Library
7th & Fallowfield Avenue
Charleroi, PA 15022
Here are some articles transcribed by Victoria Hospodar
Valentine. The 1914 article gives a retrospect on some of the major fairs
that had been held in the county.
Old Time Fairs
Oct. 9, 1914 McDonald PA Record
Fairs of Other Days That Are Held No More
Canonsburg, Hickory and Florence
used to have fairs, but they dropped them long ago and left such exhibitions to
towns like Washington and Burgettstown.
The present Washington fair has been running only a few years, the
"old" Washington fair, held near the foot of Main street and later
near Chestnut street, having petered out a decade or more ago. Only Burgettstown
has been able to hold a fair for the long period of 58 years. The exhibition
there shows no signs of lagging interest or decay.
It is thirty-one years since the last fair was held at Canonsburg. Started in
the early seventies, it ran for ten years and then ceased to be. Until its last
few years the attendance was large, people coming from many miles away. The fair
was conducted by the Chartiers Valley Agricultural Association, composed of
leading farmers of the community. This association leased the CURRY farm and
erected buildings and laid out a race track. The grounds today are about the
only tract around Canonsburg that haven't been built upon, the town having
spreading out in every direction. The fair was an important event in the village
life of the seventies and early eighties, and attracted much more attention then
than it would today. T. M. POTTS acted as secretary during the existence of the
Chartiers Valley Agricultural Association.
It has been forty-five years since the tenth annual exhibition of the Mt.
Pleasant Equitable Agricultural Association was held at Hickory, on Wednesday
and Thursday, September 29 and 30, 1869. The fair grounds were located near
where the roads leading from Venice and Canonsburg enter the east end of the
town. Many names familiar to our readers were that year among the lists of its
officers and committees on award of premiums, as follows:
President, James RANKIN, Hickory; vice presidents, James M. CAMPBELL, James
MILLER, William W. MCCARRELL, Hickory, James MCKEE, Locust Hill; R. D. SCOTT,
Cardville; managers, T. M. BERRYHILL, James B. SMITH, William THOMPSON, W. M.
CAMPBELL, A. J. MILLER, William RUSSELL, Hickory; Alexander MCELROY, David
DAVIDSON, Buffalo; William CAMPBELL, Canonsburg; secretary, S. R. WILSON,
Hickory; assistant secretary, S. CLUTTER, Dinsmore; treasurer, Dr. Joseph
MCELROY; chief marshals, R. M. MORGAN, Hickory, and W. S. LEE, Cardville.
From the best information obtainable the Florence fair was held each year from
1861 to 1863 and then disbanded. An effort was made to revive it in 1866, and an
exhibition was held that year, but that was the last. The fair was held on what
is now the CALLAGHAN farm, just this side of Florence. Florence is one of the
few towns, if it is not the only town, in the county that has stood still or
gone back in the last half century.
McDonald Street Fair
Sept. 1, 1897 McDonald Outlook
The Street Fair
Final Notes Respecting the Great Fall Carnival that Opens Today in McDonald
Bright weather, clean, gay streets, a wilderness of flags, festoons of electric
lights, and crowds and crowds of people--the Street Fair is upon us!
Visitors to the Fair will note that McDonald is the handsomest town in Western
Pennsylvania. We are brand new. The oldest of the many substantial brick blocks
that the visitor will see is not yet three yeas of age; the water and electric
systems are little older; the fine school house was built within the memory of
those not yet old enough to go to school; the long brick pavements have scarcely
been tamped into place; our magnificent churches, -- they are not yet finished!
McDonald is the prettiest town in the country topographically, as every visitor
acknowledges. It is not flat, nor hilly, nor rugged, nor yet commonplace. The
town is built on gently swelling ground, with no abrupt hills, and with a very
fine view from nearly every house. A landscape gardener could not have imaged a
town site better for drainage or buildings or fine streets.
Visitors tot he Steubenville Centennial say McDonald outshines Steubenville of
the Centennial.
A complete program of the events of the three-day Fair will be found in the
fourth column, fourth page of this paper. The sports begin at 9 a.m. each day at
the Ball Par, and here are baseball, football and rugby games between the best
clubs in the country. In the afternoon, at the same place, are all kinds of
races and the aeronauts and fancy bicycle riders will give their exhibitions. In
the evening are rope walking performances on the main streets of town and the
dance at the Star Opera House.
(Paragraph missing)
Chairman PHILLIPS has granted privileges to three good tent shows at the Ball
Park, and several small shows in other places. He has granted five restaurant
stands at the Ball Park to Messers, MILLER, J. C. LAING, W. H. COOK, and Robert
WATSON and a stand at Station and Lincoln to Mr. FRAMPTON. The Methodist Church
has a stand, the Volunteer Hose Co. has one in the West End, and the FERGUSON
Hose Co. has one at McDonald and Lincoln Avenue.
Our Fair Committee, instead of throwing everything wide open, as is often done
at other fairs, has been very carefully to license nothing that might be
unlawful; and all the arrangements for a first-class, healthy-toned fair as
nearly perfect as they can be.
This first day are shown the premium agricultural exhibits at the stores;
tomorrow will be Miners' Day, and Friday will be Oil Men's Reunion day.
The East End Football Team Monday evening elected Mr. Joseph VOYE, Honorary
President of their Rover Club and Howard CASE Captain of the Team. The Tem plays
Rosedale today; Reissing, tomorrow; and Beech Cliff on Friday--all at the East
End. Park--kickoff at 2 p.m. each day. The True Blue Flute Band, at the request
of the Committee, will parade each morning of the Fair, at 10 a.m. This splendid
Drum Corps is now one of the best known in the country and is very popular
everywhere. At the Strikers' camps, where there are seven or eight bands, it has
held first place all the time.
The great rugby game with Homestead is on Friday at 1 p.m.
The McDonald Baseball Club plays Canonsburg today, Washington tomorrow and
Braddock Friday.
The Rugby Team has charge of the ball at the Star Opera House each evening and
the Team has a restaurant next to WILLIAMS & LOCKHART's.
The Miners' Relief Committee has a restaurant next to the post office.
Many strange faces in town and not all are pretty.
Miss SHANNON, the aeronaut, and M. FOURCHER, the great bicyclist, have arrived.
Thirty babies entered for the GIFFIN-MOORHEAD baby show, and Oakdale not yet
heard from
Even the flies have come to the Fair. On Fair Eve, a cloud of flies a little
larger than fleas settled down on the town and made people miserable.
Twelve extra policemen have been put on for the Fair. The Fair Committee will
pay them.
The West Virginia oil field gets a holiday Friday for the McDonald Fair. Special
trains will run form Sistersville, Parkersburg and Wheeling.
G. J. BUCHHEIT and Co. have at their store a large and perfect X-Ray apparatus,
and the public is cordially invited to test it. Go and see through yourself and
find out if there is anything inside of you that outhtn't to be there.
The guesses at WILLIAMS Bros.' jar of beans run from 1,000 to 12,000.
Sept. 4, 1897 Outlook
In The Midst of the Fair
The first day of the Fair was not a shadow of the second, which was Miner's Day.
At 10 o'clock, the noted Camp Victory arrived with a band, having marched all
the way from DeArmitt's mines. Thousands of men and women came marching from
Reissing, Cecil and Tom's Run. At 12 o'clock a mile-long procession with bands
and banners arrived from Carnegie. The latter was headed by a banner with a
large square hint to McDonald people: "In God We Trust for our Bread This
Day." All the processions coming to town carried numerous banners with
mottoes, the tenor of all being, "69 Cents or Bust."
At noon about ten thousand people were gathered at the Ball Park, and the
streets of the town were still crowded. Every train dropped five to twenty car
loads of people. The big miners' meeting probably was the last of the great
strike. It was one final struggle for "69 or Bust," and before this
paper reaches its readers the strike will probably be over and the miners at
work again at 64 or 69 cents. Thursday brought hundreds of beringed, swarthy
Romans and Magyars from Tom Run ans such places where they work, and they made a
picturesque street crowd. If Friday's crowds exceed those of Thursday, we shall
have difficulty in caring for all.
Emancipation Day Celebration
Aug. 14, 1914 McDonald PA Record
To Celebrate Emancipation Day
The Colored people of McDonald are making unusually elaborate plans to celebrate
Emancipation Day, September 22. Lincoln Lodge No. 90 and Morning Star Lodge No.
71 F. & A. M., promise to show the Colored people of Western Pennsylvania
the time of their lives. The Rev. G. E. SALLIE, pastor of the First Baptist
Church of McDonald, will be the master of ceremonies and the program will
include the opening address by Past Master Thomas H. ROLLINS; welcome address by
Burgess Samuel H. PYLES; response to Burgess, D. T. M. John C. MORTON; address
by Attorney Frank R. STEWARD; address by Attorney R. L. VANN G. Lecture; address
by J. P. HAYDEN. The parade starts from the hall at the foot of Valley street at
10:30 a.m. The crack drill teams of Malta Commandery No. 19 and Palestine No. 14
will take part in the parade. Music will be furnished by the Elks' Cornet Band
of Pittsburgh. There will be two baseball games, one at 10:30 a.m. and the other
at 3:30.
The committee of arrangements is composed of T. H. ROLLINS, chairman, and B. P.
HENDERSON, W. W. POWELL, J. W. ANDERSON, John H. NELSON, D. P. TOWNS, A. H.
LOWS, H. E. WOOTEN; F. S. HARVEY, J. R. HOSKINS, R. L. FUQUA, W. M. TAFTWICH.
Hickory Fair Oct. 9, 1914 McDonald PA Record
The Hickory Fair
A man who is past middle life says that the Hickory fair ground, as he recalls
it, did not contain more than five or six acres; and the exhibits, so far as
numbers are concerned were in keeping with the size of the grounds. There were
marshals riding around on horseback with great red sashes across their breasts,
and streaming out behind. There was no racing worthy of the name in those days,
but the young men and their best girls formed a cavalcade and rode around the
one-third mile race track again and again, until some people felt like saying:
"It is enough, boys and girls. We have all admired your filleys (sic) and
the millinery," in which the girls are togged out and the long yellow
dusters which the young men donned to keep the dust from off their tailor-made
suits. For the big clothing manufacturers of today--with their ability to fit
any sort of a juke that might come along--were not in business then. On the
other hand the ready-made clothing of that day had no more style about it than a
"gum coat," and did not come any nearer to fitting the unhappy
purchaser that a meal sack comes to fitting a bean pole. But the fair with its
"big punkins", (sic) its fine apples, pears, and peaches, and fat
cattle and hogs and fine wooled sheep, was the admiration of all. And then the
side shows. "The Big Snake from the woods of South America," the birds
that sung and picked out the card containing your fortune, and the
"peep-show', where for a nickel one could see the Cascade mountains; and
many other such like wonders, filled with admiration the minds of boys and
girls, and they went home happier and better contented than boys or girls of the
present from the Pittsburgh Exposition, or a Wild West show. The gentleman who
was talking about the Hickory fair said at the close of his monologue that after
all the years there were just two "fairs," or expositions, which
loomed large in his mind--one of these was the Hickory fair--and the other the
World's Fair at Chicago, and of the two as he has them in his mind today, he is
inclined to hold that "the Hickory fair" was the larger and more
important and more interesting of the two. This proves that early impressions
cut deep, and last when many deeper impressions made later in life are faded out
and forgotten.--Canonsburg Notes
OTHER ARTICLES found by Catherine L. (Florian) Caldwell
or by Judith Ann Florian
ICE CREAM AND STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, HELD IN AMITY
Article from the Reporter newspaper, June 20, 1893, p. __:
"Bakers Big Four will be on the program at the ice cream
and strawberry festival in the Presbyterian Church at Amity Thursday
evening."
SEND ME YOUR PICTURES OR MEMORIES OF
FAIRS,
CARNIVALS, BAZAARS, EXHIBITIONS or OTHER ATTRACTIONS!
(washington.co.pa.webmaster@gmail.com - and put FAIRS in
the subject line)
Donora Historical
Society (Est. 1946)
Regional
area of Washington County (east section)
Washington
Co., PA Area newspapers - other families - Look here for your families!
McDonald
PA Area Newspapers - other families - Look here for your families!
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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 Thursday, January 01, 2009 00:43
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