Headed North in Pennsylvania

This post brings us back, continuing our road trip from early October 2024.  We left the Johnstown Pennsylvania area and headed north on US Hwy 219 toward Ridgway Pennsylvania.  Along the way we hoped to discover a number of places of interest as well as some pleasant fall scenery.

At first our views of the scenery along the route were severely masked.  But the fog didn't last too long.

Ebensburg Pennsylvania isn't very far north of Johnstown but by the time we rolled through town, we had nothing but blue skies. 

The photo shown above shows the Cambria County prison/jail in Ebensburg.  Built in 1872, the Gothic Revival style sandstone building is 56 feet wide, 100 feet deep and 60 feet tall.  An additional cell block was built in 1910. The facility is surrounded by a sturdy stone wall that is 22 feet high.  When it was built, critics from nearby Johnstown ridiculed it, calling it a "Welsh castle", a putdown due to Ebensburg's Welsh roots.  Overcrowding was a big problem for many years.  As many as 123 men were confined in only 27 cells.  The new prison block added 52 more cells.  The "Old Stone Jail" was abandoned in 1997 and it served as a records center for a period of time.  

Convicted in 1884 for killing a man in Johnstown, "Smitty" Smith was set to be hung.  But after leaving a farewell letter to the warden, he escaped without a trace.  The escape was considered impossible and no trace of "Smitty" was ever found.  Early on, 11 men were hung or executed within the jail.  Citizens could buy a ticket to watch people get hung... Reports of hauntings still draw tourists to the facility and the local historical society gives tours.

The A.W. Buck House in Ebensburg was built in 1889.  It is a 'high style' Queen Anne style home.  The two-story wing with the tower was built in 1903.  The two level porch is unusual as is the 3-story 8-sided tower.  Built as a private residence, in 1923 the structure was purchased by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown as a convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph.  In 1990 it was sold to the Cambria County Historical Society and today it serves as a museum for local history.

The original owner of the Buck House was Anicetus William Buck.  Born in 1858, he was successful in the banking business...becoming one of the youngest bank cashiers in Pennsylvania.  In the late 1880s, Buck decided that his family required a home that matched his great success and status in the county.  He chose a "catalogue house", that is he bought the blueprints and some of the key decor items from a catalogue and had everything shipped to Ebensburg to be built.  As shown above, the design and key design elements were purchased from Shoppell's Modern Houses Catalogue.  While I knew of the 'kit built' home sold by Montgomery Ward and Sears, this is a twist I was unaware of... A book was published with the illustrated designs.  No surprise, it can be found at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Shoppells-Modern-Houses-1887-Donald/dp/093721406X.

This imposing structure is the Cambria County Courthouse in Ebensburg Pennsylvania.  This 3 1/2 story brick building was completed in 1881.  The design...with it mansard roof...is in the Second Empire style.  A renovation in 1923 added an elevator and a glass dome which connects 3 'new' wings, now over 100 years old themselves.  Courtroom #1 is one of the largest courtrooms in the United States, with 500 seats.

As we rolled on north on US Hwy 219 from Ebensburg, the scenery, as enhanced by the fall colors, was very pleasant.  The lack of traffic also contributed to our enjoyment as we drove along...

Continuing up US Hwy 219 we drove through the little town of Burnside Pennsylvania and I stopped to take a photo of the old railway depot.  The second photo was borrowed from the Internet.  Credit to those who have put a new roof on the structure to preserve it from the elements.  It is owned by the Borough of Burnside and attempts are apparently underway to have it added to the National Register of Historic Places and to obtain funding for a complete restoration.

The rail line is referred to at the Beech Creek Extension.  It included the Canoe Creek Railroad and the Clearfield Southern Railroad and later in it's history, all of it was absorbed by the New York Central Railroad.  I couldn't find any information regarding the completion of this depot or much else either.

In the same locale, I took a photo of this old run-down but interesting house.  I'm guessing that the section at the left was an add-on at some point.  The home itself probably has some stories it could tell.  It has to have been built in the late 1800s.  FYI, the area at Burnside Pennsylvania used to sit on a seriously large coal deposit and lots of jobs at some point.  In 1880, the town had a population of 279, in 1900 there were 657 residents.  Today Burnside is home to about 189 folks.  

Additional scenes along our route north on US 219 in Pennsylvania...

Upon our arrival in Ridgway Pennsylvania, we spent a little time wandering and exploring the downtown area.  The Ridgway Historic District as listed on the National Register of Historic Places included 726 'contributing' buildings.  The District includes both the central business district and nearby residential neighborhoods.  The building shown above, with its architectural detail around the top of the structure, has to have been built ca 1900. 

Its safe to say that Ridgway PA has been the hardest town for research into the previous lives of historic structures.  The National Register has not been input with the details and the submission sheets aren't on line.  I can tell you that the Ling Ling Chinese Restaurant occupies the corner bay of the building...at 201 Main Street... 

Ridgway Pennsylvania is the county seat for Elk County.  This Second Empire Style structure was built in 1880 using native sandstone and brick and a roof of tin and slate.  The original half-ton steel bell still hangs in the bell tower of the court house.

The public square in Ridgway, where the Elk County Courthouse and the jail are located, was originally reserved for that purpose by Jacob Ridgway and James Gillis when the town site was laid out in 1833.  Ridgway, a wealthy Philadelphia shipping merchant, and Gillis, Ridgway's nephew by marriage, founded the town after Gillis convinced Ridgway that investment in the area would be very profitable.  In the early 1800s, Ridgway acquired 40,000 acres in the area...which would later become Elk County.

The Elk County Jail was yet another historic structure that I wasn't able to learn much about.  The cornerstone for the jail was laid in July of 1885, about 5 years after construction of the courthouse was completed.  The jail's architectural appearance was intended to match the courthouse.  I did find a photo of the jail from many years ago but I couldn't copy it for use in this post.  The top of the jail was much more ornate at one point in time...

These two buildings are part of Ridgway's Historic District.  The one on the left was built ca. 1883.  Named the Union Hall, it was built for Fred Schoening and James McGinnis.  Union Hall and the date are shown at the top of the structure and the original owners names are shown just below the peak.  The I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge), and the Kossuth Encampment are located on the 2nd and 3rd floors. 

The Dollar General on the right has moved but for a time it was based in the Grand Central building.  It served as the John L. Larson Company building until it was purchased by three Smith brothers in 1907.  They moved their previous general store/department store to this location.  I was unable to determine when this building was completed but a good guess would be in the mid-1880s, around the time that the Union Hall next door was completed.

This imposing fortress-like structure is the Trinity United Methodist Church in Ridgway.  It's located on South Broad Street, diagonally across the street from the Elk County Jail.  The Methodist Episcopal Church preceded the United Methodist Church in both Ridgway and in this building.  The earlier church group was organized in 1833 and, as per the information near the entrance, this church was built in 1900.  After a merger of two Methodist groups in the 1930s, the United Methodist Church was born.  

As I mentioned earlier, James Gillis had convinced Jacob Ridgway that this area could become a lucrative location for a town.  Originally it was all about lumber.  Loggers could float logs down Elk Creek and the Clarion River to the Allegheny River.  It turned out that coal and natural gas were plentiful as well.  In the past, manufacturers of leather goods, iron, clay, lumber, silk goods, railroad snow plows, dynamos and machine tools were all produced in the town and its surrounding area.  Ridgway's population in 2023 was 3,938.  In 1900, there were 3,515 residents; in 1910 there were 5,408 and; in 1940 6,253 people called Ridgway home.

This handsome structure was the Elk County Bank.  The bank was originally established by a local lumber baron in August of 1864, but the bank itself was a few lots away from this location.  This building at the corner of Main and North Broad Streets replaced that earlier bank location.  It was completed in 1890 and by 1895 it touted it's own underground tunnel connecting to other businesses on Main Street.  In January of 1906, the bank's head cashier retired and he was replaced by Mr. Archie Dean Swift, Taylor Swift's great grandfather.

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The bank closed in 1966 and it served many purposes between that date and 2018.  These businesses included a radio station, sporting goods store, a variety of studios and even an antique store.  In 2018 The Brew Bank Brewing Company purchased and completely remodeled the building.  The 2 original vaults, the marble walls and the woodwork were all restored...maintaining the character of the original bank.

The Brew Bank Brewing Company combined a restaurant and microbrewery into a seamless operation alongside the original bank decor.  In addition, they operate the "Sleepy Man Hotel" above the brewery/restaurant.  Four rooms are available through Airbnb.  To learn more, go to https://thebrewbankco.myshopify.com/.

I do enjoy finding photos or postcards that show what a place or building looked like many years earlier.  The first photo above may show the business district of Ridgway before the big fire that occurred on September 29, 1882.  That fire destroyed the entire north side of Main Street from Mill Street to Broad Street.

As for the postcard, it shows downtown Ridgway Pennsylvania in the mid-1940s.  Cliffe's Drugs, (the white building on the postcard), was founded in the 1890s and it remained in business until the summer of 2023.

To be honest, Ridgway was a bit of a disappointment for Laurie.  On-line information suggested that it was a great place for shoppers with lots of interesting shops and galleries.  We certainly didn't find them.  I'm guessing that the declining population has impacted business... FYI, Ridgway is the home of the Ridgway Chainsaw Carving Rendezvous, the largest chainsaw carving gathering of its kind.  It's held in April each year.  For more information about the 2025 Rendezvous, go to https://www.facebook.com/ChainsawRendezvous/.

The railway station in Ridgway Pennsylvania has been completely restored and it looks great!  The station was built in 1907, the last year that the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad was in existence.  The rail line that the station is on was a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad segment that ran from Erie Pennsylvania to St. Mary's Pennsylvania.  Note the second photo ('borrowed' from the Internet).  It shows tracks on both sides of the depot.  The depot was also owned by the Alleghany and Eastern Railroad as well as the Ridgway and Clearfield Railroad.

I was able to find an old photo of the Ridgway Depot when it was a key element in the life of the town.  Ridgway first had rail service in October of 1864.  I found an historical bit of information on-line.  On July 19, 1894, it was reported that over 500 coal cars "go out of Ridgway on the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad per day".  

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ended passenger service in October of 1955.  Passenger service to Ridgway via the Pennsylvania Railroad (Penn Central) was discontinued in May of 1965.  Rail freight traffic continues today with the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad.

This turned out to be a longer post than I expected.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave