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2 — Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

Indiana Borough: 1816-2016 Town grew up around Indian trails

By RANDY WELLS

rwells@indianagazette.net

T KEVIN STIFFLER/Gazette

BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE co-chairs Donna Griffith and Michael Hood emceed the kickoff celebration on March 3 at the Kovalchick Complex.

‘Sweeter as the Years Go By’ We have had a very exciting and energizing experience working with our fellow community volunteers to plan the Indiana Borough bicentennial.

As a group, we have chosen the theme “Sweeter as the Years Go By,” which in our minds has characterized our personal experiences with Indiana, Pennsylvania, her history and her people.

Now, as we begin the borough’s bicentennial celebration, the two of us are reminded of the words attributed to St. Ambrose: “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”

First and foremost, we thank our team leaders who spent many, many hours in meetings over the last 14 months, preparing for the more than 20 events on the calendar.

We also thank all the volunteers who have helped to plan what is sure to be an exciting celebration.

We appreciate the confidence shown to us by the borough council, when on March 5, 2015, council named our planning group as the “Indiana Borough Bicentennial Committee.”

We are so proud of the local businesses that have “stepped up” to financially support the entire celebration!

At the heart of all the events and programs of our celebration is the fact that it is the people of Indiana — past and present — that we celebrate. It is the strength of our collective differences and sameness that has allowed us to exist and thrive as a wonderful community through these first 200 years.

And so it is to the people of Indiana that we offer our thanks, a people who have contributed to an environment rich in the arts, rich in patriotism, rich in commitment to family, rich in a strong work ethic and rich in the knowledge that we must be good stewards to our natural environment.

On behalf of our bicentennial team, we look forward to this year when we move from celebrating our past to embracing our future.

Come celebrate with us!

Your Indiana Borough bicentennial co-chairs, Donna M. Griffith and Michael J. Hood

wo centuries ago, the land where Indiana Borough is located was covered by scrubby oak trees.

The humans who passed through the area before then mainly walked on either of two native American paths, the Catawba Trail or the Kittanning Path. The two trails intersected at a place called Shaver’s Spring, where the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Student Union building now stands.

Fergus Moorhead, a native of Franklin County, is generally regarded as the leader of the first white settlers near Shaver’s Spring.

They arrived about 1770 and named their new settlement Indiana for the native Americans who inhabited the area.

It’s believed the first building in Indiana was a round log cabin built by Henry Shryock and situated along what is now the 400 block of Philadelphia Street.

In 1803, Gov. Thomas McKean signed legislation that created Indiana County from parts of Westmoreland and Lycoming counties, and three trustees were appointed to receive proposals for the site for the seat of county government. George Clymer, a wealthy Philadelphia Quaker who had signed the

Gazette file photo

INDIANA BOROUGH held an Armistice Day parade on Nov. 11, 1944. The federal holiday is now called Veterans Day. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, offered to donate 250 acres of land near the geographic center of the new county. Clymer owned more than 3,000 acres in the tract and undoubtedly realized the value of his remaining property would increase significantly if it was near the county seat.

Clymer’s offer was accepted, and the trustees laid out 225 town lots. The main east-west street through the lots was named

Philadelphia Street in honor of George Clymer’s home city.

The sale of the lots began in 1805. The following year, several houses were built along with two-story log tavern buildings owned by James Moorhead and Peter Sutton. Indiana’s population then was about 50.

The new community may have been a county seat of government, but the surrounding area remained wild territory. In 1814 the county paid nearly $1,000

in wolf scalp bounties.

On March 11, 1816, Indiana was incorporated as a borough by an act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. By then, Indiana had several county government-related buildings, including a jail completed in 1807 and a courthouse finished two years later.

Church services were held in the jail until the courthouse was completed.

A post office had opened in 1810 when Indiana’s Continued on Page 4

Committee members The Indiana Borough Bicentennial Committee has been working diligently to organize activities to commemorate the borough’s bicentennial throughout the next several months (details on Page 3).

The committee members are: Co-chairs: Donna Griffith, Michael Hood

Treasurer: Todd Brice Secretary: Shari Trinkley TEAM LEADERS Arts: Samantha Muir, Rebecca Slak Business and commerce: David Janusek, Jim Struzzi Historical validity: Jonathan Bogert, JoAnne McQuilkin

Publicity and marketing: Mark Bertig, Denise Liggett Sports and Recreation: Bob Fulton, Larry Judge Family Life, Education, Service: Kyle Campbell, Susan Kovalcik, Bob Millward, Theresa Wise Steering committee: Bill Balint, Eric Ebeling, George Hood, Carl Kologie

Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016 — 3

Bicentennial activities planned throughout year today. Refreshments will be served. The program will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. March 29 and 7 to 8 p.m. March 30 at the Indiana Free Library.

For more information, call (724) 465-8841.

APRIL 14 Concert, “American Tapestry,” Gorell Recital Hall, second floor of Sutton Hall on the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus Here is a list of activities and events that are planned throughout the spring and summer to commemorate Indiana Borough’s bicentennial. Times and some locations are still being finalized.

MARCH 29, 30 Sherry Kuckuck and Rebecca Sterley will present “Indiana Then and Now,” a slideshow of Indiana showing a variety of buildings and landmarks as they were in the past, and what those same properties look like

APRIL 29 Bicentennial tree planting on Vinegar Hill

MAY 1 Tour of Memorial Park, hosted by Ed Patterson, director of Indiana County Parks & Trails

MAY 7, 18 “Our Borough’s History,” a presentation by John Busovicki and Bill Otto.

MAY 21 “Philly,” a parade down

LATE JUNE

Indiana’s main street, will celebrate 200 years of Indiana businesses and industries with music, costuming, pageantry and nostalgia.

JUNE 11 IUP Museum bicentennial show, University Museum, first floor of Sutton Hall, IUP

JUNE 12 Bicentennial Backyard Garden Contest winner announced

JUNE 23 Celebration of Business and Commerce, First Commonwealth Bank headquarters, Sixth and Philadelphia streets

JUNE 25 Team members from the Pittsburgh Franklins and the Somerset Frosty Sons of Thunder, members of the Vintage Base Ball Association, will don their wool uniforms and play baseball

JOHN BUSOVICKI, county historian, will co-present “Our Borough’s History” in May with Bill Otto. using 1860s rules. Among other things, that means fly balls caught after the first bounce are an out. The two teams will square off at the White Township Recreation Complex. Before the game and between innings, Indiana’s Wildcat Regiment Band, whose members play authentic Civil War-era instruments, will entertain.

The lobby of the old Indiana County Court House will serve as the location for “200 Years of Successful Business and Commerce in Indiana.”

This event will include a historical review of business progression, highlights of marquee businesses, drinks and appetizers, live period music, displays, costumes and guided walking tours of the borough from a then-and-now perspective.

SUMMER Memorial Park on several Wednesday evenings will be the setting for outdoor movies, each representing a different decade. The lineup: • June 15: “The Johnstown Flood” (1926) and “Gold Rush” (1925) • June 29: “The Wizard of Oz” (1939, G) • July 13: “A Farewell to Arms” (1932) • July 27: “Rear Window”

(1954, PG) • Aug. 10: “West Side Story” (1961, G) All movies will begin at dusk.

AUG. 13 What was camp life like for a Civil War soldier? What was a one-room school like in 1840? Did a traveling medicine man really have a cure for arthritis?

Those are some questions that will be answered at Mack Park when participants step back in history and meet hometown heroes including Fergus Moorhead, Jimmy Stewart, Judge Thomas White and others.

There will also be opportunities to learn about spinning flax, bread making and blacksmithing. Later in the day at the grandstand there will be live music topped off by fireworks.

More details are available on Indiana’s bicentennial celebration at www.indiana pabicentennial.com.

Congrraatulaations to the Borroough off In ndiana on the Ceelebrraation of its Bicentennial!

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years Congratulations to INDIANA BOROUGH on 200 years!

We are excited to help you grow even more in the coming years!

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4 — Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

Wealthy Quaker donated land for borough Continued from Page 2 population had grown to about 125.

Also by the time of its incorporation, Indiana had a general store, taverns, hotels, blacksmith shops, a school, tanneries and dozens of family cabins and homes.

INDIANA’S

BUSINESS

community can be traced to two men. Samuel Young is considered to be the first man to sell goods in Indiana, starting in 1806 from a small cabin along Water Street. John Denniston is regarded as the first regular merchant, who in 1808 began his business from a 16-by-18 foot log building along Philadelphia Street.

The first mill in Indiana, about 1810, was a horsepowered stone mill along East Philadelphia Street.

Farmers paid a toll for using the mill and used their own horses for power.

In its early years the borough had numerous hotels.

They were able to compete and survive, apparently, because for many county residents a trip to Indiana by horse and buggy involved an overnight stay.

Indiana now is generally a residential and retailing community, but especially during its first century the borough was home to many diverse manufacturing businesses.

The Penn Flour Mill & Elevator at Oakland Avenue and School Street opened in 1861 and by 1904 was producing 200 barrels of flour daily.

In 1854, the Shryock & Johnston planing mill was making doors, sashes and blinds.

The Bent-Rung Ladder Company, at South and Eighth streets, opened in 1879 and by 1907 was manufacturing 50,000 ladders annually that were sold worldwide.

The Indiana Glass Company started operations in 1892 from a factory where IUP’s Eberly College of Business now stands. Glass making by four companies was one of Indiana’s leading industries for four

Submitted photo

THIS IMAGE of Indiana Borough was made in 1900. decades.

By 1855, there were three tanneries in Indiana making leather goods, including harnesses, saddles and shoes.

In 1906, the Indiana Carriage Company, in its third year of business, built 800 vehicles, including buggies, surreys, bobsleds and sleighs.

The Connor Vehicle & Carriage Company, along 10th Street between Philadelphia and Church streets, built buggies and wagons until 1919.

The Indiana Foundry Company manufactured bells, oven doors, heating stoves, coal chutes and many other products. It also sold Hudson and other early models of automobiles.

The Greiner Baking Company opened in 1907 and once had a fleet of 25 delivery trucks.

The Indiana Provision Company along Water Street made ice, which it sold retail and wholesale.

Indiana Borough gradually changed from a manufacturing community to a retailing center. The late Leonard Abrams, a former Indiana councilman and shoe store owner, once described the 1950s and ’60s as the “golden age” of downtown Indiana’s business district. Major stores such as J.C. Penney, G.C. Murphy, Montgomery Ward, Woolworth’s, Brody’s and Troutman’s lined Philadelphia Street. The sidewalks, especially on Fridays and Saturdays, were crowded with shoppers.

Henry Hall Office Products, along Philadelphia Street, opened in 1866 and today is the oldest continuously operated business in Indiana County. It original-

ly sold books, firearms, musical instruments and more.

FOR A quarter century there was not just one Indiana, but two. During that time, Indiana was divided into two distinct boroughs by a north-south line approximately where Eighth Street is today.

Residents west of Indiana petitioned the courts and the borough of West Indiana was approved by a grand jury in 1870. Court confirmation followed, and West Indiana Borough was incorporated in September of that year.

The sister boroughs continued to grow. The Indiana County Agricultural Fairgrounds, now part of the IUP campus, and the Indiana Branch Railroad freight and passenger depots were prominent features of West Indiana Borough. The Indi-

ana County Courthouse and jail were landmarks in Indiana Borough on the east side.

Indiana had an eightroom school, known as the Second Ward School, built in 1859. West Indiana had its own eight-room school, built in 1870-71.

Indiana Borough had north-south streets numbered First through Seventh. West Indiana Borough’s north-south streets also began with the name First Street, starting just west of the boundary.

Major east-west streets — Philadelphia, Oak, Water and Church — retained their names as they extended across both boroughs.

Gradually, the open space between the boroughs was filled in by commercial and residential development and it became meaningless to many residents to have two boroughs. In 1895, a

special referendum on the question of merging Indiana and West Indiana boroughs was approved by the residents of both communities, and the two Indianas again became one with a total population of about 4,500 people.

Local merchants touted the consolidation in their advertisements.

“We gladly announce the union of Indiana and West Indiana. The imaginary line has been blotted out,” the W.R. Loughry & Co. dry goods store proclaimed in an August 1895 ad in the Indiana Weekly Messenger.

In the early 1870s, when leaders of the two boroughs were discussing the creation of a normal school, the site chosen for John Sutton Hall, the first building that opened in 1875, was vacant land that was considered quite a distance Continued on Page 5

Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016 — 5

INDIANA’S MAYORS Indiana Borough has been led by eight mayors in the last 60 years. The borough’s current mayor is the longest-serving in recent memory.

At one point, the borough’s leader was known as a burgess. Note: Photos taken from those hanging in borough building.

GEORGE HOOD 1998-present

JOHN D. VARNER 1990-97

GEORGE THOMPSON 1982-89

HARRY OWENS 1978-81

WILMER JOHNSTON 1968-77

WILLIAM FISCUS 1966-68

ALBERT COX 1962-65

G.W. MARBACH 1955-61

Community developed as university expanded Continued from Page 4 from the centers of both Indiana and West Indiana boroughs.

But the community grew around the school, and it now surrounds the campus on three sides.

About 225 students attended Indiana Normal School in its first year of operation.

Following several name changes the school became Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1965.

LIKE MANY 19th century communities, Indiana was susceptible to large fires.

Most buildings were made of wood, there was no municipal water supply and the borough lacked a reliable, audible fire alarm.

In the early years of the borough, lines of volunteers fought structure fires by passing buckets of water from the nearest stream or well.

The Clymer Water Company in West Indiana was

organized about 1885.

Water was pumped from two wells and stored in tanks, one for the population’s daily consumption and one to be used for fighting fires. But two costly fires — the destruction of

the Christ Episcopal Church in 1899 and the gutting of Clark Hall, the boys’ dormitory at Indiana Normal School in 1905 — demonstrated that more needed to be done.

Continued on Page 6

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The Indiana County Tourist Bureau would like to thank the many volunteers and corporate sponsors for their creativity, hard work and ÀQDQFLDO VXSSRUW LQ PDNLQJ WKLV %LFHQWHQQLDO D memorable community celebration!

6 — Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

Indiana, West Indiana unified after vote in 1895 Continued from Page 5 Gradually, a new pumping station and larger reservoir were added to the water system, the fire department acquired better equipment and the members received better training and organization.

In 1913, the borough completed a new administration building along North Seventh Street and the fire department moved into cramped quarters on the lower level. In 1975, the firefighters moved to a new station along Water Street.

The Indiana Fire Association is preparing to move again in September, this time to a new station under construction along the 500 block of Philadelphia Street.

Indiana’s public safety over the decades has also been enhanced by the borough having its own police department. In 1904, the Indiana PD consisted of one full-time officer who had an assistant on Saturday nights.

Today, Indiana has 22 sworn police officers.

every merchant and business man will join with the shopper in declaring that the trolley system is the one public utility that is an absolute necessity for the comfort and commerce of all the people,” the newspaper reported.

Traffic on the trolley peaked in 1923 and then declined as automobiles became more popular.

Passenger service on the Indiana branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad started in the spring of 1856 and traffic was heavy between Indiana and Blairsville.

The first passenger train on the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad arrived at the Indiana station along Philadelphia Street on May 2, 1904. More than 400 tickets were sold for destinations north of town. A popular excursion destination was Niagara Falls, with a round-trip fare of $5.

INDIANA HAS long had strong representation in America’s military services.

Some of the first settlers were veterans of the Revolutionary War and the French and Indian War. UNTIL THE early 1900s, Indiana’s According to Dr. W. Wayne Smith in his The population of the streets were unpaved and often book “The Price of Patriotism: Indiana borough has grown muddy, and nearly all deliveries in the County, Pa. and the Civil War,” about steadily over the years. borough were made by horses and 2,830 Indiana Countians were veterans of 1810: 125 wagons. Motor vehicles were first the Civil War. Undoubtedly, many of used for deliveries in 1901 but 20 them were Indiana Borough residents.

1850: 963 years later horses and carriages were At one point the federal government 1900: 4,142 still a common sight on Philadelphia and Indiana County government paid in1950: 11,743 Street. centives to entice men to enlist in the 2000: 14,895 Indiana’s trolley service began in Union army. By the war’s end, Indiana 1907 when the Indiana County Street 2010: 13,975 Borough had paid $11,000 in incentives Railway Company was formed. Withto entice 21 men to become Union solin a few years the company was operdiers. ating three lines converging in Indiana.

Notable among Indiana’s Civil War vets One line extended to Clymer, one to Creekside and was Hannibal Sloan, a 23-year-old law student in IndiErnest and one to Blairsville. The street railway’s ana when the war started. He commanded Company schedule was coordinated so that riders could make B, 40th Pennsylvania Regiment, during heavy fighting connections with steam railroad passenger trains. at the battle of Gettysburg.

On June 7, 1916, the Indiana Progress reported the Company B left Indiana in 1861 as a full company trolley operated 49 passenger cars and a freight car and returned in 1864 with 27 men. Twenty-six men in daily. the company died in action.

“The trolley system, providing frequent and easy acOn Sept. 7, 1917, the officers and enlisted men of Co. cess to the county seat from points heretofore remote F, Indiana’s National Guard company, marched to the … contributes greatly to the prosperity of Indiana, and Continued on Page 7

Centuries of growth

It’s Not Just Business, It’s Personal!

Michael, Kip & Jim invite you to shop at Luxenberg’s to experience real customer service.

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1916-2016

Historical odds and ends • Indiana’s first newspaper, “The American,” was established in about 1814. Several others followed, including an anti-slavery newspaper, “The Clarion of Freedom,” first published in 1843.

• Indiana’s first notable communitywide celebration was probably the July 4, 1843, Independence Day party held in Drum Grove, owned by attorney Augustus Drum. Drum Grove is now the IUP Oak Grove.

• The Indiana Telephone Company started in 1887. Forty phones were in service by the end of the year.

• Roller skating was a popular pastime in Indiana in the early 1880s. One rink along Church Street was remodeled into Library Hall and hosted plays, operas, lectures, basketball games and early movies.

• Indiana was the scene of several reunions of Civil War veterans.

About 2,000 vets marched in a reunion parade in Indiana in 1886.

• Electricity was introduced in Indiana in 1891, but the county courthouse was not wired for electricity until 17 years later.

• The Simpson and Neal Hospital, with operating and recovery rooms and 10 beds, opened in 1909 at Ninth and Church streets.

• The 600 block of Philadelphia Street was decked out in bunting and special lampposts from June 19 to 24, 1916, to celebrate the borough’s centennial. A parade and fireworks attracted a crowd

estimated at 20,000.

• In 1922, garbage collection began in Indiana. However, the Indiana Rendering Company would only accept animal and vegetable matter.

• In a 1936 address, Dr. George Simpson, council president, told the Indiana Kiwanis Club that Indiana had 6,000 shade trees, 20 miles of paved streets and 60 miles each of improved sidewalks and sewer lines.

• In 1940, parking meters were installed at angled parking spaces along Philadelphia Street between Fifth and Ninth streets. The fees were a nickel for one hour and a penny for 12 minutes of parking.

• Indiana has been the host community for three Indiana County courthouses. They were completed in 1809, 1871 and 1971.

• There were 10 churches in Indiana in 1911 and 33 by 1966.

• At least three U.S. presidents have visited Indiana. Sen. John F. Kennedy, the Democratic nominee in the 1960 presidential election, made a campaign speech in front of the old courthouse on Oct. 15 of that year. Former President Jimmy Carter was a guest speaker for IUP’s Ideas and Issues series on April 24, 1989. And former President Bill Clinton stopped at IUP on April 16, 2008, while campaigning for his wife, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Compiled by reporter Randy Wells

Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016 — 7

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Gazette file photo

HENRY HALL, INC. WAS AROUND BEFORE ALL OF THESE INVENTIONS:

THIS PHOTO was taken at the Willard Home Christmas party in 1944. The Willard Home was an orphanage in Indiana.

Town sees major changes Continued from Page 6 railroad station to begin the trip that would take them to the battlefields of World War I in Europe.

Eleven months later, a newspaper headline delivered the news that many had been dreading: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Indiana and Blairsville fighters make the supreme sacrifice in world conflict.â&#x20AC;?

The text of the story relayed the names of servicemen from Indiana who died or were wounded in the latest fighting.

Many Indiana men and women were among the 6,000 Indiana Countians who served in the military during World War II and among the nearly 400 from the county who died in the fighting around the globe.

One of the best-known photographs from Indiana during the WWII years is of hometown hero Col. Jimmy Stewart.

During a furlough, Stewart posed in front of the Indiana County Courthouse where his father had arranged to have a 10-foot tall â&#x20AC;&#x153;V for victoryâ&#x20AC;? sign with electric lights installed.

The image was the cover photo of the Sept. 24, 1945,â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lifeâ&#x20AC;? magazine.

Gazette file photo

THE INDIANA Fire Association displayed some of its new equipment in this photo from June 30, 1943.

THE LANDSCAPE of downtown Indiana changed significantly starting in the mid-1960s when federal urban renewal funds were funneled into the area for demolition work, site development and administration fees for major projects sponsored by the Indiana County Redevelopment Authority.

In 1967, the authority purchased the Pennsylvania Railroad property and eliminated the old north-south railroad tracks, the landmark passenger station

that had also been Stapletonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Restaurant, and freight yards.

Removed, too, were the old Indiana Evening Gazette offices at 843 Philadelphia St., the historic Stewart Hardware operated by Jimmy Stewartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father, and several small businesses.

Taking their place in the next few years were a new county courthouse building, a new borough municipal building and a new S&T Bank headquarters building.

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Telephone Telephone

Pipe Pipe Wrenches Wrenches

Blue Jeans Jeans

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X-Rays X-Rays

Cardboard Boxe Cardboard Boxess

Moving Pictures Pictures Moving

Typewriters Typewriters

Screen Doors Doors Screen

Revolving Doors Doors Revolving

Escalators Escalators

Bott le Caps Caps Bottle

Push Pins Pins Push

Zippers Zippers

Clot hes H angers Clothes Hangers

Mot orcycles Motorcycles

Fountain Pens Pens Fountain

Mufffs Ea Earr Muffs

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Bubble Gum Gum Bubble

Restroom Urinals Urinals Restroom

Plates Photographic Plates Photographic

Penicillin Penicillin

Tape Measures Measures Tape

Taffy Salt Water Taffy Salt

Aspirin Aspirin

American American Football Football

Shredded Shredded Wheat Wheat

Thank you for 150 years of patronage.

And happy birthday Indiana Borough!

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8 — Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

Borough has tradition of a vibrant downtown

By CHAUNCEY ROSS

chauncey@indianagazette.net

MAIN STREET IN 1982

N

ame five downtown Indiana businesses or offices operating at the same place today as 30 years ago.

Easy?

Name 10.

Believe it or not — despite the fluid and revolving-door nature of most small-town business districts — at least 15 buildings along Philadelphia Street between Fifth and Ninth streets are pretty much the same as they were in 1986.

Downtown Indiana certainly doesn’t have a 200-year history of people circling the block looking for a parking space, but it has been a historic center of commerce reflective of all facets of the area’s economy.

Agriculture, manufacturing and transportation interests have been represented downtown. The Philadelphia Street area has been a haven for hospitality and entertainment, with theaters, hotels and eateries crowding the main drag.

It’s been an evolving retail center, with trends toward services and growth in the mainstay financial sector.

And it has always been the seat of local government.

That dates to Revolutionary patriot George Clymer’s donation of 250 acres of ground to the county in 1805, land that eventually would become Indiana Borough.

The county began assembling its governing necessities all before Indiana Borough was incorporated and when Armstrong, Wheatfield and Conemaugh were the first three townships drawn up within the county. First built was a jail made of logs, followed by a stone jail in 1807 at North Sixth Street and Nixon Avenue, a courthouse in 1809, and offices for county officials in 1810 along Philadelphia Street.

One of downtown’s first stores, while Indiana was yet a village, was John McGee’s pottery shop in a cabin on Water Street in 1806, followed by Philadelphia Street’s first business, John Denniston’s store at the site

Photos by Gazette photographer Tom Peel

of the Red Oak building today.

But even before all those, the first building in Indiana was a tavern operated by Henry Shryock, in a round log cabin along Philadelphia Street between Fourth and Fifth streets near a spring.

Shryock was said to have done a brisk business when George Clymer’s land was drawn into lots and put up for sale in December 1805.

Log and stone homes and businesses, schools and churches sprouted in the heart of the town, before and after the March 11, 1816, incorporation as a borough.

County historian Clarence Stephenson wrote that townspeople found entertainment in the traveling circuses that toured through the area in the 1850s and ’60s, including a show by P.T. Barnum’s Grand Colossal Museum and Menagerie, featuring Tom Thumb, on June 20, 1854.

The county fair, the local traveling brass bands, picnicking and dancing figured into spare time activities for folks in Indiana, all while the town remained lined with dirt paths and a few wooden walkways.

Indiana town council “commenced macadamizing Philadelphia Street” in June 1869 to a width of 20 feet in the center of the street between the crossings at McQuaide, Gompers & Co. store and the Indiana House hotel at Sixth Street.

A primitive kind of paving, macadamizing was simply packing a layer of small broken stone on a rounded and well-drained earthen roadbed.

THE PENNSYLVANIA Railroad dominated rail transportation into town from 1866 to 1890. The trains served a stockyard along School Street between Oakland Avenue and Pratt Drive.

More than 80 cars carrying 7,281 sheep, 1,347 hogs, 1,162 cattle, 265 calves and 39 horses left Indiana in August 1886.

Utility service came to town around those times.

Natural gas pipelines were Continued on Page 9

Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016 — 9

Borough has tradition of a vibrant downtown Continued from Page 8 laid in 1871 and extended to Indiana Normal School by 1875. Gas street lights appeared in 1888 on Philadelphia and Church streets; they were lit from dusk to 10 p.m., but not on moonlit nights.

Clymer Water Co. of Indiana incorporated in 1886 and began building pipes and storage tanks the following year.

Electric light posts were erected along Main Street in West Indiana and Philadelphia Street in 1890, the first ones at the railroad station and at 10th, Ninth, Sixth and Fifth streets.

Hotels appeared on Philadelphia and the side streets. The Black Horse Inn, built in 1829, now is home of American Legion Post No. 141 at Philadelphia Street and South Taylor Avenue.

The Indiana House was the largest and was expanded to four stories in 1866.

The Continental Hotel opened in 1865 at Philadelphia and Eighth streets, the site of the future Moore Hotel.

The Kinter House and Union Hotel stood at Philadelphia and Fifth streets. The only one still standing, the Centennial House, opened in 1876 at Sixth and Water streets.

Today, it’s the Brown Hotel.

The banks took root, too.

Peoples Bank began in 1869 and Indiana County Deposit

peared on the stage of the Manos with his friend, magician Bill Neff, in 1938 and 1940.

The Indiana Theater at 637 Philadelphia St. opened in 1924 and hosted vaudeville shows, including the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy show, before being remodeled in 1928. Three floors of office space replaced the balcony and loge seating, and the theater showed only movies when it reopened in 1929. The first commercial station licensed to Indiana, WDAD, went on the air in November 1945 from studios on the third floor of the Indiana Theater building.

TOM PEEL/Gazette

PICTURED, from left, were the Indiana Hobbyist, Classroom Restaurant, Billy Jo Jeans, Larry’s Shoes and Blatt’s Hardware.

Bank was chartered in 1876.

Farmers Bank began in 1876 and built its office in 1894 in the 600 block of Philadelphia Street, where PNC Bank stands now. First National Bank of Indiana also formed in the 1800s and built a marble building that opened in August 1929 at Philadelphia and Sixth streets.

THE SEAT of government modernized. The county dedicated its new courthouse in December 1870 at Philadelphia and Sixth streets, constructed and furnished at a cost of $142,000.

Making Ma aking inng La Lastin astinng ng Me Memories emooriees Sinnce 1912.

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Then a new county jail, the fourth since 1803, was built behind the courthouse in 1888 at almost $51,000.

Records show at least six prisoners were executed in public, hanged in the jailyards, between 1882 and 1913.

West Indiana was merged into Indiana Borough in 1895. The borough built a new town hall on North Seventh Street in 1913.

Entertainment in Indiana shifted to the stage and screen. The first local movie house, Library Hall, opened in 1896 in the 600 block of

Church Street, later the site of R&P Coal Co. headquarters. Thomas Edison’s first talkies were shown there in 1913.

The Palace Skating Rink at Nixon and Carpenter avenues, now the Indiana parking garage site, opened in 1906 and showed moving pictures. The first of many nickelodeons in Indiana, Dreamland, opened near Philadelphia and Carpenter.

Savings and Trust bought the site and built the Midtown Bank building in 1910.

The Wonderland, the Star Theater and the Globe The-

Patrons’ Pat trons’ Mutuall Fire Insur rance Co. Congratulating Indiana Borough on 200 years

ater nickelodeons also appeared on Philadelphia Street but most were phased out when opulent new theaters were built for both stage shows and talking pictures.

The Ritz Theater opened in April 1920 at 548 Philadelphia St. with a 1,200-seat auditorium and was sold in 1935 to Monessen Amusement Co. and renamed the Manos Theater in 1936. Indiana’s first non-commercial radio station broadcast live music programs from the stage of the Ritz from 1930 to 1932; Jimmy Stewart ap-

IT ALSO was during these years that downtown Indiana took shape as a retail shopping center.

At Indiana’s first farmers market, called a curb market, six farmers brought their produce and an estimated 200 women bought everything within a few minutes.

The market was held July 13, 1918, on North Seventh Street.

Participation grew and the market had steady patronage for years, but by 1926 it experienced a decline in business.

There were the department stores. The Bon-Ton opened in 1908. Brody’s Department Store began in 1913. Troutman’s started in 1915. Brody’s Continued on Page 10

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10 — Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

Borough has tradition of a vibrant downtown Continued from Page 9 bought the Star Theater in 1915 and occupied the northeast corner of Philadelphia and Seventh streets.

Bon-Ton moved in 1918 to a threestory building opposite the Moore Hotel.

And the 5&10s followed. G.C. Murphy opened in 1926 and J.G. McCrory announced plans for a store in 1927, but opened in 1936 at Philadelphia and South Seventh streets. McCrory’s boasted in 1937 of being the county’s only air-conditioned store.

At the same time, Murphy’s bought an open Philadelphia Street lot from the Harry White estate and built a two-story building in 1929, then tore down White’s old homestead and built an addition in 1937.

Waxler’s Department Store opened in the 600 block of Philadelphia Street in 1931.

Traffic jammed Indiana. Bus service began in 1924 but town was still crowded. One day in 1930, a traffic count showed 12,861 cars and 1,043 trucks passing through.

The borough adopted angle parking from Fifth to 10th streets in 1925 but reversed it and instituted parallel parking in 1939.

Indiana’s first parking meters went up in July 1940.

And there was more. Montgomery Ward opened in 1938, and Sears, Roebuck and Co. followed in 1941.

Streamline Market introduced a new kind of shopping in 1935 as the town’s first self-serve supermarket, at 824 Philadelphia St., the site of several law offices today. Streamline moved in 1940 to Oakland Avenue and School Street, replacing the

TOM PEEL/Gazette

THE HOUCK HOTEL, on the south side of the 900 block of Philadelphia Street, closed for demolition in 1982.

David Ellis & Son flour mill.

Downtown celebrated the return of soldiers from the first world war in 1919 by building an arch over Philadelphia Street near the Moore Hotel.

The Depression and World War II came along. The Bon-Ton store closed for a time in 1937 because of the economy. Conservation measures including gas rationing forced people from their cars and into buses during the war. The borough turned off half of its electric street lights, and replaced some of the downtown traffic signals with stop signs.

Downtown went silent in May 1945 for services marking the end of World War II in Europe. But the town erupted in August 1945 when Japan surrendered. One of the largest crowds in the history of the

county jammed Philadelphia Street for a victory celebration, and the street was closed from Sixth to Seventh streets.

Another sign of transition: Indiana’s last standing harness shop, the W.A. & E.F. Cost shop on Philadelphia Street, closed in June 1948.

THE POST-WAR years were good for Indiana, with a few cultural changes noted.

Crowds flocked downtown to shop on Saturday nights, but the merchants association put an end to that in 1958 by instead keeping stores open late on Fridays.

Stewart Hardware Store, operated by actor Jimmy Stewart’s father, closed after Alex Stewart died in 1962. A few blocks off Philadelphia Street, the Greiner

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Bakery closed in 1960.

Some other setbacks marred the downtown. The Indiana House hotel was leveled by fire in February 1962, and a blaze killed a patron and destroyed the Moore Hotel in October 1966.

There was a flurry of building activity in the 800 blocks of Philadelphia and Water streets.

Savings & Trust Bank bought the Stewart Hardware site at Philadelphia and South Eighth Streets and built a new branch office in 1970.

The Indiana Evening Gazette, headquartered at 843 Philadelphia St. since 1915, moved to 899 Water St. in November 1970. The Gazette was named a National Blue Ribbon Newspaper in 1973.

The county constructed the new Indiana County Court House at 825 Philadelphia St. and dedicated it in May 1971. When the court offices moved, National Bank of the Commonwealth leased the century-old building and restored it as a financial center.

A new county jail, the fifth in county history, was opened in October 1973 on North Ninth Street.

Indiana Borough constructed a new municipal building and fire station along North Eighth Street and moved there in May 1976.

But perhaps the first sign of things to come appeared in August 1962, when College Park Plaza, later the University Plaza, opened along Wayne Avenue at Hospital Road, just outside Indiana in White Township.

The North Fourth Street Plaza followed.

The Regency Mall along thenRoute 286 southwest of Indiana

opened in 1969. Most telling of the trend was Montgomery Ward, which closed its downtown Indiana store Aug. 23 and opened a new one in Regency Mall on Aug. 27.

Weston’s Shoppers City opened in March 1970 along Route 286 southwest of Indian Springs Road. (ALDI is there today.)

The McCrory 5&10 closed in November 1974.

The Indiana Mall opened in White Township in October 1979 and the transition continued.

J.C. Penney and Sears, Roebuck and Co. closed their downtown stores and became anchors at the mall, along with Kmart and BonTon. Indiana Mall had 56 other stores when it opened.

Then G.C. Murphy closed in May 1982, and a Murphy Mart store opened in the new 422 West Plaza west of Indiana in White Township.

THE DOWNTOWN merchants regrouped and rallied to respond to the changes. The Downtown Indiana Businessmen’s Association was formed in the 1970s and started a tree-planting program. Leonard Abrams headed the revitalization committee.

In 1982, David Naylon chaired the Indiana for the 80s Committee, and Lucy Donnelly was chairwoman of the Greater Indiana Corporation.

The Indiana Façade Committee was formed in 1984 to help spruce up downtown. A consortium called GCM Associates financed the $2.1 million conversion of the vacated Murphy’s store into The Atrium, and completed the project in 1985.

Keystone Rehabilitation Systems, Continued on Page 11

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Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016 — 11

Borough has tradition of a vibrant downtown Continued from Page 10 and owner Tom Zaucha, bought and moved the KRS offices into The Atrium in 1987.

The abandoned Indiana borough building on North Seventh Street was renovated as Old Borough Hall.

Meanwhile, the downtown theaters closed after multiplexes opened in the malls.

Manos Theater closed in 1980 and Indiana Theater followed in November 1982.

Randy Rapach bought both buildings and borrowed from the Indiana County Redevelopment Authority to renovate both properties.

A&P Supermarket closed its store along South Seventh Street in 1982, but Ed Bratton, owner of Steiner’s Market on Philadelphia Street, reopened the A&P as a Giant Eagle store in 1984.

The Indiana-based banks pooled $370,000 in 1985 for business improvement loans. And McCrory’s returned to downtown Indiana in 1985 but closed again in 1991.

Downtown took other hits in those years.

The Houk Hotel was closed for demolition in 1982.

A devastating fire ravaged several businesses in June 1980 in the 700 block of Philadelphia Street.

A fire in April 1986 destroyed four buildings along North Sixth Street and the 500 block of Philadelphia

Street, where Tom’s Pizza Palace was leveled. Tom’s relocated to South Seventh Street and the former site, next to the state liquor store, remains vacant today.

A fire in January 1987 gutted the upper level of Poor Carl’s Tavern and Caleco’s College Pub in the 500 block of Philadelphia Street. Two permanent residents died and more than 40 college student tenants were left homeless.

Waxler’s ended 53 years of business in March 1984, and it was in February 1985 when Troutman’s Department Store closed.

And downtown Indiana’s last landmark retailer, Brody’s Department Store, closed in January 1988, a step seen as a pivotal development of the last generation.

AS THE malls and out-oftown shopping areas attracted many of the mainstay retailers and patrons from Indiana, downtown property owners looked for new niches and developed businesses in response to the available markets.

Bill Beck bought the Brody property and constructed Townplace Victoria, designed by Tom Harley, in place of the oldest building on the corner. Danks, of State College, opened a “junior department store” there in 1991 but closed less than three years later.

Gazette file photo

CUSTOMERS frequented Dean’s Diner in this photo from 1952.

The Intersearch company operated a call center employing hundreds of people for many years in upper-level offices of Townplace Victoria.

Today, Michael B Shoes, The Finery, Campus Corner and CC Intimates occupy the ground floor, and Steel City Samiches and Twisted Jimmy’s tavern hold the North Seventh Street section of the building.

Throughout downtown, the major banks expanded.

National Bank of the Commonwealth became First Commonwealth Bank and developed offices in former retail space in the 600 block of Philadelphia Street, a complex called First Commonwealth Place. S&T Bank built a four-story, corporate

headquarters building at Eighth and Philadelphia streets, and housed its Evergreen Insurance subsidiary at the former Fifth Street branch office.

A fire in October 1999 destroyed the building once housing Card Connection and Mountain Greenery on the northwest corner of Philadelphia and Seventh streets. The new building there includes college student apartments on the second floor, and Gatti Drug Store moved to the corner from its former storefront at Philadelphia and Ninth Streets.

In 2004, broadcaster Tony Renda bought WDAD and WQMU and moved them to the former Gatti building

along with Homer City station WCCS and Blairsville station WLCY. Area nightspots multiplied in size. H.B. Culpeppers took over the adjacent florist shop then added a second floor.

The Coney Island, once with a single entry on Carpenter Avenue, doubled its space when Joe Krahe relocated the True Value Hardware store, then expanded to the building next door and added an upstairs banquet center.

Ben Bruns, owner of Subs n’ Suds, converted the adjacent Victorian-style house to the fine-dining Benjamin’s Restaurant, and more recently added Brunzie’s sports bar facing South Fifth Street.

The Pita Pit in the Rose Building, Insomnia Cookies and Jimmy John’s sandwiches, next to Donatello’s Restaurant in the former Sgro’s Lounge building, have appealed to the nightlife. popular Capital The Restaurant made way for the Classroom Restaurant. Gingerbread Man and Cozumel restaurants later followed in that location. Restaurateurs specializing in a variety of ethnic tastes have created a “melting pot” of downtown dining experiences.

A host of other smaller stores came and went through the 1990s and 2000s.

Outlets such as Caffé Amadeus coffee shop and Lucy Rae store for moms and kids have become downtown

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mainstays and examples of the specialized businesses that have loyal followings.

The downtown promoters also have developed an ongoing activity schedule with a blend of mass appeal and niche attractions, this year including the Fire and Ice Festival, Northern Appalachian Folk Festival, St. Patrick’s Day activities, the IUP Homecoming parade, the Westsylvania Jazz & Blues Festival and the Light-Up Night and “It’s a Wonderful Life” Festival.

As Indiana Borough moves into its third century, here are the some of the 15-plus Philadelphia Street buildings still operating as they did 30 or more years ago: • Subs n’ Suds • Buggey’s Auto Service • Al Patti’s Bar & Grill • Foremost Consumer Discount • Wolfendale’s Pub • First Commonwealth Bank (600 and 601 Philadelphia St.) • PNC Bank • Coney Island Tavern • H.B. Culpeppers Bar • Diamond Drugs • 700 Shop • The Book Nook • One Hour Downtown Cleaners • Luxenberg’s Jewelers • Indiana County Court House • Ninth Street Deli • Christ Episcopal Church • American Legion

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Indiana Boroughâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 13

14 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

Meet some of Indianaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most influential people Compiled by SEAN YODER syoder@indianagazette.net

Following are short bios of some of the most prominent people who lived in and influenced Indiana Borough.

The majority of information comes from Clarence Stephensonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;175th Anniversary History of Indiana County,â&#x20AC;? volumes I and IV, published in 1978 and 1983, respectively.

FERGUS MOORHEAD

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(1742-1822) Moorhead was one of the first settlers in Indiana County. Clarence Stephenson credits Moorhead with staking a claim in 1770 for a future home that would eventually be the site of Indiana Borough.

He scouted the untamed area and aided other settlers in the county with the construction of their shelters.

His brother, Samuel, an Army captain who lived in Westmoreland County, began recruiting men in 1776 for a garrison in Kittanning to fight in the revolution.

When Captain Moorhead became ill, Fergus left for Kittanning to temporarily take command. But he was attacked by Native Americans on his return to Indiana County and his riding companion was slain. The natives left a note and a toma-

hawk â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a supposed declaration of war â&#x20AC;&#x201D; saying that white men had encroached upon their territories on the Ohio and Susquehanna and that they must vacate them immediately, but in reality the Native Americans were sent by the British. Moorhead was taken prisoner.

He was then taken to Quebec and delivered to British forces. He later related his treatment was worse with the British.

The Indiana County settler was held for 11 months in horrid conditions. His clothing was not washed or changed, his hair and beard were never cut and the food was rotten. After a prisoner exchange he set out on foot and foraged for food along the way, finally arriving home in emaciated condition.

He would eventually return to Franklin County with his family, fight in the Revolutionary War and return to Indiana County with his family in about 1781.

SILAS MOORHEAD CLARK (1834-1891) Clark was a Democrat who served as a state Supreme Court justice from 1883 until the time of his death. He is the grandson of Fergus Moorhead.

After a stint in teaching, a young Clark practiced law with William M. Stewart.

SILAS MOORHEAD CLARK Their firm was said to be among the most prominent in town and he argued many cases in front of the state Supreme Court in his career.

In 1869 work began on his Victorian-style mansion at the site of the former Indiana Academy, which had burned down.

The mansion stands to this day at the confluence of School Street, Wayne Avenue and South Sixth Street and is under the care of the Indiana County Historical and Genealogical Society. It was reported the mansion cost $12,000 to construct.

He remained active in education and helped with the establishment of Indiana Normal School.

He was nominated for the Supreme Court but was defeated. He also ran for other posts, like judge of the 10th Judicial District. He served

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on local boards and remained active in Democratic politics. He was also a newspaperman.

In 1882 he was again nominated for the Supreme Court, without his knowledge, and he wrote at the time to a friend that â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had no hope of receiving the nomination, was not thinking of it.â&#x20AC;? Stephenson included several entries from local Republican newspapers who wrote of Clark favorably.

He took Indiana County despite the larger number of Republican voters. Clark stormed the election of 1882 and was massively popular throughout the state. On Dec. 29 he left Indiana to take his seat on the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highest bench.

He was a diabetic and prone to skin diseases. In the summer of 1891, a staph infection appeared on his neck and eventually forced him to return home in November.

He died on Nov. 20.

The town was transformed into a mournersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sanctum upon his death. John Sutton Hall and the courthouse were draped in black, many activities were canceled, and schools and businesses closed. Gov. Robert E. Pattison, Attorney General W.U. Hensel and four Supreme Court justices arrived on special trains for the funeral service.

HENRY L. WHITE HENRY L. WHITE (1834-1920) White was a local and state politician and lawyer who fought in the Civil War and was captured by Confederates. He was a classmate of Silas Clark at Indiana Academy. He was the first chairman of the Indiana County Republican Party, a state senator, delegate-at-large for the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s constitutional convention, a U.S. congressman, county judge and major general in the National Guard. He helped to establish Indiana Normal School.

The Indiana native continued to hold statewide public office while recruiting men for a regiment in the Civil War. He was active in Abraham Lincolnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s election and the president gave White leave from his military duties to attend voting sessions in

the state Senate. After the spring voting session he returned to war and was captured in combat in 1863 and kept a diary during his imprisonment. A surgeon smuggled a letter of resignation to the Senate, delivered

by Whiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father.

He felt it necessary to resign from the post as the Republican Party had lost its one-vote majority, which hampered their ability to approve war-related expenses. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Other and greater interests are involved in this matter than my personal comfort and private inclinations,â&#x20AC;? he wrote from prison in his letter to the Senate. He later escaped and told his story to a joint session of the House and Senate in 1865.

He successfully ran for U.S. Congress in 1876 and served two terms. He tried for a third but was defeated. After his time in Congress he served as a judge and was a business owner and active in local politics. He aspired to the state Supreme Court after Clarkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death but Harrisburg legislators wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have it.

In 1871 he introduced a bill for the establishment of a normal school in Indiana, but resigned as a trustee and withdrew monetary support when the site was chosen on John Suttonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s property. The remaining trustees filed suit Continued on Page 15

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Meet some of Indianaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most influential people Continued from Page 14 against him. Eventually White introduced a bill for a $15,000 appropriation and donated $3,000 of his own money to its construction.

JOHN SUTTON (1814-1877) Sutton was the first president of the board of trustees of Indiana Normal School, which would later evolve into Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He was also a prominent merchant and businessman.

He was also active in local government and financial institutions but was known as a proponent for local education, serving on many boards. In 1870 he chaired meetings that were investigating how to establish a normal school and he purchased the largest subscriptions to its initial stock. He was elected president trustee in 1882 and the school was eventually built on part of his land. The school opened in 1875. Years

later the main building, which still overlooks the Oak Grove at IUP, was named in his honor.

JOHN FISHER (1867-1940) Fisher became governor of Pennsylvania in 1927. He began in education, teaching and working at Indiana Normal School and a small school in South Mahoning Township. He later earned his law degree and became interested in politics. He rose quickly through the local Republican ranks and was elected to the state Senate in 1900 representing the 37th District. He was re-elected in 1904. During his second term he helped to secure a $75,000 appropriation for INS. He made national headlines as chairman of an investigative committee that was probing excessive costs of furnishing the state Capitol building. As a result, 14 people were found guilty in the scheme.

GOV. JOHN FISHER Fisher was an influential leader in the community, serving as a trustee at INS, and was a key player in the founding of Clymer and helped to found and run several businesses.

In 1922, he threw his hat in the ring for governor but withdrew due to the large number of Republican candidates.

He ran again in 1926 when the primaries were marked by a division between east and west. He won the nomination by a slim margin. He easily beat the Democratic

nominee in November. During his term, he was accused of using the state police to aid mining companies in controlling union workers and commissioning coal and mining police for the companiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; benefit.

Fisher was also influential on the national stage as he headed the Pennsylvania delegation that nominated Herbert Hoover. In a controversial move, he appointed Joseph Grundy to the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second U.S. Senate seat.

Gov. Fisher helped to administer huge construction projects such as a 4,000-mile paved highway system, several Harrisburg buildings and McElhaney Hall at IUP. He continued a life of public service and civic and business involvement on his return to Indiana from Harrisburg.

JAMES M. STEWART (1908-1997) Stewart, who grew up north of Philadelphia Street between Ninth and 10th

streets and later on North Seventh Street in Indiana, is the townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most famous native son.

Stewart graduated from Princeton in 1932 with a degree in architecture. While pursuing his masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree, Stewart traveled with the University Players and was eventually offered a few Broadway roles. He credited his role as Sergeant Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hara in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yellow Jackâ&#x20AC;? as the beginning of his serious acting career. His first film was in 1934 for Warner Bros. but it was a flop. In 1935, he signed a contract with MGM. In 1941, he won an Academy Award for best actor for his role in â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Philadelphia Story.â&#x20AC;? The Oscar was displayed in his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hardware store in Indiana for 20 years.

In 1943 he was deployed to England as a B-24 bombardier squadron commander. He logged 20 missions over Europe.

In 1946 he returned to acting for his most famous role

JAMES STEWART as George Bailey in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Wonderful Life.â&#x20AC;? He married Gloria McLean in 1949.

He continued to appear in films throughout the â&#x20AC;&#x2122;50s and â&#x20AC;&#x2122;60s and was at the same time promoted within the Air Force Reserve to brigadier general, eventually retiring in 1968 with a Distinguished Service Cross. His father died in 1961 and his son, Ronald McLean, died in Vietnam in 1969. A month later his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hardware store was demolished. He Continued on Page 16

From the 1930â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s until today.

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16 — Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

SOME OF the participants of the Indiana High School prom in the early 1950s.

Gazette file photo Gazette file photo

A LARGE crowd gathered for an Independence Day parade on July 4, 1952.

Meet some of Indiana’s most influential people Continued from Page 15 made another 15 performances in the ’70s and ’80s.

He continued to accumulate accolades throughout his career, sometimes returning to Indiana for ceremonies. He was nominated for a total of five Academy Awards and received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984.

He appeared in more than 90 films, TV programs and short works. His final film was “An American Tale: Fievel Goes West” in 1991. He died on July 2, 1997.

JAMES NANCE (1942-1992) James Solomon “Big Jim” Nance is Indiana’s greatest athlete, twice leading the American Football League in rushing while playing football for the Boston Patriots.

He graduated from Indiana High in 1961 after winning two state wrestling titles and then enrolled at Syracuse, where he wrestled and played football. He was the heavyweight NCAA wrestling champion in 1963 and 1965.

The fullback went on to play for

the Patriots from 1965 to 1971, where he scored 45 touchdowns, a team record. He played for the Jets in 1973 then two seasons in the World Football League.

He suffered a heart attack and stroke and died on June 16, 1992.

In August 2014, North Fifth Street in Indiana Borough and White Township was named “James Nance Memorial Highway” during a dedication ceremony. His daughter, Rachel Nance Wade, attended the ceremony and said, “My father would be so honored

and humble today. This gesture proves to me that you continue to think of him, too, and are equally proud that he’s an Indiana native.”

His brother Drew still lives in Indiana,

NICK KOVALCHICK (1906-1977) Kovalchick founded the Kovalchick Salvage Co. in 1928. President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally cited him for his achievements in providing scrap metal during World War II. From houses

purchased from the R&P Coal Co. he started his company’s real estate division.

Today the company specializes in buying and selling “railroad rails (both new and used), railroad ties (and landscape ties), track accessories (tie plates, rail anchors, fasteners), frogs and switches” and T-posts, according to its website.

The Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, built about five years ago along Wayne Avenue in White Township, was named for the salvage company.

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Borough boasts a number of historic buildings Indiana Borough is home to several buildings that are included on the National Registry of Historical Places.

Several other locations throughout the county have been added to the list as well.

BREEZEDALE HALL Built: 1868 Added to register: 1979 Also known as SuttonElkin House Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus, Indiana Architect, builder or engineer: Unknown Architectural style: Italianate, Late Victorian Historic person: Judge John P. Elkin Period of significance: 1850-1924 Owner: State Historic function: Education, housing Current function: Education

BUFFALO, ROCHESTER & PITTSBURGH RAILWAY INDIANA PASSENGER STATION Built: 1904 Added to register: 1993 Also known as Indiana Train Station 1125 Philadelphia St., Indiana Architect, builder or engineer: Unknown Architectural Style: Queen

TOM PEEL/Gazette

THE INDIANA ARMORY along Wayne Avenue was built in 1922.

Anne Period of significance: 1900-49 Owner: Private Historic function: Transportation Current function: Vacant

SILAS M. CLARK HOUSE Built: 1870 Added to register: 1978 Also known as Clark Memorial Hall, History House South Sixth Street and Wayne Avenue, Indiana Architect, builder or engi-

neer: Unknown Architectural style: Italian Villa Period of significance: 1850-74, 1900-49 Owner: Historical and Genealogical Society of Indiana County Historic function: Single dwelling Current function: Library, museum

DOWNTOWN INDIANA HISTORIC DISTRICT Added to register: 1993 Roughly bounded by Water, Seventh and Sixth

streets and Wayne Avenue, Indiana Architect, builder or engineer: James Drum, Herbert Conklin Architectural Style: Italianate, Queen Anne, Second Empire Period of significance: 1800-1949 Historic function: Business, city hall, courthouse, financial institutions, dwellings, stores Current function: Businesses, financial institutions, government, recreation, dwellings

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THE SILAS M. Clark House at South Sixth Street and Wayne Avenue was constructed in 1870.

INDIANA ARMORY Built: 1922 Added to register: 1991 621 Wayne Ave., Indiana Architect, builder or engineer: W.G. Wilkins Co., Joseph F. Kuntz Architectural Style: Modern Period of Significance: 1900-49 Owner: State Historic function: Defense

Current function: Museum

INDIANA BOROUGH BUILDING Built: 1912 Added to register: 1983 39 N. Seventh St., Indiana Architect, builder or engineer: Herbert King Conklin, Fred Herlinger Architectural Style: Other Period of significance: Continued on Page 18

18 — Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

Borough boasts a number of historic buildings Continued from Page 17 1900-24 Owner: Private Historic function: Correctional facility, fire station, government office Current function: Commerce/trade

JAMES MITCHELL HOUSE Built: 1825 Added to register: 1978 57 S. Sixth St., Indiana Architect, builder or engineer: Unknown Period of significance: 1850-74 Owner: Private Historic function: Hotel Current function: Vacant

OLD INDIANA COUNTY COURTHOUSE Built: 1870 Added to register: 1974 601 Philadelphia St., Indiana Architect, builder or engineer: James W. Drum Architectural Style: Second Empire Period of Significance: 1850-74 Owner: Local government

Protecting What’s Important

Historic Function: Government Current function: Financial institution

OLD INDIANA COUNTY JAIL Built: 1888 Added to register: 1979 Sixth Street and Nixon Avenue, Indiana Period of significance: 1875-99 Owner: Local government Historic function: Government, correctional facility, government office, dwelling Current function: Financial institution

JOHN SUTTON HALL Built: 1875 Added to register: 1975 Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus, Indiana Architect, builder or engineer: James W. Drum; Haigh, Voris & Gregg Co. Architectural Style: Italianate, other Period of Significance: 1875-99 Owner: State Historic function: Education Current function: College

TOM PEEL/Gazette

THE JAMES Mitchell House along South Sixth Street was built in 1825.

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THIS PHOTO from March 1978 shows demolition of the interior of the old Indiana County Jail behind the former county courthouse along South Sixth Street. The building is now part of the headquarters for First Commonwealth Bank.

Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016 — 19

Indiana’s oldest business, Henry Hall, turns 150

By HEATHER BLAKE

hblake@indianagazette.net

T

hrough 150 years, ownership by just two families and a technological revolution, Henry Hall Office Products has remained in the heart of downtown Indiana, continuing to serve customers near and far.

The “Great-Great-Grandfather of main street” is Indiana’s oldest continuously operated business establishment, technically started in 1857 when Hall, just 9 years old, began the first news agency in the community, selling newspapers, magazines and stationery.

With no telegraph to bring the latest news to Indiana at the time, in 1861 Hall resorted to bringing in Pittsburgh daily papers, collecting them from the train at Torrance.

“So great a desire by everyone to get papers led to almost a riot when the train came to a stand, and Hall arranged with the baggage master to cast the bundles of paper off down the track,” where he picked them up and “scuddled” to a warehouse, then Sutton, Marshall & Stewart — actor Jimmy Stewart’s father’s hardware store — “and arranged the papers for his regular customers,” according to a 1986 Gazette feature written by the late Indiana County historian Clarence Stephenson.

Demand for the newspapers was so high that people would crowd into the store, and eventually “he got kicked out of there because the place was so mobbed that people were knocking things over,” said Jeffrey Tobin, the company’s current owner.

It wasn’t until 1866 that Hall opened his first store on Philadelphia Street between Sixth and Seventh streets.

The business would move around the main street several more times over the years, in 1867, 1870, 1882 and, finally, in 1888 to the 700 block of Philadelphia Street.

It was around that time that a print shop in connection with the store originated, making a specialty of “legal blanks and all kinds of job work,” according to a 1966 Indiana Evening Gazette story.

The old Henry Hall building at 714 Philadelphia St. was razed and a new one constructed in 1941, with the print shop moved to the rear of the establishment. It wouldn’t change locations again until 2000, when it moved two doors east to 708 Philadelphia St. Hall didn’t just sit and wait for customers to enter his store; he regularly attended school board meetings around the county, “in his surrey with fringe on top and

Submitted photo

HENRY HALL started the business in 1857, but it wasn’t until 1866 that he opened a physical location on Philadelphia Street. It is Indiana’s longest continuosly owned business. dapple gray horse,” taking orders for school supplies, according to Gazette archives.

An old printing ledger tucked away in Tobin’s office shows orders for many area businesses and organiza-

tions, including Stewart’s hardware store, Indiana Borough, the library, S&T Bank and Christ Episcopal Church.

And, to this day, the Henry Hall business still holds one of the earliest bank accounts

with S&T. After Hall’s death in 1935, Hall’s nephew Charles H. Russell became manager and later president under the newly formed Henry Hall Inc., according to a 2011 Gazette story. Charles Russell Jr. was named manager and president after his father’s death in 1950.

Henry Hall Inc. was acquired in 1967 by Joseph DeSimone, of Murrysville, while the print shop was purchased by James T. Jones and became an independent business.

DeSimone’s son-in-law, Edwin Tobin, became vice president in 1986 and opened a branch of the business in Blairsville, according to the 2011 Gazette article.

That location has since closed.

Tobin’s son, Jeffrey Tobin, joined the business in 1992 as president of the company, ushering it into an electronic age.

Henry Hall Office Products was one of 175 companies around the world in 1986 that joined Microsoft’s trial of the Merchant Server online shopping center, one of the early tests of secure online business technology, according to the 2011 Gazette article. While Jeffrey Tobin said the shopping center never went anywhere, the company was a beta tester for it.

Henry Hall Office Products went online independently in the mid-1990s with a digital version of its inventory, provided by its wholesalers, and became one of the front-runners in doing online transactions, according to the article.

“We don’t know of anyone that was selling office supplies online before we were,” Jeffrey Tobin said in a recent interview. “We couldn’t find anybody else that was selling stuff.”

In 2000, he moved the business to 708 Philadelphia St., where it shares space with a sister company that he started in 1993, Henry Hall Technical Services.

Merchandise sold during Hall’s ownership differed greatly from the Henry Hall business of today — in the late 1800s and early 1900s, advertisements touted everything from books, stationery and pens to musical goods, toys, glassware, skates and even perfumes.

Today, an online catalog boasts tens of thousands of items for everything from office and maintenance supplies to technology accessories, furniture and business machines.

While most of Henry Hall’s business in the form of supply orders today comes in online, Tobin said, they also take in-person orders for Continued on Page 20

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20 — Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

TOM PEEL/Gazette

HENRY HALL Office Products is located in the 700 block of Philadelphia Street.

Indiana’s oldest business, Henry Hall, turns 150 BUSINESSMAN Jeff Tobin wrote Indiana’s anthem, which was sung at the kickoff celebration.

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Continued from Page 19 Jeffrey Tobin said there’s contract furniture. The something they cannot company most recently out- match — service. fitted 63 offices for Dia“So not only do they get mond Pharmacy Services, the chair, but they get it put and they cater to other local together … we put it where companies and have pro- they want it in the building, vided service to clients in we clean up, we take the Washington, D.C., and near cardboard away,” Tobin Philadelphia, to name a few. said.

When Tobin first took the “They win the place in the company online, “we were mind for pricing … but they doing a ton of business” na- cannot win (in terms of ) tionally, so much so that he taking care of the local servand his wife, ice and that kind Laura, kept a map of stuff.” “with flags and Jeffrey Tobin pushpins all over said they continthe place” to track ue to find ways to their sales. be of value to Tobin said they their customers in don’t touch the ways that chain product themstores “can’t comselves — they get pete.” the order and send One way they it to the manufacdo that now is turer or distributor with their 90JEFF TOBIN to ship out. minute response While the Tobins time for local cusat one time had a great deal tomers with leased business of inventory in-stock in machines. If someone from their basement, “our busi- Henry Hall doesn’t show in ness model has changed a 90 minutes to repair a disgreat deal since 1992” when abled machine, the compait was more retail-based, ny owes the customer $50.

Laura Tobin said, allowing It’s all about “being a local them to cut down on over- servant” to their customers head costs and making the where they get not only the business more efficient. price, but that quality local And even with the emer- service. gence of big-box stores such Laura Tobin said they “are as Staples and Office Depot, proactive” and “look for

ways to improve our customers’ lives.”

It’s becoming “more of a service industry than a product industry,” Jeffrey Tobin said. “(The customers’) problems become our problems,” Laura Tobin said. “We take it personally” and want to make it right.

The Henry Hall business continues to grow, especially in the areas of its office furniture sales and its technical services company through selling and leasing copiers and other business machines, and Jeffrey Tobin has no intention of slowing down.

“It’s such a great way to be involved in the community,” he said. “This allows me to remain involved in the community, and to be with people and to be of service.”

Jeffrey Tobin said he has no plans to retire soon, and that the company most likely will change hands to another owner down the road, as their two children have chosen other paths that don’t include taking over the family business.

But until that day comes, the Tobins will continue catering to their customers’ needs, as has been the ambition for the Henry Hall brand for the last 150 years.

Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016 — 21

BICENTENNIAL KICKOFF CELEBRATION

KEVIN STIFFLER/Gazette

RON MURPHY, who portrayed Fergus Moorhead, greeted Marna Conrad of the Blairsville Underground Railroad History Center during the kickoff celebration.

On March 3, the Indiana Borough Bicentennial Committee kicked off a monthslong celebration with a reception, dinner and entertainment.

A number of elected officials addressed a crowd of more than 300 gathered at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, and attendees enjoyed portrayals by a handful of actors who played some “voices from the past.”

Historical figures who “visited” the crowd were pioneer settlers Fergus and Jane Moorhead (played by Ron Murphy and Valerie Mize); Anthony Hollingsworth, a runaway slave (Sequcoy M. BrownDeShields); Franklin Nupp, a Civil War soldier (Timothy Nupp); Jane Leonard, a founding educator at IUP (Martha Buckley); Pennsylvania Gov. John Fisher (Brady Hogue); and Alexander Stewart, Indiana businessman and father of actor Jimmy Stewart (Andrew Hutchinson).

The dinner was preceded by a reception that featured an art exhibit in the PNC Room at the Kovalchick Complex.

KEVIN STIFFLER/Gazette

QUITE A crowd gathered for the festivities, where Civil War re-enactor Don Becker saluted the American flag prior to the start of the celebration.

KEVIN STIFFLER/Gazette

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22 — Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

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Indiana Borough Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 23

THE WAY WE WERE

Gazette file photo

STUDENTS AT Indiana High School exited the school for a fire drill on Oct. 15, 1950.

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Gazette file photo

A WOMAN dove into the Indian Springs swimming pool on June 22, 1950.

Wee are W arre p proud oud tto o be a p par partt o off tthe he Indiana d ana Commun Community!

India nity!

Gazette file photo

STUDENTS AT the former Keith School enjoyed themselves at a dance at the country club on May 19, 1951.

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24 — Indiana Borough’s Bicentennial Edition, Monday, March 21, 2016

HORSE TROUGH to BA AT TH THTUB.

LIVERY to SHOWROOOM.

BOLD. ,W KDV GHŵQHG WKHP IRU PRUH WKDQ 140 years, since John Michael Kohler WRRN WKDW ŵUVW OHDS DQG ODXQFKHG D plumbing company with a horse trough turned bathtub.

Like our Indiana Borough forefathers, these visionaries understand the importance of innovation and a bold commitment to integrity and quality.

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Four generations later, Kohler remains a family-owned company, still leading the industry in innovation and design. , from Sherman Runyan’s Today o livery-turned-kitchen-and-bath-showroom, we at Lentz proudly showcase John Michael Kohler’s exquisite line

1873 Sheboygan, Wisconsin

1915 Indiana, Pennsylvania

John Michael Kohler launches a plumbing company with a horse trough turned bathtub.

Liveryman Sherman Runyan builds a 60x100 livery barn and residence on Water Street between 5th & 6th Streets.

1919

Runyan Auto Service is formed.

1920

Runyan Auto Service becomes R. M. Motor Co.

1923

Dwight Galbreath takes over interests off R. M. Motor Co. to establish Galbreath Motor Co.

1955

Johnstown automobile dealer, Paul Koch purchases Galbreath Motor Co.

off horse horse-tr troughs-turned-bathtubs ... guess we were just always meant to be here.

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1981

Woodburn Granite Works moves their operation into the building.

1992

Curtis Lentz purchases this historic property – the same building that Sherman Runyan constructed as his livery and residence more than 100 years ago. Today o oda it is home to Lentz Kitchen & Bath.

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