Prosperous and thriving borough that it is, with its enormous manufacturing plants which produce millions of dollars’ worth of products and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in salaries, yearly, with its well stocked stores and its modern homes, Ellwood City, located within the limits of Wayne Township, has a history which dates back less than a score of years. It is the home of such plants as those of the American Steel Car Forge Company, Glen Manufacturing Company, Ellwood Foundry Company, Standard Engineering Company, National Tube Company, Ellwood City Glass Company, Ellwood Brick and Limestone Company, Standard Tube Company, the Tindel-Morris Company, the Oarlock Packing Company, the National Supply and Construction Company and the Ellwood Lumber Company.

The American Steel Car Forge. Company is the outgrowth of a business begun in 1894 under the name and style of the Baker Forge Company, which was organized for the purpose of manufacturing wagon hardware. The plant occupies seven and one-half acres of land and gives employment to about 700 men. Its officers are J. M. Hanson, president; C. W. Wright, secretary; T. A. Gillespie, treasurer, and C. A. Martin, general manager.

The Standard Tube Company, the largest seamless tube plant in the world, was originally conducted as a stock company, with R. C. Steifel as president and general manager; the stock was owned by R. C. Steifel, J. H. Micholson and C. E. Pope. It was conducted as an independent concern until 1901, when it was purchased by the National Tube Company, and shortly afterwards incorporated as a part of the United States Steel Corporation. The various seamless tube manufacturing plants are operated under the Shelby Steel Tube Company, with general offices in Pittsburg. The Ellwood City plant covers nine acres and has a capacity of 350 tons per day, employing 2,200 men. Its capital stock is $600,000.

The Elmwood Brick and Limestone Company is successor to the Ellwood Brick Company, Limited, which was organized in May, 1892, and was one of the first plants of any consequence in the borough. J.M. Montgomery is president, and T. J. Fulmer, secretary and treasurer. It is capitalized at $30,000.

The Glen Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of gray iron castings, derrick fittings, wire fencing, builders’ iron work, etc., originated in 1902, and started in business in January, 1903. It bought out the Hartman Manufacturing Company, which was established in Ellwood City in 1892. H. S. Blatt serves as president, and A. M. Jones as secretary and treasurer of this company, which is capitalized at $100,000.

The Standard Engineering Company, employing about 250 men, is engaged in the manufacture of rolling and tube mill machinery, pipe threading machines, sand rolls and high grade gray iron castings, up to thirty tons weight. It is capitalized at $3,000,000, and its officers are C. D. Coban, president, and H. M. Criswell, secretary and treasurer. The plant was erected in 1902.

The plant of the Tindel-Morris Company in. Ellwood City was erected in 1895, and incorporated in 1898. It had its inception in 1862 as the Frankfort Steel Company, a plant having been established at that date in Frankfort, Pennsylvania.

The name was later changed to the Frankfort Steel and Forge Company, and in 1895 the factory was moved to Ellwood City, where it covers two acres of ground. Two hundred men are employed in the manufacture of machine tools, gas and steam engines, and automobiles. The officers of the company are Adam Tindel, president; L. G. Morris, vice-president; L. W. Gruber, secretary, and G. B. Reed, assistant vice-president and manager.

The Ellwood City Glass Company, with capital stock at $60,000, in 1905 grew out of the re-organization of the Clark Bros. Glass Company, which was established in 1892 by Harry Northwood. It manufactures a high grade of blown tumblers and employs about 210 men. Charles Runyon is president and treasurer, and W. M. Gertman, secretary.

The Oarlock Packing Company, with main office and factory at Elmira, N. Y., operates a plant in Ellwood City, as well as in most of the largest cities of the United States. They are patentees and manufacturers of the Oarlock fibrous and Pitt metal packings, their product reaching the markets of all the civilized world. This company has been in operation in Ellwood City since 1905, when it leased the plant of the Pitt Manufacturing Company, which had been organized and was operated by Pittsburg capitalists. The Oarlock Packing Company was incorporated in 1905 with O. J. Garlock as president; F.W. Griffith, vice-president and treasurer, and J. H. L. Galagher, secretary. E. T. R. Holt is superintendent of the Ellwood plant.

Zeigler & Lambert, manufacturers of carriages and wagons, making a specialty of delivery wagons, established a factory in Ellwood City in 1907, and conducts a thriving business.

The Ellwood Lumber Company, with principal office and yard at Ellwood City, was incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania, May 21, 1904, and has a capital stock of $100,000, although it was in operation many years prior to that date. It operates branches at Aliquippa and Ambridge, Pa., having a large planing mill at the latter point. The officers of the company are W. J. McKim, president; Thomas L. Haines, vice-president, and John F. Haines, secretary, treasurer and general manager.

The National Supply and Construction Company, which is engaged in general contracting, the lumber and planing mill business, was organized in 1906, and has a cap ital stock of $50,000. Its officers are Albert C. Frey, president; B. F. Boss, vice-president, and B. F. Mosher, secretary and treasurer.

Ellwood City boasts of two banking institutions which class with the leading financial institutions of Lawrence County, the First National and the People’s National Bank. The First National Bank of Ellwood City was organized in 1892, and has a capital stock of $100,000; its officers are John A. Gelbach, president; H. S. Blatt, vice-president, and W. J. McKim, cashier. The People’s National Bank was organized May 9, 1907, and is capitalized at $50,000. Its officers are C. A. Martin, president; J. E. VanGorder, vice-president, and J. E. Cobler, cashier.

The borough is well provided with good substantial public service companies, particularly the Ellwood Water Company and the Manufacturers’ Light and Heat Company. It has two newspapers of a high order, namely: The Ellwood Citizen and the Ellwood Eagle and Motor.

The affairs of the borough are efficiently administered by the following officers: John H. Hassler, burgess; John A. Gelbach, treasurer; William McElroy, clerk; Captain Moon, chief of police; H. R. Johnson, chief of the fire department; George Cron, high constable; Jacob Bair, tax collector, and Matthew Strohecker, road commissioner. The council consists of the following: Dr. Silas Stevenson, president; James Lenigen, E. J. Hazen, Henry W. Dambach, M. P. McCarthy, W. J. Krok and Dr. P. C. Vosler. The school board is made up of the following citizens: Joseph Humphrey, president; George Dambach, Dr. C. M. Iseman, B. U. Brown, secretary; Charles E. Whistler and William Kearns. The following constitute the Board of Health: Rev. A. B. Lentz, president; Dr. S. S. Davidson, Dr. P. P. Cunningham, John Scheidamantle, Howard McCliman and John McKim. B. A. Todd has been postmaster of the borough since 1901, when he was appointed by William McKinley, president; he was re-appointed by President Roosevelt in 1905.

The following are the officers of the Ellwood City Board of Trade: Charles E. Whistler, president; A. M. Jones, vice-president; D. J. Mulcahy, secretary, and A. C. Frey, treasurer. Its board of directors includes Charles E. Whistler, Matthew A. Riley, A. C. Frey, H. S. Blatt and J. A. Gelbach.

The moral tone of a community is ever reflected by the number and conditions of its churches and benevolent societies. Both of these agencies for the accomplishment of good are numerically strong in Ellwood City, and the individual bodies in a prosperous and healthy condition. Following are the churches in the borough, together with the names of the pastors: Baptist, Rev. U. M. Davis; Catholic, Rev. Father Hisson; Christian, Rev. F. L. Taylor; Free Methodist, Rev. J. T. Barkas; German Lutheran, Rev. A. P. Lentz; Lutheran, Rev. A. P. Lentz; Methodist, Rev. A. Benton; Reformed, Rev. A. K. Kline; Presbyterian, Rev. Rendall; United Presbyterian, Rev. J. A. McDonald.

The following are the fraternal societies of Ellwood City: Masons, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows (two lodges), Knights of the Golden Eagle, Knights and Ladies of Honor, German Beneficial Union, Uniformed Rank, Knights of the Maccabees, Ladies of the Maccabees, Protective Home Circle and Sons of Veterans.