Eldred WWII museum

Papa’s World – A look at early years to now!

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Way before I was born –

The roaring twenties of my hometown –

ELDRED, PA.

Here is Main Street –

Some of these buildings were still there when I was young.

Some had new store Fronts while others looked as these do.

It has always, I think, had that small-town feel.

I believe this might be even earlier.

Perhaps sometime in the 1800s?

This looks to be late 30s?

Or even 40s?

I recognize many of these stores!

An early picture of Scotty’s Eldred softball team.

Many of these men I knew growing up.

My best friend Bob – his father is lower right side.

I would assume this to be late 40s to mid 50s?

This was in the 1880s –

Our little town experienced yearly spring floods –

Into the summertime.

The Alleghany River ran in the upper center right of this picture.

Heavy rains and snowmelt seemed to always cause flooding.

The Eldred grade and high school!

First grade through twelfth grade.

I went to my first four years here-

And we combined school districts –

With Eldred- Duke Center and Rixford.

A new elementary school was built right across the street from the ball field.

I went to fifth and sixth grade and then was bused 7 or 8 miles to –

The Otto-Eldred High School in the seventh grade.

The old school – built sometime in the 1800s-

Being torn down.

My brother Roger –

Second bottom row from the right-

On the Eldred H.S. basketball team.

I knew many of these guys growing up.

My father – Bob- second from left –

Part owner of the Western Auto-

A supervisor for the South Penn Oil Company.

On the school board, when uniting the three school districts along with the township.

Here is the picture of when in Buffalo –

The Eldred team won the championship!

The Eldred fire department, as I knew it growing up,

I lived just up the street on the opposite side.

There was and still is –

A ten o’clock curfew –

The siren would sound every night, and you had to be home and off the streets!

My Junior year of H.S.

I am second row –

Third from right –

Number 65.

My senior year – I was in a car accident-

And spent 51 days in the hospital.

Not knowing if I would ever walk again.

My older sister, Donna, and her husband, Bill.

She worked for the town.

Bill was the Police chief when I was growing up!

And later became Mayor.

Today, this little town of Eldred, Pa.

It is home to a huge WWII museum.

All in this picture is the building.

Many tour buses make a stop here.

They come from all over the country to see the exhibits!

It is a marvel and a bucket list to see!

I have a lot to smile about!

Growing up here –

I would not trade.

This was home to me for 30 years.

Sherry and I – July 2024 – celebrating our 75th birthday on the beach with our families.

Growing old and aging as healthily as we can.

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PAPA’S WORLD – A LOOK BACK AT THE EARLY YEARS OF WHERE I GREW UP – ELDRED, PA.

Papa’s World – The many folks of the past- Eldred!

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Good day – this blog is my memories-

Growing up in Eldred. Pa.

As a young lad,

I had roller skates before I had a bike!

It was a chore to skate the sidewalk down to Slavins’ auto store and furniture store.

The sidewalks were uneven!

That was as far as I was allowed to go!

Today, this building is the WWII museum.

And to the right and behind it –

Slavin’s auto garage and furniture store.

Back in my youth, this was Frisbee’s insurance building –

And Penn Electric is in the back.

They parked their trucks –

In the lot in the rear.

Today, all that has changed- the two buildings are now connected-

And are in the museum!

I could not skate to the insurance office.

And almost directly across from the insurance office-

Was the Eldred Fire Hall!

I was not allowed to cross Main Street and skate on that side either!

But growing up in such a small town – 800 to 1000 residents-

I knew many of the men and women,

And they knew my parents.

I knew most of these men growing up –

On the far right, bottom row-

Was my buddy Bob – his father Lyle!

This was “SCOTTY’S” softball team.

“SCOTTY’S” was one of the bars in town and a hangout for the men of Eldred, along with Slavin’s!

The Gold Eagle is another one.

I grew up knowing Lyle because of Bob,

And he, in turn, knew my parents.

We would eat and sleep at each other’s houses!

In my Junior year, we started riding to school with Lyle-

And take the bus back home, six or eight miles away.

My father -“FITZ”- second from left –

The tall man in the middle- Don – who was related to Bob-

Had the insurance office and building.

Eddie – second from the right – is to Lyle’s right in the softball picture.

So you can see how small the town was and all the connections.

Here is a picture of the ELDRED HIGH SCHOOL basketball team –

Before the merger with OTTO Township to form OTTO-ELDRED.

Which comprised ELDRED- DUKE CENTER and RIXFORD.

My older brother Roger is second from the right!

He graduated from EHS in 1957.

I knew more than half of these older boys while I was growing up-

And the coach, Joe,

He was my Little League coach and teacher at the school.

Many would be at our house!

Today – my buddy BOB – his wife Pam –

Our neighbor Diane and Sherry, and I.

We still get together after all these years!

Bob and my varsity high school football team when we were juniors!

I am second row, third from right –

Number 65 and Bobby are to my right –

I believe number 83.

He started at end-wide receiver and safety on defense.

I started at left guard and linebacker on defense.

The JV and Freshman are not in this picture.

Memories in pictures of long ago in little ELDRED, Pa.-

And OTTO-ELDRED HIGH SCHOOL!

Papa- Pam – Bob and Sherry.

Thanks for reading my blog –

Papa’s World –

My site- livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

For over TWENTY YEARS-

AGING AS HEALTHY AS WE CAN

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Papa’s World – Eldred – where everyone knew your name.

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Sherry and Pam – Bobby’s wife –

And Bobby was my buddy growing up.

I was born on 5-7-1949 –

and he was born that same year.

We played sports together-

we stayed at each other’s home.

It was a time of youthful experiences-

and I regret none of it!

Sleeping out – roaming the streets after curfew-

When a bit older –

sneaking a beer up on the hill.

Much later – there were four of us –

Jon – Freddy – Bobby and me.

Jon had a small car –

it was I think an NSU PRINZ or something like that.

Up the brooks, we would go –

“COLT 45 QUARTS!”

Also the hollows and Indian Creek.

Those are special memories.

Papa – Bob and Pam.

We did not smoke –

had a couple beers but was not in any trouble –

mostly away from everyone.

Sports – and a man called Bud –

a father of one of our buddies – Mike –

Formed a group called THE EXPLORERS –

sort of a step beyond the Boy Scouts.

We took canoe trips down the Alleghany River-

Went to a Steelers game in Pittsburg, Pa.

We organized the first public dances at the Boros Tennis Courts.

The money we earned paid for our camping trips –

and other trips we went on.

At one time we had around twenty members.

Growing up in a small town –

everyone knew your name and parents.

And I can remember “PARTY LINES”!

That was a long time ago!

This was the era of black and white TVs.

And you got three channels –

ABC – CBS and NBC!

And you got up off the couch to change the channel!

A time of TV antennas.

My father came home one day –

and said we would have COLOR TV!

And he put this clear plastic thing on the screen –

it was a band of green across the bottom-

A band of light blue across the top –

and a band of red-yellow in the middle!

That was our colored TV! LOL

Seeing the World when I was young –

I thought ELDRED was it!

The youthful eyes of innocence.

My parents would take us to the OLEAN MOOSE on Friday nights!

My mother was Catholic-

and NO MEAT on Fridays.

We would go to the Olean Moose for their BEER BATTERED FISH FRYS!

And – if we had been on good behavior –

they would let us walk to the movie theater-

to see a movie;

I remember seeing OLD YELLER there!

Growing up when young on the streets of Eldred Pa.

The dinner – Slavin’s Bar and Grill – Scotties and the Gold Eagle.

So many memories to be told in another blog.

1800’s dirt main street in my hometown of Eldred, Pa.

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Papa’s World – in this little town – Eldred Pa. – is a big WWII museum – tours stop all the time.

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Main Street – just above the white truck to the left – is a brick-red building – with a huge Army Tank coming out the side – this is the ELDRED WWII MUSEUM!

When I was growing up – this was Fisbees Insurance and the Electric Company in the Cellar –

and right next to it was Slavin’s Furniture store and gas station.

I would roller skate down to the bays and Jack would sometimes buy me a glass coke out of the machine that stood there between the bays.

I do not remember his last name – but he was a really nice man and lived in Bullis Mills.

We also would come down here and ask for old cardboard boxes –

they all had a heavy layer of wax on them and were perfect for grass riding down the hill opposite of our front porch.

WWII MUSEUM

Today – both buildings are joined and form this fantastic museum – dedicated to WWII

and the munitions plant that made explosives for the war.

It has a full-size ARMY TANK that looks like it is busting right out the wall of the side of the building!

My stepfather – John Soules – who was decorated FIVE times with Purple Hearts and Bronze Stars

Once gave me a revolver he was given permission to bring back to the states

He had all the signed documents from the government –

Before he passed away – he asked for it back so he could donate it here!

A few years ago – I walked down and asked to see it once again.

They had it in a safe – and was told it was worth 30 to 40 thousand dollars!

He took that handheld automatic machine pistol off a NAZI OFFICER he had captured who was dressed as a civilian trying to escape.

I was told this pistol was not from WWII but from WWI and was very rare –

one of the first automatic machine guns ever manufactured by the Germans for WWI!

I got to once again hold it!

A reenactment of women working at the munitions plant outside Eldred during WWII is part of the museum.

As you walk through you come upon room after room of scenes such as this.

This MUSEUM is like something you would find in Washinton DC. yet it is here in the very small town

of ELDRED PA. in the mountains of the ALLEGHANY FOREST in WPA!

I do not know the full story of why it is here – but I do know before the PANDEMIC

regular busloads of people would stop every day.

It sits on North Main Street right across from the old fire hall.

A must-see!

Thanks for reading PAPA’SWORLD

Memories of my life growing up in a small town in NWPA called ELDRED!

WHERE EVERYONE KNEW YOUR NAME – the ’50’s ’60’s and ’70’s.

MY SITE: PAPA’S WORLD

MY BLOG: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

MY CONTACT: fitztdf@aol.com

Papa’s World – When little – riding my bike – Eldred, Pa.

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Here is the birds-eye view of the town I grew up in – Little Eldred, Pa. in the enchanted mountains –

Of NWPA – along the Alleghany River.

In the far distance is the border of NYS and NWPA!

When early in my life –

I learned to ride my Red Flyer – from the Western Auto – on these streets.

Before that – I would roller skate to the Slavin’s garage/furniture store!

Here is that garage today – turned into one of the finest small-town WWII museums you will find!

Back in my early days – the bays of the garage – on the second bay in front of the brick wall –

sat a coke machine.

Jack – who worked there – sometimes bought me a glass of Coke pop from that machine!

My parents would never let me skate beyond this garage – and I would race back and forth –

from my North Main Street home – all the way up to the Eldred sawmill –

which made Louisville Slugger Baseball bats!

This above was the Frisbee Insurance office – Don owned it and would send me a birthday card

every year as it was his birthday also.

In the back was the Penn Electric office where a parking area for their trucks to fix electric lines.

This has all become connected to the furniture store and is part of the WWII museum-

and on the side toward the town – a full-size Army Tank from WWII – bursts through the wall.

Many tour buses make this a must-stop – bringing our little town on the map!

I spent my entire youth here- until I was thirty years old before moving on.

Riding my bike daily to the ballpark – thinking back now – I wonder what happened to that bike?

It was and still is a small – Mayberry type town –

You know everyone and they know you!

Up Barden Brook just outside town – is where the entire family I grew up with is buried.

Just past the first tombstones on the right – my father mother and younger brother now rest.

Along with my mother’s sister and her family.

On the left side is my older brother – his wife – my sister – her husband and two of their children.

Their third child and my niece still live in their house –

and my great niece –

her son now is in the service

and she lives in the house I grew up in.

My other great niece-

and her family lives in Portville.

My two sons still live in the area and nearby.

I also have aunts – uncles, and cousins who are buried here,

and a sister I never knew –

who died at birth five years before me-

is somewhere at the top of the cemetery buried.

It was never talked about

and I found out through my brother before he passed away.

I was raised a couple houses before that tall pine tree at the top of the picture and after H.S. –

I rented an apartment in the tall brick building next to the post office where the flag flies –

above the Western Auto for five years.

This is the main street of Eldred, Pa. where I roamed as a child.

SMALL TOWN USA – I skated and rode a bike here in my early youth.

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PAPA’S WORLD – LIVINGLIFEDOINGITMYWAY.BLOG – WHEN LITTLE – RIDING MY BIKE – ELDRED, PA.

Papa’s World – Raised in a little town – Eldred, Pa.

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In a valley with a river – The Alleghany – railroad tracks and a main road – sits a little town –

800 to 1000 souls. Been around for a couple hundred years.

The main street is perhaps a mile long – with side streets and one that goes away and through the hills

known as Barden Brook- you can go for miles on that road into the hills and countryside.

Situated maybe 4 or 5 miles to the NYS border and over the hill fourteen miles away in Bradford-

home to Pennsoil-Kendall and nearby Quakerstate.

Here the oil boom in the 1800s fueled the rich along with oil derricks.
To the NW beyond the NYS lines are Portville Olean and Alleghany.

Here below is an early picture of my hometown in the 1800s – ELDRED, PA.

Dirt street on the main street and up on the far left – many years after this picture was taken and the streets were paved – is where I was raised.

The house is not in this picture but many buildings here I remember and some are still there!

The trees up there were huge as I was growing up!

The wooden sidewalks were replaced with concrete and I would rollerskate on them.

Growing up on North Main Street – we had a lot of kids there back then and would play –

KICK THE CAN! I knew them all and we would walk to school at the other end of the main street.

We had a bowling alley – a Theater – a grocery store – a gas station – a ballpark with lights –

and tennis and basketball courts.

A barbershop – a tastee-freeze, A doctor and a dentist’s office as well as the Odd Fellows.

A fire department – a H.S. and elementary combined.

A furniture store and several other stores that sold clothes and other things.

A drugstore and bank and many bars and a diner!

You knew everyone and they knew you!

We had a ten o’clock curfew – I think it is still that way today!

We would sled ride on the hills in winter – and in summer pick blueberries.

Sleeping outside on porches – playing tackle football at the park –

watching the baseball teams play and the Town Team.

I think it was like Mayberry and Stand By Me all wrapped up in one!

Today – a lot of that way of life is gone along with the stores – bowling alleys – theaters –

There still is a bank – and an elementary school and the ballpark is still there.

What is now there is a WWII museum – a huge one that tour buses come to see!

This is but a small fraction of what it is today – a tank bursting out the wall of the original building-

Beyond this are multiple areas and buildings – all hosing WWII artifacts and history –

This little town is big in the eyes of this museum.

Worth a trip to just tour it!

This was “MY TOWN” growing up!

Small town – small population – but BIG in what is offered here in the WWII Museum!

Thanks for reading PAPA’S WORLD – my site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

Papa’s World – My schools growing up in Eldred, Pa.

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This is the school I attended until fourth grade in a little town just South of the New York State border

in Eldred, PA. In the midst of the Alleghany Mountains and the Alleghany River.

It was a small town – perhaps 1000 people – most I knew and most knew me.

This at that time was grade 1 thru 12 – made of wood constructed sometime in the 1800’s I believe.

The windows in the front first floor where I attended first grade – and those trees were huge when I was there.

It was then that three towns and the township combined to form the Otto-Eldred school district –

a new elementary school was built and I attended fifth and sixth grade there.

The new elementary school – right across from the ballpark – tennis courts and playgrounds,

I rode my bike to every day during the summer.

The school is still there to this day – 60-plus years later and looks much as it does here.

Here is the town as it looked during the Hurricane of 1972 which became known in our area as the FLOOD OF ’72!

Twelve feet of water on the main street – we were trapped in the area for almost two weeks as no way in or out.

The little town is also known for its WWII museum – and has bus tours – put it on your bucket list as something to see out of the way in a little town where everyone knows your name.

Otto-Eldred High School – located in Duke Center some 7 or 8 miles away.

Today – the population is way down – we had over 100 kids when I graduated in our senior class of 1967.

Today I believe there is far less than that in the senior class.

But my four years here are full of memories – childhood friends some of whom I still see and are in contact with.

Thank you for reading PAPA’S WORLD – my site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

IN THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS in the valley sits a little town called Eldred, Pa.

MY SCHOOLS GROWING UP IN ELDRED, PA. PAOA’S WORLD livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

Papa’s World – honoring those who have served past and present – Memorial day.

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My stepfather John Soules

My own father passed away when I was nineteen years old – ten years later – my mother remarried

and John Soules Jr. became my stepdad.

I knew he was in the war – but he never talked about where or what he had done.

I knew he had been wounded – but I did not know how serious.

I knew he captured a German SS officer out of uniform in a castle.

But I never knew about all the meadals.

After my mother passed away – I came across this write-up of him in her box of memories.

I was once told by a friend if the family named SKEET –

“You know your stepdad is a real-life war hero”!

After reading this I understood what he was talking about.

Thank you John “Jr” – for what you did – RIP. A true WWII hero.

Sherry’s mother and father – Barb and Bill.

He became like an older brother -father to me after we were married.

He made me promise to never tell anyone what he told me about the war.

So – I have not said much of anything except what he said I could.

One story was about him and several men in fox holes in the darkest hours of the night.

It was very cold and snow on the ground.

They could see movement across the span of white snow.

They were scared and thought the Germans were going to creep upon them.

They spent all night watching and waiting – barely breathing and so cold.

Any moment they expected an attack and were so scared.

In the dawn, they could now see what they thought were German soldiers

was leaflets that had been dropped from planes on the ground.

Some had been caught on bushes and were fluttering in the breeze.

This was a story he said I could tell and later it was funny to him and the other men.

But for that period in the night – it was hell waiting.

William “Bill” Overbeck

In the end, he was in Berlin and was a driver for a general.

He told of going to a movie theater and watching newsreels.

I wish I could say more but he made me promise so I will honor that

as I honor another WWII hero.

Thank you Bill for your service and RIP.

You have my word.

Our decorations to honor all who have served this country
Thank you for reading Papa’s World – livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

Honoring those that have served – past and present – on Memorial day.