Klondyke
The Community History
This neighborhood is located in the East End
of East Liverpool, Ohio ,along the Ohio River and
bordering the Pennsylvania and West Virginia State lines.
Its borders run from Elizabeth St. east to the state line and from
Pennsylvania Av. Ext. To the Ohio River.
Most of the information that follows was taken from an undated Klondyke reunion program.
The author is unknown.
The area which became known as Klondyke was originally
a large farm. In the 1890's the Sebring brothers recognized
the potential the area had with the nearness of the river,
railroad and highway. So the farmer was approached and sold
the Sebrings 80 acres of land on which to build a pottery.
This pottery was built near the overhead bridge near what became
Dacar Chemical Company. The one drawback was that the streetcar
line did not extend this far at that time and workers objected to
the long walk to and from work. The Sebrings sub-divided the
remaining property into lots which they sold the workers with the
promise of work in the pottery. The land had been bought for one
hundred dollars an acre; but when settlement was made the farmer
received one hundred dollars per lot.
There are two stories told about the naming of the area one is
that the rush to buy lots and build homes reminded people of the
Klondyke Gold Rush, hence the name. The other story is that the
vicinity was still unnamed when the post office was established,
and the government had to have a name. Two were suggested: Pennova
and Klondyke and the latter was chosen.
Schools
With industry moving in, naturally the citizens needed schools
for their children. Neville Institute had been in the area for a
number of years. Land had been donated in 1837 by John Beaver
(or Bever) plus a $2,000.00 endowment fund. A small building that
Beaver had built was used and classes were held starting in 1837.
At that time there were no compulsory school attendance laws.
In 1844 the trustees voted to erect a suitable building and set
aside $4,000.00 for this purpose. The salary of the first
teacher, A.R.Cambell, was $30.00 a month for a term of 5 months.
Neville School(link to picture below) as we know it today
was erected in 1905 and closed in 1968. Many will remember Miss
Maude Baum and Miss Elizabeth Coleman.
As the population grew there was a need for a school on the
opposite side of the railroad tracks. So Klondyke School was
built in 1919 and served this community until 1967. This was the
year when the students of Klondyke were sent to Neville and
Klondyke was closed.
Industries
There were many industries located in Klondyke through the
years the first being the pottery started by the Sebring
Brothers ,the French Pottery Company. Since then many potteries
have operated at or near the same site. They include Bel-Ar,
Smith and Phillips, Johnson, Specialty Porcelain and Dacar
Chemical.
The Hall China Company moved to Klondyke in 1930,from its
downtown East Liverpool location. The company purchased 20 acres
of land from Herman Martin. The streets near the pottery were
named for Mr Martin's children. Anna, Myrtle, Elizabeth, and
Harvey. By 1933, Hall's was in full production, making the
teapots and fine china which made it famous.
Other industries in the area included, Babcock and Wilcox
which was located on Harvey Ave where the Tucker's Junk Yard
building stands. Louthans moved to the Harvey Ave location after
it out grews it's downtown East Liverpool plant. In 1954 it was
purchased by the Ferro Corporation and closed in 1997 when the
company down sized. Louthans produced a variety of ceramic
products, some which where used in the potteries to keep ware
from sticking to the kilns.
National Drawn Steel was begun in Klondyke in 1912. It mostly
made steel coils, mainly steel springs. It was purchased by
Crucible Steel shortly before WWII. During WWII bullet cores were
made there.
There were many other businesses in Klondyke over the years.
There were two barber shops, Eoff's and Thomas and the shop on
Elizabeth St operated by Mr Washington. There was a confectionery
and there were several restaurants.
Many grocery stores have dotted this community over the years.
Daily's which was on the corner of Michigan and Putnam was owned
by my great-great Aunt and Uncle, Flave and Leade Daily. This
store was also known at one time as Cox's Store.There was Hyatt's
,Kidders, Lebmans Cochrans, Rosens, Seevers, Lakos, Nidoffs,
Morgans, Tices, Barcus and perhaps more.
The Water Filtration plant has been here since 1917. My
Grandfather's brother , Lee Burlingame was an employee there.
The hills at the water works were a favorite place when it
snowed. All the kids would gather there to sled ride for hours.
Sometimes some nice adult would build a fire so we could warm our
hands. Sometimes some of the older boys, would
sneak over to Tucker's Junk Yard and get a car hood. We would all
pile on and ride down the hill. This was great for the kids that
didn't have sleds, even though everyone would share.
Post Office
Klondyke had its own post office. It was located near the
overhead bridge by the railroad tracks. The post office was in
Hopkins store. There was a post beside the railroad tracks with
an arm extending out, were the out going mail was hung. As the
train passed the trainman would reach out and grab it. If there
was mail to deliver, he would toss off the bag of incoming mail.
The 2008 Klondyke Wiener Roast was held August 9th. A big thanks goes to
Rita (Morrison) Evans and Russell( Butch )Dray
for all their time and hard work. They made the wiener roast a big success.
It was fun spending time with old and new friends and remembering the good old days.
This was a multi-generational event and another memory to hold dear.
The Klondyke Reunion Boosters are planning a reunion in 2010. They will be holding several fund raisers to help pay for the event. If you would like to make a donation , contact me and I will give you the address of the Klondyke Reunion Boosters. Without donations the reunions will not be able to continue.
Below is a Photo Gallery of Klondyke's Past.
Check it out you just might see someone you know.
Bill Burlingame's all schools webpage |
Klondyke Wiener Roast 2008
Create Your Own
The Morrison Family home burnt to the ground around 11p.m. Aug. 10, 2008. Fortunately nobody was living there or had been for a while.
Pictures of the fire Page 1 |
Pictures of the fire Page 2 |
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If you have any old pictures of Klondyke that you would like
to see added to this page, or a site about Klondyke that you would like me to link to,
Send me an Email and we can make it happen.
Click here to email me Susan Kirbaugh Collins
This page was updated on 08/11/2008.
If you are local, stop by and bring your pictures. I can scan them while you wait and put them online when time permits.
