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.
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I'd love to know you were here. To those placing ads in the guest book, they will be deleted before they are shown unless they are about Klondyke.
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.
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.
