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Roy Packer was born in Freedom in 1920. In April of 2004 he related to me his early memories of Freedom. His description of Freedom is a history of what Freedom was like during those years. Roy has the ability to create a wonderful word picture when he tells a story. I am sorry that my ability to write is not equal.

The old trolley car line in Beaver County was known as the Beaver Valley Traction Company. They were located half way between Rochester and New Brighton. They had a fenced in area where they kept the trolleys. It was called The Junction Park. It was the hub of the trolley car line. They had a fair ground there were they would hold the Beaver County fair each year. There was a grand stand and a racetrack where they would have horse races. Mr. Anderson of the Cook Anderson lumber company had a team of eight show horses. They were beautiful tan horse similar to a Clydesdale. I believe they were called Petron. He would enter them in the fair for judging each year. The first streetcars in the valley had one set of wheels in the center of the car. This would cause the car to do a lot of balancing. Sometimes when the car was going too fast it would hop off the tracks because of the balancing. Then they would have to stop and everyone would get off until they got it back on the track. They had about eight rows of seats. The back of the seats could be moved from one end to the other. So when the car reached the end of the line. The operator would move the backs the other direction. This way the passengers were always facing forward. The operator stood in the center of the trolley. He had a large round crank that acted as an electrical rheostat. This was used to control the speed of the electric motor. He also had a brake lever. Mr. Snyder was one of the operators. He lived across from the Liberty School. He had a son named Merle.

Duquesne Power Company had a large transmission tower on the West End of Freedom. They had power lines from the tower that was strung across the river to a tower on the other side. At the base of the tower was a large reservoir that we would swim in. We were told not to swim there because they were afraid that some one would get drowned, but we swam there any way.

When I was young we didn't have electric lights in the house. We had gaslights. There were gas lines coming out of the walls. There was a control valve and the gas line was covered with a mantle inside a glass globe. My older brother Howard wired our house for lights about 1926. In those days they ran two separate wires: a black and a white wire. The wires were run between porcelain holders. We just had the house wired for ceiling lights at that time. We did not have electrical plug outlets.

Capt. Riggs was in charge of the River Locks; later it was Capt. Kronk. The Locks Captain lived in one of the dam houses. The other house was for the equipment that operated the dam gate. My Uncle Bert worked as a gatekeeper. The gatekeeper would put up the wickets. When the wickets were up, it created a dam and raised the level of the water. The wickets were similar to boards hinged together. They rested on the bottom of the river when they were down. When the river was low they would raise the wickets one at a time and lock them in place. They would do this from little boats. On the Monaca side of the river, they had what they called bear traps. This would allow the excess water to flow out. On the other side of the wickets, they had locks. The boats could be raised in the locks by pumping water into the locks. At each end of the lock was a gate that would roll back toward the bank when open. The boats would be raised about twelve feet when coming up the river. It would take about half an hour to raise the boat. Then they would open the gate and the boat would go out. Below Pittsburgh was the Emsworth dam, then the Freedom Dam and below that was the Montgomery Dam. The dams were spaced about seven miles apart to keep the river navigable.

There were two barbers in town. Budder Headland's shop was between the bank and the Moose Lodge right across the street from Thompson Drug store. Clayton Carver had his barbershop in the parlor of his house on Third Avenue. Adam Kuhl's tailor shop was between Isley's Ice Cream and the A&P Store. Adam Kuhl was the tailor and his partner was Jake Hetche. Jake would go to Pittsburgh and buy material. Jake Hetchie would sell suits, shirts and pants and things in the front of the store and Adam Kuhl would do tailoring and repair work in the back of the store. Frederick Metzger was down near High Diggers. He was a W.W.I veteran who did jewelry repair. Mails and Powell had a tin roofing shop. They did roof repair, flashing and stove pipes.

Dad Wadsworth operated Dad's Pool & Beer on the corner of Third Avenue and Fifth St. Dad was a friendly robust man. I remember him sitting out on his stoop with a white apron on. I would walk by and say, "Hi, Dad." Everyone would call him Dad. He would say, "Hi, Jimmy" He called everyone Jimmy.

Catrona had a shoe repair shop west of Sixth Street. His son Joe Catrona was a real good football player in high school. I believe he played football in college. His daughter, Mamie Catrona, worked at the A&P in Freedom. Carl Deluca had the other shoe repair shop in Freedom. It was located on Third Avenue next to Dutchman's Run.

Mengel's Nash Garage was at the corner of Sixth Street and Third Avenue. They sold and repaired Nash automobiles. They had an entrance on Third Avenue where you could drive your car up a ramp and park on the second floor. That is where they did repair work. Sonny Yost was the mechanic.

Sam Snead had a grocery store and he would go around door to door taking orders. Then in the afternoon they would deliver what you ordered. We dealt with Sam Snead for groceries We would buy our meats from Sam Balter's butcher shop.

At the corner of Sixth Street and Third Avenue was the Freedom National Bank and Post Office. Across the street on the same side of Third Avenue was Lee B. Cain's law office. Next to that was the Barn and Feed Store. Next to that and west was the Charlie Hetche Home. West of that was Dr. Cloak's brick house. West of that and on the corner of Fifth Street and Third Avenue was a store with apartments.

Back Eight Street, about a half block off Third Avenue was the police and fire station. About once a year the fire department would have a competition with one of the fire departments from a near by city. They would have what they called a water battle. They would have a four to six man hose team competing against the rival city's team. They would draw a line in the center of the street. They would squirt each other with the fire hose. The team that was able to cross the line would win. The hose pressure was so great it would tear their shirts and knock them down. Each team would have one person on the side that would give them directions. The guys on the hose would have to turn their heads so they needed the Captain to give them directions. Sometimes they would squirt the Captain and knock him down. Spukey Catrona and one of the Holsingers worked there. People would come from all over the town to see the water battle. They would go from town to town and compete for championship hose team. Across from the fire station was a large building with a cobble stone front. Adam Kuhl had his house on Eight Street. Hun Fair had a barber shop. Across the street from Adam Kuhl was the IOOF Lodge. Schleiter Monument Works was at the end of Eight Street. Across the street from the monument works was the casket works. On up Eight Street was a lumber mill owned by Charles Haniey. Maurice Glotfelty lived near the Monument Works. He had two pretty daughters. There was a slaughterhouse back past the Monument Works.

I remember there were some large turtles up Dutchmen Run. The Gredels lived near us. They would sometimes bring home a turtle and make turtle soup. Then they would make sewing baskets out of the turtle shells. I remember my brother Richard once brought one home that was as big as a bucket.

My first grade teacher was Mrs. Yugo. Mr. Gross was the janitor. The principal was Raymond Robertson. There was probably some one before him but I don't recall the name. In High School Ada Jackson was the principal. Bill Storer was the coach. Morty Howel, Dick Fruth and Charlotte Walker were teachers. I was in the boys' chorus in high school. We went to the Scottish Rights Cathedral in New Castle to sing. That was the big event of the year for us.

Cora Blackledge, was the juvenile officer, and she threw the fear of God into all the kids. Nothing could frighten kids more than to be told Cora, was after them. A lady we called Black Betty sold numbers, a form of gambling. A black man named "Uncle Charlie" had been a slave. Gypsies lived in a shack on 3rd Ave next to Dad's Pool Hall. Rumors were that they stole boys and sold them. I never walked on that side of the street.

Our old ice man was Vincent Fash, He would deliver ice to your house in a wagon pulled by a horse. He would cover the ice in the back of the wagon with a tarp so it wouldn't melt. When he got to your house he would chip a block of ice the size of your ice box and then carry it with a pair of ice tongs into the house and put it in your ice box. While he was in the house, we would take some of the ice chips from the back of the wagon to suck on. The Ice house was on Eight Ave., near where Elias Mengel had his stable and feed store. Mengel would get a railroad car filled with the Champion Coal, that was the best grade. The hopper would be parked beyond the freight station, and he would pull his wagon under the hopper and load the coal on his wagon and deliver it around town. He had two wagons with beautiful teams of heavy workhorses, the kind you see at fairs. When Elias would have a delivery up on the Freedom hills, he would schedule two loads, using both teams to pull up the hill; leaving one wagon at the bottom, he would then return the teams to get the second load. I would watch as the horses struggled with the load, their feet slipping on the bricks. Elias would beat the horses to make the hill. Horse flies would bite the horse so bad the blood would run and attract more flies. Elias Mengel was a big strong brute of a man.

The first movie theater that I remember in Freedom was between Eight and Ninth Street. In Rochester there were two movies on New York Avenue, the Home and the Colonial theaters. They were strictly westerns. Then later they opened the Majestic on Brighton Avenue and later still they opened the Oriental.

My first ride in a car was in Bill Fraser's Dodge Victory Six. He would come to pick up my sister Helen and take her for a drive and let me go along. It was a deep maroon red color. I remember it had metal louvers on the back windows so when you rolled the widows down the air wouldn't blow in on you. Bill was really proud of that car.

On Memorial Day we would all meet at the school. The High School Band would line up. The Veterans would hand out small American flags to the kids. Then we would all march off to Oak Grove Cemetery. The veterans would lead the march, and the kids and everyone else would fall in behind the band. At the cemetery one of the upper grade boys would recite the Gettysburg Address. They didn't have a sound system, but the boy would stand up on the platform and recite the Gettysburg Address. Then the Veterans would give a speech and fire a salute with their rifles across the veterans' graves. I remember that Fay Tolbert and Bill Zinkham and a few other veterans would be dressed in their W.W.I uniforms with the leg wrappings and all.

We called it the Freedom Day Picnic. It wasn't just a school picnic. Just about everyone in the town would go. They would close the stores, schools and everything. A big stern- wheeled riverboat called the Majestic would anchor at the end of Eight Street in the river. The stern-wheeler had an arm attached to each side of the paddle wheel. Every time the engine moved one of the arms, a puff of smoke would come out of the one stack. When the other arm moved a puff would come out of the other stack. On the upper deck was the steam calliope. The man would sit at the calliope, and every time he pressed a key steam would come out of one of the pipes. So you would hear the music and see the steam at the same time. They would lower a gangplank so you could walk on board. They played the calliope while the people walked on board carrying their picnic baskets. They would play tunes like "Happy Days Are Here Again." You could hear it all over town. When the boat was all loaded, they would paddle wheel down the river to Rock Springs Park. That was near Chester, West Virginia. They had a nice amusement park there. I think they had two roller coasters and all the rides an amusement park would have. We would have a nice day at the park and a picnic lunch and return in the evening. The boat would get back just after dark.

The Pennsylvania RR Station in Freedom.

Freedom's Street Commissioner was Andrew Belingham and his assistant was John Acree. They use to go around in a truck and repair the streets. Freedom had an all Volunteer Fire Department. Sam McCall was the justice of the peace, and A. M. Reed was the constable. He would make arrests and give citations. Rockenstein was the burgess and mayor.

The Oil Works would enter a float in the county parade. They would work on that float for several weeks. Joseph Craig was the president of the Oil Works. Albert Gradel was a foreman for Oil Works distillery. He was a stout man with a thick German accent. Freedom Oil had a bull dog as its trademark. Their motto was, "Let a bulldog guard your engine."

George Fresh had a farm on the West End of Freedom going toward Unionville. His cows would pasture down right next to our back yard on Fifth Avenue. His farm went all the way out to Korman's farm about two miles out. I remember George Fresh would wrap his feet in burlap when he was walking in the snow to keep his feet from freezing. He would deliver milk. My mother would leave the milk can on the porch and George would come by and ladle the milk into our milk can and then put the stopper in the top.

Everyone made jokes about the steep hills in Freedom. I think my dad best described Freedom when he would say, "Freedom would be a wonderful place if some one would just level off all those damn hills."