North Sewickley log house near Belton.
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Historically, the first settlers to the North Sewickley area were Ezekial Jones and his wife, Hannah, in 1801. The number of settlers slowly but steadily increased, and a small community along the Connoquenessing Creek was established. In 1837, a post office was opened bearing the township name.
Further west from this early settlement and along the Beaver River, another small community began to take shape. Its name was Belton. Early in the 1800's, the Beaver Division Canal was completed and ran from Rochester to just north of New Castle. Access to the canal and the rich mineral deposits in the area, led to a growing mining industry in and around Belton.
In 1858, the Homewood Iron Furnace was built north of Belton and just south of where the Connoquenessing Creek joins the Beaver River.
The little community of Belton continued to grow as the area developed and more jobs became available. In 1886, Beaver County's first stone quarry opened just south of Belton on the old Ftinkhouser property. On March 3, 1891, the first post office was established with Bidwell Main as the Postmaster. It remained in operation untilJuly 30, 1900, and had only three postmasters, Bidwell Main, John Mederer and Carrie Nimmo.
With the arrival of the post office, the community began to feel a sense of unity, identity and progress. For it is in the year of 1891 that some faithful person started reporting news from Belton to the local newspapers.
The New Castle News carried these items of interest:
· Rev. J. S. Ehrheart preached at Pleasant Valley last Sabbath evening.
· Enon Main, the civil engineer, carries a black eye from the effect of playing baseball.
· Ambrose Price is harvesting this week. He says he can pitch more hay than any other man in the township.
· The new church is being pushed right along and will continue so until finished. We hope the people will all take an interest in this good work and push it ahead.
This is the first mention of a church being built. The property was either bought from or donated by Martha A. Main, who had acquired it from Nicho las Main, Sr., on March 26, 1867.
The next entry of interest was found in the Eliwood Citizen on Friday, June 20, 1894. It was the obituary of Michael Main which contained the following information:
· 91 years old
· born 1803 on the old homestead
· son of Nicholas and Nancy (Nye) Main who were among the first settiers in Western Pennsylvania
· married October 11, 1827 to Miss Jane Wilson
· they had 11 children
· six old friends and neighbors lowered him into the earth: Thog Irwin, Adam Rouzer, Allison Stevens, Andrew Ha.zen, Fredrick Fredrick, William Whistler
· Rev. Ehrheart preached fromJohn 5: 28-29 andJob 7: 1-10
The Weekly Tribune on December 14, 1897 carried an article about Bidwell Main. It said he had recently "arrived home from a hunting expedition in Virginia. He reports game very plenty. He killed three wild turkeys during his trip." In February of 1898, he ran for the Township Office of Assistant Assessor on the Democratic ticket.
The 1898 Beaver Country Business Directory lists the following positions for Belton:
Postmaster - Carrie Nimmo
Justice of the Peace - Israel Lash
Christian Church- Rev.James Moody
General Merchandise - Brown Brothers/James McKim
Stone Contractor -Joseph Grannin
Boat and Shoemaker - WilliamJohnston
Carpenter and Builders - Main (Bidwell?), Ehrheart (Joseph?)
Saw Mill- McQuintin and Barnes
On June 21, 1898, The Weekly Tribune carried this article about Hannah Main: "The flag raising at Belton on last Saturday evening was a very pleasant affair. The people of that place had everything ready to hoist the flag when the crowd gathered. The pole was one hundred feet tall. At eight o'clock, amid the cheers by the crowd, the flag was hoisted by Aunt Hannah Main to the height of eighty-four feet, just a foot for every year of her age, that day being her birthday. It was certainly an incentive to patriotism to see the aged lady flying to the breeze, the ensign of liberty. Robert J. Douthitt, a battle scarred veteran of the gallant 100th regiment, PA Volunteers, was chosen chairman of the meeting. The Belton Drum Corps rendered some excellent music. Addresses were made by Andrew Nye, Rev. James Moody, ex-senator Blatt and H. W. Warnock, after which the ladies of Belton served ice cream and cake, free to everyone there. A note of thanks was tendered the ladies for their kindness. Quite a number of people were present from Ellwood and surrounding country."
For the month of September, 1898, The Ellwood Citizen reports:
· the contract of building the new school house in Glendale district was awarded to Bidwell Main.
· the Belton Drum Corps who made music at the Deemer wedding anniversary Saturday, serenaded before leaving for the Deemer home.
· the infant child of Miss Sadie Campbell was buried at North Sewickley. Rev. James Moody of Belton conducted the services.
Following the year 1898, the newspapers are strangely silent about additional events and developments in Belton. Without such records, we must conclude our historical sketch on Belton and move on to the next little community to develop just two miles north of Belton - Park Gate.
Tourism, land speculation and railroad lines seem to be the main ingredients behind the birth and growth of the community of Park Gate.
While Henry W. Hartman had thoughts of developing the Ellwood City area into a center of industry, Mrs. Sarah Hart, wife of John C. Hart of New Brighton, was speculating the Park Gate area would be another plot of ground to develop. On December 13, 1880, she purchased almost 250 acres at $25.00 per acre. In October, 1884, the Harts sold 40.3 acres of land to the New Brighton and New Castle Railroad for $60.00 per acre. On August 18, 1890, the Beaver and Ellwood Railroad Company purchased 20.5 acres from the Harts at $250.00 per acre. The next sale of land went to Dallas Main. He bought three acres for $400.00 ($133.33 an acre) on November 14, 1891. In 1893, the sale of lots in the community of Park Gate began to take place in earnest. Since the new community was a gateway into Rock Point Park, it became known as Park Gate.
Rock Point Park had opened in 1885 and was located just across the Connoquenessing Creek. Tourists could reach the park by boat first and later by walking over the steel foot bridge. The foot bridge was started in 1898 and completed in the spring of 1899. Also in the spring of 1899, Park Gate opened its own Post Office. The first Postmaster was Thomas J. Rouser, followed by Robert J. McKim. Then, in June of 1899, the first church building was completed and the new congregation was called Park Gate Christian Church and also the Christian Church of Park Gate.
Few entries have been found in the local newspapers concerning the events and happenings in Park Gate. But this one from August 12, 1898 from The Ellwood Citizen seems to sum things up quite well:
· John Williams has completed the stone work on his house.
· The gas engine works has started after three weeks shut down. Mr. Gillespie of Pittsburgh, a practical machinist, is in charge.
· Dick Freese is building a portico to his house.
· Charles Fury who has been at Ravenna, Ohio for a week has returned.
· Park Gate is growing. Marriages and babies are almost daily occurrences.
With very few additional articles to help us trace the continued growth and development of Park Gate as a community, we must turn to church_ records to help us look at the role o faith in the lives of ordinary people.