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Do you remember?.....
Farrell city park,
The haunted house behind John Hetra school,
The white face diary,
Jerry's candy store,
The 5 and 10 downtown,
More to come
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A Short History of
my Hometown Farrell, Pennsylvania
Hello and Welcome to my home
town page. This is where I was born and lived until I moved to Southern
California. My home town is Farrell which is in the Shenango Valley of
Western Pennsylvania right off of route 80. It is about 70 miles north of
Pittsburgh and about 70 miles south east of Cleveland. Farrell(known as
South Sharon back then) started as a tract of land that was, at that time,
Hickory Township -nestled between Sharon and Wheatland-that had a large
bottom land (river and swamp). Frank Buhl started the Sharon Steel Company
and was sold to Carnegie Steel two or three years later(1902). With the
influx of millworkers of various ethnic backgrounds, many churches and
corner bars were built. No wonder years later, Ripley's "Believe It Or
Not" listed Farrell at having more churches and beer gardens than any city
its size in the country! In 1912 the people of South Sharon decided to
incorporate and change its name to Farrell, after the president of United
States Steel Corporation J.A.Farrell. Named the Carnegie Works, Sharon
Steel, Roemer Steel and Caparo Steel, the works supported nearly 20,000
during World War II before shrinking to barely 6,000 today. For a number
of generations the steel works was, and still is, known as "the mill".
This hill town on the steep, eastern slope of the Shenango Valley was
sulphurous, smoky gray and gritty(its banner of industrial prosperity).
The town's pulse was literally the constant rumble (and startling blasts
of trapped gases!) from giant whitehot billets of steel being flattened in
the rolling mill . At night the skies had an amber glow from the dumping
of red hot slag. Today the skies are blue, the air is clear, and the
complex of sad smoke stacks and blast furnaces in the valley are but
ghostly silhouettes. The mill is almost closed employing only a few
hundred and the downtown is in a rebuilding mode trying to attract new
business. Farrell has always been known as a great sports town with many
state titles in basketball and volleyball.
Farrell is located in the Shenango Valley which is
known for the Worlds Largest Shoe Store (Ryers), The Worlds Best Chicken
Wings(Quaker Steak & Lube), The America's Only Free Golf Course, The
Vocalists Hall of Fame and the inventer of the Club, (anti thief device)
and his outlet store The Winner.
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A Guide to
Translating The Western Pennsylvania Language
Arn - the
appliance that you use to press clothes, or the first name of a certain
Pittsburgh ale, as a Arn City.
Babushka - scarf.
Beer Garden -
Bar.
Bumbershoot - umbrella.
City chicken - pieces of pork.
Chipped-chopped ham - finely sliced boiled ham, unheard of in other
parts of the U.S.
Chit-chat - conversation.
Clothes cupboard -
closet.
Dinge - a small dent.
Gum bands - rubber bands
Grinny
- a ground squirrel or chipmunk.
Iggle - our national bird.
Jaggerbush - a thorn bush of any kind.
Jumbo -bologna.
Mill -
either where you used to work before it closed, or what you eat at lunch
or dinner.
Nebby - nosy.
Onion snow - a light snow in early
spring.
Peep - a baby chicken.
Pop - a soda , as in 7up or pepsi.
Red up - to clean quickly.
Sammich - something that is made up of
two slices of bread with meat or cheese.
Stillers - Pittsburgh's
football team.
Some thing the cat drug in - a non-complimentary
description of someone who is dirty or disheveled, used with the
introduction, "you look like....."
Yunz - you, you guys, you all.
"what da yunz want to do?...."
note: It is also necessary to learn
to slur words together, thus mashing consonants and vowels into one strong
sound. Practice by learning to say,"Jeet jet? No , Jew?" That means, "Did
you eat yet? no, Did you?
Here are a few excerpters from " My Short Sayings Dictionary" By
Tony Liscio
Note Meaning follows=
' I wouldn't trust him any farther
than I could throw him' = He is not to be trusted.
'Your Doggone right'
= Your absolutely correct.
"He's a bad apple' = He has a bad
attitude.
'This thing is like a slow boat to china' =the car is very
slow.
'She is the cats meow'= She is a beautiful person.
'She was as
good as gold'= She was well behaved.
'He has a Jalopy' = His car
doesn't run well or look good.
'He's a Happy Go Lucky Guy'= He doesn't
worry about
anything.
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You know you're
from Pennsylvania if...
"Hey Yunz Guyz" is your traditional
greeting.
You know the time and location of every Wing Night in a 10
mile radius.
You only own three spices: salt, pepper, ketchup.
You
design your Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
You eat out at
least once a week at an Italian owned pizza parlor.
You have 10
favorite recipes for venison.
Driving is better in the winter because
the potholes are filled with snow.
You think sexy lingerie is tube
socks and a flannel nightie.
You owe more money on your snowmobile than
your car.
Your father has worked for the same company for over 20
years.
The local paper covers National and International headlines on
1/4 page but requires six pages for sports.
You think the start of deer
hunting is a National Holiday.
You head south to go to your
cottage.
You know which leaves make good toilet paper.
You find 20
deg. F "a little" chilly.
The trunk of your car doubles as a deep
freezer.
You know the four seasons: Winter, Still Winter, Almost
Winter, and Construction.
You have 101 favorite recipes for kolbassi
and saurkraut.
You still have pork and sauerkraut on New Years
day.
You don't understand how anyone could watch a football game
without either halupki, halushki, or kielbosa.
You remember fondly days
of youth known as "Snow Days".
You don't understand why all sports
commentators don't sound more like Cope.
You think only God has the
proper resume to take over after Joe Paterno leaves Penn State.
Words
like: gumband; buggy; hoagie; chipped ham; and pop actually mean something
to you.
You can use the phrase "Firehall Wedding" and not even bat an
eye.
Your grandmother, of any nationality, wears a babushka.
Plaid
gives you Catholic school flash backs.
You can easily spell and
pronounce last names like Wojciechowsky and Ricigliano.
You don't
think a stripping hole is an adult club.
You don't understand what all
the hype is about for Rolling Rock beer, You've been drinking it for
years.
People wonder why you'd bet dollars to donuts on anything.
You're the only person on your street that "straightens the house"
before guests come over.
You're the only person on your street that
"reds up the house" before guests come over.
You can dodge potholes at
55 m. p. h.
You get misty-eyed when you see Mrs. T's pierogies in the
frozen food aisle.
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These links are
from the Mercer County.
Farrell Area School District
Farrell Area School District Alumni Archives
Farrell History
To celebrate our city's centennial year (1901 - 2001) the Pedas family has assembled an excellent history of Farrell,Farrell Schools,FASD Teachers,Administrators and FASD Alumni from 1904 to the present.
Farrell Census Data
Shenango Valley Chanber of Commerce
Shenango Valley Message Board
American Dialects/Pennsylvania language
An organization dedicated to the study of regional American speech with information and links dealing with regional English. More pennsylvania dialect pages are listed.
Interactive Shenango Valley Maps
Mercer County History
Make sure and read the, "Remarks
and General Observations on Mercer County, Pennsylvania" by B. Stokely,
reportedly "the first actual resident settler in the county."
Mercer County Convention & Visitors Bureau
Information on and links to
the Mercer County and Shenango Valley.
Mercer County Home Page
More information on and links to
the Mercer County and Shenango Valley.
PennOhio Community Net
Information, Yellow Pages, White pages, and Listings from the PennOhio
area.
Other Links
Magnotto's Shop N Save
Aileen Magnotto's Recipes of the month
Kraynaks home and garden showplace
Best Wings
USA/Quaker Steak & Lube
The local hot spot with "hot wings and
cold beer". Every wed. night is bike nite.
Y103 WYFM
The local
Classic Rock radio station.
The Herald, Sharon,
Pa.
The local newspaper.
Mrs. T's Pierogies - Fun Filled
Pasta Pockets®
Information on and Recipes for perogy.
Pierogie Plus
Pierogies are prepared in the eastern European tradition by real eastern Europeans
in McKees Rocks and is widely known throughout Pittsburgh.
Pierogi Palace
The Pierogi Palace is located inside the West Side Market in Cleveland, Ohio.
PA State Association of County Fairs
Information on and Links to the county fairs in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Festivals
Pennsylvania Flee Markets
Other Pennsylvania-related Sites:
OFFICIAL PENNSYLVANIA STATE PAGE
PENNSYLVANIA INTERNET DESTINATION OF THE DAY
VISIT PA
PENNSYLVANIA STATE PARKS
PENNSYLVANIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGES
PENNSYLVANIA TRAVEL COUNCIL
Pa. Hall of Fame
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Coal Region Page
Some good stuff from the folks in Eastern Pennsylvania.
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This page has been written
mostly in raw html and should be compatible with most browsers. Best if
viewed with Internet Explorer 4.0 or Netscape 4.04 or newer at 800 x 600. Please
let me know if your browser has problems or if you have a link or something
to add.
email
me
Last Update 080207
Copyright © LJDirgo 1998 to 2007
Content provided by:
LDirgo, TLiscio, Mpratt, & Various
 since 11-98
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