In 1915, some of the employees of the Strong Manufacturing Company pose outside the plant. Founded by Thomas L. Strong in 1903, in Bellaire, Ohio, the company manufactured enameled cooking utensils. Oliver and Orville Sebring heard that Mr. Strong was in search of a new location for his plant. It was a known fact that Mr. Strong had a great disdain for liquor, and in those days Bellaire had many saloons. The deeds in Sebring specified no liquor, and along with the Sebrings’ marketing abilities, they convinced Mr. Strong to move his plant to Sebring. It was agreed that the sale of chinaware and cooking utensils would be a great combination.
This is a late 1940s aerial view of the Strong Manufacturing Company. By the 1920s, Oliver H. Sebring had purchased Thomas L. Strong’s stock and relinquished his control of the company. At that time, the Strong Manufacturing Company was the sole manufacturer of industrial reflectors and fixtures for the General Electric Company and Westinghouse. Mr. Sebring’s creation of the Sebring Manufacturing Company, which included the merger of the French and Saxon China Companies with Strong Manufacturing, would be a fatal mistake. With the economic collapse in the late 1920s, the still viable enamel company fell victim to the failure of the pottery businesses and the local bank. In 1932, a group of men from Sebring and Beloit sold 1,000 shares of stock at $50 each, and the plant was purchased from the Central National Bank of Cleveland. Thus the rebirth of Strong Manufacturing was underway.
The first two years, 1933 and 1934, were rough for the newly reorganized company. The reflector and fixtures businesses were given to other companies, and the need for utensils was at a bare minimum. However, the year 1935 gave Strong Manufacturing the break it needed. Westinghouse Electric of Mansfield, Ohio, placed a significant order for vegetable pans. The fast turnaround in manufacturing secured contracts from Frigidaire (who developed the hydrator pan to keep vegetables crisp in their new electric refrigerators), General Electric, Philco, Kelvinator, and many more. The top photograph shows men inserting the metal into the stamping machines to mold the pan. The bottom photograph shows the women cutting and rounding the edges of those pans. Strong was also known for the manufacture of mess kits and canteens during WW II. At top production, 10,000 cups and canteens could be produced in 24 hours. In August 1944, Strong Manufacturing received the prestigious Army E Award for its participation in the war effort.
The Limoges China Company Foreman Family Picnic is shown here at Silver Park in Alliance, Ohio, on August 13, 1947.
This photograph depicts the remains of the Stanford Art Pottery Incorporated after a devastating fire in late 1960. The blaze also destroyed East Ohio Machinery, a sales engineering firm, and Sebring Container Company, manufacturer of corrugated boxes and packaging. All these businesses occupied the old Sebring Pottery Company building at South Fifteenth Street and West California Avenue. The estimated loss was $765,000. Stanford was noted for the manufacture of planters, lamp bases, clock cases, and figurines. After their Stanford’s products were produced, they were shipped to manufacturers for completion. Many of these items were sold in department stores and to discount retailers such as McCrory’s, Woolworth, and Kresge’s.
The R.M. Strain General Contracting Company was founded in 1935 by Ruskin McCausland Strain. His sons Charles and John (“Jack”) worked in partnership for many years. Originally located in town, Strain built a home and office on the Alliance-Sebring Road in 1941. A tin shop and garages were also located on the property. The company did repair work on many of the pottery buildings and Sebring family residences during the 1930s. They were contracted through several Youngstown Banks, which held the mortgage on the potteries during the Depression. The name changed in the late 1940s to The R.M. Strain and Sons General Contractors. In the years that followed, Jack went on to other business ventures, and Mr. Strain and Charles focused on plumbing and heating. Thus the name was changed again to R.M. Strain and Son Plumbing and Heating. After Ruskin’s death in 1981, Charles remained in business for several years. After he retired, the family sold the business to Dale Mohr. After his death, the business was sold to Jack’s son, Bruce Strain, and it is still in operation today.
The crew of R.M. Strain General Contractors poses in front of one of the company trucks in 1943. Shown in this photograph are, (kneeling) W. Floyd Strain and Ruskin M. Strain; (standing) Charles K. Strain (home on furlough), Cy Heslep, and John F. Strain.
The employees and management of the Gem Clay Forming Company piled outside the plant for this picture in 1910. The company came to Sebring in 1907 and built a plant where the Strong Manufacturing building is today. The building was destroyed by fire in 1908. A new location was
Employees of the Sebring Pottery Company enjoy a day of picnicking, sunshine, and swimming
selected between South Fifteenth and Sixteenth Streets and California and Georgia Avenues. They manufactured gas mantle rings, electrical porcelains for the electrical trade, timer cases, and light housings for the cooking range trade.
at the Sebring Country Club on July 17, 1922.
This is an early photograph of an unidentified pottery in Sebring. Taken around 1901, it is one of the earliest known photographs in the Sebring Historical Society’s collection and shows the interior of the factory with its workers.
This image depicts a decaling machine at work in one of the Sebring potteries, probably taken in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Decaling became an inexpensive way of producing tableware, and the Sebrings were pioneers in this process. Handpainting was the custom in the manufacture of dishes.
Three
DEVELOPMENTS:
MIND, BODY, AND THEOLOGY
The first indoor basketball game played in Sebring was in a roller skating rink operated by Louis Kuntzman. The rink was located on the corner of Indiana Avenue and Fourteenth Street. This photograph shows the 1921-22 team who won 11 games in a row. They beat all the county teams and lost only to Columbiana, in the Northeastern Ohio tournament, and Berlin Center, in the county tournament. Pictured here are Kenneth Mills, “Red” Nigel, Dick Alvis, Lorenzo Brimlow, Bus Forbes, Bud Blumenstiel, and ? Trimmer.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was the first religious organization established in Sebring. The first meeting was held in September 1899, in the barn of the old Gray property. The Sebring family realized that the success and development of their community not only depended on the pottery business but also on the Christian faith of the residents. Nearly 200 people attended the services each week. In 1900, $20,000 was raised for the construction of a church building. This building was dedicated February 27, 1901, just in time for the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver H. Sebring’s daughter Pearl to Homer Taylor.
The First United Methodist Church of Sebring, located on the corner of Fifteenth Street and Indiana Avenue was built in the 1950s, replacing the original structure, which was destroyed by fire in 1955.
These snapshots show the aftermath of the devastating fire that destroyed the historic Methodist Church in March 1955. The fire was so intense that many observers remembered the bell tower, on the northeast side, looked like an enormous candle. The bell was removed and now sits in front of the fire station.
Organized in 1901, The First United Presbyterian Church (renamed The Faith United Presbyterian Church) held their first service in a sheep barn at the corner of Fifteenth Street and Oregon Avenue. Soon after, services were held in the rooms over a barbershop. Worship was conducted by The Reverend E.E. Douglass and the Session of the East Palestine United Presbyterian congregation. In 1902, the south and main portion of the church building, as viewed in the top photograph, were constructed at a cost of $4,500 on the northwest corner of Sixteenth Street and Maryland Avenue. In a few years, with the help of E.H. Sebring and Fred Sebring, the land north of the edifice was donated, and the building was enlarged to include the east entrance. In the photograph below, those additions and the parsonage, which was built in 1915 to the west of the church, can be seen. In 1948, an extensive interior remodeling program took place, and the installation
of chimes in the belfry was made possible by the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Hamilton and their son-in-law and daughter Bill and Belva Mercer. In 1973, the Faith United Presbyterian Church merged with the First Presbyterian Church. The building remained empty for a period of time, and over the years it has been occupied by various denominations.
The first spark of Catholicism in Sebring emerged in 1908 when approximately 75 individuals assembled in the city hall to hear Father Francis Hopp. In that same year, a building was rented on Seventeenth Street between Pennsylvania and Oregon Avenues. The diocese appointed Father George C. Schoenemann as pastor and named the church in honor of St. Anne. The cornerstone of this edifice was laid on July 31, 1910. In the early 1930s, a tower was added to the northwest corner through the efforts of Father Studer. According to the church history, Studer begged for a bell from the Holy Name Parish in Cleveland and was successful in obtaining it.
In April 1960, the old frame edifice was moved to a back lot to make room for a new church building for St. Anne’s. Designed by Leonard S. Friedman, it was constructed by Paul A. Kintz Construction Company of Alliance, Ohio. It was the dream of Fr. Ferris Petros that the new church become a reality. On the day of Petros’s death (September 8, 1960), the bell that Father Studer received for the church in 1930 was installed in the tower of the new church and was tolled to announce his death.
In February 1913, the Trinity Lutheran Church was organized in Sebring through the efforts of Rev. W.W. Kennerly of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Alliance, Ohio. In the beginning, the services were held in various locations including city hall. In May 1915, the frame structure (shown above) was dedicated. In December 1915, the Sebring congregation united with New Baltimore and North Georgetown as services were held in Sebring. After several years, the New Baltimore agreement was terminated, and North Georgetown formed a parish with New Franklin. In 1935, North Georgetown again united with Sebring. The congregation outgrew the small church, which was located on East Indiana Avenue and Eighteenth Street, and was closed in the 1970s. In the 1990s, the building was sold at auction. Today, it is privately owned.
With the growth of the congregation, the Trinity Lutheran Church built a new edifice on the corner of Twelfth Street and Pine Lake Road in the 1970s. Constructed by Cartwright Construction Company, it is a typical example of the modernized style of architecture that many church congregations used in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Virginia Avenue Church of Christ is located on the corner of East Virginia Avenue and Fourteenth Street. They established their congregation in the 1940s.
The members of the Sebring Ministerial Association gathered for this picture in the 1960s. Pictured here, from left to right, are as follows: (front row) Rev. Chester Stanley (Faith United Presbyterian Church), Rev C.O. Armstrong (First Presbyterian Church), and Rev. Frederick Anzivino (St. Ann’s Catholic Church); (back row) Rev. William Waltz (Quaker Hill Friends Church), Rev. Edwin Eshelman (First United Methodist Church), and Rev. Paul Swartz (Trinity Lutheran Church). Not present for the picture was Rev. Bernard Younce (Nazarene Church).
The Ohio Avenue School building was constructed in 1901 at a cost of $6,000. Prior to the construction of this building, the first public school room opened in 1900 in the old barn on the Gray farm. It was a one-room structure located on the southwest corner of Oregon Avenue and Fifteenth Street. The Ohio Avenue building, which was a three-year high school, enrolled ten students the first year. The first graduating class in 1904 included four students. This building was torn down in the late 1930s.
The fourth grade class poses in front of the Ohio Avenue School in 1923. They are shown here, from left to right, as follows: (first row) J. Mitcheltree, H. Pennick, E. Evans, H. Sanford, Dick Eans, George Grindley, and C. Barnhart; (second row) S. Brown, B. Edie, M. Sullivan, M. Calderone, N. Williams, ?, D. Yeagley, V. Pinkerton, P. Slagle, and M. Perkins; (third row) G. Shaffer, Don Hall, C. Hinemann, J. Hall, G. Halverstadt, J. Lee, Al Brindlinger, ?, and Glenn Halverstadt; (fourth row) Mrs. Shaffer, F. Wheeler, M. Keener, E. Dawson, Sanford, M. Fryfogle, R. Cummings, L. Schindler, and unidentified; (fifth row) three unidentified students, Shuster, T. Attamis, R. Pinkerton, Jack Marshall, and Edward Baker.
Members of the Nazarene Church Sunday School pose in front of their church in the 1940s. The church was organized in 1928 after a revival campaign. For a number of years worship services were held in the old Church of Christ building on the corner of Maryland Avenue and Seventeenth Street.
The Nazarene congregation grew considerably during the 1950s. In 1960, this edifice was built at 626 East Maryland Avenue.
The Lincoln School building was located on the northwest corner of Indiana Avenue and Seventeenth Street. Built in 1909 at a cost of $20,000, the brick structure originally served as the high school until the McKinley School was built in 1914. The building is still in use today as an apartment complex.
The future class of 1943 pose, during the seventh grade, outside the McKinley High School
The seventh and eighth grades at Lincoln School lined up for this picture in the early teens. The only identification on the picture is Arthur Asbury Moore, first on the right, top row.
building on March 25, 1938. The teacher, seated on the far right, is Esther Smith Ray.
The 1930 Sebring High School football team is shown here, from left to right, as follows: (first row) Bob Warth, Harry Crewson, Kenneth Elliott, Willard Close, Oliver Edwards, Victor Burgess, Jack Henry, John Eells, and George Brimlow; (second row) Art Cannell, Ed Oliver, Jack Beech, Dick Ward, Al Brendlinger, Bob McClure, Leonard Bye, Robert Akenhead, and Arnold Karsen (coach); (third row) Melvin Ritter, Delbert Leasure, Roy Reedy, Jack “Popeye” Erb, Red Yothers, Don Burgess, Alton Bandy, George Goodballet, and Dean Iddings (manager); (fourth row) Sam Schindler, Ed Evans, Jules Gossiaux, Bob Stanford, Joe Woods, ? Fryfogle, Charles Bumgartner, Gale Myers, George Clark, and Mr. Rupert (principal).
The McKinley High School developed in various stages. Originally built as an elementary school in 1914, it became the high school in 1924. Numerous additions have been made over the years including the auditorium and classrooms in 1924, and gymnasium, classrooms, and offices in 1937. The additions cost approximately $205,000. The W.P.A. and P.W.A., both Roosevelt Administration agencies established during the Depression, subsidized the cost of an athletic field in 1937. In 1998, a bond issue was passed to make way for a new structure, and with the exception of the 1955 addition, the building will be demolished.
After several prayer meetings and revivals, the Church of Christ was organized on January 29, 1902. The congregation met in the Pythian Temple on Fifteenth Street until the construction of their church was completed. Built on the corner of Seventeenth Street and Maryland Avenue, on land donated by the Sebring Land Company, the Church of Christ building was dedicated on September 18, 1904. The congregation’s expansion in membership through tent meetings and the “Saving of Souls” posed a problem in the early 1920s. The small frame structure could no longer meet their needs.
In 1924, the ladies of the Home Circle purchased two lots on Fifteenth Street and Maryland Avenue, and the cornerstone was laid on June 13, 1926. The new church was dedicated on May 22, 1927.
The Black Cats were a semi-pro team in Sebring during the 1930s, and they competed against teams in Canton, Ohio; Massillon, Ohio; and Alquippa, Pennsylvania. Although home field was located at the Sebring Race Track, they also played at a field located south of the Mile Branch Grange where the Clinton Heacock home stands today. The players shown here, from left to right, are as follows: (first row) ?, Mike Conny, ?, Red Beaton, ?, Jim Lee, Sailor Lee, ?, Melvin Welch, and Paul Demark; (second row) four unidentified players, John Palermo, Lloyd Cobbs, ?, and Hershal Harris; (the two players on the right) Ron Wayt and Richard Wayt.
Players shown here enjoying a game of tennis, from left to right, are Joe Rittenhouse, Betty Stanley, Jean Applegate, Enid Miller, Bill Miller, and Charles Hawkins.
The organization of the First Pres
byterian Church began in the latter part of 1900. Through the assistance of the Presbytery, a petition was given on February 5, 1901, to establish the church. The Sebring Land Company donated land on the northwest corner of Sixteenth Street and Indiana Avenue to be used specifically for a church building. With the help of a $1,000 grant from the Board of Church Erection, F.D. Sewell was contracted to build a suitable house of worship to seat 350, heated by a warm-air furnace, carpeted, and lighted by electricity. The cornerstone was laid on July 5, 1902, and the church building was dedicated on November 23, 1902.
Sebring, Ohio Page 2