Houtzdale Days, like so many local large outdoor gatherings, has been cancelled this year due to vital safety precautions in regards to the COVID-19 virus.
The timing is bad luck.
This year, 2020, marks the 150th anniversary of the borough’s founding, in 1870, as Dr. Daniel Houtz successfully worked with the Pennsylvania Railroad in order to extend the line from Osceola Mills to the coal mines in adjacent Sterling and into the newly-founded town that bears his name.
Houtz owned large tracts of land where the borough now stands and delegated his son-in-law, George Brisbin to oversee the project.
Houtzdale, in the 1870’s and 1880’s, grew by leaps and bounds. The rich seams of Moshannon coal lay beneath the town and the mines boomed. Moshannon coal veins were famous for their high BTU output and low ash and, therefore, in great demand.
The Houtzdale Fire Company began in 1887, certainly out of necessity. Wooden buildings, hay lofts, coal stoves and kerosene lamps were standard for the day, but they were too often fire hazards waiting to happen.
Outdoor burning, high winds and lightning storms added to the mix. Houtzdale residents needed to look only to Brisbin, bordering “over the hill” to the north, to see how an out-of-control fire could reduce much of a town to ashes within hours. Three thousand people were left homeless when Brisbin went up in flames on May3, 1884.
As the decades passed, the Houtzdale Volunteer Fire Company grew into a formidable organization. Membership grew, fundraisers were held, firefighting equipment was added and steam pumpers as well as trucks were later purchased.
Houtzdale’s firemen were also active in the community. They sponsored dances and social events, a band, a championship running team and a ladies’ auxiliary group.
County and district Fireman’s Conventions were a cause for celebration in a town like Houtzdale. People didn’t conveniently travel much, as is done today, and it gave the fire company a chance to show off its town and its accomplishments.
One of the photos shows the Houtzdale Fire Company’s band posing, in 1912, at the intersection of Good and Eliza streets where the Houtzdale Days event has been held for years.
Those guys put their musical talent to work as part of their community dedication. Live music brightened up small towns.
The large house in the background of the photo was known as the Burns home. The great Hollywood singer and dancer Gene Kelly, whose mother, Hattie Curran Kelly was born and raised Houtzdale, sometimes had her son accompany her to the town in the early 1930’s, years before his stardom.
A few old timers recalled how he put on improvised tap dance shows on the large porch. He was also a big hit with the local girls, as he waltzed some of them around the same porch. Ironically, that photo of the fireman’s band is dated Aug. 23, 1912, the day Gene Kelly was born in Pittsburgh.
Another photo shows the band on the steps of a home that was demolished in 1969 to make way for the new (and present) Houtzdale Fire Hall that was built and opened in 1970. One of the hats worn is still preserved.
