We’re going to travel through the memories of Richard ‘Dick’ Earl Fuoss, learning some history of Dick’s life, Fuoss Mills, and the Tyrone area.
The Fuoss Family
Born April 15, 1930 in the Philipsburg Hospital, Dick was one of six children of Fredrick ‘Fred’ Earl Fuoss (1900-1981) and Mary Adaline Christine (1908-1981). Dick’s father, Fred, was one of four children born to Jacob (1863-1949) and his wife Mary Shay (1879-1931).
Fred’s grandparents were the first of the family to settle in central Pennsylvania. Jakob (1822-1893) and Anna K. Schmiermund (1834-1907) came to America from Germany in the mid-1800s — Jakob, from Württemberg in 1841 and Annie, later, from Hesse-Cassel. They met in America and were married July 2, 1859. The couple first lived in Huntingdon, then in 1875, moved to Birmingham. Jakob and Anna had six children including Jacob (Fred’s father), born September 24, 1863.
Jakob learned the trade of a miller in Bellwood and later bought the Cherry Tree Mill, which also contained a considerable amount of timberland. In 1878, Jakob leased the Beyer Mill, located in today’s Fuoss Mills, which had been in operation since 1820 producing flour and other ground grain. He bought the gristmill from the Beyer family in 1883, renaming it Logan Valley Mills, and moved his family there. Jakob operated the gristmill with his three sons: William, Jacob, and George. His son, John, owned and operated a gristmill on 4th St., in Bellwood.
The Mill, the Bridge, and the Brickyard
The Fuoss Mill was located next to the Little Juniata River and was powered by a brass or bronze turbine — not a waterwheel as most gristmills did at that time. The powerful turbine had been manufactured in Wisconsin and was brought to the site via rail. A railroad adjoined the Fuoss property, which made shipping of their products very easy.
Dick told me there was a spur that created a raceway from the Little Juniata River that flowed into a deep storage area; then from there, the water dropped onto the turbine. When the water was too low to run the turbine, two steam engines powered the mill, but Fred had told Dick they were never as powerful as the turbine.
The gristmill needed a speedier way to transport grain from farmers in Sinking Valley over Brush Mountain. They used steam tractors with metal wheels — modern machinery in those days — but weren’t allowed to drive them on the Blair County paved roads because of the damage the wheels would cause. So the three brothers approached Blair County officials to build a bridge over the river and a road up the side of the mountain to Skelp. The County built the roadway and bridge in 1874.
In 1963, the Blair County Commissioners and the Blair County Historical Society restored the bridge and dedicated it as the only covered bridge in Blair County. On February 26, 1967, however, a fire destroyed the bridge. A story has it that kids ice-skating nearby built a fire to get warm. When they were finished skating, they thought they had put out the fire and went home. That night was cold and windy; the coals rekindled, igniting the brush under the bridge. Since the river was frozen, there wasn’t enough water available to extinguish the fire, and the historic bridge was lost.
The most famous product made there was Gold Medal flour. The flour was shipped by rail to all parts of the country. In 1925, a streetcar and a gasoline truck collided on Fuoss Mill Rd., causing a fire that burned the grass in the field. The fire quickly spread to the nearby gristmill, catching it on fire and burning it to the ground. The manufacturing rights to the Gold Medal flour then were sold to the Pillsbury Co., which to this day still sells flour under this name. In 1929, the Fuoss family rebuilt the gristmill and produced flour under the name of Magnolia flour, but this brand name never caught on.
The Fuoss family also opened a brickyard using shale found in the area to make bricks. Bricks were made from the late 1800s until The Great Depression under the name of the Tyrone Brick & Tile Co. Many people have bricks with the name “TYRONE PA” on them, made in Fuoss Mills.
The brickyard was later sold to Charles E. Schandelmier around 1942 for the sum of $4,200. He dismantled the brickyard, selling it for scrap and making more than his investment. The huge barn then was used for big auction sales. (This may be where the term “sale barn” came from.) Dick told me of a man from Tyrone who went to one of the sales and bought at auction some canned goods without labels. When the man went home and opened a can, the contents appeared to be canned meat, and he ate it. He liked the taste and went back to the sale barn to see if he could get some more. To his surprise, the sellers told him not to eat any more because it was dog food — not canned meat!
Tyrone Auto Salvage
Dick’s father, Fred, had a friend named Julius Sealfon, whom he had met in Tyrone. Fred had finished Michigan School of Mechanics and had a good job in the mechanical engineering field in Detroit. Fred didn’t like living away from home, so traveled home often, spending time with Julius.
When Julius visited the Fuosses, he saw the abandoned brickyard and asked if he could clean up the scrap iron in the then dormant brickyard and sell it. Fred’s father, Jacob, said yes. When Julius told Fred about the profit they could make doing this, the two decided to start the scrap metal and auto salvage business.
Julius finally convinced Jacob to sell him a section of the brickyard property to be used for “his business;” thus, the auto salvage and scrap metal yard was born in 1921. The auto salvage yard became known as Tyrone Auto Salvage and still exists today, owned and operated by Bob Stager. Fred moved home in less than a year to work for his friend Julius, but he never had his name on the business.
Boyhood
The Fred Fuoss family lived at first on North Ave. in a double house between 15th and 16th Sts. in Tyrone until they bought a home on 18th St. in 1940. The home was heated by a coal furnace with a side arm for hot water. In the early days, they had a gasoline-powered washing machine that was later replaced by an electric Maytag ringer-washer.
Dick and his siblings played softball, basketball, and various street games such as touch football to fill their idle time. They all went sledding in the winter on various Tyrone streets and avenues that Borough personnel would block off for safe riding. In the summer, there was swimming at the Athletic Park and in the swimming hole in the Little Bald Eagle Creek, near the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co.
A summer garden was a ritual at the Fuoss homestead, with Uncle Merle Christine bringing his 1929 Whippet to plow, and his dad would do the tilling. In the summer, the boys would pick huckleberries that were canned and they’d sell the extra for 15 to 20 cents a quart.
Dick recalls attending 1st grade at Adams School, where he had Miss Buck as his teacher. Other teachers he recalls are Miss Van Scoyoc, Miss Gearhart, Miss Miller, Miss Shank, Miss Pollock, and the principal, Mrs. Shires.
When Dick was in 5th grade, he took trumpet lessons from Valgene Routch, a teacher who traveled from Adams, Logan, and Washington Schools to give lessons. By 8th grade, most of these students were promoted to the high-school band. Dick played in a number of bands; one he recalls was the Dreamtime Serenaders. The band had seven or eight members and existed for forty years with various musicians coming and going.
At about age sixteen, Dick started to work for Bayer & Gillam Food Distributor, a wholesale grocery business on 10th St. and Alley K. Dick’s job was to sort through the produce, discarding the spoiled items.
Marriage and the Rivet
Dick went on to Tyrone High School, graduating in 1948. He then got a job at the Chicago Rivet Machine Co., in Tyrone, where he worked his way up to machinist and later as foreman over the maintenance department.
During the summer of 1949, Dick met Marie Sklar at a dance in Osceola Mills. They dated until they were married in Cumberland, Md., on September 16, 1950. While living on Logan Ave. in 1951, they heard that the Grazier family, who was living next to Dick’s father, had lots for sale on 19th St. They bought the lot at 523 19th St. for $450.
Marie worked at Uhl’s Confectionary, formerly the Rudy’s store, at Pennsylvania Ave. and 14th St. She worked there for five years after they married and then later worked for twelve years at Gardners Candies.
Dick and Marie built their house themselves under a deal that Claster’s building supply company offered. The terms were that Claster’s would give you a loan of $1000 worth of materials, and when you paid that back, they would give you another $1000 worth — and so on. Dick and Marie moved in with their first son, Robert, who was born August 5, 1952. In 1965, they were blessed with a second son, Gregg.
Race Car #35
In 1953, the dirt racetrack in Tipton opened. Dick became involved in building race cars, which was very popular all around western and central Pennsylvania. Dick was the key builder and mechanic of his car. He had a race crew and would take his car to race at local tracks two or three times a week. Some of the drivers were Bill McCahan and Lorenzo Alwine, of Altoona, and Don Kimberling, of Tyrone. Their team was very successful winning many races.
The home base for his racing career was Tyrone Auto Salvage Co., which gave access to any auto parts needed and provided free towing to the races. Dick recently learned that his car, number “35,” was recovered in a barn in Somerset County and restored. Today, it’s located at Garvey’s Classic Museum, in Osceola Mills.
Used Cars on Columbia Avenue
In 1964, Dick purchased the auto body shop on 1560 Columbia Ave. from Len Troutwine. The lot on the corner of Columbia Ave. and 16th St. became Dick’s first used-car lot. Fred quit his employment at Tyrone Auto Salvage in 1964 and went to work for Dick. Fred did State inspections and was great at auto repairs, but he was an expert in the cutting and the installation of the flat glass for replacement of auto windows while he worked at the auto salvage. His work was so good that the Nationwide Insurance Company contracted all of its local glass replacement done at this garage.
In 1981, Fred had a heart attack and later passed away. Dick leased the garage to one of the employees, Lester Hampton, but kept a used-car lot on the corner of Columbia Ave. and 16th St. next to the garage. He later sold the garage and lot to Lester. Dick moved his car lot to Old Route 220 on a lot rented from Johnson’s Auto Parts and was very successful at this site for eleven years.
In 1992, Dick retired from the “Rivet” and bought the property at R.D. 4 Box 38, next to the Tyrone Elks Lodge. Dick and his grandson, Todd, built a new building on the lot, starting a new joint-owned Fuoss used-car business.
Their son, Robert, went on to the University of Pittsburgh and became a pharmacist. Gregg attended Pittsburgh Technical School, becoming a drafting and design technician and later went back to school to become a nurse.
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