There was a time when motorists in this Mid-Mon Valley didn't have to drive far to get gasoline and other services for their vehicles.

"There were pumps on nearly every corner from one end of town to the other on the main streets in those days," recalled Barto Ferrara, of Monessen "And even some place in between as you drove along Schoonmaker and Donner (avenues). I'm sure there were more than 20 places where you could buy gasoline or have repairs done.

"Most of the towns in the Valley were that way. They had multiple choices for fuel, oil changes, tires, inspections - the works."

Ferrara, who owns and operates Bart's Tire and Auto Service (BP products) on Grand Boulevard in Monessen with his son, Bart L. Ferrara, knows well of what he speaks. He has been in the business for more than 60 years.

"Those were good days for service station owners and those who had fuel outlets," he said of a run from the 1940s through the 1960s. "It was competitive, that's for sure, But everyone was making a living. We didn't get rich, but it paid the bills."

Sitting amid the sound of tires being changed and a constantly ringing telephone at his Citgo complex, Ferrara perused a list of fuel and service outlets from that era that included:

Cherocci's Texaco, Dyzak's Amoco. Rousch's Gulf, Andy Evich's Texaco, McKelvie's Pontiac Garage, Joe Diethorn's Esso Servicecenter, Dale's Garage, John Dudas Sunoco, Essey Service Station, S&W Auto Repairs, Gibson Chevrolet, Pennzoil (Fredo Mitchiletti and Victor Baldini), Bill Fuoco's Atlantic, Frank's Service Garage (DeSoto and Plymouth), Cook's New Blue Sunoco and Pustinger's, both located near the Charleroi-Monessen Bridge.

Also, Marshall's, Naccarato's, Coccari's Chrysler, Cip's Phillips 66 Petroleum (Joe Cieply), Donner Avenue Motor Company (Dodge), Joe Diethorn's Esso, Chick Trozzo's Esso, DiFlorio's Atlantic, Spurkey's (George Murin), Atlantic, Cocciolone's, Jules Sunoco, Chalfant's, Coccari's service station, Canole's Buick, Dattis Brothers, Magruda's Texaco, Oppenheim's Texaco, Ted Pettko's Sunoco, Lenny Murphy's Boron, Tony Rotolo's Mobile, Angelo Mazze's Park Amoco Service and Bob Leone's Esso (now Eastgate Exxon).

He also recalled gasoline pumps located just outside the Pittsburgh Steel Company parking lot across Donner Avenue from the Manos Theater.

"They were right on the street next to the fence that separated Donner from the parking lot," Ferrara said.

"I'm sure there were others, but these are the one we recalled at first glance," he said in reference to a recent discussion with some friends. .

"I started working at a service station in town when I was about 15 or 16, mostly pumping gas," said Ferrara, a 1947 graduate of the Monessen Vocational High School, where he graduated with high honors in the machine shop curriculum. "So I had some background and knowledge of the business, but I never expected to own my own station."

Enter Elmer Kopko in 1950.

"He asked me if I wanted to take over the Texaco station at the corner of Third Street and Schoonmaker Avenue," Ferrara recalled. "I was only 21 and I wasn't sure if I was ready for that kind of responsibility. I went home to think about it and kept wondering if I might be biting off more than I could chew. But I figured, 'Why not give it a chance,?' So we worked a deal and (the business) became Bart's Texaco. We were located next to the Salvation Army building. Our mechanical area was in another building adjacent to our office."

Ferrara opened the Texaco station on Nov. 10, 1950, with help from Mitchiletti.

"I needed some cash flow, start-up money to get started and Fredo was very supportive and encouraging," he said. "He offered some financial help and told me he was always glad to get behind a young man starting in business. I've never forgotten his kindness and his advice."

The "solid backing" of the Guttman brothers - Leo, Jesse and Howard - who owned Guttman Oil Company, also remains strong with Ferrara..

"They were located in Speers and had exclusive rights to all of the Texaco stations and products in the area," he said. "When I took over the Third Street operation, they told me, 'Anything you need, let us know.' and they were true to their word.

"The Guttmans were very good to us."

The weather on Ferrara's first day of business was brisk - a typical late fall day in the Mon Valley. It was a precursor of what would greet residents two weeks later.

"I remember it very well," Ferrara said of one of the most severe snowstorms in the history of western Pennsylvania, a punch from Mother Nature that began the morning of Friday, Nov. 24.

"There was so much snow in such a short period of time that it caught everyone by surprise and brought traffic to a standstill everywhere," he said.

The Monessen Daily Independent described the treacherous conditions as being caused by "a sudden whirling, freezing snowstorm."

Overnight temperatures were only five to 10 degrees above zero and covered roads and sidewalks with sheets of ice as well as snow.

Monessen street commissioner George Kuhar told the newspaper that the was snow was falling so fast late in the morning that "it's covering the ashes as fast as we can put it down."

"We're on our fourth round of cinders but it doesn't seem to be doing any good," said Kuhar, who also warned motorists who had to traverse the hills of Monessen that they "will definitely need to use chains" on their tires.

By the next morning, Saturday, Nov. 25, more than two feet of snow had fallen and most people were asking, "When will it end?"

"It's something I'll never forget," Ferrara, 81, recalled. "I lived nearby on Third Street and opened the station, but no one could get out and about for several days and business was slow."

In addition to working at service stations in the city as a teenager, Ferrara gained experience in other areas.

"I worked at Corning Glass in Charleroi after graduating from high school but I learned quickly that wasn't for me," he said. "I was there only about six months."

He also was employed in construction and helped build the A&P building at a site in downtown Monessen where the Foodland supermarket is now located.

"I also was involved with the preliminary work on Angelo's (Mazzei) Amoco station in the Park Plan in 1948," Ferrara said. "They had me installing the concrete floor and the foundation. Years later, after we moved to Grand Boulevard and were just across the road from Angelo, I was proud to realize I had been part of that project."

Mazzei, who operated service stations elsewhere in the area, including downtown Belle Vernon, opened Park Amoco on Thursday, Dec. 10, 1953. He was 96 when he died Tuesday, June 2, 2009.

"What a grand guy he was," Ferrara said of Mazzei.

Bart's Texaco became Bart's Esso around 1954.

Ferrara moved from the business from Third and Schoonmaker to Grand Boulevard in 1961.

"One of the company's (Humble Oil) sales reps asked me several times if I would like to be the owner of the new Esso station that was being built up there (Grand Boulevard)," Ferrara said. "He was very persistent and finally convinced me to make the transition. There was a lot more room there than what we had at Third Street and it was a great move for us. We opened on Nov. 10 - the same date as we had started 11 years earlier downtown."

Humble Oil was the parent company of Esso and eventually merged with Standard Oil Company to form Exxon.

Chick Trozzo eventually took over the station at Third and Schoonmaker and the business was later operated by Bob Leone.

"I was actually running both stations for a few months," Ferrara said. "John Ronick was taking care of things for me at the Third Street site and did a great job. But he also was working at the mill and was putting in long hours. It eventually became too much for him."

Gasoline was selling at 15.9 cents per gallon when Ferrara was a teenager in the 1940s and had risen to 25.9 cents when he began his own business in 1950. He and the myriad service station operators in the city were "making a decent living," he said.

"It was all part of he post-World War II boom, the effort to help the country's economy rebound," he said.

"There were more cars being sold and more dealers and that was good for business.

The same type of upswing was taking place in the housing business.

New homes were going up in Monessen as well as throughout the Valley.

The trend in the fuel and auto service industries began a downturn in the 1970s, he said.

"Cars were becoming bigger and the cost of gasoline began rising," Ferrara recalled. "There also were stricter regulations imposed by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency.) Some of the stations just couldn't compete and didn't survive.

"We were fortunate because we had the space to expand and keep up with the constant changes."

Only three service stations exist in Monessen today - Bart's, Eastgate Exxon, which was owned and operated by Leone for many years, and the BP facilities in the Westgate section of the city.

"That's a far cry from those proverbial good old days," Ferrara said with a knowing smile.

"But we're all doing OK."

Even with gasoline prices teetering near the $4 per gallon mark.

"I never imagined it would go that high," Ferrara said. "But that's where we are today. Some people complain about the costs, but I think they understand we have no real control over what's happening.

"The oil cartels raise their prices, the companies follow suit and we have to do the same.

"We make a small profit and rely on all the other services we have to offer to keep going.

"It's really a matter of adjusting to the changes and challenges that seemingly come along every day in this business," he said.

"You have to keep up with the times and make sure the customers are happy."

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