Sutersville: Small-town life resides beside river and rail

This is a hometown America moment at its finest.

A summer breeze adds a saucy sway to the dress drying on the clothesline. The clink of ice cubes tumbles into glasses soon to be full of fresh tea. Pull up a couple of chairs and whittle away an hour just chatting with the folks.

Above, the sun scrubs the puffy clouds whiter than white as they lazily drift across an endless blue sky.

Frank Barbera will tell you that what makes life on Eighth Avenue in Sutersville for him and his wife Nancy a slice of heaven on any given day is having hope next door.

Make that Hope.

"We've got five grandchildren, and our children all stayed close," Barbera says, beaming as 3-year-old Hope springs from the yard next door in a bouncing beeline to grandma and grandpa. "There's nothing else like that. She's around when I'm working on one of my tractors or a transmission, or when I'm helping my son (her dad) baling hay. You know, maybe she'll pick up a few things from me."

Sure, Frank Barbera grew up here, spent days ice skating on the frozen Youghiogheny River in the winter and swimming in it during the summer — when he wasn't supposed to, of course. It's his hometown.

But he wanted more than a home out of this town, he wanted a homestead. He wanted the children — son, Frank M., and daughter, Sue Federoff, and their children live on the same street, and Brent is a few miles away in West Newton — nearby where time would nurture and preserve them as family.

"Once the first grandchild was born, I quit working (as a substitute teacher) because I wanted to be there," Nancy says. "Some kids go and never come back, but families are important. We need families together."

"This," Frank says, his arms spreading as wide as the grin on his face, "is home."

Welcome to Sutersville.

Or is that Suterville?

Is this the ville from which Clark Kent stole the "s" for his Superman costume• There's a mystery about that letter worthy of a Sesame Street and Blue's Clues episode.

Everyone calls it Sutersville. Everyone knows it as Sutersville. Even the folks who live in Sutersville call it Sutersville.

But its legal incorporation charter from 1903 makes it clear it is formally Suterville . In fact, every reference to the town in the Golden Jubilee booklet of 1953 is to a singular Suter.

Ironically, in the decades before its status as a borough, written references do indeed include the "s."

Some folks say it's a subject that comes up every once in while, but there doesn't seem to be an official answer easily cited.

Neither Nancy Barbera nor Fire Chief Mark Ghion — whose dad, Alvin, is the oldest active firefighter in town — can recall ever hearing an explanation of the mysterious "s." Nancy said her son, Frank Jr., read that the area was known as Suter's Village prior to its incorporation.

"That would make sense," she says, "but then it doesn't answer the question as to why it was dropped later."

The waters are not muddied when it comes to the founding father, however.

Eli C. Suter was born in Ruffsdale in 1819 and later wielded a pick and shovel while working on the Mt. Pleasant "turnpike" to Monongahela. Legend has it that he had only one pair of shoes, so he wore them to and from work but prolonged the life of his shoes by working in his bare feet. He is credited with being a man of good character who believed in hard work. He would mature into a successful businessman through his purchase and management of a flour mill at Waltz's Mill.

He moved into the general vicinity of what was to become Sutersville around 1849 to operate a farm, ferry and sawmill as well as to build boats. He soon owned a considerable amount of property on the eastern bank of the Youghiogheny River and laid out the town around 1870.

He is also credited with cutting the lumber for and building the original houses in town, as well as promoting improvements to the river to assist in navigation.

Sutersville residents who wanted to cross the river could also ride the sky ferry, a cable car venture which provided transportation above the river. A 700-foot bridge was eventually constructed in 1896. A petition to charter the "Borough of Suterville" was certified in 1901, and on Aug. 11, 1903, the borough elected its first officers and school directors.

Eventually, the Westmoreland County town would have all it needed to flourish. The river and the rail – separated by just a few blocks of homes and businesses – provided transportation for both commerce and personal use.

There was plenty of work in the mines and plenty of children for the schools. Teachers, doctors, churches, downtown businesses – they all bloomed to support the pioneering residents of this river community.

One of Sutersville's most celebrated focal points was the Osborne Hotel, now known as Junebug's, a restaurant and bar. It was built by Matthew Osborne, who would later become one of the new borough's first councilmen.

He was a driver for the Westmoreland Coal company's mines and in 1862 became superintendent of the YCH company mines along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In 1880 he became the inspector of cars for that rail company. In 1883, he opened a hotel in Smithton, but the next year he built "one of the best hotels in Westmoreland County" in Sutersville, according to the Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, published in 1890 by the John M. Gresham & Co., Philadelphia.

"The Osborne House is a fine, conspicuous frame building, 40 x 80 feet, four stories in height and well arranged and completely furnished throughout for the comfort and accommodation of its many patrons. Mr. Osborne well understands his business and the cuisine and bill of fare are equal to those of a first-class city hotel."

Long-time residents remember the days when crowds overflowed from the Osborne House and the other six hotels in town and spilled into the streets, making Saturday nights a spectacle in Sutersville. Today, Junebug's is topped with apartments instead of hotel rooms. "It has to be one of the oldest buildings in town, that's for sure," says Libby Boden, who has been guiding the business for more than 13 years. Her father, Adrasto Casoni, is the "Junebug" and former manager of the restaurant named after him.

"The train used to just about come right to the door," she says of the Osborne House. "We sided it and did some remodeling, but some of the floors and walls are the original construction. Junebug's has its regular clientele like any bar has its regulars. But everybody knows everybody in Sutersville, and we're always ready to help each other out."

Frank Barbera remembers how out-of-town businessmen would take the train into Sutersville, check into the Osborne, rent a horse and buggy at the livery stable nearby and call on clients. A century later, like many frontier villages in western Pennsylvania, Sutersville is much quieter, though freight trains continue to rattle through town on a regular basis day in and day out.

Susan Casoni still operates a four-lane bowling alley with leagues for all ages and hours from late August through May. The Triumph cycle shop and garages of other sorts also call Sutersville their business homes.

There are only 636 residents according to the 2000 census, split almost evenly between men and women.

Some back yards in Sutersville end on the riverbank, and some front yards face the train tracks. Only a couple of blocks of houses and a few businesses rest between the river and the rail. Most residences are concentrated on a hillside.

Snaking through an alley that leads to the banks of the Yough, one finds the bait shop operated by John Messner and his wife, Mary.

"Just add 'ner' to 'mess'," to get the last name, John says with a smile.

"Whenever we fix up our house a little, people think we have money," Mary says, then adds with a chuckle, "but would I be working with worms and maggots if I didn't have to?"

John, 83, grew up in Sutersville, his residence here interrupted by a 19-year stint in the military. He considers the river an important natural resource. "But the good fishing's on the other side of the river," he sighs, "because there's mine drainage on this side, although I hear they are going to work on cleaning that up."

Ironically, John doesn't fish "except for when I was on Tinian Island during the service when we'd catch fresh fish and that would certainly be better than anything we were getting served in the mess halls."

John, an aide to a commanding officer, was stationed on Tinian Island (about 80 miles north of Guam in the Pacific Ocean) on August 5, 1945, the day the first atomic bomb was loaded onto a Superfortress B-29.

"We weren't told anything at the time," he says, remembering how he watched the plane dubbed Enola Gay take off the next day bound for Hiroshima.

"When the Enola Gay was halfway to its target, we were told it was carrying the first atomic bomb. We all just waited to hear what would happen and it turns out that was a very significant event."

After his military career ended, Messner returned to Sutersville.

"I noticed that when I returned after 19 years, the same holes were in the same streets as when I left and that was despite the fact that (President Franklin) Roosevelt had made enough money available everywhere to do those kinds of projects," John says. "I told a couple of my buddies that we should run for borough council, and we won. We paved every street. I was eventually mayor for eight years but I always felt the real power was held by the president of council."

Mary and John negotiate around the flowers and gardens she maintains for a short walk to the banks of the river; they tell cautionary tales of snakes all along the way. Dozens of tires of all sizes have washed up on a little flat section of land protruding into the river current.

"We used to clean up the tires best we could," Mary says, shaking her head. "But there's just no place to get rid of them now, and look at the size of some of those tires."

"You always have a fear of the river when you live beside it," John says. "It's shallow, so it can come over the bank at any time. You like it better when it stays where it belongs."

The Messners have been flooded twice; once the water rushed into the basement, and once gushed across the first floor of their house.

"They used to drive the fire trucks here to fill up with water," Mary says as she points out what appears to be a small grass covered path to the river. "

It's another example of how things have changed.

John remembers, too, Sutersville's heyday, when the restaurants and bars in town would be so crowded with people on a Saturday night "you had trouble walking down the street. There were seven hotels in town back then."

"I always liked to travel," John says, "but I don't deny that I like to come back. This is always home."

Frank Barbera feels the same way.

"We're related to a lot of people here," he says, pointing to aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews.

Adds his wife, Nancy, who grew up in West Newton and met Frank at a high school dance,"Everybody says you have to be careful what you say because you never know..."

After a laugh, Frank talks about the essential nature about life in a small town: "You know everybody, and everybody knows you. If your kids get in trouble, you know about it. If your kid isn't careful at the (railroad) crossings or using them, you know about it. That's what makes it a small town.

"You are somebody here. You aren't just a number.

"If your car breaks down in town, somebody will help you; in the city, do you know if anybody would• The river isn't a problem to us up here on the hill, but it does flood every once in a while, and that's when we take our brooms and buckets and help other people."

Downtown Sutersville used to be awash with businesses, from clothing stores to grocery outlets, from hardware goods to a movie theater. Truth is, the old-timers say, you didn't need to go out of town because it was just about all available here. But the economy and culture changed. As automobiles flourished, the trains diminished; as the mines and mills began to shut down, folks didn't have a choice but to go to where they could find jobs.

Sutersville is not likely to ever reach those heights again. Neither will most small towns. The artifice of the past is gone but the the heart beats on.

"Kids come back," says Nancy Barbera. "They need families. It's tough out there, and this is home. This is a good place to raise children – nice, quiet. Some kids don't come back. I can't imagine."

Frank Barbera knows the world has changed on a grand scale and sometimes in small ways, too.

"I remember in the winters we'd sled ride down the big hill (on the road that leads to Rillton) and across the tracks (and look if the lights were off), and that seemed like miles. Sometimes we'd hook onto the back of a car, and they'd pull us all the way back up again. Of course, there wasn't much traffic then. You know, I don't even think kids sled ride anymore."

Coleen Kudlak was raised in Sutersville and now owns and operates Miller's Place on what might be called the town's main drag.

Miller is one of the town's historically important names. The Millers founded the successful Sutersville Lumber company, which is no longer in business.

Coleen purchased this store/restaurant six years ago from her brother; at one time, Bea Ferrari operated it as Mondo's, which featured ice cream.

Coleen's dad, Nelson Miller, bred and raised race horses, and several of his horses are seen on the walls in pictures taken at places like the Meadows in Washington County. Like most self-employed business owners, she is on the job constantly, and financial survival is a nip-and-tuck race every one of the long hours she is open.

"This was a great town. I can remember when every building had a business. There was a movie theater, a drug store, a hardware store that at Christmas seemed to have every toy you could want," she says. "Every holiday in town was a reason to celebrate.

"People were very interested and committed to Sutersville as a town. There used to be a big picnic every Labor Day. But it's different now. People who move in naturally don't have an appreciation for the history. Some people just go out of town for things they could get here.

"It's difficult for business owners. If I didn't have the business I have on Saturdays and Sundays, it would be impossible to survive. Those two days are great breakfast days, and I do get the usual crowd in here on a regular basis.

"The 'counter guys' are usually here from 8 to 9 in the morning, and after church on Sundays is a busy time, too. I enjoy serving people, I really enjoy that, but the hours are long every day. This was the kind of place when I was growing up that it was a big deal to come here and have lunch. Now, people go to the mall.

"I like raising my children here. We used to live across the river in Elizabeth Township (Allegheny County), but we moved back here, and we couldn't be happier."

Mark Ghion's another resident who believes in Sutersville so much that after he was done "seeing the world" with the United States Army, he came back.

A 1984 graduate of Yough High School, Ghion served as a paratrooper and now serves Sutersville as its fire chief, a position he's held for about 12 years for the company that was established in 1925.

"It's not a flashy town, but there's little to compare to it in terms of what it's like to live here," he says. "I went and saw the world and I came back home. That's what it is: It's home. I really enjoy talking to all the old guys in town, taking the time to listen to them and their stories. It's something you can't take for granted because there's fewer and fewer of those guys around. You might say, 'I'll talk to him sometime,' and then they are gone."

Mayor Mike Adametz says the party next summer will be a grand one, capped — he hopes — with a giant fireworks display befitting the centennial celebration of Sutersville. It will be a good time to reminisce, a great time to honor those old guys and gals in town who were there when Sutersville was just a baby.

"We want to do it right, and we're looking for volunteers from the town who can help us pull it all together," Adametz says. "Just talk to me or any of the council members, or come to one of our meetings on the first and third Mondays at 7 p.m. We want to do this thing right, and we're hoping everyone in town is willing to help out and participate."

Adametz, 38, moved into town four years ago.

"It's a quiet town, very family oriented. Before I was hunting for a house, I'd only been through a couple of times, to the bike trail (which can be caught just across the bridge) or to fish. I live in a great neighborhood, and I like that. I had been living in a township, and you just don't have or know your neighbors. I wanted something like a small town, where everybody knows everybody else.

"We have a strong organization which provides recreation opportunities and has been established for a long time. We're on schedule to bring sewerage service into town. We're a small town; we have limitations and limited resources as a tax base, but we're moving forward.

"And it's going to be a great party next June."