Woman shares sounds, sights of Bagdad's past

I would like to share my memories of growing up in the village of Bagdad in Gilpin Township, Armstrong County, in the 1940s and 1950s.



Bagdad runs along the Kiski River and it was a coal-mining village. It got its name, however, from bagging salt at the mine - 'Here comes a bag, dad' - a father-son business.

There were about 35 families in Bagdad while I was growing up. All lived in nice, clean, comfortable homes.

My grandfather James Nulph, uncle Nelson 'Birdie' and my father 'Bunny' had a blacksmith shop and would sharpen mine and garden tools for friends.

Bagdad also had a one-room school where my parents attended. My aunt Pearl McKallip Nulph was a teacher.

I was too young to attend school in Bagdad. My brothers and I attended school in Gilpin.

I remember buying at Anderos Store - Devil's food cakes, 5 cents; a loaf of bread, 9 cents; and a pound of jumbo bologna for 29 cents. Ice cream cones were 5 cents. My brother Bill and I would walk up the railroad tracks to the store every day.

Troup and Fassio, local farmers, would sell milk by the quart or gallon. My family bought milk from them.

Bagdad had a church and anyone of any religion could attend. My family and many others went to church and Sunday school there.

Wilda McKallip would read and tell us Bible stories. She always had homemade candy and cookies for guests.

Religion played a big part in people's lives. There were a lot of Catholics.

We were protestants, but religion meant when somebody needed help, you helped them.

Bagdad had a baseball field and a baseball team where my father 'Bunny' and uncles Roy and Birdie played. Nicknames were a big thing back then.

Up the 'hollow' we had a swimming hole. It was fresh and cold. The water ran down from Marvin's Hollow.

There was a boccie ball area, where children didn't go. The older fellows played there.

Wintertime youth entertainment was readily available - children would sled ride down Bagdad Hill.

What's a small town in western Pennsylvania without a bar. Bagdad was no exception. There were two bars - Ravotti's and Anderos Bar - where folks would have a beer and talk over old times, such as World Wars I and II. Young people would dance.

The Pennsylvania Railroad tracks ran in front of my home, delivering goods and materials to Leechburg and Apollo.

The sights and sounds from my small hometown come back quite often for many of us.

We can still hear and see folks walking along the railroad tracks, hear the frogs in the canal, listen to the pump station, see people sitting on their front porch swings,

neighbors strolling by and stopping to talk, noise from the coal mine, someone rowing their boat on the river, a woman taking laundry off the clothesline after dark, children playing hop-scotch.

My husband 'Skip' and I drive around Bagdad a couple of times per year just to look around. It sure isn't the same. The ground my four brothers and I walked and played on now is Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp.

About 50 of us who once lived in Bagdad get together for annual picnics, but for some reason that's fading. There are so many memories to keep alive, let's get back to having our picnics.

I know you remember the good times I spoke of, so let's all meet and take a walk down the tracks.