GREENFIELD
 The village was laid out a bit west of the center of the township in the midst of fine farming country.
In
1820 Archelaus Wilkins, a land owner to the west, cleared the spot
which later became Greenfield. He built the first cabin on it. No
additional buildings were erected, but in 1834 a small frame school
house was built near the village.
In 1838 a small store was
built by D. C. Byers on the southwest corner. This building also
served, somewhat, as a hotel, the first in the township.
By 1847
a licensed hotel was built on the corner opposite the small
store/hotel. Also, in this year, the first physician, Dr. Charles
Atchison settled in the village.
In 1855 the Byers brothers
built a plain frame house as a Dry Goods Store across from their
father's small store. The Worth Post Office had been established
in1848. Mail was picked up, usually weekly, until 1904 when the Rural
Free Delivery (R.F.D.) was established.
By 1872 the village had
a large drug store, a carriage shop and two blacksmith shops. A fire
destroyed the carriage shop in 1876.
Many years ago, a small
store was built one-half mile west of Greenfield. It was called
Jonesville, briefly, but the spot is now the site of the Lebanon Church.
As
the years passed by, the fertile land surrounding was used for raising
grain and fruit. The coal deposits were extensive, being both lower and
upper strata in various places around the village.
About 1870
the village was laid out in lots, 62'x150'. Public alleys bordered most
of the lots. The crossroads were Mercer - West Middlesex Road (also
known as State Route #318 ) and the Charleston - New Wilmington Road.
Greenfield
was a busy commercial center of the township. The surrounding
population made weekly trips to exchange farm produce, butter and eggs,
for family necessities such as: yard goods, feed, groceries, repairs
for harnesses and wagons, etc. and pick up mail at Worth Post Office
located in the Byers Grocery Store.
Several doctors had offices
in the village to serve the surrounding families. Dr. Iddings and also
Dr. Clark. Dr. Weaver had an office one mile east at the corner of Rt.
318 and Bend Road. The following firsthand story of Dr. Clark's
practice is as follows: "A patient who needed an appendectomy
immediately had surgery by lamp-light on the kitchen table."
At
the turn of the century the growing village boasted 0f several grocery
stores, a photography shop, a wagon shop, a drug store, 2 blacksmith
shops, a polo-pony/horse barn, barbershops, a two-room school building -
one used as a 3-year high school. Only 2 classes graduated with 6 in
1907 and 1908. A third class only had 2 years when it was closed.
Professor Mahl was the principal and sole teacher.
Numerous dwellings were built as homes for the miners and other business families.
Several hundred people lived in Greenfield at this time.
In
1865 the natural gas line was laid from Venango County into the
Shenango Valley. It entered Lackawannock Township across the Little
Neshannock Creek which is the east boundary of the township. The main
line was tapped at the meter one mile south of Greenfield, thus
Greenfield has had gas for cooking and lights for many decades (or
scores of years). Electricity came in 1927.
Sometime near the
turn of the century the Byers Brothers built a large addition to their
store and living quarters. At this time Jennie King and her mother
moved into the spacious home on the west side of the house plus 6
bedrooms above the entire structure.
Following the death of
Mother King the A. M. Byers hired Fred Townsend of Sewickley to manage
the entire property. Local men were hired to care for the house and
cows. Jennie King and Fred Townsend later married.
In 1921 Elmer
Bartholomew purchased 80 acres of pasture land on the east side of
Greenfield from Priscilla Miller, the sister of the Byers Brothers.
This had been available to all Greenfield residents for pasture of
horses and cows. Mrs. Miller built a home before the turn of the
century on what is now the Bartholomew parking lot (at the corner of
the Mercer-West Middlesex Rd. and Greenfield-New Wilmington Rd.). She
rented rooms in her house for several years to Greenfield High School
students from 1904 to its closing in 1910. Mrs. Miller moved to Erie to
be with her daughter. The house gradually fell down and was cleared
away.
The first iron ore in Mercer Co. was taken from the above
80 acres. The first molten iron was made a few miles away in East
Lackawannock Township.
In 1922 the 80 acres of pasture was being
cleared and eventually the entire acreage was under cultivation and
planted in fruit trees. The orchard was cared for by Elmer Bartholomew
and sons, Phillip and Francis, until Elmer's death in 1946. The sons
continued the business.
In 1961 the 60 acres on the north side
of Route 318 which included the Byers home was purchased by Phillip and
his wife Ella Mae, their three daughters, Shirley Mae, Janice Lee and
Jo Lene moved into the house. Joyce Elaine was born later. The east
side of their house was an empty storeroom which had closed many years
before when A. M. Byers chose to continue his pipe manufacturing in
Sewickley. (His two brothers had died in Greenfield and are buried in
Lebanon Cemetery.)
The 45 acres across Route 318 from the home
was purchased in 1937 by Elmer and is now owned by Phillip. The large
80'x40' barn was on the parcel of Byers land. The floor was of solid
wood bricks. The floor upstairs was solid with no supports. Stalls were
built in the barn for horses. It now became the Bartholomew Orchards
storage building. (In April 1985 the barn was struck by lightning and
burned to the ground. Many antiques and valuable tools were lost.)
In
the 19th century Greenfield was a busy little village with more than a
couple hundred people. Several grocery stores served the surrounding
community. By by the turn of the century only two remained: One by
George and Mary Chapin, the other by Elmer and Glennie Bartholomew.
These two stores were well stocked with food, feed, oil, nails,
hardware and even harnesses. They closed during the 40s.
Due to
the closing of the several mines and businesses, the population
gradually decreased from 200. Today only a few more than 50 live in the
village.
In1947 the large empty storeroom was transformed into a
lovely 5 room apartment for Phillip's widowed mother and his
sister, Genevieve, a Sharpsville teacher. However, the mother suddenly
passed away just 7 months after the accidental death of her husband,
Elmer. Genevieve continues to live alone to the present.
The
traffic continues to increase through the village, especially on Route
318. Except for the traffic flow the village is a quiet, little hamlet.
Only one business will open this spring, "Birdie Boutique" at 2024 Mercer-West Middlesex Road, Mercer, PA 16137.
Owner - Mary Fair.
A large variety of birds.
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