ASSERTIONS

• Claims that Legion Ville lacks sufficient national historical significance are found in documents of the Department of Interior, National Park Service.
• Concurring statements have been made by some members of Congress before whom National Historic status was pending.
• A few local journalists have made this claim in opinion pieces and editorials.
• There is documentary evidence suggesting that some local historians or other concerned citizens held this view and voiced their opinions to governmental agencies and in public forums.

REFERENCES

• “A Local Dissent on Legionville” (Beaver County Times, Nov. 12, 1978).
  • See rebuttle to Beaver County Time’s Tom Waselesk by Betty Back, July 1979).
• “Birth of US Army a Local Production” by Roy McHugh, in Pittsburgh Press, July 1, 1979 (opposition to Legionville’s historical significance).
• “Should Legionville Become a National Park – Yes or No” – Op-Ed in Beaver County Times, July 19, 1979.
• Legionville Park Historical Status Vetoed by Carter

ASSERTIONS

• The primary governmental departments and agencies opposed to legislation granting Legion Ville with National Historic Site status, and funding for development, include the Dept. of Interior, National Park Service, Office of Budget and Management. 
• In addition to discounting claims that Legion Ville holds sufficient national historical significance, the Dept. of Interior and the National Park Service claimed that the 50 acre site was too compromised by industrial development, citing the railway, highway, and existing industrial development as diminishing factors.
• The National Park Service also claimed that “facets of American history associated with Legionville are already well represented in the National Park System . . .  (Cecil Andrus, Secretary of the Interior). 
• On August 8, 1979, the Dept. of Interior responds to Beaver area historian and writer, Frank Carver: “Thank your for your letter of June 21 to President Carter concerning the proposed Legionville National Histroic Site. We were interested in your comparison of Legionville with Fort McIntosh and your views regarding Legionville’s qualification as a unit of the National Park Service . . . As you probably know the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service have recommended against inclusion of Legionville in the National Park System . . . . We appreciate very much your support of teh Department’s position on this matter.” (Heinz Collection, CMU). 

ASSERTIONS

• During July 1979, J. B. Griffith Jr. of the Anthony Wayne Historical Society and chair of the Legion Ville National Park Committee reports of the “The Ghost Cabal,” a selectively circulated, unsigned document in opposition to efforts to create a Legion Ville National Historic Park. 

In July 1979, after 64 years of efforts, the last five being very public and supportive, a mysterious and UNSIGNED paper is circulated. The Ghost Cabal was not sent directly to the Anthony Wayne Historical Society, nor was it sent directly to the Legionville National Park Committee whose members are widely known in the area. The paper was sent in subversive manners to all but the Anthony Wayne Society.

The paper, enclosed herein as #19 says many false accusations. But what it does not say is more interesting…. It does not say who its author is…. it is unsigned It does not disclose its motives or why it was written It does not give its intent and propositions.

Are the GHOST writers afraid that the Legionville National Park will overshadow the Fort Me Intosh restoration? Are the Author( s ?) reflecting a social bias against the mill town working class people who have worked so hard for Legionville? Is this the personal power struggle within a rival historical society fearful of their place in the sun? Does this Ghost Cabal propose to make all of Pittsburgh a National Historic Park and tear down the New Convention Center and Trailways Bus depot over the Fort Fayette and use the materials to build Fort Mc Intosh? Is there a political intent to harass certain incumbent elected representatives prior to an election year? One does not know for we have invited some who might tell us, and they have refused to come.

• It is interesting to note that Griffith raises the possibility that opponents of a Legion Ville National Park may be motivated by financial interests. He writes at the end of his Ghost Cabal memo: “The Legionville Site is extant and is For Sale. Fort Fayette is neither. Fort Me Intosh is in no danger of being sold.” 

ASSERTIONS

• Claims have been made that certain interests associated with the Ft. McIntosh preservation project worked against Legion Ville’s preservation efforts. In a July 24, 1979 report, J. B. Griffith Jr. of the Anthony Wayne Historical Society and chair of the Legion Ville National Park Committee reports of the “The Ghost Cabal,” a selectively circulated, unsigned document in opposition to efforts to create a Legion Ville National Historic Park. Griffith raises the issue of a local history rivalry: 

Are the GHOST writers afraid that the Legionville National Park will overshadow the Fort Me Intosh restoration? Are the Author( s ?) reflecting a social bias against the mill town working class people who have worked so hard for Legionville? Is this the personal power struggle within a rival historical society fearful of their place in the sun?

• There is evidence that a qualitative comparison between Legion Ville and Ft. McIntosh was voiced to the Department of Interior and National Park Service by Beaver historian Frank Carver, a leading local opponent of legislation that would have provided Legion Ville with National Historic status. On August 8, 1979, the Dept. of Interior responds to Carver:

Thank your for your letter of June 21 to President Carter concerning the proposed Legionville National Histroic Site. We were interested in your comparison of Legionville with Fort McIntosh and your views regarding Legionville’s qualification as a unit of the National Park Service . . . As you probably know the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service have recommended against inclusion of Legionville in the National Park System . . . . We appreciate very much your support of the Department’s position on this matter. (Heinz Collection, CMU). 

Ed. Note: Frank Carver is the author of Fort McIntosh: The story of its history and restoration of the site, published by the Beaver Area Heritage Foundation (January 1, 1983, 2nd edition, 1993). Carver is also one of the principal excavators of the archeological digs at Ft. McIntosh, along with local amateur archeologists “Robert Bonnage, Robert Lackner, and many members of the Beaver Valley Archeological Society” (as noted by Edward G. Williams in “A Note on Fort Pitt and the Revolution on the Western Frontier,” 1977). 

REFERENCES

• “The Ghost Cabal”

• Ft. McIntosh (Patrick Riley, YouTube) – Mention of controversy over recognition of the army’s first unit (00:04:24)

ASSERTIONS

• President Carter’s pocket veto on November 2, 1978 effectively stops legislative efforts to create a Legion Ville National Park. 
• By August 1979, Senator John Heinz recognizes the futility of national legislation supporting Legion Ville as a national park. He declines to reintroduce new legislation to support the effort.   

REFERENCES

• 1978-11-02: Legionville Park Historical Status Vetoed by Carter

• 1979-06-07: On the advice of the Pa Historical and Museum Commission, Anthony Wayne Historical Society turns away from efforts to reintroduce Sen. John Heinz bill and focuses instead on establishment of Legionville as National Historic Landmark. (See Senator Heinz Legislative Assistant Staff Memo). 

• 1979-08-24: Sen. Heinz declines not to reintroduce legislation in support of a Legionville Historic Park.

ASSERTIONS

• Although Legion Ville preservation efforts have been ongoing for about a century, the most significant efforts were during the 1970s (1st Movement) and the 1990s (2nd Movement). It is counter intuitive to think of these preservation movements themselves as aggravating factors; however, a critical look at why and how these movements “failed” reveals a wide range of issues related to effectiveness of mission, goals and objectives, leadership, support organizing and outreach, public education, messaging, fiscal management, and overall organizational effectiveness. 

REFERENCES

• See Preservation Movement timeline.

ASSERTIONS

In 1824 the Harmony Society purchased the [Legion Ville] property. The property was later bought by the A.M. Byers Company who in turn sold it to National Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio. In 1973, the Anthony Wayne Historical Society was formed to preserve the site. Repeated attempts to purchase the site from National Tire failed. Senator John Heinz introduced a bill to make the site a national park, but President Jimmy Carter pocket-vetoed the bill due to a clerical error. National Tire and Rubber sold the site to Paul Mouradian. He sold the property to Leroy Friend of Bridgewater who in turn sold it to Mitchell Unis of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania and Alex Barlamas of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, the current owners. Currently a developer from New York is interested in purchasing the site for commercial development. There are ongoing efforts to preserve this National Historic Landmark. (source: ADE, accessed June 21-2023)

Key Figures

• • National Tire and Rubber
  • Boghus Paul Mouradian (dec. 2014): land developer
  • Leroy Friend: land developer
  • Alex Barlamas: bought subdivided parcel of land from Paul Mouradian
  • Gerald (Jerry) Peckich (dec. 2005): owner of adjacent ravine property, creator of Major General Anthony Wayne Foundation
  • Art Silverman: owner of adjacent ravine property
  • JerArt Slag Company (c0-owned by Gerald Peckich): land holding group. JerArt commissioned an archeology study of their property.

HARMONY TOWNSHIP COMMITS TO INDUSTRIAL ZONING

Key Figures

Harmony Twp. Board of Supervisors in favor of industrial rezoning of Legion Ville properties. 

• • Michael Kuga (Board President)
  • John Ciccone
  • Paul Kokoski
  • James Bunger

Harmony Twp. Board of Supervisors opposed to industrial rezoning of Legion Ville properties.

• • Sandra Fidura-Phillips

Timeline and Notable Events

• • 1994: Tentative land developer who wants to put a mall on the vacant Legionville site calls opponents, “a bunch of sick people–jerks–who want something for nothing, and care more about a bunch of dried-up bones than living people who want to make a living.” As reported in “The Battle of Legion Ville,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 10, 1994.
  • 1995-01-25: Commissioner Considering Amendment to Zoning Law, by Michael Yeomans (Beaver County Times, January 25, 1995) – “Despite loud objections from Commissioner Sandra Fidura-Phillips, Harmony Township commissioners voted 4-1 to permit their solicitor to draft an amendment to the zoning ordinance that would permit two new industrial classifications. Fidura-Phillips said the board is circumventing procedure by spending money to prepare an ordinance change before the zoning hearing board, the planning commission or the public has a chance to review the board’s decision. Fidura-Phillips said the proposed zoning change would likely affect the disputed Legion Ville property between Logan Road and the Jerart Slag Co., as well as property adjacent to the Byersdale plan of homes.”
  • 1995-02-02: Letter to the Editor (Beaver County Times, February 2, 1995) – Herbert J. Sullivan: “The residents of Harmony Township must have settled in for a long winter’s nap leaving commissioner Sandra Fidura-Phillips to guard the community’s political chicken coop. While they slept on the evening of Jan. 25, Commissioners Kuga, Ciccone, Bunger and Kokoski voted to permit the solicitor to draft an amendment to the zoning ordinance that would permit two new industrial classifications that would primarily affect the historic Legionville site. Commissioner Phillips stood alone once again in her quest to protect and defend the historic Legionville site while the wolves of big business circled the hen house.”
  • 1995-02-05: Letter to the Editor (Beaver County Times, February 5, 1995) – Lieutenant Bruce Kish, United States Army Reserve: “As a private citizen and neighbor, I am gravely concerned an important part of our community is being compromised. It seems to me that if the Harmony Township board can rezone the site as commercial (without a prior hearing from zoning), it could just as easily change the classification to historical. If Legionville is preserved, it will boost property values, bring revenue into the area from tourism, and put Harmony Township on the map as a progressive community. History is not a dull subject confined to dusty textbooks. It is living and present in our land. What a great shame it would be to sell out our past, our identity.”
  • 1995-02-09: Letter to the Editor (South News, February 9, 1995) – Regina Morrow Riley: “Our children should be taught respect for their country, parents, and society as a whole, maybe this is our way of saving our country and our next generation.”
  • 1995-02-10: Letter to the Editor (Beaver County Times, February 10, 1995) – William McKenry: “If they allow Legionville to be destroyed and not capitalize on its revenue potential, then never should the residents of Harmony complain about rising taxes, quality of life and improper political representation.”
  • 1995-02-10: Letter to the Editor (Beaver County Times, February 10, 1995) – Gaylin Katterson: “What is wrong with Harmony Township Commissioners? They have an opportunity to do something worthwhile and long lasting along Duss Avenue and yet they quibble over who has a say in the matter. Have they looked about them? Drive down Duss Avenue from Logans Lane and you will see closed businesses, boarded-up windows, no trespassing signs, weed-filled car parks and scrap heaps. Of Course, faced with all that, it must be hard to imagine something attractive that makes money and provides jobs and interest in our area. Build a strip mall and auto dealership. Given a few years they will be weed covered and boarded up, too.”
  • 1995-02-24: Time’s Ticking on Efforts to Preserve Legion Ville, by Michael Yeomans (Beaver County Times, February 24, 1995) – “Harmony Township Commissioners have voted to limit public comment at their township residents. The move prevents out-of-towners who wish to preserve the Legion Ville historical site from voicing their comments to the board. In the 3-2 vote Wednesday, board President Michael Kuga and members John Ciccone and Paul Kokoski voted to limit outsiders from speaking. Voting against the limitations were Sandra Fidura-Phillips and James Bunger. Fidura-Phillips protested the vote, but Solicitor Richard Start said Pennsylvania municipal code permits elected boards to restrict public comment.”
  • 1995-02-26: Free Speech, Ban Violates the Spirit of New Law (Beaver County Times, Editorial, February 26, 1995) – “People beyond the boundaries of Harmony Township clearly have an interest in the fate of Legion Ville. The site is part of Beaver County’s past, of Pennsylvania’s past, of America’s past.”
  • 1995-03-03: Harmony Officials Hold Off on Accepting $200 Donation, by Bill Vidonic (Beaver County Times, March 23, 1995) – “Wednesday, Harmony Township Commissioners voted to hold off on taking a $200.00 donation from Leroy Friend, who wants to relocate his Harmony Chevrolet cardealership from Duss Avenue to a 5.6 acre parcel along Logan Road and Route 65. I apologize if someone took it (the donation) out of character. I don’t think $200.00 buys influence. Sandra Fidura-Phillips responded, I know it doesn’t for me.”
  • 1995-03-14: Letter to the Editor (Beaver County Times, March 14, 1995) – Don Norris: “Like most self-proclaimed preservationists, Mr. Sullivan is a hypocrite! Mr. Sullivan claims his free speech rights are being violated because he is not allowed to shove his preservationists views down the throats of the Harmony Township Commissioners concerning the Legionville site. He should make the landowners a deal they can’t refuse, (But don’t get upset if they’d like to make a profit on their investment!). Unfortunately, this isn’t how preservationists operate! They never put their money where their mouth is! They would rather see all of us taxpayers foot the bill for their self-righteous crusades!”
  • 1995:03-22: “Wednesday, Harmony Township Commissioners voted to hold off on taking a $200.00 donation from Leroy Friend, who wants to relocate his Harmony Chevrolet car dealership from Duss Avenue to a 5.6 acre parcel along Logan Road and Route 65. I apologize if someone took it (the donation) out of character. I don’t think $200.00 buys influence. Sandra Fidura-Phillips responded, I know it doesn’t for me.” ( as reported in, “Harmony Officials Hold Off on Accepting $200 Donation,” by Bill Vidonic, Beaver County Times, March 23, 1995)
  • 1995-03-23: Letters to the Editor (Beaver County Times, March 23, 1995) – John D. Bert: “As for the Harmony Township Commissioners sealing off comments from out-of-towners, I can only say I saw it coming. Having attended one of these meetings, I am convinced that the majority of them, specifically three, have already made up their minds. I think it is very sad that they fear differing opinions concerning a county treasure. Yes, I said treasure!”

ASSERTIONS

• With the collapse of the 2nd preservation movement of the 1990s, which finally came to a halt with the fading of the Legion Ville Historical Society in 2004, Legion Ville’s organized preservation efforts ground to a stop.  However, a more honest conclusion would be that these efforts simply died, with no leadership, organization, plan, or fiscal or material resources to carry the mission forward. 
• It’s not surprising to those who study social movements, but most efforts fail. This is true about most historical preservation movements and they fail for a wide range of reasons. However, a more critical and useful question here is why these movements fail to regenerate.  An obvious answer might that movements get knocked down and stay down for many of the same reasons. That’s a fair assumption. 
• Inasmuch as local historians have demonstrated Legion Ville’s national historical significance, it is therefore logical that it also holds regional, state, county, and local significance. If hopes for national historical status failed with the 1st and 2nd movements (i.e., that Legion Ville might come under the protection of the National Park Service in some way), we might ask why proponents have not secured state, county, or local protection? Moreover, we should ask if anyone has tried to pursue these alternative objectives over the past two decades?  Within Beaver County’s local history community, who would have had the most clout and authority to advance Legion Ville preservation efforts? 

REFERENCES

• See Preservation Movement timeline.