Friday, December 30, 2016

General Store Leetonia

Shaut and Co. Limited
This is a picture of the general store in Leetonia at the turn of the century.  This could be today in Leetonia with snow freshly on the trees. This is where everyone in Leetonia got paid, and bought their goods for the week. I think it was pretty much and even trade with not much left over as the town was a company town and so was the store. People worked to make a bare existence living. They worked long, dangerous jobs in the Tannery, saw mill and in the woods lumbering.
The Tannery and Saw Mill are gone along with the rail road that carried the goods out to the world. The lumberman still log these woods and it is a dangerous job in which lives are lost every year. Other than the loggers no one is making a living in Leetonia anymore. Instead the woods are filled with snowmobilers in the winter, hunting, fishing, and recreational camp users in the summer.  When I am in Leetonia, I love to listen and sometimes I think I hear the sound of the railroad, smell the tannery and hear the stories being told by the old timers sitting on the store porch.  Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.


10 comments:

buckstrang said...

Thanks for the post miss reading your posts!

Unknown said...

Where was the store located?

eaglebear said...

The Store was located right in front of Petitt's place in the spot that is flat before the concrete bridge.

TeddyS said...

I love this blog. I used to visit Leetonia as a kid and we would have "wood cutting" weekends at the larger white house at the top of the hill and I heard it might have been the doctors house at one time(Sorry that is all I have remember). I have thought about Leetonia a lot throughout the years and always wondered about its history. About 20 years ago during one of our stays, we went walking up the mountain side opposite of all the cabins that remain. To this day I felt we had found a school house or some common area as there were what appeared to be see-saw bases or something as we walked through. I never realized how bustling this place was back in the day.

I was also curious if you know of anyone that has metal detected any of these areas to find remnants or old structures and the like. Thanks again for posting and have a good one!
Ted

TeddyS said...

I love this blog. I used to visit Leetonia as a kid and we would have "wood cutting" weekends at the larger white house at the top of the hill and I heard it might have been the doctors house at one time(Sorry that is all I have remember). I have thought about Leetonia a lot throughout the years and always wondered about its history. About 20 years ago during one of our stays, we went walking up the mountain side opposite of all the cabins that remain. To this day I felt we had found a school house or some common area as there were what appeared to be see-saw bases or something as we walked through. I never realized how bustling this place was back in the day.

I was also curious if you know of anyone that has metal detected any of these areas to find remnants or old structures and the like. Thanks again for posting and have a good one!
Ted

eaglebear said...

The big white house was originally Mr. Lee's home then the forest ranger lived in it for a while until the State tore it down. There were about 1500 residents of Leetonia at it's height of population. It was quite a city. Many people have used a metal detector and found things around.

Anonymous said...

please a new blog, thanks

Unknown said...

Paula - I hope the warm weather has you back in Leetonia on a full-time basis. I certainly miss your posts.

Can I contact you directly, off the blog?

TeddyS said...

Hello there,
I will be in the area this coming week and I am hoping to visit Leetonia with my wife and daughters. My Dad has a place in Gaines. I have been looking through your posts for pictures and took notice that the white house may now be red if I am seeing it correctly. It is on the hill of camps at the the very top of the drive way. I am amazed that still very intrigued by Leetonia and can't believe there were 1500 people here.

My most recent curiosity was trying to orient myself in terms of the hill of camps and some of the old photos. Were any of these camps in those photos? If so, could you give me a basic idea of where they may be in any of the photos? Thank you so much and I hope you are enjoying your summer.

Take Care,
Ted

Zach Zimmerman said...

Very interesting! Love reading your blogs, my family and me own the Zimmerman Camp right in town in leetonia. Always love seeing old pictures and learning of the history behind leetonia