North Hill district, New Castle, Pennsylvania

http://www.lawrencechs.com/walking_tour.html

The North Hill District of New Castle was once home to wealthy tin moguls of the 1800's.
Many of their exquisite Victorian-style mansions are now home to businesses, and to this day, some still serve as residences.

New Castle, Pennsylvania

http://newcastlepa.org/

New Castle is the County Seat of Lawrence County which currently has a population of approximately 100,000.

The City of New Castle has been referred to as "Little New York City" because of its rich ethnic, religious, and racial diversity. Families enjoy a quiet community with a low crime rate with the benefits of the major City of Pittsburgh less than an hour away where entertainment is plentiful.

A full range of municipal services, the low cost of living, and excellent opportunities for quality housing in beautiful homes located in long established neighborhoods provides a most important attraction. Traditional family values, close knit families, and community pride are among the attributes of the people of New Castle.

Business is welcome to New Castle through the Department of Community Development where a full range of financial and relocation services and assistance is available to interested businesses. Established enterprise zones and commerce parks, coupled with financial assistance and tax incentives create an excellent opportunity and environment for new businesses and existing businesses wishing to expand or relocate.

The City of New Castle has numerous parks within its boundaries that host many activities including those of little league baseball and adult softball leagues. Annual events such as "Back to the 50's", are held at Cascade Park, one of the city's oldest and best known parks. Other outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking, biking, camping, boating, kayaking are welcome at McConnell's Mill and Moraine State Parks located just minutes from New Castle.

Golf enthusiasts can enjoy a good round of golf at many local golf courses. Those located close by include the privately owned New Castle Country Club, and several public courses such as Castle Hills, Mohawk Trails, and Tanglewood, as well as the city's publicly owned Sylvan Heights.

Children can enjoy year round sports while in school as well as during the summer months. The schools, city, and townships provide baseball, football, basketball, soccer, ice hockey, dec hockey, tennis and golf programs for the youth.

Serving the Lawrence County area since 1965, the Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts has evolved into a recognized center for the arts. The organization utilizes two mansions situate on five acres for its galleries, art and dance studios, exhibits, classes, performances, concerts, lectures and workshops.

The New Castle Playhouse was organized in 1958 to foster the art of theater. The playhouse offers six full scale, main stage productions each year as well as various music, dance and drama productions.

The New Castle Parou Ballet Company, a pre-professional company, was founded in 1987.  The company is a full member of regional Dance America/Northeast and has as its foundation a program of proper ballet training and provides a vehicle to educate the public about the art of ballet.

In the Spring of 2002, the City of New Castle began the revitalization of its downtown through a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.        http://www.newcastlepa.org/Downtown/downtown.htm

The City of New Castle is located minutes away from major interstate highways and transportation facilities. Highways running near or through New Castle include the  Pennsylvania Turnpike and Turnpike Route 60, Interstate Highways 79 and 80, U.S. Routes 224 and 422, and State Route 18.

Pittsburgh International Airport provides U.S. and international commercial passenger and commodity services for those who require more than what is available through the New Castle Municipal Airport.

Rail access is available through both Conrail and CSX rail transportation services.

Local and long distance bus services are available through the New Castle Area Transit Authority and Greyhound Bus Company.

In 1849, a group of Old Order Amish families from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania settled just north of New Castle in New Wilmington.  Later migrations from Holmes County, Ohio would make this Amish community one of the largest in Pennsylvania. Approximately 2,000 Amish live and work presently in the townships north of New Castle.

Amish Farm - Cornstalk Stacks                                                           

Lawrence County, Pennsylvania

http://www.co.lawrence.pa.us/

Points of Interest


Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts

http://www.hoytartcenter.org/

Described as New Castle's "cultural jewel", the historic four building complex offers an environment of historical interest while housing art galleries, classrooms, studios, collection of fine arts library, and meeting facilities on five manicured acres of the residential North Hill.

Built by architect Frank Foulke between 1914-1917 for the prominent Hoyt siblings, May Emma and Alex Crawford, a tour of the Hoyt tells a rich history of a time, place and culture that once was. You can see striking features such as crystal cut glass doors, carved staircases, and a German suit of armor in addition to family memorabilia and period furnishing. Mrs. Alex Crawford Hoyt's 1930's bookbinding equipment may still be seen in her studio on the third floor, as well as lovely collections of vintage hats, purses, and our native Shenango China on levels one and two.

Since its simple beginnings in 1965, the Hoyt has grown from a small group of artists wanting to develop and showcase local talent to the only non-profit community arts center and museum of its kind within a 40 mile radius of Pittsburgh. Supported in part by public and membership contributions, the Hoyt provides continuous opportunities through arts courses and workshops, performances, concerts, lectures, free monthly exhibitions, and annual juried competitions.

The creative potential of youth is especially celebrated in the annual Children's Summer Art Camp and Children's Summer Arts Fest in July. Other ongoing children's activities year round include hands on musical, dance and etiquette workshops, awards competitions in literature and art, and the new Children's Performing Arts Series featuring interactive concerts and lectures.

Further realizing a museum's role as Educator and Historian, the Hoyt continues its tradition of teaching, preserving our historic treasures, and community involvement.

The Mission of the Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts is to encourage an awareness, understanding, appreciation, and practice of the Arts and Humanities through visual, educational, and enrichment programming for learners of all ages.

Scottish Rite Cathedral

http://www.cathedralnewcastle.com/

The large Neo-classic Scottish Rite Cathedral was built in 1925 by a Milwaukee firm from plans drawn by architect R.G. Schmidt, also of Milwaukee, at a cost of $1.7 million. The building was first used in November of 1926. The original usage of the Cathedral was as a meeting place for Masonic groups. During the Depression, the Masons were unable to pay taxes, and the building was lost to the county. In 1940, the Cathedral Foundation was formed by the Masons, who pooled funds and acquired the building.

The Cathedral was originally the largest facility between New York and Chicago, with the exterior dimensions being 244 feet wide by 181 feet deep, 180 feet high at the back of the building. Six stone columns rise 32 feet at the front of the building and weigh 32,000 pounds each.

The stage at the Cathedral is 82 feet wide, 46 feet deep, and 65 feet high. The auditorium seats 2,834 total: 1st floor - 918, 1st balcony - 1,026, and 2nd balcony - 890. There is not a bad seat in the house and the acoustics are wonderful. Whether you are on the first floor center section or the 2nd balcony, the sound is the same. The auditorium/ concert hall is used for recitals, regional ballets and choruses.

The facility's primary rental comes from wedding receptions. A grand ballroom features glistening maple floors for dancing.  The facility has dishes and silverware for 1,800 and a huge dining hall. The magnificent lobby is often used for receptions, as is the main dining room and west and east dining rooms. Weekly bingo games in the dining area are another primary use of the Cathedral.

Since 1953, The Lawrence County Fair has presented six exciting days of family fun, and entertainment. In addition, the Fair has earned a national reputation for presenting one of the finest livestock shows in the Midwest.

Come to The Greatest Show in Western PA  and enjoy the daily exhibits of livestock, farm crops, food, clothing, crafts, farm & home equipment, old time machinery, steam engines and commercial items.

The New Castle Playhouse

http://www.newcastleplayhouse.org

The New Castle Playhouse is situated on the Southside of New Castle, Pa., in Lawrence County. Incorporated in 1958 as a non-profit organization, the Playhouse has been providing quality live theatre productions for the community for over 4 decades. Since 1987, the New Castle Playhouse has made it's home in the old State Theatre, the oldest existing theatre building in Lawrence County. The Playhouse has been very active in repairing and restoring the building and work has just been completed on our beautiful new sculpture garden and patron's pavillion. The NCP attracts over 25,000 patrons during it's yearly 26-week, 76-performance season and serves over 2500 individuals through its increasingly diverse education and outreach activities.

The Cascade Center

http://www.firstwarnertheatre.com

In 1907 the Warner Brothers opened their first silent film theater in downtown New Castle.  Nearly 100 years later a joint venture was formed between the developers of Cascade Riverplex, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of New Castle to adapt five buildings into a regional destination theme-oriented marketplace.

While maintaining structural architectural integrity of the Warner Brothers First Theatre, the developers have invested over $10 million to create a dynamic entertainment facility for the 21st century. Sixty two thousand square feet of entertainment, retail, and eateries; the Cascade Center includes:

* Re-creation of the Warner Brothers 1st Theatre
* The Mill Street Grille- Casual dining, superior wines and views of the river walk
* The Basin - blues and jazz at its best
* Stage 3 at the Warner Theatres- featuring live entertainment including comedy

An additional 12 million has been invested by the city and state for street front renovations, parks, lighting and parking facilities. Both Governors Ed Rendell and Tom Ridge have stated this project is a model for cities throughout the Commonwealth.

The joint venture keeps growing with the addition of two parks and a new amphitheatre.  Thanks to The Riverwalk, the turn-of-the-centry streetscape theme, and annual events such as "The Fireworks Festival," "Back to the Fifties" weekend, and "The Balloon Quest," additional tourists pour into the Mill Street area.  The customer base draws on the regional population of four million within one hour of downtown New Castle and up to 20 million within four hours of the city.

In addition, seven other buildings in the downtown area are currently undergoing renovation by local businesses which adds to the market draw of the area.

Cascade Park

Originally known as Big Run Falls, the site was purchased in 1892 by Col. Levi Brinton. Around the turn of the century, power companies were finding it profitable to develop amusement parks. In 1897 Col. Brinton sold the property to New Castle Traction Co., which later became Pennsylvania Power Company.

After extensive landscaping and addition of numerous rides, the company held a contest to name the park. In deference to its cascading waterfall, it became known as Cascade Park. Cascade Park opened May 29, 1897. Cascade Park soon became a popular excursion point from much of western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. Special excursion trains would arrive in New Castle on East Washington Street and streetcars would carry passengers to the Park. Up to 7,200 people could be transported daily to the Park. The company built a theater, a baseball park, a roller coaster, and installed a merry-go-round. The company built the largest dance pavilion, which is still standing, in Pennsylvania in 1898, lighted with 45 arc lights. A lake for boating, swimming and skating, as well as a zoo and a picnic grove, were added the following year.

By 1925, the city claimed there were few cities the size and age of New Castle which could boast such a beautiful park. It was said to have the most beautiful natural scenery in western Pennsylvania and could accommodate up to 25,000 persons.

The midway boasted 17 rides, numerous eating places, concessions, boating and an open-air theater. Cascade Park also offered a 15-acre lake and a tourist camp with cooking and recreation houses in the picnic grove where tables could accommodate more than 2,000 campers. In the 1920's, popcorn and peanut vender Billy Glenn, built the first swimming pool, bath house and fun house, the Gorge roller coaster, and set up a parking lot.

In 1934, Pennsylvania Power Company turned the park over to the City of New Castle to be used forever as a public recreation area. Park attendance declined in the second quarter of the century. Over the years, the Park has been known for the trees and flowers, notably the Floral Steps, that enhanced its natural beauty. Another jewel of the park was the lake, achieved by constructing a dam on Big Run. The lake provided swimming and boating in the summer and ice skating in the winter. Fishing in the lake was also a popular pastime. The lake ceased to exist after the dam cracked.

The park was rediscovered in the late 1970's. The first to come to its aid was the Paws and Taws Square Dancers, who were looking for a wooden dance floor to call their own. Dismayed at the condition of the park pavilion, the dancers raised the funds in 1976 for repairs and renovations. The community followed the club's lead. In 1980, a group of volunteers organized as the Cascade Park Development Committee. Its first project was a master plan to restore the neglected park, and a commitment from the City that all future development at the park must reflect the Victorian style of the earlier structures.

In that decade, the amusement rides were removed from the park, the Floral Steps were repaired, buildings improved, public restrooms constructed, and a playground installed. Local garden clubs adopted the Park and now plant and maintain flowers, trees and shrubs growing there. Events such as the annual "Back to the 50s" celebration, are now breathing new life into the park. These and other festivals during the year are again attracting people from near and far to one of New Castle's most cherished legends.

McConnells Mill State Park

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/STATEPARKS/parks/mcconnellsmill.aspx

McConnells Mill State Park, in Lawrence County, encompasses 2,546 acres of the spectacular Slippery Rock Creek Gorge. Created by the draining of glacial lakes thousands of years ago, the gorge has steeps sides and the valley floor is littered with huge boulders. A logging mill was built in the 1800s to harness the power of the water. The park is open from sunrise to sunset, year-round.

New Castle Thunder Minor League Football

If you have questions about this property or would like to see it in person,
please contact a member of the Pittsburgh Homes of Distinction Team.

Sherry Cramer Coldwell Banker - North Hills 724-516-3732 sherry.cramer@pittsburghmoves.com http://www.pittsburghhomesofdistinction.com

Holly Sisk Coldwell Banker - Shadyside 412-377-0015 holly.sisk@pittsburghmoves.com http://www.pittsburghrealestatesolutions.com

DISCLAIMER: The information herein, though believed to be accurate, is not guaranteed.

Sherry Cramer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate, Inc., 9600 Perry Highway, Suite 100, Pittsburgh, PA 15237
Cell: (724) 516-3732 Email: Sherry.Cramer@pittsburghmoves.com
Licensed to Practice Real Estate in Pennsylvania -- PA License RS285098
This website designed by Pittsburgh Homes of Distinction, your source for Pittsburgh real estate.