Ron Reiff
There is a place you can go in Warren and see architecture that morphs from nearly 100 years ago to today. No one could have possibly envisioned a single school that could last for nine decades and counting.
Beaty has! When I went there in the mid-60’s Beaty Junior High was a school with a complicated layout. I remember being emotional over the map of the floor plan when I was in 6th grade. To a 12-year-old kid the place was massive. To a 70-plus-year-old adult, it still is!
The school is named for David Beaty. He came to Warren at about the same time that Thomas Struthers did. Beaty was a lumberman. He came here to sell timber. Period. Long about the time Western Pennsylvania had become a Mecca for oilmen, Beaty speculated that he could heat his home using natural gas from a well on his property along Conewango Avenue. He hit oil instead. Imagine just before you get to 5th Avenue heading west, seeing an oil derrick next to an opulent 3-story mansion! David Beaty owned the properties on both sides of the road. The southside along the creek would become Beaty Field and on the other side of 3rd back toward town would be the school that bears his name.
Beaty Jr. High was started in 1929 and opened for business for the 1930-31 school year. In the mid ’50s a new modern auditorium, cafeteria, and classrooms were added. When I went there, the track team actually used the second floor as a practice track when the weather was bad. One trip around was almost a quarter mile. We would put talcum powder on the soles of our shoes to make sure we ran on our toes.
I’m not sure if the secret entrance to the field is still in use. If the creek was low, we would leave using the creekside door, walk under the 3rd street bridge, and onto the field. It kept teams and gym classes off the road. We had the best track teams in the league! Our track was a bit scary. The surface was cinders. If you fell (like I did) you’d end up with sharp black stone-like things deep in your knees. You can still see the ones in mine.
When I drive by Beaty Middle School today I think of the Citizenship League, the Silver ‘B’ The Dungaree Band. I think I still have a Torch stored somewhere. Another renovation and expansion project in ’66 forced the closure of the library and the 50’s era cafeteria. We had to eat a bagged lunch in our homerooms during my last year there.
The school has been restored and renovated at least twice since I went there. The last time I was in the building they had refinished the beautiful hardwood doors to the Gym and other appointments. I thought things looked better than they did in the 60s!
I hope the 5th graders aren’t overwhelmed. I hope the kids get a chance to experience the things that I did!
