| The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Thursday, January 2 , 2002 7 Building ] | @ inc from page 1) se EA was put down. The congregation sat on logs.” From 1851 when it was built, until 1889 when the congregation moved to its present building on Church Street, the building was often the center of revival meetings and rous- ing sleighing parties. Sleighing parties were said to have been attended by people who came from far and wide. It is recorded that on a quiet night, the noise of the meetings could be heard from a mile away. “We were the first church of any kind in the Back Mountain; if anybody wanted to be bap- tized or married, we were the only game in town,” said Rev. William Lewis current minis- ter of the Dallas Methodist Church, originally called the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Dallas. “I wish I had a nickel for every time someone has said my grandparents used to go there, because everyone went here, we were the only church.” After large revivals, attendees would go to Christian Rice’s mill pond to be baptized. It is recorded that they would immerse themselves “even in the coldest winter weather.” After the congregation moved into its new building, the old one was sold to what is @. in the Dallas history book as a “local oup.” On July 1889, the group organized the Dallas Broom Cempany which made and marketed several types of brooms. The building, originally built to be two sto- ries, was raised to its current height of three stories when it was converted to a factory. The two existing floors were elevated and a third floor was added to the bottom. At the time of the renovations, it is recorded that the factory was equipped with “new and modern equipment.” According to the History of Dallas, the fac- tory was important to the area’s economy be- cause it provided employment. It was also im- portant to local agriculture because it created a demand for broom corn. In 1895, six years after it formed, several firms including the Dallas Broom Company joined together to form the American Broom and Brush Company. It was not long after the reorganization that the machinery and busi- ness were transferred to other plants and lo- cal workers lost their jobs. Not a lot is known about the building's his- tory between the period of the late 1890s and the time the Sisters of Mercy purchased the building in 1947. When the sisters purchased it, the building was part of the Morgan Wilcox state. There is some reference to the building hav- ing been a summer residence or rental. A no- tation in a date book at College Misericordia indicates the building was called Sunset Hall and was rented in the summer of 1916. When the building was purchased in 1947, it was referred to as a “private home.” Shortly after the purchase, it was renovated and turned into a student residence and home economics department. In the May, 1950 issue of the Miss Recor- dia, the College Misericordia newspaper, it was reported that the building had over the years gained the reputation of “a house of mystery.” The reporter wrote: “Many times its desolate and mysterious appearance had Present structure near the College Misericordia campus which will soon become a practice house for the rapidly expanding home economics department of the educational institution, isericordiato Use Dallas Homefor omeEconomicsDepartmeniCenter been the brunt of good-natured joking and speculation as to its origin and history.” In a July, 1949 Sunday Independent news- paper article, several reasons were cited for the college’s purchase of the building includ- ing rapidly expanding enrollment and a grow- ing home economics department. That year, the building underwent dramatic renovation. During the years the building was part of the Wilcox estate, there were two large porches on the bottom two floors of the front of the home. They were removed and the inside of the building changed to accommodate a live- in home economics department. The building was then named Rosary Hall. All students majoring in home economics were mandated to reside at Rosary Hall for a period of six weeks either in their junior or senior year. There they would gain practical training in all the phases of “home manage- ment.” “Here these students will be put to use the theory which was taught to them in their freshman and sophomore years,” stated the article. Every week students alternated host- ess, assistant hostess, cook, assistant cook and waitress. It stated that the girls left the home as “experienced homemakers.” In the late 1960s, Sister Mary Sharon Gal- lagher (who still works at the college) would on occasion serve as substitute resident counselor for the home economics program. Gallagher related how different times were then for the girls living in the house com- pared to the present day. “It was a different time, so you had some semblance of order,” Mann, James A. Franklin, fourth This photo is marked on the back as being taken in 1887. Two people are identified: from right, and Robert Whitebread, third from right. she said. Gallagher, who would cover the 9-12 p.m. shift on the weekends, said it was common for every floor to have a house mother. “We would keep it at a reasonable level of discipline, the girls were used to doing what sisters said.” The building has been in use for the College Misericordia Women and Chil- dren Program since 1999. The program offers six academi- cally qualified single parents and their children room, board and other support. In 1998, the build- ing underwent mi- nor renovations in preparation for the program, but ac- cording to college Be staff members, looks inside and out large- ly as it did when it served as the col- lege’s home econom- ics department. a problem. loss of life. Biter is photo appeared in the July 31, 1949 issue of the Sunday Indepen- dent. The caption read, "Present structure near College Misericordia campus which will soon become a practice house for the rapidly ex- panding home economics department of the educational facility.” Gamp staff needed for JCC Summer Day Camp Sm June 11 -August 8 to work with children ages 3-14 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. at camp located near Harvey s Lake. We need camp counselors, counselors for canoeing, kayaking, music, dance, archery, tennis, golf, hiking, ropes course, cooking, hockey, soccer, Phys. Ed, arts and crafts, haskethall, gymnastics, karate, ceramics. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers