Who Is Ruth Enlow?

Most folks come and go through the doors of the Ruth Enlow Library and never think twice about where that name came from, who it's attached to, and why did our public library end up being named after her? Well, here's a bit about Miss Enlow.


Ruth's parents were Ephraim Ellsworth Enlow and Harriet (Beachy) Enlow. (Recognize those local family names?)


Both were born and raised here in Garrett County. Ruth, however, was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. Ephraim, or E.E. as you will see his name referred to, and Harriet moved to California to help relieve E.E.'s respiratory issues. Ruth was born in April of 1897 and was the only child of the Enlows. One visit that Ruth made to Garrett County that we know of was after San Francisco' Great Earthquake of 1906. E.E. sent Harriet and Ruth home for a visit while he regrouped and repaired after the damage done to their home.
More later on Ruth Enlow and her family.

Check out this PA webpage....

Just wanted to pass this information along. Lori Haire stopped in the library on Monday and gave me the internet address to her Salisbury PA Historical Website (http://www.salisburypa.com/). You should check it out if you are interested in that area. To quote the website: "Chapter by chapter, delve into the history of Salisbury's schools, bands, sports, churches, groups, military, disasters, street scenes, industries, first inhabitants (Native American and early settlers), and nearby communities. And for the genealogist there is also a chapter on the Showalter Family history."
This site is chock full of pictures and valuable information. And as a side note, because the site has grown so big, Lori recommends that you navigate through the Site Map so that you don't miss anything. Please drop by for a visit.

Not your 1936 San Francisco

I just returned from a short (too short!) trip to San Francisco. The main purpose of my trip was actually to attend a photography workshop with my youngest daughter, but we flew out early to have a couple of hours to try to find out a little bit about Ruth Christine Enlow, the woman for whom our public library is named. First, we rode by the Richmond Branch of the San Francisco Public Library because this is the branch that Ruth Enlow worked at from 1930 until 1936, the year of her death. Unfortunately, this branch is under renovation and we couldn't get past the chain link fence that enclosed it to get better pictures or to see the inside.

We then taxied over to 1840 Franklin St....Ruth Enlow's residence in 1936. This might not be 1936, but you can just feel that era in these buildings on Franklin St. And we easily found 1840. It doesn't take much to imagine Ruth coming out of the building, heading off to 351 Ninth Ave. where she was a librarian at the Richmond Branch of the San Francisco Public Library.

We then headed over to the main branch of the SFPL to try see what we could find. Digging through some of the vertical files at the History Center at the main branch of the SFPL didn't actually turn up much more than the date she was hired at the Richmond branch, but all in all we still got a feel of the city where Ruth Enlow was born and raised. Getting to know a bit about her and her city has give me new appreciation for the name and the story behind our own Ruth Enlow Library here in Garrett County.