Circus Truck Crash - Frisco (Ellwood CIty) PA

On Tuesday evening, May 11, 1949, a tractor-trailer of the John Pawling Great London Circus lost control and crashed in to the home of William and Blanche Haus – located along Route 65 in the Frisco area of Franklin Township. The circus had just performed in Ellwood City and was headed to Ambridge. The tractor-trailer, pulling a mobile kitchen unit, had seven people onboard. The cab of the truck ended up falling into the basement of the house. One passenger was killed, 62-year-old Adrian A. Gelston of Oklahoma, and the driver and another passenger were injured. Mrs Haus was in the living room at the time of the crash but was uninjured. William Haus had to sue the company to recoup about $11,500 in damages. (May 1949)Full Size