Getty Park in Shelby will be unveiling some recent renovations soon, which will be greatly enjoyed by the whole community, young and old. A soft opening is planned for tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Around 80 years ago, though, Getty Park served as a camp for German war prisoners during the tail end of World War II, one of only 32 such camps in the entire state. However, looking into the history of this park reveals it is connected to war survivors in more ways than one.
On the village of Shelby’s website, it tells us that “Historic Getty Park & Getty Field was deeded over to the village by George B. Getty and Sarah J. Getty in 1908.” Well, it turns out this George B. Getty was himself a war veteran, having served in the Civil War. Let’s take a look at the life of this veteran, whose impact on the Shelby area cannot be understated.
George B. Getty was born to Henry and Anna O. Getty in Pennsylvania in 1847. When he was just 17 years old, he enlisted in the 45th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Some of the battles that Getty’s regiment took part in during the years of his enlistment include the Battle of the Crater, the Battle of Peeble’s Farm and the Battle of Fort Stedman. Getty would stay enlisted until 1865, when the war was ended and his entire regiment was discharged. After which, he returned to Pennsylvania and took up lumbering. He came to Shelby in the spring of 1878, working as an engineer with E. Remick, and returned again in 1883 with C. A. Hawley. By this time, it would seem that Getty’s lumbering interests in Shelby were becoming more concrete. In that same year, he formed the Shelby Lumber Company together with E. H. Cutler and Charles Rolph. To quote from Hartwick and Tuller, “They purchased and rebuilt the Williams sawmill, and about a year later Mr. Getty purchased the entire property, adding a planing mill and other improvements, and successfully operated the same until Aug. 3, 1889, when the mill and entire stock of lumber were destroyed by fire.” Getty’s losses due to the fire were about $14,000, but he “was in no way discouraged” and “turned his attention to his farm, just north of the village…and proceeded to build thereon a comfortable farm house, warmed throughout by steam, one of the best farm houses in the county.”
Hartwick and Tuller conclude their biography on Getty by saying he was “well and favorably known” and that he enjoyed “the esteem and confidence of a host of friends in Shelby and throughout the county.” He actually served as the first president of the village of Shelby, and his name is plastered all over the pages of “Oceana County Pioneers and Business Men of To-Day,” when looking at the various lodges and organizations set up in the Shelby area. He was a partial owner of the Shelby Roller Flouring Mills, owner of the Opera House block and one of the stockholders of the Shelby Improvement Company. Today, his name survives in Getty Park, but whether we know it or not, the impact he has had on the Shelby area is felt by all of its residents, just as all of America experiences the benefits of all the veterans whose names go unknown to us.
