History

Wilmerding and the Westinghouse Air Brake Company tells the story of a town and company that grew up hand in hand through historical images.

When George Westinghouse Jr. founded the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, his air brakes, railroad equipment, and industrial pneumatic devices revolutionized rail travel, opening a new chapter in American industrial history. Not only were the products of his first company revolutionary, but the small borough he founded in 1890 in southwestern Pennsylvania became a model for residential and industrial development. Wilmerding, precisely planned and built according to Westinghouse's specifications, would house the workers-skilled and unskilled, black and white-who would produce George Westinghouse's air brake. Wilmerding and the Westinghouse Air Brake Company tells the story of a town and company that grew up hand in hand. This collection of historical photographs, drawn from the archive of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, shows how the citizens of Wilmerding lived-from the factories where they worked everyday to the Castle, where they bowled and swam. See the Victorian-style homes where they lived with their families, the park where they strolled, and the company band they heard at concerts and parades. Learn about the industry-changing products they produced and sold globally. Wilmerding and the Westinghouse Air Brake Company is an American story of a man and his vision-how he and the town he founded changed the face of rail travel and industry.

From early homesteads to coke ovens to Lake Forest Park and the YMCA, journey through over 200 years of Scottsdale and Everson's history in this photographic tale.

Prior to the Great Depression, coal mines and coke ovens made Scottdale the wealthiest community in Westmoreland County. Once part of a region that was known as the world's largest producer of metallurgical coke, the area's prosperity created a thriving business district on the road to Pittsburgh, lined Chestnut Street with elegant Victorian mansions, and provided a home for a baseball farm team affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals. Immigrants from Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean joined earlier Scotch Irish and German settlers to create a rich cultural heritage. Around Scottdale and Everson celebrates this ethnic diversity. Pictured within are views of early homesteads, coke ovens, mills, and places where residents lived, shopped, worshiped, and played, including Lake Forest Park and the YMCA. Although recent economic growth shifted to nearby interstate highways, Scottdale and Everson occupy a strategic gateway to the Laurel Highlands, which promises to attract new immigrants preferring to live near open spaces and in neighborhoods without strangers.

Their pride is evident in the images in Catasauqua and North Catasauqua. Bustling businesses, spacious schools, cherished churches, opulent houses, big parades and public celebrations, and strong, confident faces abound in these photographs. The culmination of that pride and prosperity came in 1914, when Catasauqua welcomed the world to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Crane Iron Works with Old Home Week. Less than ten years later, the iron business was gone, its last years recorded in extraordinary photographs. Life in Catasauqua, though harder, went on and today, the heritage of the Iron Borough days is visible everywhere in both towns-the streets, houses, and churches still loved and lived in as they were a century or more ago.

The only comprehensive history of one of America's most infamous prisons, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA.

Looming on the horizon like a storm cloud made of stone, the Eastern State Penitentiary spent more than a century as the fortress that both the law-abiding and criminal feared. In this superbly balanced and thoroughly researched volume, Paul Kahan presents the history of this revolutionary penitentiary, from its inception as a model of the revolutionary Pennsylvania System of incarceration in 1829 to the demands for its closure in the wake of ever-increasing violence in 1971. Through tales of spectacular escapes, official corruption, reformation and retribution, Kahan chronicles the tensions that plagued Eastern State since the arrival of its first prisoners.

In 1740, Moravian immigrants made their first permanent American settlement in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

Nazareth was closed to residents outside of the Moravian faith.In 1856, the town opened to non-Moravians, who were then allowed to own property and live and work in the town.Early industries, including textiles, cement production, and agriculture, attracted immigrants and expanded the town’s diversity from a predominately German origin to include a sizeable Italian and Polish population.During the 20th century, many of these businesses continued, including the world-renowned C.F.Martin Guitar Company, which has been family owned and operated since 1833.By mid-century, at least three large cement companies surrounded the Nazareth borough area and employed hundreds of laborers.Nazareth was also home to the Nazareth Speedway, a one-mile tri-oval paved track of Indy and United States Auto Club (USAC) racing fame, and is home to racing champions Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, and third-generation driver Marco Andretti.

“A compelling narrative that moves crisply through the murder, the lynching, and the cover-up by silence that local residents thereafter affected.”—The Journal of American History

On a warm August night in 1911, Zachariah Walker was lynched—burned alive—by an angry mob on the outskirts of Coatesville, a prosperous Pennsylvania steel town. At the time of his very public murder, Walker, an African American millworker, was under arrest for the shooting and killing of a respected local police officer. Investigated by the NAACP, the horrific incident garnered national and international attention. Despite this scrutiny, a conspiracy of silence shrouded the events, and the accused men and boys were found not guilty at trial. More than 100 years after the lynching, authors Dennis B. Downey and Raymond M. Hyser bring new insight to events that rocked a community.

“C.C.A. Baldi ruled Little Italy, and everyone who wished to deal with the Italians knew it.

Go back to turn of the century Philadelphia and discover the incredible immigrant success story of C.C.A. Baldi and his brothers as they build a business empire while pathing a path for the Italian community and becoming the King of Little Italy.

Much like the rest of the nation, South Central Pennsylvania struggled with slavery. The institution lingered locally for more than fifty years, although it was virtually extinct everywhere else within Pennsylvania.

Gradually, anti-slavery views prevailed. The Appalachian Mountains and the Susquehanna River provided natural cover for fleeing slaves, causing an influx of travel along the Underground Railroad. Locals like William Wright and James McAllister assisted these runaways while publicly advocating to abolish slavery. Historian Cooper Wingert reveals the struggles between slavery and abolition in South Central Pennsylvania.

Discover Chester County's Lost Landmarks/

Chester County has a deep and enriching history, from sites of the Underground Railroad to great moments of Women's Suffrage and incredible remnants of Native American culture. The stories of the county's past can be experienced in many of its historic landmarks. Author Mark DeWitt Lanyon charts Chester County's lost history and the places that defined it.

From its days as a small village named Bucktown to its 150th anniversary in 2012, the borough of Dunmore is more than just a suburb of Scranton.

Boasting an ethnically diverse population and several of the best schools in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Dunmore has come a long way since changing its name from Bucktown in the hope of receiving financial assistance that never came. Fortunately for Dunmore, the town's fate was secured when the Pennsylvania Coal Company arrived in the mid-1800s, turning it into a diverse and thriving community center. Using vintage photographs, Images of America: Dunmoreaims to celebrate not just the town's history, but also its people. The photographs depict lives of earlier generations who share one thing in common with their modern counterparts: their pride in their hometown.

Mt. Lebanon depicts the interesting and engaging history of this community.

From the mid-1700s to the early 1900s, farming was the principal occupation in the area that would become Mt. Lebanon. When the federal government placed an excise tax on whiskey in 1794, area farmers protested in what became known as the Whiskey Rebellion. The 1901 arrival of the streetcar began transforming the area from a rural countryside to a modern suburban community. Within a few months of the streetcar's arrival, the first real estate subdivision, the Mt. Lebanon Plan, was laid out, and by 1905, no less than 11 subdivisions had been approved. When the Liberty Tunnels opened in 1924, Mt. Lebanon's population exploded, and the community became a premier example of the modern automobile suburb.

Called the ""Gem of the Endless Mountains,"" Sullivan County has been a crossroad and ethnic melting pot in the highlands of northern Pennsylvania for more than two centuries

In New York's Sullivan County, there are villages, ghost towns, family farms, and hunting camps scattered along valley floors and clinging to the mountainsides. Early lumber mills were built along the Big and Little Loyalsock Creeks and tributaries in the early 1800s, and outdoor sports and modern tourism became major industries in the 20th and 21st centuries. Land speculation by companies such as Asylum Land Company led to the development of coal, lumber, and railroad industries throughout the county.

Penn State University was founded in 1855. Then known as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, the 400-acre campus had only one main building.

With almost 100,000 current students (including students at the Commonwealth Campuses) and having the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world, Penn State continues to be a world leader in education. Since its founding, picture postcards have been published to showcase the buildings and highlight the student activities while documenting the school's narrative.

Author Ryan C. Brown details the harrowing days of the Great Steel Strike of 1919 that rocked Pittsburgh and its seemingly impregnable “principality of steel.”

In 1919, the steel industry of Pittsburgh was on the brink of war. Years of labor strife broke out into open conflict as steel workers launched the biggest strike to date in the United States, paralyzing mills from Youngstown to Johnstown and beyond. Radical unionists, anarchists and Bolshevik sympathizers set bombs, planned for revolution and fought police in violent battles. As the postwar Red Scare began to sweep the nation, federal agents used the strikes as an excuse to comb Pittsburgh’s immigrant neighborhoods looking for communists.

The Mid Mon Valley celebrates the interesting history of this Pennsylvania community through a collection of striking postcards from the twentieth century.

As the Monongahela River snakes north into Pennsylvania, it twists into horseshoe bends and has few straight stretches. Tucked into these curves are a series of small towns that represent America at its best. The river, which is one hundred and twenty-eight miles long, is divided into regions by local residents, and the mid section encompassing the communities of Brownsville, California, Belle Vernon, Charleroi, Monessen, Donora, and Monongahela is known as the Mid Mon Valley. What unites this region, in addition to a common landscape and common architecture, is a heritage of ethnic pride, industrial achievement, and championship sports teams. The Mid Mon Valley celebrates this history through a collection of striking postcards from the twentieth century.

Explore the fascinating history of Bradford, Pennsylvania with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

Around Bradford Volume II further looks at the history of the area as it has not been seen before. Once one of the largest cities in Pennsylvania, Bradford relied heavily on oil production in the 1880s for its success.

Author Sally Ryan Costik allows us to glimpse into the Age of Innocence at the turn of the century before she endeavors to examine the city's own tumultuous past. In the 1920s, it was home to KKK activity, gangster slayings, and mob retaliation––events that contrast sharply with the images of Sunday school, industrial growth, and high society from Millionaires Row found in this collection. In the years following the Roaring Twenties, Costik takes a unique look at the Depression era through the eyes of sports fans. She chronicles Bradford's baseball team through the decade as they played within the PONY league circuit (comprised of Pennsylvania, Ontario, and New York). No history of Bradford would be complete without giving mention to the Bradfordians who supported the war effort on the home front.

Philadelphia, as laid out in the 1680s, extended from the Delaware River to the Schuylkill River and from Vine Street to South Street, an area known today as Center City.

As its population grew, the settled areas expanded westward from the Delaware River beyond early important landmarks such as Christ Church, the Pennsylvania State House, and Pennsylvania Hospital. By the mid-19th century, commercial, religious, and cultural institutions arose along Broad Street, and exclusive residential neighborhoods developed even farther west in areas previously undeveloped or used as industrial sites. Bustling shopping districts anchored by stores such as Wanamaker's Grand Depot and Strawbridge and Clothier ran for blocks along Chestnut and Market Streets. Center City Philadelphia in the 19th Century highlights the buildings, people, and activities of this area from the 1840s until the end of the century.

Take a glimpse at one of America's best loved companies and a study in how to do the common thing uncommonly well.

In 1869, the American diet was a dreary affair. Kitchen staples included bread, potatoes, other root vegetables, and meat. Tomatoes–then called love apples–were an exotic fruit. A young 25-year-old Henry J. Heinz helped to change all of that. He established his company based on a single premise: quality. He demonstrated this commitment by bottling his first product, grated horseradish, in clear glass jars to showcase its purity. From his hometown near Pittsburgh, Heinz sparked a revolution. A colorful marketing genius, he was a foresighted entrepreneur whose peripatetic travels birthed the global H. J. Heinz Company, which today is the most international of all United States–based food companies. H. J. Heinz Company contains vintage images from the archives of one of America's first industrial photography studios. It captures memorable and creative marketing from the 57 Varieties to today and features photography of many current initiatives in Heinz's main businesses of ketchup and sauces, meals and snacks, and infant foods.

In 1682, William Penn offered the Free Society of Traders a nearly twenty-thousand-acre tract of land made up from the then communities of Warwick, New Britain, and Hilltown. The area grew slowly and, in 1745, William Doyle applied for permission to operate an inn at a well-traveled crossroads. With the permission granted, Doyle's town was created. Spared destructive battles of the American Revolution, the town retained its rustic charm and appeal. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Doylestown, as it had become known, had blossomed and was beginning to attract merchants and residents. It spent the next century somewhat in isolation until wealthy Philadelphians and New Yorkers discovered the borough in the 1930s, boasting of its abundant, beautiful, land and rich history. Doylestown is the first collection of images to document the history of the seat of Bucks County. The images contained in this collection were gathered primarily from local residents who, upon hearing of the pending publication, came forth with troves of photographs, stories, and memories of their hometown. Truly a community effort, Doylestown is a unique compilation of a storied past, a spirited present, and an exciting future.

The area grew slowly and, in 1745, William Doyle applied for permission to operate an inn at a well-traveled crossroads. With the consent granted, Doyle's town was created. Spared destructive battles of the American Revolution, the town retained its rustic charm and appeal. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Doylestown, as it had become known, had blossomed and was beginning to attract merchants and residents. It spent the next century somewhat in isolation until wealthy Philadelphians and New Yorkers discovered the borough in the 1930s, boasting of its abundant, beautiful, land and rich history. Doylestown is the first collection of images to document the history of the seat of Bucks County. The images contained in this collection were gathered primarily from local residents who, upon hearing of the pending publication, came forth with troves of photographs, stories, and memories of their hometown. Truly a community effort, Doylestown is a unique compilation of a storied past, a spirited present, and an exciting future.

Indiana, Pennsylvania is a compilation of stunning photographs that reveal a historical community. Included in this valuable history are the secret connections to the Underground Railroad, the arrival of electricity and telephones, the first automobiles, and the last Civil War veteran. Indiana, Pennsylvania also features many parts of the borough that have vanished, such as Indiana's early buildings and most of the old downtown hotels.

This colorful history of Pocono Mountain town Honesdale describes its beginning as a transport hub for coal, as well as its illustrious citizens.

Honesdale, Pennsylvania, nestled in the Pocono Mountains, is known for its picturesque views and colorful people. Named after Philip Hone, mayor of New York City and president of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, the area formerly known as Dyberry Forks was selected as the site to transport anthracite coal from the Wyoming Valley to New York City by gravity railroad and canal. Honesdale is the home of the Stourbridge Lion, the first locomotive to run on commercial tracks in the Western Hemisphere. Helping to shape Honesdale were such notable people as songwriter Dick Smith, five-star general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Lemnitzer, artist Jennie Brownscombe, and authors Homer Greene and Washington Irving. Honesdale is noted for having the world's smallest Jewish temple, and during the canal days, it had the world's largest stockpile of coal.

Join author Richard Gazarik as he reveals the wicked history of the Steel City.

Muckraking journalist Walter Liggett dubbed Pittsburgh the Metropolis of Corruption in 1930 when he reported the city had more vice per square foot than New York, Detroit, Cleveland or Boston. Decades earlier, the Magee-Flinn political machine ruled public officials, and crooked police helped racketeers protect brothels and gambling dens. Mayor (later Governor) David Lawrence was indicted several times for graft but acquitted each time. Even Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. colluded with gangsters, according to FBI reports.

During Beaver Falls' first 150 years, residents of the town built it into a self-supporting community committed to family values.

Initially known as Brighton before its incorporation, after it became Beaver Falls, the town saw extensive industrial development, and the city was described as "one of the most well-established manufacturing towns in western Pennsylvania.'? Carefully preserved images from the Beaver Falls Historical Society are combined with revealing and informative text, and this fascinating history includes some of the homes and businesses of early Beaver Falls families, as well as the railroad, canal, and river that connected the town to the rest of the state. Newly discovered images and sources of the community's history make this book a rare and timeless keepsake.

Newtown has a rich heritage that is abundant with historic charm, a three-century-long growth founded on deep agricultural roots with a notable role in American history.

Once a busy commercial and cultural center, Newtown served as the county seat of Bucks County from 1726 to 1813. It was within this community the shots of British raiding parties resounded off homes and businesses, and from this small town on Christmas morning in 1776, General George Washington marched from his headquarters to join the Battle of Trenton. Over the succeeding years, Newton quietly transformed back into the pastoral town it had once been. Despite the many changes the town has seen, traces of this historic past remain still. From the archives of the Newtown Historic Association, Historic Newtown offers the reader a unique opportunity to see everyday life in this rural community as it was at the beginning of the 20th century. Within these photographs are many rare and never before published glimpses into the past of one of the oldest and most historic towns in Pennsylvania.

The author of Steel tells the story of strikes and violent unrest amid the mines and mills of twentieth-century Pennsylvania and Ohio—includes photos.

As the twentieth century dawned on western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, the region’s steel industry faced a struggle for unionism. The industry was plagued by disasters that killed and maimed countless workers, many of them impoverished immigrants from Ireland, Hungary, and other nations—in 1906 alone, more than four hundred workers died in steel plant accidents.

In response, unionists like Philip Murray, John L. Lewis, Samuel Gompers, and Gus Hall began to battle for fair wages, hours, and working conditions. Managers like Judge Elbert Gary and Tom Girdler opposed their every move. Tensions from issues of immigration, class, skill, and race erupted throughout the industry.

The tribulations led to widespread steel strikes directed by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, and a war that killed scores and injured thousands. In this book, industrial relations expert Dale Richard Perelman charts the struggle and decline of the nation’s most prominent regional steel industry.

The Stroudsburgs in the Poconos is a fascinating, pictorial history of this diverse community.

Nestled in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania are the twin towns of Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg. Discover the history, people, and places of this community in an unprecedented collection of images. Authors and local historians Marie and Frank Summa have compiled fascinating images with a carefully researched and informative text to tell the story of the Stroudsburgs and the Poconos from the time of the Native Americans through the mid-1950s. Known first as Dansbury, in honor of Daniel Brodhead, the settlement later became known as Stroudsburg, in honor of Jacob Stroud. The Stroudsburgs endured and prospered throughout war, fire, and flood. Its inhabitants included Abraham Lincoln's substitute in the Civil War, a veteran of five wars who became a parish priest, and an attorney general of the United States. The lives andindustries of ordinary citizens as well as these unique and colorful figures of the past are depicted. Images were provided through community loans and local historicalsocieties to produce this timeless tribute to the history of the Stroudsburgs in the Poconos.

The Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame (PABHOF) was established in 1958 to honor the elite performers of the state’s boxing history. The first five-person class of inductees included ring legends Billy Conn, Harry Greb, Tommy Loughran, Philadelphia Jack O’Brien, and Lew Tendler. The PABHOF continued to induct outstanding participants of the sport who either hailed from the state or had an impact on the Pennsylvania boxing story. By 2023, the list of honorees numbered 438 and included champions, contenders, club fighters, trainers, managers, promoters, cutmen, and other key members of the boxing community.

John DiSanto is a boxing historian and writer. He coauthored the books Boxing in Atlantic City and Grace and Grit: Boxing at Shuler’s Gym. DiSanto, the founder and editor of PhillyBoxingHistory.com, is a New Jersey Boxing Hall of Famer and is the chairman of the PABHOF. For this work, he has compiled photographs and profiles of many noteworthy PABHOF members as well as a complete listing of every person inducted from 1958 to 2023. 

Columbia County was formed in 1813 and named for the mythic goddess Columbia, who represented the distinctively American qualities of the new nation in opposition to Britannia.

In an area of beautiful, fertile creek and river valleys nestled among high ridges, the county represents the best of rural America with its productive farms, idyllic small towns, and a variety of small-scale industries. Settled at first by Quakers, the villages and towns were later strengthened by Scotch-Irish, German, Italian, and eastern European immigrants. Agriculture was the principal pursuit at first and continues so, but the county developed many industries ranging from timbering in the north to production of canal boats, textiles, and railroad cars in towns along the Susquehanna River to mining of anthracite coal at the county's southern edge. The photographs in Early Columbia County, selected from the historical society's large collection, evoke the people and life of the towns in their heyday from 1870 to 1920, when each locality attained a distinctive character.

Mauch Chunk (Bear Mountain) was a boomtown gone bust by the mid 1900s, and came up with a unique way to change its fortunes via Olympian Jim Thorpe.

Jim Thorpe in the 20th Century examines the causes and effects of a community's decision to relinquish its Native American name Mauch Chunk (""Bear Mountain"") to become the town of Jim Thorpe. In the 19th century, Mauch Chunk rode a wave of prosperity, as coal shipping and tourism turned ordinary men into millionaires. In the 20th century, the mainstays of the town's economy began to tumble like dominoes: mule-drawn coal boats could not compete with the iron horse, ending Mauch Chunk's days as a canal town by 1922; the touristattracting Switchback Gravity Railroad, unable to afford parts, closed in 1932; the coal mines and working railroads collapsed, as industry, home heating, and trucking turned to petroleum. Down-and-out by the mid-1900s, Mauch Chunk was looking for a means of saving itself when the widow of 1912 Olympian Jim Thorpe proposed a stranger-than-fiction solution.

Along the Perkiomen provides a glimpse of the Perkiomen region's rich an interesting history.

The Perkiomen Creek is a picturesque stream that drains a major portion of western Montgomery County. It begins just beyond the northern borders of the county and travels south. The creek empties into the Schuylkill River at the county's lower border. The old Perkiomen Railroad closely followed the same path. Along the Perkiomen showcases postcards of the Perkiomen Valley in Montgomery County as it existed during the first half of the twentieth century. Readers will visit the villages and towns along the creek and others nearby. This visual journey is intended to provide a glimpse of the Perkiomen region's rich history.

In the 1860s, Broad Street formed the western edge of downtown Philadelphia and was little more than railroad tracks and train depots.

However, with the building of Philadelphia City Hall in the 1870s, Broad Street rapidly developed into one of the city's premier streets. Rows of mansions sprung up south of Spruce Street, and the area north of Spruce became known as ""hotel row."" Four-story brownstones lined both sides of North Broad Street, interspersed with the mansions and gardens of the nouveau riche and punctuated by clubs, theaters, schools, churches, and synagogues. Philadelphia's Broad Street: South and North is the first photographic history devoted exclusively to Broad Street in its ""gilded age."" These vintage images provide a vivid reminder, if one is needed, of how dramatically the street has changed in the last one hundred years.

Postcard images from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century show historic scenes of the first city established in Pennsylvania.

From the late 19th century until the mid-20th century, Chester was a bustling hub of industry, historic sites, tourist attractions, and entertainment. The first city established in Pennsylvania, Chester was famous for its many mills. The area was also home to a major shipbuilding center, the Sun Ship Corporation, as well as other industries, including the Chester Brewery and Blue Naphtha brand soap. The postcards in Chester showcase historic scenes of the city and highlight the long history of this dynamic community.

Pittsburgh is synonymous with winning. From the Penguins and Steelers to the Pirates and Panthers, the Steel City knows championships.

There must be something special in the water to make Pittsburgh so particularly gifted with its sports teams. The most famous teams in the city’s history would most likely be the 1970s Steelers, known as the Steel Curtain for obvious reasons, and the Penguins who raised the Stanley Cup five times. Names such as Lemieux, Crosby, Roethlisberger, Bradshaw, Clemente and Stargell are legends of American sport and members of Pittsburgh's most cherished franchises, but for every sports legend and multi-million dollar franchise, there are a dozen more talented players and long-past teams that have been forgotten to history; the Negro League's Crawford and Homestead Grays are too often overlooked in the city's sports history but were as talented as any team that has played there. Author Dave Finoli ranks the fifty greatest teams that won trophies, brought glory and lifted the hearts of Pittsburgh’s devoted sports fans.

Author and sports historian David Finoli's inside look at the 50 greatest male and female athletes in Pittsburgh history.

Greatness in sport is both undefinable and immediately recognizable. Though it is rare, Western Pennsylvania has been graced with a long history of athletes who embody the essence of greatness. They have proudly represented the region in sports such as boxing, golf and track; carried their collegiate teams to victory; and worn the black and gold of the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins. Pittsburghers still recall how Mario Lemieux glided effortlessly through an opposing defense before befuddling the goalie or Arnold Palmer’s unique swing that made the everyday duffer feel like he was one of them. Fans debate whether Terry Bradshaw or Ben Roethlisberger is the better quarterback and what the legacy of Barry Bonds is, while keeping Roberto Clemente among their most cherished icons. Take a deep dive into all of that and more and re-discover the best of the best in Pittsburgh sports history.

McKees Rocks and Stowe Township, just downriver from the Point of Pittsburgh, contributed significantly to the growth of steel and transportation in western Pennsylvania.

In 1888, the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, known as the Little Giant, built a 100-acre maintenance facility in McKees Rocks, igniting the spark to the region's massive industrial, business, and population explosion. By 1910, the population soared to 15,000, fueled by the rapid influx of nearly 6,000 immigrants. A landmark event in labor history occurred in July 1909, when 5,000 foreign workers, representing 16 different nationalities, waged a long and bloody strike against the Pressed Steel Car Company. McKees Rocks and Stowe Township showcases a region whose diverse history includes the largest Native American mound in Pennsylvania, visits by George Washington, floods, and even Al Capone. Today a rich mix of ethnic cultures still flavors the local neighborhoods, and the accomplishments of homegrown businessmen, musicians, clergy, athletes, public servants, artists, and educators are recognized and respected throughout western Pennsylvania and beyond.

Journey through the complicated economic and environmental history of the steel industry in The Mon.Perfect for fans of the history of American industrialization.

Pittsburgh's Monongahela Riveris named after the Lenape Indianword Menaonkihela, meaning where banks cave and erode. The name is fitting: for over a century, these riverbanks were lined with steel plants and railroads that have now caved and erodedaway.

By the 1880s, Carnegie Steelwas the world's largest manufacturer of iron, steel rails, and coke. However, in the 1970s, cheap foreign steel flooded the market. Following the 1981–1982 recession, the plants laid off 153,000 workers. The year 1985 saw the beginning of demolition; by 1990, seven of nine major steel plants had shut down.Duquesne, Homestead, Jones & Laughlin, and Eliza Furnaceare gone; only the Edgar Thomsonplant remains as a producer of steel.

The industry could be said to have built and nearly destroyed the region both economically and environmentally. While these steel plants are lost today, the legacy of their workers is not forgotten.

Thomas White spins a beguiling yarn with tales that reach from the misty hollows of the Alleghenies to the lost islands of Pittsburgh.

Oppaymolleah's Curse. General Braddock's buried gold. The original man of steel, Joe Magarac. Such legends have found a home among the rich folklore of Western Pennsylvania. White invites readers to learn the truth behind the urban legend of the Green Man, speculate on the conspiracy surrounding the lost B-25 bomber of Monongahela and shiver over the ghostly lore of Western Pennsylvania.

Whether a local citizen, former resident, or visitor, Erie County will definitely entertain, and it will remind us of the perseverance and strength of small-town America.

Erie County, Pennsylvania, is an interesting mixture of peaceful rural landscapes and vigorous industrial scenes. From Albion, Girard, and Fairview in the west, through Waterford and Edinboro, to Corry, Wattsburg, North East, Harborcreek, and Lawrence Park in the east, this volume touches upon many of the small towns, villages, and rural areas that make up this diverse county. The book's images, many never before published, have been selected by local historians and taken from local historical societies' archives to represent the social and cultural aspects of each community. From these pictures, mainly taken in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the distinct identity of each area comes alive with views of farmlands, businesses, schools, and recreation, yet despite thisindividuality, these unique communities do share much in common in tradition and personality.

Frackville, Pennsylvania, is a perfect community for exploring the identity of small-town America.

This borough is representative of the many struggles American citizens and immigrants had to overcome in the mid-nineteenth through the twentieth century on their way to success. Even though Frackville's men and women possess a tremendous drive for progress, they have not forgotten the sacrifices made by earlier generations that have helped shape them and create the area in which they live. This volume looks back on the borough's history and retells the fascinating stories of its original families and early settlers, like the Fracks and the Merediths, and traces Frackville's growth and development from its incorporation in 1876 to its centennial celebration in 1976. With over 200 images, many never before published, this collection shows the reader buildings and homes, some now demolished, lining dusty roads and peopled with citizens in antiquated hats or dresses, and even presents pictures of more recent generations participating in the centennial parade.

Lehighton offers an engaging look into the past of the idyllic Pennsylvania community.

Lehighton was the first settlement in Carbon County. This idyllic community sits between two beautiful Pennsylvania State Parks, the Lehigh Gorge and Beltzville. The Lehigh Valley Railroad transformed Lehighton into a bustling railroad town, where free enterprise reigned. The LVRR quickly became the major employer of the town's population and was fully integrated into the very fabric of Lehighton, its people, and the culture. Local business thrived, and the success of the Lehigh Stove Company, the Moxie Bottling Company, and the Lehigh Wagon Company enticed other businesses to move into the area. Along with hauling anthracite coal, the LVRR began passenger service, and Lehighton was on the railroad's main line. The scenery that brought droves of Victorians to ride the Lehigh Valley Railroad and other Pennsylvania trains, today brings tourism of another kind. White-water rafting on the Lehigh River is some of the best in the state, and fishermen can still land native trout.

The Native Americans called it shackamaxon, the place where the chiefs meet, but Kensington soon became a meeting place of a different kind.

Ideologies and demagogues, industry and entrepreneurs all came together in Kensington and Fishtown. Kensington was the epicenter of the American vegetarian movement, and a decade later the area's shipyards gave birth to the U.S. Navy's first submarine. In Kensington & Fishtown, native son Kenneth W. Milano presents a collection of fascinating and diverse articles from his column The Rest is History. Relive the golden age of Kensington and Fishtown as you learn about learn about their fascinating pasts.