Category: General Nonsense, History || By

It's been a while since I cleaned out the email box, and it's starting to get a little gamey ....

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Alert Reader Kyle writes:

I would just like to thank you very much for your website about McKeesport. I am a college student currently attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania and I have often wondered so much about the history of the Mon Valley.

My hometown is Finleyville, Pa., but I have spent a great deal of time in Donora, Monongahela, Elrama and McKeesport throughout my life.

I have heard stories about the greatness that once was by parents and grandparents but I found it very difficult to find a decent source for information that isn't skewed by unwillingness to damage the names of the towns that once were. Most websites I visit only deal in cut and dry population statistics and refuse to address the gray, run down streets and check cashing centers next to liquor stores. ...

My mother is (excised for privacy reasons -- ed.). I once asked her why there was a bronze statue of JFK in a tiny park and she told me that he had spoke there. I was genuinely awestruck, why would JFK visit a place like this? I was told that it had been at one time one of the largest cities in PA and that is what initially sparked my interest in McKeesport.

Sorry for such explanation. I just want to give you heartfelt thanks for preserving the memory of this once great town and it's untimely downfall by sprawl and Japanese steel.

Thanks for your letter, Kyle. Good luck this semester ... and go Indians! ... Er ... I mean ... Crimson Hawks!

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Alert Reader Keith writes:

Just found your site last night and have forwarded it on to a couple other folks. I was raised in White Oak, graduated from McKeesport in 1994 and live in Chambersburg, Pa., now.

The history on this site is fascinating, especially for someone who remembers Weiner World at Eastland Mall, the drive-in up the road and passing some of the charred remains of the 1976 fire on the way to Century III Mall.

If I may make suggestions I'd recommend adding Rainbow Gardens, Paule's Lookout and Helmstadter's store Downtown. Then again, you've probably already thought of these and just haven't gotten around to them yet.

I actually interviewed one of the Helmstadters recently. They're a fascinating and important family in McKeesport history, and not just because of the store. Several were very involved in public service and politics.

I'm going to write something up "one of these days." I'll add it to the list of "under construction" features of this website. Some of them have been on that list since, oh, 1995 or so.

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Alert Reader Tom asks:

Can you help an ailing mind? Where was Bettis airport in relationship to Allegheny County Airport?

Bettis Field, also known as the Pittsburgh-McKeesport Airport, was the present location of Bettis Laboratory on the border between Dravosburg and Mifflin Township (now West Mifflin).

It was named for pioneer pilot Cyrus Bettis, an Army lieutenant who won several awards for his flying ability before crashing in a heavy fog in 1926 near Bellefonte, Centre County. He died of his injuries.

After "County" opened in 1932 just a mile or so away, commercial air traffic shifted away from Bettis. It was in serious eclipse by World War II. The Curtiss-Wright aircraft company operated the field for a while, then sold it to the government for atomic power research.

The lab was overseen for decades by Westinghouse Electric but is now run by Bechtel Corp. Although the Bettis complex is a high-security facility, you can still see evidence of the field's heritage from Pittsburgh-McKeesport Boulevard.

The security office near the main gate is the old airport control tower, and two of the yellow-brick garages along the highway are former airplane hangars. Look for the propellers cast into the cement on the columns.

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Alert Reader Josh writes:

I'm an avid reader of the Tube City Almanac, and a former McKeesport resident. Your blog about Aaron Slafka made me want to write to you about him.

I've known Aaron since we were in 7th grade together. He's one of the coolest guys I've ever met ...

Aaron has been an inspiration to me. Although I didn't go through something as bad as he did, he's inspired me nonetheless.

Aaron not only coped with his challenges, but actually pushed himself to get better. Many people take for granted the power of the human spirit.

I want to thank you for giving Aaron Slafka the credit he deserves. Most blogs and news sources are too busy blabbing about Brittney's bald head or Paris' night-vision late night romps. What you have provided is REAL NEWS.

Thanks for your nice comments, Josh, but I didn't do anything. Aaron did it all; I just wrote about it.

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Keep those cards 'n letters coming. I do respond ... er ... eventually. My first initial at my last name at gmail dot com. We also accept regular letters at P.O. Box 94, McKeesport 15134.