My grandfather and neighborhood boy in the Wilson section of Clairton, PA with steel mill in the background. Photograph was taken sometime in the late 50s. Given all the smoke belching out from the stacks everyone must have been working. My father grew up in here, just up the Monongahela from Pittsburgh. He did not return after getting out of the Marines in 1946. Every summer during the 50s and 60s we would drive up there from Beaufort, SC to visit family. I loved it. Nobody spoke English. Italian on one side of the river (Clairton) and Slovak on the other (my Mom folks lived in McKeesport). Kennywood Park, Forbes Field and the volcanic coke works at Clairton. I loved it and was willing to give up the beach, salt march and clean air for a chance to live in the dirty, smokey air of exotic Clairton. Thank god, this was not to be. View full size.
My grandfather and neighborhood boy in the Wilson section of Clairton, PA with steel mill in the background. Photograph was taken sometime in the late 50s. Given all the smoke belching out from the stacks everyone must have been working. My father grew up in here, just up the Monongahela from Pittsburgh. He did not return after getting out of the Marines in 1946. Every summer during the 50s and 60s we would drive up there from Beaufort, SC to visit family. I loved it. Nobody spoke English. Italian on one side of the river (Clairton) and Slovak on the other (my Mom folks lived in McKeesport). Kennywood Park, Forbes Field and the volcanic coke works at Clairton. I loved it and was willing to give up the beach, salt march and clean air for a chance to live in the dirty, smokey air of exotic Clairton. Thank god, this was not to be. | Click image for Comments. | Home | Browse All Photos