Mid-Mon Valley towns of Charleroi, Monongahela and Donora featured in a national publication.

At Perked Up Cafe, looking onto McKean Ave., Charleroi PA

A professor at the University of Pittsburgh posted a link to his Twitter feed Thursday that caught me by surprise. It’s a relatively positive story about the Mid Mon Valley by Laurent Belsie of the Christian Science Monitor. The article mainly focuses on Charleroi but also mentioned are Donora, the City of Monongahela and Washington County. A few people and businesses you might recognize are:

• Casey and Eric Clark, Perked Up Cafe, Charleroi, Pa.
• Corelle Brands (formerly World Kitchen), Charleroi, Pa.
• Mark Alterici, Dee’s Wireless., Charleroi, Rostraver and Washington, Pa.
• Michael Coury, River House Cafe, Charleroi, Pa.
• Tony Bottino, Allstate Insurance, former president of the Monongahela Area Chamber of Commerce, Monongahela, Pa.
• Edward Zelich, Superintendant, Charleroi Area School District
• Louis Panza, Ceo, Monongahela Valley Hospital, Carroll Township, Pa.
• Jamie Protin, economic development consultant

I have an issue with the title: “In Steel Country’s River Towns, a Rising Spirit of Recovery“. Wouldn’t you say that’s about 30 years out of date? “Fracking Country” might be more like it now a days.

I’m so happy for Casey and Eric at Perked Up Cafe. They have a beautiful, thriving business and they certainly deserve the recognition!

note: Regular followers will notice that I haven’t posted much on Lost Monongahela recently. Well, I want to let you in on a secret. I’m starting a new blog and I’m calling it the Monongahela Times! Don’t worry, I’ll never give up on Lost Monongahela. I just felt a need to create a second site where I can talk about current events. I’ll keep posting historical stuff here at Lost Monongahela while you can find current events and news over at Monongahela Times which will be launching later this week!

 

 

Lost Monongahela Celebrates its 8th Anniversary

I was looking back in the archives and realized that February 10th, 2016 will be Lost Monongahela’s 8th birthday! It all began with this post about the D.E. Gamble grain elevator on 7th street. Back then online information about Monongahela history was sparse. The best resource I had at the time was the Historical Magazine Of Monongahela’s Old Home Coming Week: Sept. 6-15, 1908. This magazine is still a helpful but what if you want to find out something related to “chickens in Monongahela in 1891”? Well, you had to walk down to the Monongahela Area Library and look through a years worth of Daily Republican microfilms. It’s great having this resource in town but the problem is that you can’t perform a boolean word search on microfilm. However, in 2016 you can slake your thirst for chicken related information on Newspapers.com in less than a minute:

Clipped from a 1891 issue of The Daily Republican

Just as significant is how much better the map offerings are online. This is an example of the map quality you would typically find back in 2008:

A detail of Caldwell’s Atlas of 1876 from Rootsweb.

Compare that to the same map now available from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission:

A detail of Caldwell’s Atlas of 1876 from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. (click image to enlarge)

The Caldwell Atlas is another wonderful resource but imagine how exciting it would be if you could find maps dating back to 1885 showing the following information for each building in Monongahela:

Why there have been few updates to Lost Monongahela recently

I just heard Seth Godin say this on a podcast today regarding writer’s block:

Write; write poorly; continue writing poorly; write poorly until it’s not bad anymore.

So expect to read more poorly written posts here on Lost Monongahela in the next few days!

WPXI Story About Monongahela African American Soldiers Who Served In The Civil War

Capt. William Catlin

Several folks asked how can view the story WPXI produced about the Ravioli sale sponsored by the Monongahela Main Street Program and Bethel AME church. Proceeds will pay for a historical marker to honor African American soldiers from Monongahela who fought for the United States in the civil war. What makes story unique is that this may be the first time in US history that African American soldiers went into battle under African American officers. Click here to read the story watch the video.

Regarding Snow Removal On Main Street Sidewalks

Sidewalk at 222 West Main St., Monongahela PA remains uncleared as of Monday afternoon while a man in a suit and tie works on an icy spot at another property up the street. (click image to enlarge)

The Monongahela street department did a great job clearing the streets during snowstorm Jonas this past Friday night and Saturday morning. Property owners also

Stocking Stuffer Tour Of Main Street Monongahela

Thought you would be interested in this PowerPoint based video – “A Stocking Stuffer Tour of Monongahela’s Main St. Business District.” It gives an idea of what some of the stores along main street sell with the goal to encourage more people to shop locally. Most of the presentation is the work of Terry Necciai. The music is my fault and I contributed the photo at the end. Enjoy!

Monongahela Chess Park Greeting Cards Now Available

Chess Park greeting cards are now available!

Front

Back

Each card is 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ with a winter scene of Chess Park in Monongahela Pennsylvania on the front. The reverse includes a short history of Chess Park and the two churches in the background. The interior of the card is blank so it can serve year round as a thank you card, a sympathy card, a Christmas card or a general note card that you can use to show your pride in our home town.

Each package of 10 cards and envelopes costs $10 and comes attractively packaged in a clear plastic box with a decorative gold cord making it ready to go as the perfect stocking stuffer or gift! Cards are now on sale at:

Autumn Antiquities And Curiosities – 234 West Main Street, Monongahela PA. Open Wednesdays, Thursdays  and Fridays 11:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m and Saturdays 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Phone 724-292-8222. Both cash and credit cards accepted.

Little City Coffee – 418 West Main Street, Monongahela PA. Phone 724-258-6285. Open Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to  7:00 p.m., Friday 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Closed Sunday. Both cash and credit cards accepted.

**UPDATE 12/17/2015**

Chess Park cards are now available at Joe Fida’s Auto Plate service!

We can also ship the cards to you via mail. Shipping cost is a flat $3.50 no matter how many cards you order. For more information about having your order shipped just send an email to Dan at lostmonongahela@gmail.com with your name, address and phone number and the number of boxes you want.

All proceeds go to the Monongahela Main Street Program which is being formed to revitalize main street Monongahela through historic preservation.