Monessen is named for the Monongahela River and the industrial German city of Essen. Its largest employer was Pittsburgh Steel Company, later renamed Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel.
In 1972, Page Steel and Wire Company closed down, but the biggest economic blow came when Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, closed nearly all its Monessen operations in 1986. The company’s remaining operation, the rail mill, closed in March 1987.
MORE TO COME….
Thanks for the article, even though its depressing. I have memories of a better day in Monessen. My family was of Finnish extraction on Marguerite Avenue.
Mary Luoma Markett